Vision
You don't just need eyes to see, you need vision.

The World Health Organisation has defined health as a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being – a state often denied by a few basic problems, most of which are inter-related, such as a lack of education, poverty, overcrowding, and a disregard for the environment. Thus, poor nutrition may be because of the inability to afford proper food, but may also be caused by a lack of knowledge about what one should eat, or by certain beliefs, which dictate dietary preferences. Similarly, poverty may be the result of ignorance of good business practices, but may equally stem from ones' lack of education, preventing one from getting a higher paying job. These inter-linked problems of lack of education, poverty, disregard for the environment and ignorance are rife among the villagers of the Upper Palani Hill range and in many wider poor rural areas in India.

Thus it is Adventure Ashram's informed view that unless our doctors go far beyond the exclusive practice of curative medicine, unless our doctors also practice preventative medicine, educate their patients and pay close attention to their life-styles they will fail to make any lasting impact on the disease profile and mortality pattern in their community.

Education is a vital part of any programme designed to help a community and although it may not give instant results community wide, it can change attitudes and beliefs within a generation, leading to great enhancements in lifestyle and lifespan. We have strong belief in the opinion of the project's originator Doctor Arun Kolhatkar; that education should be aimed at learning to live, learning to learn and learning to earn – in that order.