Seven years ago, the Nepal Youth Foundation offered to build a Nutritional Rehabilitation Home (NRH) next to the government's "zonal" hospital in the town of Rajbiraj in southeastern Nepal. From the first NRH built in Kathmandu in 1998, Nepal's Minister of Health supported the project and urged NYF to expand these facilities around the country. A goal of 14 NRH's was set, with the intention of establishing an NRH adjacent to each of the country's zonal hospitals.
In 2004, NYF approached the administrator for the Sagarmatha zonal hospital in Rajbiraj. The hospital itself was in desperate need of upkeep and the conditions for the patients were very poor and unsanitary. One of the most unhealthy aspects of the site was an open pond right on the hospital grounds into which biological waste was dumped. We were certain that the NRH would be a welcome addition as a place to provide long-term care for infants and children suffering malnutrition, a frequent cause of children's hospitalization. However, the administrator refused the offer.
Yet, NYF did not forget their commitment to build an NRH by every hospital. So our staff kept offering. This year, Sagarmatha hospital's new administrator said, "Yes." In less than half a year, the new NRH was built and opened its doors to children and their caregivers.
And, the most wondrous part of the story is the open waste pit was emptied, disinfected and backfilled and is now the very place on which the NRH stands. Yes, "out of the mud grows the lotus."
On behalf of the children we serve, thank you for your support. For more information please visit our website, www.nepalyouthfoundation.org. Follow this link to watch our new 4 minute video:http://bit.ly/uv6is2.
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In 1998, Nepal Youth foundation (NYF) started piloting Nutrition Rehabilitation Home (NRH) initiative in Kathmandu. The successful learning encouraged NYF to expand this program to other regional and zonal hospitals. So far NYF has established 9 NRHs that has been able to support 6724 malnourished children to regain normal health and 5969 parents (caretakers) have been provided with intensive counseling and hands-on training on nutrition, family health and personal hygiene. NYF has been successfully supporting the Nutritional Rehabilitation Homes (NRH) at nine regional and zonal hospitals outside Kathmandu.
Objectives:
- The NRHs are located in10 districts of the country. The total capacity of 10 NRHs is 123 beds. With an average of 35 children staying days and a ninety percent occupancy target, these NRHs have a capacity to serve 1154 malnourished children per year.
- NRH Nepalgunj, NRH Biratnagar and NRH-Bhadrapur were taken over by the respective zonal hospitals in June 2009 & 2010. The government of Nepal, Ministry of Health provided the budget for these NRHs and they are functioning smoothly. Now NYF is managing 7 NRHs with 86 beds capacity
- During the nine month period the overall construction work of NRH building in Janakpur was completed. The inauguration of the building was held in 29th December 2010 and it has started operation.
- President, Executive Director and Nutrition Coordinator of NYF visited Janakpur for the inauguration. NRH building was inaugurated jointly by the President of NYF Ms. Olga D. Murray and the Chairperson of Janakpur Zonal Hospital Development Mr. Kunwar Kanta Jha.
- At the same time they have visited Rajbiraj to observe the progress in construction activities of the new NRH building.
- The construction of NRH-Rajbiraj on the premises of Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital is going on and it will be completed by the end of April.
- The process of finalizing the agreement with Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital, Baglung is already completed and it will be signed in January 2011.
- During this period Program Director of NYOF visited NRH-Pokhara and provides some instruction to the staffs for the better functioning of the facility.
- Training sessions were organized at NRH-Kathmandu for the staff of NRH-Janakpur. The objective of the training was to show the overall management of establishment of satellite NRH and its smooth operation and to strengthen the confidence of the newly appointed staff for the conduction of the project.
- Ministry of Health, Department of Health Services has declared that every last week of December will be considered as nutrition week. The government agencies for health services, NGOs and INGOs involving in nutritional activities have been celebrating this occasion by conducting different nutritional events in their respective fields. All NRHs celebrated it in coordination with the District Public Health Offices demonstrating locally available nutritious food-stuffs and providing education on nutrition.
- NRH-Kathmandu conducted an outreach Nutrition Awareness Camp in Dukuchhap Village Development Committee of Lalitpur district on October 29th 2010 to cover the children from Danuwar ethnic group. Including NRH team, 7 volunteers from project's abroad were involved in the camp to help the team. Enrollment of children was very impressive, 332 children attended in the camp and anthropometric measurement were taken. All the mothers participated in the nutrition education session delivered by the dietitian. The health workers tried to educate the mothers through songs to make the education more impressive.
