Published on: May 23, 2022

Sunanda Samal, Regional Coordinator-Central India, State Facilitation Team, Pallium India, who is based out of Pune, writes about her recent visit to Trivandrum:

It was like a dream come true when, in the first week of April, I got the confirmation to travel to Pallium India’s headquarters at Trivandrum, in the state of Kerala, fondly known as God’s Own country.

During the 10 days stay in Trivandrum, I met and interacted with almost all my colleagues at Pallium India, who are truly contributing to make the word “Palliative care” as the buzz word both in speech and action. It was a great learning experience, and I got the theoretical knowledge as well as the field exposure on Palliative care through the home visit, which was the best part of my experience.

I visited Uzhamalkkal village, Cherukulam village and Kottakkakam village with the super-enthusiastic home care team consisting of Sister Anu, Gayatri (Social Worker), Sister Reena (Local Volunteer) and Abhilash (Palliative Care Assistant).

It was a terribly hot and humid day but to my surprise none of them uttered a word about it even once as they were so engrossed in providing the noble service to the beneficiaries.

We had to park the vehicle a little further away and walk through patches of difficult terrain to reach the house of each beneficiary. The way the home care team took care of the beneficiary and their family members, as if they belonged to the same family, and the caregivers reciprocating in similar manner, was fascinating to observe. I could feel the bond between them and the trust they have on the home care team is just incredible. 

After all the home visits were done, as we walked back to our vehicle, I was admiring their dedication and commitment to the work they do. It is indeed a tough job which they were doing, seemingly with ease and so I consider them as the “Angels of Palliative Care” and I salute all the Home care team members of Pallium India.

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