Society for Education, Welfare and Action (SEWA) Rural
SEWA Rural (Society for Education, Welfare and Action–Rural) is a voluntary development organization involved in health and development activities in rural tribal areas in the Jhagadia block in southern Gujarat since 1980. The organization’s work draws inspiration from the ideals and ideas of Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi. Aiming for overall development of the rural, poor and tribal population Bharuch Dist., the organization has encompassed various fields including hospital, community based outreach health care, comprehensive eye care, health training centre, vocational training institute for rural youth and women development center for promoting women empowerment.
Participant Profile: Shrey Desai (Trustee and Research Coordinator)
Shrey is an internist with advanced degree in public health and preventive medicine from the Johns Hopkins University (JHU). His goal is to help create enabling environment in which underprivileged communities become empowered to satisfy their primary health-care needs. He spent my childhood in Jhagadia where SEWA Rural is located. After receiving a medical degree from M.S. University, Vadodara, India, he moved to the US and completed Internal Medicine residency from the Saint Barnabas Medical Center, New Jersey which is an affiliate of Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. During his residency at Johns Hopkins University, he also completed a Master of Public Health (MPH). Subsequently, he had opportunity to work at US Food and Drug Administration, WHO and Indian Health Service. He joined SEWA Rural in 2009 as research-coordinator and clinician. He has also led a maternal and newborn health project using mobile-phone technology.