Health Projects:
The individual areas are detailed in the links at left.
Nepal SEEDS clinics in remote villages have had a profound effect on the health of local communities. Four health posts are now operating in the Nubri and Tsum valleys with two more under construction. We also provide funding for an amchi training program and hope to fund as many as 18 new clinics to be staffed by amchis in the near future.
The Nepal SEEDS Board of Directors, during a visit to the Nubri Valley of Nepal, was approached by community Women's Associations, with requests to provide basic child and maternal health education.
In January 2001, 42 Nubri women between 16 and 56 years old, completed the
Nepal SEEDS sponsored Nubri Women's Health Training Workshop in Kathmandu. The Nubri Valley is one of the most isolated in the Himalayan border region, lacking any basic services except the recently established
Nepal SEEDS sponsored clinics and schools.
Villagers have limited knowledge of western medicine, and indigenous healing traditions sometimes fail to save lives. Health problems in Nubri are a major concern.
40% of the children die before age five; childbirth is often difficult; frequently women die in labor.
A single health post, sponsored by Nepal SEEDS in 1999, combining Tibetan and western medicine, serves over 3,000 people. The nearest hospital is in Gorkha, a five to seven day walk.
After an arduous five day trek and ten hour bus ride, the Nubri women arrived in Kathmandu for the week-long workshop which focused on primary health care, reproductive health, and maternal and child care.
Topics included household sanitation, environmental health, and avoidance, identification, and treatment of diseases common to the Nubri area, as well as feminine hygiene, reproduction, fertility, and problems associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
Evening lecturers highlighted Tibetan and aruyvedic medicine, and the importance of cultural preservation. Instructors included female Tibetan doctors and nurses, and female Nepali doctors with experience in rural health care.
The program culminated with a banquet at Hotel Tibet, and a speech by Dr. Tika P. Pokharel, Member Secretary of His Majesty Government's Social Welfare Council.
The participants proudly received certificates of completion and photographs to commemorate the event. Manjughoksha Academy in Boudha hosted the participants.
For many Nubri women this was their first time in a school environment, and away from the responsibilities of family, household, fields, and livestock.
Health Post
On April 6th, 1999, Nepal SEEDS opened a health post in Prok.(Manaslu Area, Gorkha District) This clinic, founded and funded entirely by Nepal SEEDS, is run by Dr. Dorje - a traditional Tibetan doctor who produces medicines from locally gathered herbs. Dr. Dorje also has a large supply of basic western medicines which he has been trained to prescribe.
See the video below for some direct observation of Dr Dorje.
What a need there was in the Nubri Valley for this clinic!
The winter before the clinic opened 15 young children had died in an influenza and measles epidemic. On opening day villagers who had walked up to ten hours carrying their children on their backs crowded the clinic, waiting to see the Doctor.
The Nepal SEEDS clinic is the sole provider of health care in this valley of 3,000 ethnic Tibetans.
Your donation helps these people realize their dreams and aspirations.
Health problems in Nepal are a major concern, especially in isolated rural areas that lack health facilities. For example, during the 1990s infant and childhood mortality rates were exceptionally high in Nubri: 22% died before their first birthday, and 45% died before age five. Reaching the nearest hospital required a one-week trek on rough mountain trails.
Since 1998 Nepal SEEDS has committed resources to the initiation and drawn upon development of helped alleviate the situation by drawing on local resources and skills to develop a culturally appropriate health care system for remote rural communities.
Nepal SEEDS employs a two-pronged approach to provide basic health services to the villagers of Nubri, Tsum, and other project areas.
(1) On the one hand, Nepal SEEDS draws utilizes on local expertise and partnerships with villagers to construct clinics in their local communities that deliver basic health care services. On the other hand
(2) In order to enhance the local knowledge of medical practices, Nepal SEEDS provides support for women’s health in the form of training seminars and a specialized clinic for maternal health care.
To improve the health of rural Nepalis, Nepal SEEDS partners with several organizations, including the Himalayan Amchi Association.
The goal is to assist HAA to preserve and strengthen the medical traditions of Sowa Rigpa in Nepal through education, workshops, conferences, training, and conservation.
Many of the Nepal SEEDS sponsored medical practitioners amchis gain direct benefits by participating in HAA training programs.
In 2006 Nepal SEEDS supported the three-day Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Health Camp, organized by Bird Conservation Nepal for communities bordering the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in eastern Nepal.
Health camp doctors provided routine physical examinations and medicine for minor ailments. The camps focused on increasing health awareness and environmental knowledge of the wildlife reserve among the local population.
Dr Dorje