The whole family of D2 comes together with great spirit when it comes to lending a helping hand and we have done just that, many a times, to organize various projects to serve our community.
Health Camp – Part 1
On 18th August, 2008, Sapta Koshi River made a small breach on her eastern sand embankment, about 19 kilometers north from Koshi Barrage. According to local eyewitnesses it was not that large on that day but now the breach has extended its length to about 1600 meters. Koshi changed her usual course inundating four VDCs (Haripur, Shripur, Kushaha, Laukahi) and badly affecting other four (Ghuski, Narshimha, Madhuban and Basantapur). Only 19 % (26,500 cusec) of the Koshi River is flowing through the Koshi Barrage which has created another unusual scene at the barrage area. The mini-ocean like look has turned into ocean of sand. The attempt of stopping further erosion of the embankment had been futile. Only few tree branches were seen placed at the spur of the embankment breach.
Latest government report estimates that 107,000 people are affected by this disaster. Koshi has already expanded her new course to wide area of Bihar, India, affecting many districts and millions of people. We saw many Indian flood victims entering (officially believed to be more than 10,000). Often close trans-border communal relationship and family ties are one of the major factors for this influx of victims.
About 11 temporary shelters have been established. Many national and international organizations are working closely with District Disaster Relief Committees (DDRC) led by the Chief of District Offices. We had to attain the daily meeting called by CDO of Saptari to acknowledge and finalize our program decisions. NDRT (National Disaster Response Team), Red Cross, UNICEF, Oxfam, Government officials from Health sector, Matrika Yadav (former minister) and other National and local partners were present on the meeting. CDO channelized the responsibility to different project heads and we had to attain another meeting with the Superintendent of Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital who was in charge of all the heath related activities in the disaster site.
Despite of the coordination, during our inspection of the disaster site we found that humanitarian response has not been sufficient enough. We came to know that not even a single ambulance was mobilized for weeks after disaster. A truck loaded with medicines had not arrived from Kathmandu since back three days. People were still being killed by cold at night. Shelters which are difficult to access were still deprived of humanitarian aid distributions. Worst of all was the heinous attempts of mingling the aid programs with local political agendas. We find in the newspapers and media that millions being donated for the rescue operations. But still Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital is not being able to provide enough medication to the flood victims due to lack of budget. Till date all the health operations were financed by Hospital itself. Patients load at the hospital was way beyond its capacity.
On Sunday, we organized a Medical Camp for the flood victims at Bhardaha, Saptari. CMA Association, Saptari was our local partner. Four temporary shelters around our camps were our target. We found most of the cases were dysentery, malnutrition, diarrhea, common cold and viral fever and skin infections. The responsibility of the continuation of the Medical Camp at the site was handed over to CMA Association.
Empathy is one of the strongest factors that make our social fiber strong. It was that empathy which encouraged us to volunteer a Medical Camp; it is the same empathy which is making us willing to donate for the rescue operations. Ripples of the disaster are going to last long. It is very important to sustain that feeling of empathy for us and especially for those who are directly evolved in the disaster response operations.
D2 organized a second Medical Camp in eastern Nepal to provide medical relief to the victims of the Koshi River breach.
This time around, D2’s team from Kathmandu consisted of eighteen team members. Fourteen of them were non-medical employees; two were employee doctors whereas two of them were guest doctors who had joined the team as volunteers. Volunteer doctors Sabya Nepal and Samir Ale were joining us via their acquaintance to Upasana. Six health assistants partnered our efforts from Peoples Nursing Home Pvt. Ltd. at Pani Tanki Road in Rajbiraj-5. These local partners were liaisoned through our resident doctor Umesh Khanal. The team from Peoples Nursing Home played a pivotal role in helping us identify and settle on the most effective location. Moreover they provided invaluable voluntary help in diagnosis, patient care and in dispensing medicine to the patients. Two of these volunteers actually carried a portable microphone with them and walked to surrounding spurs informing people of the camp. They did this the whole day!
