Rohini Pawar is a feminist, self-help group leader, onion farmer, juice stall owner, ASHA (health) worker, and a Community Correspondent. This woman of boundless passion and open-hearted courage dreamed of becoming a doctor, but her dreams were curtailed when she was married at 15. “I felt like all my dreams would crash and end there,” she says. “I was scared,…

Rohini Pawar

Walhe village near Pune was severely affected by the second wave of COVID-19 in India. People were unable to help each other and many fatalities were reported. Rohini Pawar, a resident of the village and a Field Producer with Video Volunteers coordinated with the gram panchayat, local community and Video Volunteers to set up a 25 bed COVID care facility. Of the 25, 10 beds are oxygen beds and can cater to COVID patients for primary care. ASHA workers of the village are also checking the temperature of the residents to detect any early signs of infection.

Doctors from the local primary health centre and those of the nearby village have agreed to volunteer their time to examine COVID patients. This facility, which has been setup at the cost of about 5 lakhs ($6700) in the campus of Maharishi Vidyalaya, is mostly for patients in the first stage of infection.