Physical Health Nepal Project #17477

Surgery for Children with Disabilities in Nepal

by American Himalayan Foundation

Project Report | Sep 23, 2020
Zooming with the inspiring Banskotas

By Norbu Tenzing | Vice President

Dr. Ashok Banskota and his son, Dr. Bibek Banskota

Recently, we were fortunate to spend some Zoom time with Dr. Ashok and Dr. Bibek Banskota, the doctors who run the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC). Every year, they heal thousands of children from poor families all over Nepal, boys and girls with untreated injuries or congenital disabilities who would otherwise face a lifetime of suffering. Through unparalleled skill and compassion, they help mend both physical and psychological scars. New patients are often surprised to meet other children like themselves and are encouraged to dream big. HRDC also offers counseling for patients and their families and works to promote inclusion and end discrimination in their communities.

Although the world has sheltered and slowed, the Banskotas, along with the staff of HRDC, are continuing to treat children and planning how to continue in the “new normal”. Here is a summary of our call highlighting their work.

Since April, HRDC has only been able to treat 73 patients at the hospital – as many as would be seen in 3 weeks in normal times. They expect to conduct 20 surgeries a week for now, increase as it becomes safe, and are taking all the safety precautions: quarantining, testing (same day results), beds 6ft apart, masks, fever checks, frequent handwashing, giving treatment with a screen separating the patient and staff, and a whole host of other protocols. AHF’s contribution of PPE supplies has meant there is enough for the staff, patients, and caretakers. The virtual clinics and mobile camps they have conducted around the country have been very helpful, and we expect those and their satellite clinics to continue to play a big role in treatment and outreach.

HRDC has had to make some cutbacks, which were done by creating a rotating roster for staff in a fair, transparent, and compassionate manner. Their team has been very resourceful during this difficult time and even began growing their own vegetables on the hospital grounds to supplement the kitchen.

All of this is possible because of you. The months to come will bring more uncertainty, but we and HRDC are dedicated to helping these children live full, pain-free lives, and we aren’t going anywhere. On behalf of the many young people touched by your kindness, thank you.

Mobile Clinics - The new normal!

Thank you from the HRDC Staff

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May 26, 2020
Breaking the "Curse" with HRDC

By Sarah Bakker | AHF Staff

Siblings Amit and Ajita before treatment

A couple, farmers from the Far West in Nepal, felt blessed when they gave birth to a healthy baby boy. But as their son, Amit, grew, both of his feet bent inward with clubfoot. A year later, they had a daughter named Ajita. Unfortunately, they soon realized she had the same condition as her brother.

In Nepal, it is commonly believed that a person’s karma (sum of good and bad deeds) from past lives contributes to their current fortunes and misfortunes. After giving birth to two children with bilateral clubfoot, the couple felt cursed. The family also faced stigma in their community, from neighbors who believed their children’s disabilities were their fault for previous misdeeds.

As they got older, it became difficult for Amit and Ajita to walk and do their daily activities. But their family is poor and could not afford treatment. Eventually they came to accept the condition as their destiny – until the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC) came into their lives.

The family went to a screening camp held nearby by HRDC, and the siblings were referred to the main HRDC hospital just outside Kathmandu for treatment – an opportunity that changed their fate forever.

At HRDC, they were treated with skill and compassion. After four months of surgery, recovery, and physical therapy, Amit and Ajita could walk – and even run – easily and without pain. The “curse” was broken, it was like a dream come true.

Now back home in the Far West, the siblings will receive regular follow up visits from a local health worker to help with their physical therapy exercises and make sure there are not any complications. Their family is so grateful to HRDC for treating both the physical disability caused by clubfoot and helping to heal the emotional pain of being shunned by their community.

HRDC’s philosophy is based on the idea of treating the whole child, addressing emotional and social suffering alongside the physical. They work with patients, their families, and community leaders to make spaces more accessible, raise awareness about disabilities, and try to end exclusion and discrimination.

Through their nationwide network, health camps, and special events HRDC is reaching more communities and children in need every year. Regardless of caste, ethnicity, or their family’s financial situation, every child who comes to HRDC is treated equally – and they leave happier and healthier. This life-changing work is only possible because of your help.

Thank you for helping Nepal’s most disadvantaged children feel the joy of learning to walk, being able to go to school, and seeing a future full of new possibilities. We are very grateful to you for opening up your heart to these kids in need.

Amit and Ajita standing tall after their treatment

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Jan 27, 2020
Care for Disabled Children

By Bruce Moore | Nepal Country Director

Sita beaming as she walks into a brighter future.

One of my earliest, but still very vivid, memories of my work with AHF is meeting a seven-year-old girl named Sita. She was disabled — one leg was half the length of the other. She had spent her life hobbling about, being teased, and her disability was becoming a source of shame.

Fortunately, there was a place she could get help — the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children, or HRDC as we know it. HRDC’s founder and one of the world’s most compassionate and dedicated orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Ashok Banskota, diagnosed Sita with proximal femoral focal deficiency. Basically, she had no right thigh bone. Nothing could be done to change her leg, but something could be done to change her life.

The same day of the examination, Sita was measured for a prosthetic leg. It was made in HRDC’s own workshop, and a week later the technicians helped her fit it. Minutes later, with some initial support from parallel bars, Sita was walking upright and beaming. An hour later she walked herself out of the hospital, declaring it to be her best day ever! Up until then, I never noticed how tall she was.

Very few cases have solutions as swift as Sita’s. Many of the patients need extensive surgery. But Dr. Banskota, who has been joined by his equally dedicated son, Dr. Bibek Banskota, together with their team of doctors, nurses, therapists, technicians, teachers and cooks, give the same skilled and tender care to every child, regardless of the family’s financial situation.

HRDC heals minds as well as bodies. There is a nation-wide network of rehab specialists who not only help with Physical Therapy once a child is back home, but also work with communities to end discrimination and exclusion. And in their spare time they fit growing kids with new orthotic and prosthetic devices and look out for other children needing care.

The Drs. Banskota have built a hospital where love (and a lot of skill) really does cure pain — both the physical and the pain of being shunned because of an injury or disability. And they and their team are ready, with your help, to transform the lives of another 94,000 children.

Dr. Banskota and his son Dr. Bibek Banskota

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