The health camp officially started from eleven in the morning. The throngs of patients kept on increasing as the day wore on. Some of us volunteers had to play bad cop (with humility though) to control an easily irritable mass. We had to smile, beg and plead to control minor scuffles that broke down from time to time between the patients themselves. One can only sympathize with what these people have gone through in the last four weeks. Per our doctors, most people were depressed. Why wouldn’t they be? When one losses home, cattle and in some cases family members - things really do not look up.
Most of the people coming in for medical examination were from Haripur and Shripur in Nepal. This time we had setup the camp in the most effective place. We were treating people worst affected by this tragedy.
Further it was good to see that the relief effort (from the government and NGOs) was getting into much better shape that what it had been few weeks back. There were other organizations with permanent camps, some even focused on specific disease treatment! Even while we were working, a team of Nepal Army and British Rotary came near our location to setup a number of good tents for the displaced. Once it got to 3 PM, our volunteers stopped new people from queuing up so that we could end the camp in an orderly fashion. The last of the patient - a small girl who had a suspect pneumonia was treated at around quarter past five in the afternoon.
At the end of the camp, volunteers were equally eager and helping to pack up the materials. Just before leaving the site, all gathered for a group photo to capture a day filled with selfless service. Each volunteer played a crucial part in making each event of the day successful. Some stood for hours in the open sun in managing the queue - not minding the constant beating from the hot sun. We had the same set of three to four volunteers working in the dispensary. Everybody was always smiling, willing to work where posted and always eager to lend a helping thought or hand unasked. It was an excellent feeling to see the ripe goodness coming out of their hearts and getting translated into action amidst difficult conditions. The doctors were the real hero for the day to put in the level of service that they did. Even our two drivers were working continuously in the sheds to assist the volunteers and the doctors. In all, this was a total team effort where each contributed to the fullest.
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Community Service: Study and Fun
Theme: Community Service
Hiking Route: Sankhu Bazaar, Lapsephedi, Jersingh Pouwa, Bajrayogini
Total Distance covered: Approx 25 Km
Duration: 6 hours
Date: September 07, 2008
Participants: Nishchal, Suresh, Ishwor, Rajendra, Pragya, Prajwal, Mahesh
As a continuation to the “Community Service” theme based hiking, this week we took a trip to Sankhu, a small historical town situated approx. 25 km north east of Kathmandu. Passing through the busy and dusty area, we reached to a peaceful area of Sankhu at around 9 AM. After having breakfast at Sankhu bazaar, we headed towards Lapsephedi, the base of Jersingh Pouwa. Local villagers, including Dhami- Jhakris [Traditional Healers], were gathered in the main bazaar for participating in a local festival there.
We initially had a plan to visit the local school at Lapshiphedi but unfortunately the school was closed due to local festival. So we decided to visit the high school at Jarsingh Pouwa. We reached our destination Shree Kalika Sharan Secondary School; Jersingh Pouwa at around 12:30pm.This school stands as major institution in that locality, and is influenced by Tamang students and culture. We found the excitement among the students over there, who might have thought that we were going to hold a special function.
As our tradition, we distributed copies and pencils among students of primary level, from Grade I to VI. We also conducted a small talk program on “IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION” in three different classes. Total of 6 enthusiastic students spoke brilliantly on the assigned topic. The expressed views were so practical that they got us spellbound. We presented them with a special gift for their participation. We also distributed additional books and sport accessories to the school. Seeing the students play on the school ground with the accessories we provided brought a sense of great joy to all of us. Teachers supporting our visit seemed excited, as well. The physical exertion was momentarily forgotten, eclipsed by a sense of accomplishment. Our contribution was not even equivalent to a drop of water in the sea, but still the smiles on the faces of the children, during our informal program, meant a lot. As we left school and returned, we were unanimous about the idea of integrating community service as a part of all upcoming hikes.
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