Glenn Chelliah is the member of Great Valley Rotary club leading this district international project to provide medical supplies to 2 hospitals in Sri Lanka, Glenn's home country. By providing Project Cure's $24,000 cost, hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplies and equipment will be delivered to two hospitals. each serving 325,000 people per year who generally earn less than $3 per month. All those patients medical needs are met by just 3 doctors working with 325 nurses using very limited supplies and equipment. Needless to say, the wait times for attention can be long - often taking 3 days.
The project funding will cover the $4,000 cost of the needs assessment always performed by Project Cure staff. Through the needs assessment the exact supplies needed will be determined along with the detailed specifications for any equipment to be shipped, such as electrical supply characteristics and ability to maintain it. The remaining $20,000 budget is the cost of shipping the container to Sri Lanka. Glenn has already worked with the Sri Lanka embassy in Washington DC to ensure there will be no customs charges, fees, or taxes levied; and to ensure all import protocols are expedited to ensure rapid transfer of the materials to the hospitals. Glenn's question to us is: Will we participate in this effort of people-to-people diplomacy?
Collaborating on this project is the Colombo West Rotary Club in Sri Lanka. (Note: K. Ravindran -the recent Rotary Worldwide President from Sri Lanka is a member of this club.). The Colombo West club will assist with the travel and accommodations for the needs assessment staff from Project Cure and be on site to help resolve any issues that arise during delivery.
Glenn attended an American Jesuit Middle school and High school in Sri Lanka, then received a scholarship to the U.S to study at St. Joseph’s University. After graduate studies he joined the U.S pharmaceutical industry and worked for 33 years both in the U.S and Switzerland before retiring. Glenn and his wife of 40 years moved to West Chester 18 months ago.