Back to Nepal for a moment...(take a look nurse and almost nurse friends!)

I want to catch up a little bit with my week in Nepal now. I haven't done that much in India yet so now seems like a good time.

My introduction to Nepal was through Suman, a Nepali man. We sat next to each other on the plane to Kathmandu. He thanked me several times for coming to visit Nepal. He was coming back from Tokyo and spoke English, Japanese, and obviously Nepali. Eventually I asked him what he did and he told me about the "Kathmandu Model Hospital", which is run by "phect-NEPAL", a non-profit national NGO that he co-founded. I asked him if I could visit and he said sure.

I arrived at the Hospital and Suman got together 5 of his friends and colleagues to sit in a room with me to talk to me and answer questions. (these were surgeons and other doctors, and I was just a curious foreigner, couldn't believe they took time out to sit and drink coffee and chat with me! Although they did periodically have to attend to phone calls...)

I will try to recount somewhat briefly the highlights of what I learned-

In 1990 Nepal became a democracy (although the royal family was still around, that's a long story). Before 1990 all organizations had to be approved by the queen, who would only approve "pro-royalist" organizations. So with the new freedoms in 1990 Suman and co started planning their NGO, they started small, in a single room which they later converted to a clinic. "We had no money in our pockets, just dreams."

They served various communities (most outside of the Kathmandu valley) and developed health activism. They would appoint community nurses and form health co-ops, that were run by local people. The co-ops were "micro health insurance schemes" (there was no state health insurance in Nepal, I think that is still the case). They tried to get people to contribute 1/2 of a rupee per day (about 1/8 of a U.S. cent) towards the co-op health insurance funds, and still that was too much for many people.

They attempted to "reach the unreachable" and became a referral center for the relatively poor.

In 1993 the Kathmandu Model Hospital was officially established with 18 beds. It now has 125 beds and is "one of the reputed hospitals for secondary and tertiary specialized services in the capital city." On average the beds are more than 80% occupied.

The hospital will treat anyone that comes and asks for payment if people are able. Government hospitals are often over-crowded and private hospitals are expensive so the Kathmandu Hospital became another option.

They have also established 2 small community hospitals outside of Kathmandu. And they set up medical camps (tents) in very rural areas and treat medical issues such as cleft lip, burns and uterine prolapse (which is a very painful condition that occurs when a woman's uterus comes down into her vagina. many women in rural Nepal have to go right back to working in the fields after giving birth so this is a relatively common occurrence).

phect-Nepal works in reproductive health, gender based violence, psychological counseling, and legal support as well as general health. The Kathmandu Model Hospital has an acupuncture clinic. They also do dental work, speech therapy, and have many other services!

They have gotten some foreign grants but they struggle with funding, if you are in a philanthropic mood you can email them at phectnp@wlink.com.np They should have a website soon.

Also for my nurse (or other medical) friends!

You can go and work or intern there, in several different capacities-

1) you can make presentations or give lectures at their nursing school (yes they also have their own nursing school!)

2) you can work in the Kathmandu Model Hospital (where depends on your specialty), and share/compare you experiences at home with nurses there

3) you can go to the smaller community hospitals or rural medical camps, where you would have the opportunity to help out in many ways

You can email me or them if you are interested. You don't need to speak Nepali, most medical professionals there speak English.

Many of you love mountains, and Nepal is the place to be for trekking! Just be careful what you eat, next I will write about my experience as a patient in a hospital in Kathmandu...