Dr. Martin Kamela reports from CRHP about the Izmir-Elon-CRHP partnership

Greetings everyone!

It has been a busy time here on the campus of CRHP. Last weeks were focused on finishing the İzmir Training Center as the opening ceremony took place on Tuesday, 27th August, 2013.

The Izmir Training Center is a brand new 2100+ sq.ft. building on the campus of CRHP Jamkhed. It has two large classrooms with the
capacity of 50 students each, and a residential suite with a living/dining room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, which can accommodate up to six trainers or international visitors. For those of you who came to CRHP it is adjacent to the “Red Block”, near the old training center. The new training facility is a direct result of your Periclean Scholars efforts at Elon University. It came about as a result of the “Health for All” film project which most of you supported in one way or another.

The “Health for All” partnership between Elon University, CRHP Jamkhed, and the İZMİR EXPO 2020 Bid Committee started a year ago. Soon after the trailer for the “Health for All” film was put on line, we received an email from the EXPO 2020 Consultants in Turkey with an enticing proposal. The theme of the Expo Bid is “New Routes to a Better World / Health for All”; so they suggested to join forces and together work toward the common goal of promoting Health for All around the world. After some preliminary email exchanges and phone calls, Dr. Arcaro, Jack Dodson and the film team, and I agreed that the proposal from Turkey is very much in the Periclean spirit of forging productive partnerships. The proposal was to let the Expo Bid Committee use footage from our film to help promote their theme, and in return a $100,000 donation would be made to our Indian partner – CRHP – in order to build a new health training facility and to start an endowment, which will ensure a sustained support for the training program. The proposal was given a green light from the university but much work had to happen, and quickly, to make the partnership a reality.

Jack came to campus to edit the film and by mid-October, over fall break, he and I went to Istanbul to collaborate with Turkish film editors and director. We made two short versions of “Health for All” explaining the story of the film, the partnership with the Izmir Expo Bid Committee, and the generous gesture of providing a new health training facility for CRHP. One month later, over Thanksgiving, Dr. Arcaro, Dr. Shobha Arole, and Jack were in Paris in front of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) conference, presetting the film. The BIE is the international body that makes the decisions on the locations of future Expo World Fairs. The presentation went well.

We did have a setback with the film data being stolen in Paris, so that it will be difficult to release “Health for All” in the movie theater format, but Jack writes that “Health for All” film is in the final stages of development and will be released online alongside a redesigned website in Fall 2013. The film, after screening for college classes, has been recut for an online audience, and the website will provide extra resources
and donation information for the organizations covered in the film. Check out http://healthforallfilm.tumblr.com/

So now, a year after the original email from Turkey the Izmir Training Center is a reality. Vishnu, the construction manager at CRHP, tells me the speed with which the building took shape is unprecedented in Jamkhed. And the general impression from everyone here is that the facility is first rate.

The official opening took place on Tuesday morning, with the unveiling of the cornerstone and the ribbon cutting by Dr. Selim Tokmak – İZMİR EXPO 2020 Vice Secretary General. Other visitors in attendance were Mr. Serkan Gümüş – İZMİR EXPO 2020 Expert, Mr. Adalet Özkan – Film Director, Mr. Harun Kabasakal – Cameraman, Mr. Bora Ozkul from the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi, Mr. Tichnor Charles – Chair of CRHP Board of Trustees and, yours truly – proudly representing Elon University and the Periclean Scholars Class of 2012. The ceremony was colorful with Maharashtran dance and songs, and everyone spoke to the importance of promoting health education and to the positive impact the new training center will have on both the local community and on grassroots health workers and health professionals from other parts of India and the world. In the audience were village health workers, farmers’ club members, adolescent girls and boys, school children from nearby schools, preschoolers, local families and CRHP staff members. Afterwards everyone proceeded to a celebratory lunch.

The rest of the day we facilitated the Turkish team with their videography. Fortunately they were solid professionals and knew exactly what they were doing – at most there were three takes of a given scene. The short film will tell the story of the partnership resulting in the new training center, and will be presented at the final BIE conference this November.That is also the conference where delegates vote on which of the four candidate cities will host the 2020 EXPO, so we will be waiting with anticipation for the Announcement.

The visitors left yesterday and by all accounts had a very favorable impression of CRHP and the Izmir Training Center. Today it’s a
day of rest and catching up with activities put temporarily to the side during the visit.

As I walk outside my room, and see the shiny white building just around the corner, I am reminded how you were interviewing for the Periclean Scholars and the nervous anticipation of the first classes. The possibilities were tantalizing. The reality of your efforts over the years is seen now more clearly in hindsight: the adolescent girls program going strong, the Elon Fellowship in its second year, the Izmir Training Center welcoming its first classes, and so on. It’s a wonderful lesson in how healthy partnerships bring people together for the greater good.

IZMIR training center opening ceremony