Regular Activities:
Admissions, discharges and follow-ups are the regular procedures of all NRHs. At the time of admission and discharge, anthropometric measurement and photographs of all the children are taken.
During July to December, the following activities were carried out by the seven NRHs.
- A total of 491 children were provided with nutritional care and 424 caretakers were educated on nutrition. Among the admitted children 84% belonged to age-group under 5 years.
- During the period, 494 children were discharged including 287 male and 207 female.
- Among the discharged children, 377 were officially discharged, 59 discharged before time due to the Dashain and Tihar festival, 31 referred to hospital, because they were having more complications and needed to be re-hospitalized.
- During the reported period, 870 follow-ups were recorded from 7 NRHs in which 353 were the first, 291 and 226 were the second and third follow-up, respectively. During follow-up period, most of the children’s health conditions were found to be satisfactory. Few children were still malnourished due to poor economic condition while a few were having chronic diseases as well.
- During this period 4 death cases were recorded from NRH Kathmandu and Surkhet. It was recorded in the follow-up process. It was due to other diseases.
- Counseling services were provided by different NRHs to the guardians whose children are mildly malnourished, and these guardians are not able to stay for the recommended treatment. They receive counseling services by the staff of NRH. The nursing staff and manager counsel the guardian especially mothers to feed the appropriate balanced diet to recover the weight that the child has lost. This activity seemed effective. After attending in the counseling session, maximum number of guardians reported a good improvement observed in their children.
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Case History
Akha Pun a 21 month old boy was referred from a private pediatric hospital - IFCH (International Friendship Children's Hospital) on September 8, 2010 in a severe stage of PEM (Protein Energy Malnutrition). He got admitted in IFCH for few days and stabilized there. The causes of admission in the IFCH were vomiting, loose stool, skin infection, fever and lose of weight.
Akha belongs to a middle class family and his parents are well educated. He was the second child of his parents. Even having a good surrounding such as economically and socially, Akha's health condition was deteriorating day by day and he had to visit Kathmandu for the treatment.
The main occupation of the family was agriculture though his father was abroad for the livelihood. His mother Rima is responsible for looking after both of the children. Akha used to get 2 meals and 3 snacks a day which is enough for a little boy like Akha but the ingredients were not properly mixed while preparing the food.
At arrival, he weighted at 6.5 kg and height was 71 cm and as per WHO guideline he was severely malnourished (<-3 standard deviations). He looked very sad and pale. The rehabilitation program was started with formula 75 and he passed through the entire treatment course. He received Vitamin A single dose, folic acid regularly. He started to consume 975 kilo calorie per day and finally able to consume 1545 kilo calorie per day. Mother Rima had the opportunity to participate in the nutrition education session offered by the NRH. She understood the importance of good nutrition for a child's growth and development.
After 34 days at the NRH, Akha had reached his desired weight and was no longer malnourished. During his stay at NRH, his weight was dramatically increased and he reached 8 kg at the date of discharge (October 12), which was a 1.5 kg weight gain in 34 days. His mother, who was caring him in the Centre, also gained 3.7 kg of her weight. Akha seemed very happy and healthy at the time of discharge.
We thank you for supporting this worthwhile project.
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Dear Friends,
The Nepal Youth Foundation has started to rescue children with HIV/AIDS!
The New Life Center in Kathmandu, Nepal provides excellent treatment to children with HIV/AIDS while teaching their parents to live hygienically and cook nutritious meals. This training dramatically reduces the risk of acquiring the illnesses that make HIV develop into AIDS, and lets HIV-infected people lead fulfilling lives. Find out more about this pioneering project!
http://www.nepalyouthfoundation.org/programs/health/newlife.html
NYF's founder Olga Murray describes falling in love with Nepal
She also discusses NYF’s diverse programs for children and the organization's plans for the future, in an interview in the Napa Valley Register.
http://bit.ly/8XzPn6
Read an interview about NYF's life-changing projects!
