Backward Kudubi youth are being employed in eye hospitals to be set up across Udupi by a charitable trust
The Kudubis, one of the most backward tribes living in Udupi district, are all set to witness a white collar transformation. A few among the new generation kids have landed jobs at an eye hospital, one as an optometrician, unlike the parents, who are mostly daily wagers.
S Jayaram Shetty, chairman, Parvathi Mahabala Shetty Charitable Trust, Shiroor, told Bangalore Mirror: “The formal inauguration of our new eye hospital will be held on Feb 2. The speciality is that we have employed youth from the local Kudubi community. There are about 25,000 Kudubis living in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.”
The first Kudubi who will be serving at the hospital is 21-year-old Ravi, son of daily wagers Chandra Naik and Rukmini Bai. Ravi’s father was closely associated with Shetty’s family as a labourer.
Shetty said, “This boy too is closely associated with our family. Most of our family members are doctors and he has closely watched them. People from this tribe never went to school. But they are a very clean community and Holi is the only festival they celebrate.”
Shetty’s brother Dr Sundaram Shetty, chairman, Globe Eye Foundation, Bangalore, noticed the boy had the potential. Once Ravi completed his PU from Durgaparameshwari Pre University College in Mandarthi, he saw to it that he was trained in optometry. “Ravi completed his diploma at the same institute and will soon be joining the hospital at Shirva — a village in Udupi district which is about 100 kilometers from Mangalore. While he was being trained at Bangalore, he even worked at Siddi Eye Care Clinic, Indiranagar, in the evenings and earned some money. Among the eight students who took up the course, he stood first,” Shetty said, with pride.
Ravi said, “Till I reached class five, I was not interested in studies. I gradually developed interest and was helped by the Shetty family. I am really happy that I have got a job. People in my community are trying to understand the value of education. I am an example to many from our community.”
Now, Ravi’s mother forces kids around to study. “My younger brother Sudhakar is in class nine and another brother Ganesh works as a coolie. Ganesh has been sent to a driving school by the hospital and we are hoping that he too will be absorbed by this hospital as a driver. I now dream of working for a while and then doing BSc,” Ravi said.
Shetty said that the hospital will also have a telemedicine counter — where doctors from Narayana Hrudalaya and Narayana Nethralaya will be connected. Ravi will be handling the fundus camera. He will also be visiting nearby schools to screen children.
At the hospital, doctors from Bangalore will be visiting for eight days a month. The hospital also plans to set up 7-8 vision centres in Udupi where people can go and get their eyes screened. For this the hospital has already given a two-month training to three youth — Suresh, Lakshman and Harish — from the Kudubi tribe. They have studied upto SSLC.
Since the inauguration of the hospital was delayed by six months due to monsoon, the boys have gone back to masonry. They will return as soon as the hospital begins functioning and will be provided a month’s training in Bangalore. Interestingly, all the masonry work at the hospital is being undertaken by the Kudubis. “We are willing to train Kudubis. In fact are looking forward to these children from the backward community. We have a burning desire to do something so that they can be trained,” said Shetty.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Other / by Deepthi Shridhar, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / January 29th, 2014