Working volunteers are welcome to bring someone along with them. There is much to see and do within the confines of the Research Institute and many local places of great historic interest.

Local places of great historic interest...

Local places of great historic interest...

Visits to schools and villages are organised with transport and guidance. Usually there are a few visitors at the same time so they can make up a touring party. Most visitors are fascinated to see how the work of the unit progresses particularly in the rural villages. Accomodation can usually be arranged but it is wise to discuss possible dates and functions with Dr Naresh Sharma beforehand.

Accomodation at Chitrakoot...

Costs are low at about £30 per day in Chitrakoot. It is wise to plan well ahead since the cheapest airfares require booking well ahead.

Chitrakoot Project, A personal view by Mr David Hutchison, Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon

Having been employed in the Dental/Oral Surgery/Maxillofacial surgery fields for the last forty years I thought I had experienced most of what the career has to offer. I have enjoyed my time greatly and on retirement from the NHS Hospital Service as a Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon I felt I would like to give something back but was not sure how to do it. My good friend of many years, Naresh Sharma mentioned the Chitrakoot Project. He explained that the objective is to bring all aspects of Dental and Maxillofacial care to one of the poorest parts of rural India without cost to the patients and as near to their homes as possible. This seemed to be the sort of challenge I was seeking so I went to India as part of the team in February 2007. We pay our own travel expenses to India but these are not great. We went in late Spring when the temperature is around 25 degrees and the countryside looks really beautiful, and before the rains fall. I had the privilege of working at the central clinic in Chitrakoot initially, and saw untreated cleft palates, cancers and routine oral surgery problems. The surgeries are well equipped and we worked to the best of Western standards. This gave me a chance to meet real patients and get some grasp of the culture and language. This was followed by visits to a few of the 500 surrounding villages to carry out treatment on site.

Whole new experience working from a sun lounger with minimal equipment and an audience of dozens of patients and their families

This was a whole new experience working from a sun lounger with minimal equipment and an audience of dozens of patients and their families. In the immediate background were cows, buffalos, dogs, monkeys and the odd parrot watching from a tree.

At each village with up to 2000 residents we would see approximately 90 waiting for treatment. We were introduced by a "graduate couple" being a husband and wife team who undertake to live in the villages for 5 years to bring organizational and educational skills, settle disputes and interface with the outside world. They were delightful very talented people and made our visits very easy and efficient. The welcome from the villagers was quite moving with a small ceremony of blessing and children singing at the start of each session. One of the Dental Graduates from Chitrakoot came with us to work and when translation was needed would, with the graduate couple, solve any communication problems. Most of the time a big smile and a lot of body language did the trick. Most patients were understandably apprehensive for their previous experiences of treatment did not include pain relief with local anaesthesia. The first patient I removed a tooth for was still waiting for the pain after the extraction had been done. A hundred pairs of eyes must have been watching so when I held up the extracted tooth a huge cheer and clapping greeted the event and a few more joined the queue!

Great experience treating the needy....

It is strange to work without formality but we do keep the patient's name and record of what has been done. Most treatment was extraction or simple filling or scaling and we were able to arrange for more complicated problems to go to the central clinic where Xray is available. We maintain sterility to Western standards with a generator driven autoclave, rubber gloves and disposable needles and take away our clinical waste for safe disposal. We work until every patient has been seen then go for a stroll round the village. Most villages are idyllic and the children in particular followed us everywhere we went. If you like to see animals treated with respect,and as friends, this is the place to be.

Words cannot really describe this experience, it certainly changes one's perspective on life and brings back the thrill of making people better with skills which are often go underused and unappreciated. The gratitude of these lovely people is overwhelming and is the greatest reward I have experienced in the last forty years in the profession.

For those of you who want a break from an incompetent, ignorant, unsympathetic and arrogant Department of Health ,try a couple of weeks in the real world doing what you were trained to do. There are no targets and no managers. A bonus of a visit is the chance to see Rural India as no tourist will see it. The culture and religion is embedded in all that goes on and the people are proud and happy to show what they have achieved. I have come away much better informed about global matters and the world in general.

Happy kids of Chitrakoot...

I am planning to visit again in October and in the meantime will help with fund raising and collecting as much equipment as possible. We particularly need extraction forceps, local anaesthetic syringes, rubber gloves and it would be great to have portable xray equipment in the villages. This is technically possible but expensive.

Chitrakoot Project, A personal experience by S K Gautam

My time in Chitrakoot was a great one. Having been before I knew what it would be like but I think every return feels fresh and is a new adventure.

I was very well looked after and had excellent food, accommodation and transport. The facilities are superb and I found working in Chitrakoot was so refreshing. The people really appreciated the assistance I gave. To be able to help these people was a real privilege for me.

Varun and the team really were a pleasure to work with and to travel with. The village visits, of which there were 2, were tremendously rewarding and humbling. Chitrakoot has been an experience in which I feel I have seen the "real" India and I know tourists want to see this side but sadly never find it. I felt very calm and relaxed in Chitrakoot.

Helping in this way certainly makes me feel a better person. People say it must be rewarding, and it is, but it feels like your soul is being soothed. It is difficult to put into words what it feels like but it is a trip I would not miss for the world. I think it should be remembered that it is not all work and the area is spiritual and special, being on the banks of the Ganges with breathtaking places and views.

Chitrakoot Project, Personal View, Julien Bory dental Laboratory Technician and Asia Traveller.

The United Emirates attracted me only in order to find a sea lin to reach India. I note the wealth of Dubai against the poverty I am to find in India.The crazy urbanisation of the Emirates is impressive. I look for somewhere to sleep the night and hear the builders up early to disturb the night. I don't think for one moment to knock at the door of one of these iron and cement giant. I find the sand beach and the company of the dromedaries that sleep there much more attractive. I am now on my way to India.

India is a shock for me. All what I have read or heard could not have prepared me for this first day.It's when I stepped down from the bus that I am assailed by the rickshaw drivers taxis (motorised and pedalled), the circulation, the noise, the crowds , the smells and the ones who want to help me by directing me to shops they have an interest in.Then there was this striking image of a man lying down naked in the dust waiting for death to free him from this suffering life. This is how India appears to me this very first day like a ceaseless struggle land where one fights for some Rupees to survive. If the rickshaw man make three rupees a day he may be happy but how exhausted. I lodge for three rupees a night and eat meal for one rupee but one must not look at the quality of the hygiene, however the Indian food be vegetarian fit me perfectly. One day in the restaurant I usually eat in I am amaze about the squirrel that has jumped on my kness and I realise as he continues his way behind my back that it was a rat. I have never been good to recognise animals.

I am now in Chitrakoot in one of the most poor parts of India. I have now been nearly two weeks in chitrakoot. When I have arrived we have started with the few material available a removable activity.I also train to the morphology and sculpting Mukesh the dental nurse and Bandana to prepare the future fixed activity. I think the first material needefd is a handpiece and micromotor ,the one that Mukesh bring is heavy and not permit a precise work but it was enough to start.

The dental technique is a dirt activity that generate lots of dust. I ask the Chitrakoot carpenter to to make a box for grinding then we can put a sucker in and keep the room clean.I have some sponsor who offer the send material when I see the need. I have planned to come back to Chitrakoot on my way back from Cambodia nearly January and perhaps stay a couple of months to help start the fixed activity. The Brazilian Company who are going to help have a seller in India. I am now in Vranasi, tomorrow in Calcutta then I will reach Burma and Thialand . I will do volunteer work in a Lab in Cambodia then back by Vietnam, China and India for January.
Best regards,
Julien