My partner Hemu came back from Nepal and reminded me that we had promised to do a health project in the villages above Chitwan. He said the village of Hathibang had hundreds of children attending several schools, and that the village also had a school. These children, as well as the adults, are unable to get to see doctors regularly. A visit to the nearest city is a four-hour trek if you have a car. Most up there in the mountains don’t. So at first, I worked to find some US doctors who would be interested in a training experience and travel with me. I kept striking out. Then, a friend and now a Global Action Board member, Pragati Ghimire, a medical professional living in Tampa, mentioned she had a cousin in Bharatpur, the city closest to the mountains.
Local Rotary club collaboration
Prajiv Bhattarai was a member of the local Rotary Club of Chitwan, which included several doctors and the head of the teaching hospital. So that began a different plan. Finally, I traveled to Bharatpur to meet with the Rotary Club and was impressed by it.
As a Rotarian, I know we focus on projects that help others both locally and internationally. This Club has many amazing projects it is already doing. They have a Spinal Care center, a Heart Clinic, and a home for elders who need housing or food. Yet, with all that, they are still interested in doing Health Camps. They introduced me to Dr. Manohar Pradhan, the head of the College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital.
Yaseen Echeki, our intern who had been living in Nepal for a couple of months, and I took a tour with Dr. Pradhan. Everyone working at this huge facility was very respectful and warm with him, and I could see he was a great leader. So, working with him, 27 doctors from the hospital, and several members of the Rotary Club, we headed off to the village.
Global Action took responsibility for the medical supplies we would need and the transportation. The rest were all volunteers. The morning of the clinic/camp, children started arriving. Before we started, we did a short program. I found myself getting emotional watching the children and thinking that, after 1.5 years, we were actually going to do this. This great group of doctors working with Lok, the Administrator of the Village school, was already doing their magic.
Over the day, we took care of hundreds of children and teenagers. The first patient was an older man. He walked up to Dr. Pradhan and told him that many years ago, he had operated on him to fix his jaw. So here he was getting a check-up and follow-up from the very surgeon who had worked on him.
At some point, Yaseen and I brought out the soccer balls that were donated by the Greenville Triumph Football Club and started playing with the kids. After a rowdy mini game, a young man stepped up between the two poles, announced he was the goalie, and welcomed anyone to try to beat him. He was good, and I think if the Triumph had sent someone with us, he would be signed to their Futures Camp.
Before we finished, Dr. Pradhan came over to me and asked, “What is next?” I realized that I had found, with this incredible doctor and his team, and this active Rotary Club, partners that we could build on to do more work. We are now looking into other places to do another health camp. Also, the dentists who accompanied us said that if we had some funding, they could bring equipment and perform dental work, including treating cavities and other issues. Finally, we could see that if this village, which had a small clinic run by a young lady with a high school degree, had a rotating doctor on site, it could serve the many who live in the nearby area. I hope, as you read this, you will start thinking this kind of work is worth supporting and help us continue. Remember, there are no employees or personnel receiving salaries. I traveled to Nepal on my own dime. We are careful with how we spend our money, and 100% of it goes to these projects.
