Mother and Child Health Clinic in Rural Nepal

Caseload at the clinic continues to remain at an average of 1300 patients treated each year, though that number is rising slightly due in part to the help we have received via GlobalGiving. We now have enough full-time staff that our nurse is able to go out and make rounds in the villages. We find a lot of patients that way who otherwise may not come to the clinic. That early intervention is helping reduce the need for more serious treatment later.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and the Nepali organization Center For Rural Technology are both working with us to develop better public health programs so we can prevent some of the problems we see at the clinic. I am attaching a PDF file that was a PowerPoint presentation EWB and KFK gave which shows more clearly the public health issues that are underlying the sickness in these villages.

The proposed clinic in Thulo is stalled at the moment, as the village leaders are unable to come to a decision on the donation of land. We have however started a new partnership that will lead to a second clinic at another Tamang village that is located a few miles further towards Tibet. I will post some information on that project soon.

In addition to funding from GlobalGiving making it possible for us to do more outreach work, we have made a few improvements to the clinic building to create a space more conducive to healthcare. We were also able to host two important events at the clinic. First, we hosted a dental camp for one week and a weeklong training for traditional birth attendants (TBA) (village midwife). We had fifteen TBA's from three villages attend the entire week. For most of them, this was the first formal training they had ever received on how to safely deliver a child. I am attaching a photo of that class in session. We plan to repeat this again next year, as the women who attended were very anxious to learn even more.

I hope our supporters at GlobalGiving realize how important they are in keeping this clinic in operation. The area where the clinic is located is not on any tourist routes nor is it near any major towns. For these reasons we don't get the kind of support that other areas of Nepal do. Villages along major trekking routes, as in the Everest area for instance, have many NGOs working in them and a continuous stream of donations from western tourists. These villages rarely see any western tourists and hence don't have the donor base to access. The support we have here is critical to keeping us operational and we thank you.

We continue to get many inquiries from medical people wishing to volunteer at the clinic. We hope to get more and welcome volunteers at the clinic.

Links:

• KFK's web site

• PowerPoint on Public Issues (PDF)