The History

THE INCEPTION

NWTWS

NWTWS has been working in the Nilgiris Wynaad since 1978. Our project was originally designed to address health issues and later began to tackle various other problems facing the Tribal community in ways appropriate to their needs, priorities and cultures.

THE FOUNDER

John Wilson

Born in 1949 in Huddersfield as the youngest of four children, John Anthony Wilson was brought up as a Quaker. He attended a Quaker boarding school, then qualified as a nurse in Huddersfield and studied psychiatric training at the Quaker Retreat in York. According to his mother’s autobiography, a friend predicted authoritatively that John would go to help a Hindu doctor in the Nilgiri Hills in Southern India. Little did he know that 2 years later, he would step into India!

NWTWS Health

A crumbling Medical Care

Medical care was utterly lacking in the area, even for the simplest of ailments. An outpatient facility and dispensary were built at Ambalamoola on land provided by the Tamil Nadu Government. The clinic soon gained the trust of Tribal patients from far and wide, and a 12 bedded in-patient facility was added in 2000. Additionally, medical camps and health education was conducted in remote villages. The fieldwork of this kind continues to this day.

From time to time new health issues emerged. For example, in some villages in the 1980s, a high prevalence of Leprosy was found. This led to the training of a Tribal team that conducted comprehensive surveys, enumeration and treatment programmes. Tuberculosis remains a persistent challenge. In cooperation with the Indian Government, NWTWS controls TB through detection, health education programmes, surveys and intensive therapies. 

DR. NEVIN WILSON

The story of NWTWS is not complete without mentioning the steller services rendered by Dr Nevin Wilson who headed the medical team from 1998 to 2010. He continued the work done by John Wilson and created a new dimension to the health and well being of the tribals with his dynamic leadership 

John worked for Dr. Narasihman for two years. The doctor had been given some poor land at Kayyunni with a tiny building to set up a clinic for the Paniya tribal people, who were still hunter-gatherers, and it was a hard life to start with. After the two years John did a one year course in intensive care, but he could not be replaced in India and went back for another two years. He used to go deep into the forest villages to provide medical care, as did Dr. Narasihman, when no other Indian doctors would. 


Coincidentally, John’s entire family was involved in helping people one way or another. His mother used to work for charitable trusts, and first visited India in 1966 as a member of the Executive of Oxfam, and again in 1971/2, inspecting and helping charities and also doing Inter-Faith work. 

At the end of John's second period of voluntary service, 5 acres of land was donated by the state government to build a hospital or clinic and in 1978 John added 12 more acres of land which was purchased by him and donated to the society. The 17 acres of land was at Ambalamoola, amidst teeming wildlife, and the Nilgiris Wayanad Tribal Welfare Society (NWTWS) was officially set up in 1978, and a bungalow built on the hill.

Things gradually developed and improved, with a separate dispensary and a well being dug onsite in 1981. However, standing up for the tribal people and helping with their welfare and healthcare was no smooth sailing. He had to deal with diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy. Languages were a problem of course, but John became so fluent in Malayalam that (with his beard) he passed off as a native! Apart from Malayalam and Tamil, John also knew three languages of the tribals.

Although there were many such difficulties for John and the NWTWS, it continues to grow, and John’s initiative has now developed into a much larger organisation with hospital beds and a school and receives some government help. 

We are honored that we have been given the opportunity to carry forth his legacy, and continue helping out the people closest to his heart.

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