Volunteering to make that small difference - (Dr Prithvi Raval)

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"...Dr Raval attributes his interest in social work to his parents and adds that

Satya Sai Baba is his spiritual guide and he takes inspiration from him."

 

The entire article follows.

 

 

Volunteering to make that small difference

We must evince interest in social work when time is precious to us. The small

difference I make in the lives of fellowmen as a Rotary volunteer makes me feel

a part of the world, says Dr Prithvi Raval. A dentist by profession, he has

served people in the remote parts of Philippines, Jamaica, Brazil, Guatemala

and Kenya. In fact, he was the first Rotary volunteer from India and that was

in 1983 when he worked in a refugee camp in Bataan, Philippines. Among his many

other experiences, Dr Raval says he remembers an incident when a refugee had

asked him to remove the bridge work (artificial teeth). Dr Raval declined as it

was in perfectly good shape. Immediately, she told him that she had got diamonds

embedded in them before she had left Vietnam and she now wanted it to be

removed! What else could the doc do but oblige! Now, when the readers are

reading this story, Dr Raval is quietly serving people

in some remote part of Guatemala. This is his ninth experience as a Rotary

volunteer. Recognising his selfless service to humanity, Rotary Foundation

recently has conferred upon him the Distinguished Service Award.

This is a significant milestone for him because only fifty Rotarians from across

the world have been honoured with this award this year. And Dr Raval belongs to

the elite club of four Rotarians from India who have been given this award. Dr

Raval says that they carry portable equipment to the far-flung areas. There is

a van and a driver and an assistant accompany the doctor. In some places, he

says, Rotary club has set up clinics. In these places, throughout the year,

Rotary volunteers from across the globe take turns to keep the clinic going.

Each of them spend about 4-6 weeks there. He adds, “The equipment we use and

the treatment we give is of global standards. Even if we are working in the

remotest corner of the world, we make no compromises

on that count.” Closer home, Dr Raval has been the driving force in the setting

up of the dental clinic in the premises of the Spastics Society of Karnataka.

In the initial months, Dr Raval treated the children there. Now, doctors from

Ambedkar Dental College are running the clinic. In a similar project in Manali

in the Himalayas, Dr Raval’s initiative saw the replenishment of a dental

clinic with the most modern equipment. He also co-ordinated with the doctor

volunteers from R V Dental College hospital. Now, he says, student doctors from

Chandigarh Medical College are taking turns to keep the clinic going. Dr Raval

attributes his interest in social work to his parents and adds that Satya Sai

Baba is his spiritual guide and he takes inspiration from him. Hemalatha