For some elderly residents of Mallappuzhassery, a local body along the Pampa, the weekly visit from volunteers of the CSI St. Thomas Church at Punnakkadu has become something to look forward to. Three days a week, the team goes from door to door, checking blood pressure and sugar levels, offering basic medicines and advice, or just staying back for a conversation.

The volunteers carry little more than a blood pressure monitor, a glucometer, a notebook and a few medicines. They are not trained paramedics, but parishioners who have received basic training in health screening. For about one-and-a-half decades, they have served as an important link between vulnerable families and professional health care across all 13 wards of the panchayat.

Known as the Punnakkadu Initiative, the programme began in 2011 with a much smaller effort. Mathew Koshy Punnakkadu, who heads the initiative, traces its origins to a charity programme in which the parish joined hands with a local hospital to arrange cataract surgeries for poor people. Visits to the homes of beneficiaries revealed that health care, though available and affordable, remained out of reach for those without anyone to accompany them.

The parish subsequently conducted a survey of vulnerable households and found several people living with paralysis, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.

The findings led the parish to form a team of volunteers and train them to identify early warning signs of chronic illnesses, with the help of the Department of Community Medicine at Pushpagiri medical college.

Expansion of initiative

As the initiative expanded, so did its understanding of health care. The volunteers began looking beyond illness and treatment to the conditions that influence people’s health. Families are counselled on nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation, waste management, lifestyle risks and environmental conditions.

“The underlying principle of our project is that prevention and healthy living are more important than treatment. The strength of this initiative lies in bringing health care, environmental awareness, education, local governance, faith communities and citizen participation into one framework,” says Mr. Punnakkadu.

The Mallappuzhassery grama panchayat soon recognised the initiative and helped extend its reach to all 13 wards. Kudumbashree, the Janamaithri police, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra and parishes of other churches have since joined the effort, turning it into a broader community initiative.

Financial support

Financial support came from the CSI Congregation Kuwait until around 2020, including a contribution of ₹10 lakh, besides assistance from several individuals. The pandemic brought the project to a standstill, but the parish later revived it by setting aside a portion of the offertories collected during Holy Masses.

With around 100 families, most of them elderly, the parish now allocates about ₹50,000 a week for the initiative. The volunteers work free of cost, while the funds are used to purchase basic medicines and provide assistance to patients in need.

The value of the network becomes particularly evident during emergencies. Benny Kuzhikkala, president of the Mallappuzhassery panchayat, says the volunteers have proved especially useful during floods. “During the floods, ward members can alert the volunteers about vulnerable residents, and the team reaches them with whatever help is required,” he says.

Published - August 09, 2026 07:00 am IST