It was a day of celebration at the Career Building International Academy last week as the community came together in honour of the Hindu Goddess of Education, Saraswati. Nick, one of our teaching volunteers from England writes about the event that saw another 50 pupils enrol at the Volunteer Society Nepal funded school…

We had known about the up coming celebration for some time and had been looking forward to it. All the Hindu festivals are a treat for any visiting volunteer to Nepal with bright colours, smiling faces and always some delicious local food! The 20th January was the celebration of the Goddess Saraswati. She is recognised as the Hindu goddess of spiritual enlightenment; encompassing learning, wisdom and fine arts. It is customary to begin a child’s education on this day and the CBIA organised a special worship of Saraswati.

The most significant aspect of this day is that Hindu children are taught reading and writing their first word – as it is considered an auspicious day to begin a child’s education. Goddess Saraswati being pure and white and representing learning, no animal sacrifices are made to her. Everyone has a vegetarian meal on this day. While the preparations on the new basketball court were underway, at the back of the playground the VSN language trainer Beesal was hard at work making Prashad in a huge cauldron over a wood fire. This was a mix of ground wheat and rice meal, sugar and dried fruits topped off with apples and tangerines. It was delicious and fed all the assembled after they received a blessing from the Brahmin. Standing with the families of the children you have been teaching witnessing the ancient rituals was an incredible experience. The school seems to be going from strength to strength with new classrooms, a new basketball court and an expanding library all donated by the funds of VSN volunteers.

We only have one week left at the school after 3 months volunteering here and it’s going to be strange to say goodbye to the children. It makes you want to come back and see how everyone in the community is getting on. All I can say is that I can fully recommend coming to volunteer as a teacher here. There is something new everyday and the kids surprise you with what they want to learn about. The pride they have in their country and their ambition is humbling and to be able to help as a volunteer even in a small is a great way to spend your time as a volunteer.

To find out more about volunteering as a teacher with Vounteer Society Nepal you can explore the Placement Pages:

• Volunteering in Schools
• Teacher Training and Subject Specific Teaching
  
• Teaching in Monasteries

Background to health care in Nepal:

Nepal is located between China and India. Its mountains, lack of infrastructure, and land-locked status pose extreme barriers to development. Its per capita income is just USD $218 and the vast majority of people are subsistence farmers. Nepal’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 539/100,000 births ranks among the highest in the world. (In comparison, Sri Lanka’s MMR is 94, while the United States’ is just 8). Life expectancy is 55 years. Diseases of pregnant women, children, infections, and malnutrition account for two thirds of Nepal’s illnesses.

There is a gaping disparity in the quality of health care access offered in urban and rural areas. While Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, has 98 doctors for every 100,000 people, rural Nepal averages just 2.5 per 100,000 – and in many of its 75 districts, there is no doctor. Many approved government posts of all levels of health care workers are unfilled. For example, For example, for the whole of Nepal, 13% of all baby deliveries are conducted by trained personnel; and for the poorest fifth of the population (mainly rural) the number is just 3%.

VSN has been focusing its health programs to meet a small number of that need in urban and rural areas of Nepal. With this program hundreds of local people have been already benefited. While Nepali underprivileged people are receiving health services from health experts, overseas medical professionals, medical students, and other volunteers also receive the opportunity to work side-by-side with other foreigners and Nepali health professionals in a Third World setting. Overseas volunteers will work alongside their Nepali counterparts to organize overall health camps, examine patients, distribute medicine and consult with communities about sanitation and health care.

VSN Health Clinic at the landless community

On the banks of the Manohara River near a place called Jadibuti, there is a community of internally displaced Nepalese citizens. The Manohara Landless Community (MLC) consists of over 5,000 people (3,800 under the age of 18). These people come from a variety of circumstances. Some were driven from their homes due to Maoist rebels and associated violence. Others came because floods and landslides destroyed their villages, and more still are sharecroppers who have never owned their own property.

