One request before we get to today’s episode—we’ve created a short survey to get your feedback on the show. It’s just 4 questions, and according to Survey Monkey the average person takes just 2 minutes to fill it out, so it’s fast. I’ve pasted the link in the episode notes. Thanks to everyone who gives feedback.
Ek Ek Paila (which means step by step in Nepali) was one of many initiatives started to provide emergency relief following the devastating earthquakes of 2015, which killed almost 9,000 people and destroyed 600,000 homes and 20,000 schools. Unlike some other responses, the non-profit has continued, delivering nearly two dozen health camps in remote, mountainous parts of the country.
But about 1 year ago the Nepali-led NGO opened a community health centre in the heart of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. I visited recently and was pleasantly surprised to see it is equipped like a small hospital, including a space for minor surgeries, a dental room and an eyeglass shop. That shop is perhaps not so startling because the president of the Ek Ek Paila Foundation, Dr Suman Thapa, is an opthamologist, with links to Tilganga Eye Hospital.
In our chat today he explains his very personal connection to the clinic’s location and the vision for it as a care centre for the urban poor, including a squatter community living on the banks of the nearby Bagmati River. We also discuss how Ek Ek Paila is expanding, in partnership with the Government of Nepal, to provide permanent health care services in rural areas. At the same time it is using tele-medicine to maintain links with the remote communities where it has already held health camps.
Resources
Ek Ek Paila website
Give your feedback—Nepal Now survey
Nepal Now social links
Thanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.
Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: Apoxode
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Music by audionautix.com.
Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.