Read an interview with the Nepal Youth Foundation's Development Director, Gregg Tully, about NYF's work to end child slavery in Nepal, scholarships, and children's homes. Also watch a video in which a blind Nepali girl describes the happiest moment in her life.
http://bit.ly/9Fihbt
NYF earns its fourth consecutive four-star rating
Because of our exceptional fiscal management, the Nepal Youth Foundation received its fourth four-star rating – the highest possible – from Charity Navigator, America's largest evaluator of charities. Only 8% of the charities evaluated receive four consecutive four-star ratings. This indicates our extremely efficient and effective implementation of the funds that you, our donors, contribute.
A hair salon held a fundraiser to rescue enslaved Nepali girls!
Salon Amour in Walnut Creek, California donated 100% of their proceeds for a day to NYF, and raised $5,000 – enough to rescue 50 girls! Find out more about how they did it at http://www.callandresponse.com/blog/?p=753. Can you hold a fundraiser, too? Read about many creative and fun ways you can help NYF rescue needy children:
http://www.nepalyouthfoundation.org/howtohelp/supporters.html
Please donate today to enable the Nepal Youth Foundation to give unimagined opportunities to some of the most destitute children on earth. It only costs $100 to rescue a girl from bonded servitude and let her get an education.
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Dear Friends,
The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) uses an integrated approach to address the multitude of challenges facing Nepali children and empowers them to fulfill their dreams. To learn more about how NYOF’s diverse programs provide nutrition for emaciated children, education, loving homes, and much more, visit http://www.NYOF.org .
Olga Murray, who founded the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) 20 years ago, just turned 85. We celebrated this combined anniversary and birthday in San Francisco with around 200 of Olga and NYOF’s friends and supporters.
Watch ABC TV's VIDEO about NYOF’s work in Nepal and Olga's party! The video shows the results of the decades NYOF and Olga have spent helping Nepali Children, including rescuing girls who have been enslaved as bonded servants. http://nyof.org/newsroom/video.html#abc2
NYOF has rescued close to 10,000 girls from slave-like servitude, and more than 3,500 have been saved in the current year alone. NYOF will soon eliminate the tradition of selling Nepali girls into bondage. Read this news article about our accomplishments: http://nyof.org/newsroom/newsmedia.html#irin
"Happy Birthday Olga Mummy!" Watch this adorable VIDEO of the children of J and K House, the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation's excellent homes for children, sending Olga Murray birthday greetings. http://nyof.org/newsroom/video.html#birthday
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Bill Brower is a Field Program Officer with GlobalGiving who is visiting our partners’ projects throughout South and Southeast Asia. On May 10th he visited the NYOF Nutritional Rehabilitation Home in Kathmandu. His “Postcard” from the visit:
The approach to treating severe malnutrition that NYOF and its implementing partners have developed is truly impressive. When they started off in 1998 Som, NYOF’s Executive Director in Kathmandu, says they weren’t aware of a “manual from anywhere in the world” on how to treat these children. All their methods they developed themselves over time. They now have a manual of their own that they use to train staff in the new Nutritional Homes they’ve been starting—with government support—all over Nepal.
Children and their mothers are referred to the facility by local hospitals, unable themselves to provide anything but a bit of emergency care. Outside of fortified milk, the children are fed only foods available anywhere in Nepal. These children, according to Sunita of NYOF’s partner Friends of Needy Children, are not malnourished for lack of food but from ignorance: The mothers are feeding their children only white rice three times a day, or overcooked or fried foods lacking the nutritional value that kids need. So the mothers get trainings while their children recover—in what foods children need, how to prepare them, when to feed their children, how to grow certain foods.
The children are typically discharged at a healthy weight in just 35 days. What’s more impressive is mother and child are sent home with only the training she has received and one bag of flour, and there is a less than 8% relapse rate, according to Sunita. The easy answer might be to provide on-going food assistance, which would be costly and not solve the root cause of the problem. NYOF’s approach seems significantly more sustainable.
One of the mothers, Sita, was bouncing a healthy-looking, eight-month old Nischita on her knee. I asked her what she learned: Sita said she knew now that things like banana and egg yolks did not in fact cause colds in children. She also learned about hygiene and how to prepare nutritional foods, like jowolo. She said she will now feed Nischita five times per day. There are other children in her community who are malnourished and she said she would definitely share what she’s learned with their mothers. She said it would be easy for her since she is a teacher. Shree, another mother, gave a similar response saying she’d learned about optimal feeding times and how to prepare vegetables and a special type of flour.
I think this is a great project. I’m proud that GlobalGiving donors are supporting it. It seems an approach deserving of spreading throughout Nepal and beyond.
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