Despite the fact that they are squatting on public land, these people have built “camps” on this river bank and in the past 3 years have established their own community. It is unlikely that they will be removed. The conditions here are the likes of which most people in the world cannot even imagine. The homes are makeshift sheds, some held together by little more than discarded rice bags. Because it is on the bank of a river, they have no clean water or waste management system. Raw sewage runs down the middle of the “streets”. Sadly, every day hundreds of children play in these filthy conditions, and the residents use the same river water for urinating, defecating, bathing, and sometimes, drinking.

Despite their hardships, the residents of this community have established their own government. VSN contacted its leaders, or ‘elders,’ about the needs of the community. Although VSN does not have a regular donor-base for its projects and has always depended on volunteers’ fees, VSN decided to establish a small health clinic for the community, including health awareness and income generation activities. Now this community has a health clinic with an experienced health worker, as well as one other staff member who provides treatment and medicines for a minimal fee. Until overall sanitation improves, however, the sad truth is that all of this hard work will be futile in the event of a major epidemic. The objectives of establishing health clinic are as follows:

• To provide quality health care facilities for internally displaced people with either no cost or low cost
• To provide quality health care facilities to local disadvantaged women and children.
• To provide health care facilities at local level so that patients do not have to go far and expensive hospitals
• As this health clinic is located near to the orphanages run by VSN, we aim to provide free health services for the locally run orphanages
• Making a center for overseas medical doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical students where they can serve underprivileged women and children and learn about Nepali medications system.
• Organize health awareness program on a regular basis

What we need to develop the clinic:

Currently this health clinic has one junior doctor with a small pharmacy, who provides general health checks for local people. This clinic provides healthcare facilities to around 300 patients a month. As this clinic does not have sufficient medical equipments and human resources, these landless and local patients either get no treatment or they have to go to private hospitals, which is extremely expensive. VSN has a plan to expand its services to local people with more equipment and qualified medical personnel. If we have more equipment and human resources, we will be able to provide healthcare facilities up to 750 patients a month. We have three rooms. Two rooms have been used for patient examining and one has been used for pharmacy. To provide quality healthcare facilities we would be needing following equipments and human resources.

1. An X ray machine and Laboratory

For ordinary diagnosis patients have to pay lots of money or they have to go far away. If our clinic owns an X- ray machine and laboratory, people from this area will benefit hugely from this clinic. It costs approximately $3,300

2. Medicines

As we do not have sufficient medicines, we have not been able to provide health care facilities.

Helpful medical supplies that may be provided to our health clinic

• Gloves
• Cotton balls
• Bandaids
• Penlights
• Metronidazole syrup
• Amoxil 500 mg. caplets
• Acetaminophen
• Pregnancy tests
• Amoxicillin suspension
• Ciprofloxacin 400mg
• Alcohol swales
• Cold/ Cough syrup
• Oral rehydration solution
• Ranitidine 15 mg tablets
• Omeprazole capsules
• Permethain cream/ scabies lotion
• Rit
• Nurofen
• Neosporin/ Bacitracin
• Clatrimanzole/ Antifungal cream
• Tongue depressors
• Antibiotic Eye and Ear Drops
• Nasal saline
• Saline eye drops
• Batteries (C, D, A ,A)
• Alcohol foam/Gel

Optional

• Fatal Doppler
• Glucometer
• E.N.T. set
• Otoscope /ophthalmoscope
• Blade handles
• SM. needles

3. Doctor and nurses

As we have a junior doctor working for our clinic, he is looking after overall management of the clinic. But, once, we have more medical equipments; we will need more physicians, specialist doctors for part time in a regular base. Moreover, if we have more overseas volunteer specialists, physician doctors, nurses, paramedics, medical and premedical students, they will give great helping hands to serve local communities. They can be involved in three different activities.

If you are interested in helping raise funds for the health clinic, please contact VSN immediately and we will give you extra information, fundraising support and anything else you would require. Or, if you are looking to volunteer in a medical placement in Nepal, get in touch and we will discuss options for supporting the clinic