Newsroom
India trip an eye-opener
When Kensington resident Amy Rushton volunteered her skills overseas as part of her university degree she vowed she would help those in need again.
7 May 2013 - Southern Gazette
India fix for pair of health care junkies
Noranda health professionals Brian and Nicki Hurwitz say they're "volunteer junkies" after a two-week trip to India this year when they provided free health care to the country's most vulnerable.
30 April 2013 - Eastern Reporter
India is kept in clear sight thanks to Sue
Blackburn North optometrist Sue Strachan has just returned from her eighth trip to India as a volunteer helping to improve people's eyesight.
"One of the standout memories from this trip was the change on the face of a young boy with Down syndrome, Shiva, when I put on his first pair of glasses."
24 April 2013 - Whitehorse Leader
Aussies give dental care to East Timor's most vulnerable
"There was a great need for dental treatment and patients were grateful for the services offered. We treated many children and teenagers and their stoic attitude to treatment was just amazing. It was not unusual to be extracting teeth in five and six year olds in two or three quadrants and their behaviour and acceptance of treatment was excellent."
April 2013 - ADA News Bulletin
The challenges in India
"As a female occupational therapist working within the disability sector, I found it hard to comprehend the difference in treatment between men and women, and people with and without disabilities. I have come to realise that we are so lucky to live in a country like Australia; where everyone has equal access to health care and resources." - Amy Rushton, Occupational Therapist volunteer
April 2013 - Cross Section - WA Occupational Therapy Association newsletter
India mission an eye-opener
Long-time Cranbourne optometrist David West gets many accolades from his local patients, but none like the ones he received during a recent trip to India as part of a health team.
"We were rewarded with many smiles and hugs, and it wasn't uncommon for the older patients to bend down and touch our feet in gratitude - rather humbling."
1 April 2013 - Casey Weekly
Paul Clarke talks about volunteering in India on 98.5fm Sonshine FM
20 March 2013
Couple's life changing trip to India
Husband and wife team, Brian and Nicki Hurwitz, had an experience of a lifetime when they returned to India in February as dental and allied health volunteers.
The lasting and profound difference to people's lives that access to health care can make was made very real to Nicki when, along with the allied health team, she delivered three new donated wheelchairs to a mental health care institution in Katwa, northern India.
"As Head of Allied Health, many of the highlights were not my own, yet part of the job I did in facilitating the work that my absolutely outstanding team did," said speech pathologist Mrs Nicki Hurwitz. "The way they put together the hard terrain wheelchairs that we brought with us, and adjusted them to serve three extremely disabled residents, was awe inspiring."
Read the full media release...
Aussies to change lives of India's most vulnerable
Imagine not being able to go to the doctor when you're unwell or not being able to see simply because you don't have a pair of glasses. This is the reality many people in India and other developing countries face today as they simply don't have access to everyday health services that most Australians take for granted.
A team of 47 Aussie health professional volunteers are travelling to India to provide free health care appointments to over 12,000 people in need of dental, medical, optical and allied health care on February 1.
Read the full media release...
The road to Trichirapalli
"Each day we set up camp in a different rural area with the help of a fantastic team of local organisations," Gillian recounts.
"Word spread quickly among locals that there were doctors and nurses and other health professionals available and that they could get medical treatment. Each day we saw people with a vast range of medical conditions and did what we could to treat them and offer relief. There was certainly no shortage of patients."
Spring 2012 - Our Voice
News from Anandaniketan
Any volunteers who have been to Anandaniketan in Katwa, West Bengal, will know that the Girls' Shelter Home (GSH) and the conditions and difficulties its residents have to deal with, provide the biggest challenge for the Allied Health Team.
Helen's magic moments
West Leederville speech pathologist Helen Ryan has returned to Perth after "the most challenging, rewarding and eye opening experience" of her professional and personal life.
8 May 2012 - Western Suburbs Weekly
My Voice: Lacey Strachan
Mitcham nursing student Lacey Strachan travelled to India with a health care organisation and says volunteering is the best way to see a foreign country.
In February this year I was lucky enough to take part in an overseas aid trip to India with Equal Health - an Australian, non-profit, volunteer organisation that provides free health care to people in developing countries.
25 April 2012 - Melbourne Weekly Eastern
The gift of sight
Erica Johnston has been an optometrist since 2000 but never have her services been more appreciated than on a recent trip to India. The Specsavers Mount Gambier co-owner added a two week volunteering mission to an Indian holiday and while she was working longer days and seeing more than five times the patients she normally would in a day it was the most memorable part of her February holiday.
26 March 2012 - Lifestyle1 Magazine
Congratulations to the Society for Mental Health Care - Anandaniketan
Equal Health congratulates the Society for Mental Health Care - Anandaniketan on receiving the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Equal Health is delighted and honoured to be working with this partner in West Bengal.
Giving the poor an equal chance
City Beach physiotherapist Rob Harper was among 52 volunteers from Equal Health who travelled to India this year to provide patients with free health care.
Equal Health provided free optical, dental, medical and alliedhealth appointments to more than 12,000 people through the program.
18 October 2011 - Western Suburbs Weekly
Help volunteers take health care to needy
Falcon dental therapist Sally McLeish enjoyed the experience of a lifetime when she went to India earlier this year as a volunteer with Perth-based organisation Equal Health, as part of a team of 51 Australian health professional volunteers.
The group provided free health care to more than 12,000 people in need, but the organisation needs financial support for future projects.
7 September 2011 - Mandurah Coastal Times
Speech pathology alumna Kristy Tomlinson named as finalist in 2011 WA Youth Awards
Kristy Tomlinson, who graduated in 2007, was recently nominated in the Educate! Edith Cowan University Award for leadership category at the 2011 WA Youth Awards.
Kristy was nominated for her inspirational work as a volunteer speech pathologist at an orphanage in India where she helped young people with disabilities. She also set up a charity to encourage and support future volunteer speech pathologists to explore this area.
Equalising eyecare in the villages
In the course of a day, optometrist Sue Strachanwill see 14 people at her state of the art practicein Blackburn North, Victoria. In rural India, she will squeeze in 200 patients over ten hot, humid, hours in the dark room of a village school.
29 June 2011 - mivision July 2011 news (issue 59)
Andrea gives gift of sight to poor
After spending two weeks in India earlier this year, South Perth ophthalmologist Andrea Ang (32) returned to Australia knowing she had changed the lives of dozens of people.
14 June 2011 - Southern Gazette - Belmont, South Perth and Victoria Park
Caring for poorest
Mt Lawley resident Paul Clarke recently returned from India after helping provide free healthcare appointments to more than 12,000 people as part of an Equal Health volunteer team.
17 May 2011 - Guardian Express
Making news in India
The work conducted by the Equal Health team in Trichy has been greatly appreciated and highlighted in the local news:
http://newseq.blogspot.com/p/video-gallery.html
Australian health professionals required for life changing appointments in India
Imagine not being able to go to the dentist when you have a toothache or to the doctor when you're unwell. This is the reality many people in India today face. They simply don't have access to everyday health services that most Australians take for granted.
East Timor and Australian Dental Volunteers
East Timor is one of Australia's closest neighbours. The capital, Dili, is as closer to Darwin than Sydney is to Brisbane. It is one of the world's newest nations and is also one of the world's the poorest. It needs our help ... now.
