On 8th March 2013, Asha had the honour of welcoming a Japanese delegation consisting of Mr. TERATA Sukeshiro, Mr. Hirotaka ISHIKAWA, Mr. Mikishi DAIMON, and Mr. Kazunari KITAGAWA, Members of House of Councillors, Japan. They were accompanied by representatives from the Japanese Embassy, New Delhi.
Asha and the country of Japan share a long relationship with latter having come forward to aid Asha’s Healthcare Programme on many occasions in the past few years. Recently, Asha received two fully equipped mobile healthcare buses from the Japanese Embassy that were launched in June 2012.
Japanese Delegation at the Asha headquarters
The delegation visited the Asha Headquarters where they saw a film documenting Asha’s work of the past 25 years. After this they proceeded to visit Hanuman Camp, of the slum colony where one of the mobile healthcare buses operates. Here, they observed the clinic in progress and also interacted with the slum residents who have benefitted from the healthcare bus.
Later they visited Dr. Ambedkar slum colony, the first slum Dr. Kiran started working in 1988. Here they met with the women’s and children’s advocacy groups run by Asha. They also visited Mahesh, one of Asha’s brightest college students in his house, to see first-hand the conditions people in the slums live in and the challenges they face each day. They were pleased to note the progress slums have made because of Asha’s work and admired the dedication of the students who study in such difficult circumstances.
A delegate examines the contents of a Community Health Volunteer’s medicine box in Dr. Ambedkar slum colony
It was very encouraging for the community to meet and interact with the guests and Asha looks forward to more such opportunities of welcoming the representatives of Japan in future.
