A Marathon is organised with the tribal kids and the youth at Lok Biradari Prakalp Hemalkasa from December 24 to 26, 2022.
Dr Prakash Amte, son of renowned social worker Baba Amte runs a big social work project in Hemalkasa in Gadchiroli in Vidarbha region called the ‘Lok Birdari Prakalp Hemalkasa (LBPH)’.
Under this project, Dr Prakash Amte, his wife Mandakini Amte, his sons Aniket and Digant and other family members are engaged in conducting various social work activities like surgical camps, and schools and providing free treatment to the tribal population in the entire Gadchiroli district for past many decades. People still bring patients from over 200 km to Prakalp by foot on the ‘charpai’ for treatment.
For the first time the Amtes in collaboration with Dr Amit Samarth, a world-renowned cyclist from Nagpur, is organizing a fundraising event at Hemalkasa in the form of a ‘marathon’ with tribal kids and youth of Gadchiroli.
Dr Aniket Amte in conversation with The Live Nagpur said that the basic idea of the marathon came from Dr Samarth. “We are just opening our premises to the people for this event.”
Dr Samarth told The Live Nagpur that he basically wanted people not just from Nagpur or Vidarbha or the state but people from all over the country and the world to see for themselves the amazing and massive work that the Amtes were doing under the LBHP. “People from all over the world have just heard or read about the un-comparable efforts that the Amtes are making for the extremely ill, poor, and illiterate tribal population of Gadchiroli in the form of schools, projects, free treatment, surgeries etc. Hence I thought of bringing people from all over the world to witness this work. For this as a sportsperson I am organising a marathon for fundraising for the project,” he explained.
For this, they have organized a three-day visit to the project at Hemalkasa of interested persons and their families to the Prakalp. Money coming from registrations of the marathon participants will be used as donations for further development of the project.
In the three-day programme from December 24 to 26 participants and visitors are expected to be at Hemalkasa before noon on December 24. A bus will be stationed at Nagpur to pick up persons coming from everywhere for the event at Nagpur at 6 am on December 24. But people can travel through cars by car-pooling as well.
They have to collect their T-shirts and race or marathon numbers immediately after reaching there on the first day, December 24. Participants and their families have to stay on the Prakalp premises itself. Food will also be provided by the organizers.
On the Second day, December 25, the LBPH marathon run with tribal kids and youth of Hemalkasa will be organized at 6. 30 am. The race will have three stretches- 5 km, 10 km and 21 km. The winners will get a medal for tribal art. The race will begin on 400 meters athletic track and end at the same track. In the middle distance, the participants have to run on the dirt roads of the tribal area of Gadchiroli.
In the afternoon of the same day, all visitors will be taken for a tour of the entire prakalp. They can visit all the departments and understand the massive work that goes on in the LBPH. In the evening a programme of tribal dances and cultural programmes has been organized by the LBPH school students.
December 26 happens to be the birthday of Dr Prakash Amte. Some programmes have been arranged for the celebrations. The visitors will be taken back to Nagpur after lunch.
For more details interested can contact at 9096496435 or mail at lokbiradarimarathon@gmail.com. To participate in the marathon interested have to register at the earliest themselves. Only the first 100 persons will be allowed to participate in the run.