Karen Hart, MBA 2009, with a patient of the Comprehensive Rural Health Project, assisting him with a new prosthetic leg.
India Service Learning Trip, 2008
Design, Delivery, and Scaling of Health Services to Underserved Populations
The India Service Learning Trip over the winter break took 18 students and Professor Harikesh Nair off the beaten path as they connected with organizations noted for their success in the design, delivery, and scaling of health services for India’s underserved populations. The trip began in Mumbai, the “gateway of India,” where students met with representatives of Acumen Fund India and visited examples from Acumen’s portfolio of innovative, market-oriented companies that aspire to serve vast numbers of the poor.
From Mumbai, the group headed for the rural village of Jamkhed to meet with the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP), renowned for its community-based approach to healthcare.
The trip closed in Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Madurai is home to Aravind Eye Hospital, which performs more than 200,000 operations each year. Seventy percent of Aravind’s patients are subsidized; the remaining 30% seek out Aravind and pay market rates for its services because of the world-class quality of its work.
Personal Impact
"The India Service Learning Trip was an amazing experience. In a short time, we saw many sides of Southern India. We visited entrepreneurs operating out of urban slums in Mumbai, met with village elders in rural India, and heard the life stories of female health workers who broke social barriers and found new self esteem. We were exposed to a wide array of organizations addressing social needs, including non-profits, for-profits, and social sector venture capitalists. I have lived abroad in the developing world before, yet I feel that my perspective has been meaningfully expanded by this experience. It helped me tighten my vision of how I will contribute to social issues in my career. More than one of our group walked away saying that the trip had changed their career direction and their lives."
Above:Erik
Bengtsson, MBA 2009
