Despite Nepal being the second water-richest country in the world the infrastructure is not in place to capture it, with the vast majority flowing away down to India.

As a result Nepal as a country frequently faces the problem of water shortage and long lines of people can be seen queuing for water during the dry season. Here at the hospital over the years we have built storage tanks to allow us to capture and retain as much water as possible, however due to increasing patient numbers our resources are being stretched. The past few years we have had to buy water in via tankers to keep the hospital running.

As you can imagine, providing good care care to patients requires a consistent source of water.  Due to the mountanous terrain, it is difficult to drill wells.  Most of the water in the area comes from springs or small rivers.  An important supplemental source of water is rainwater.  We try to harvest rain water by having gutters which are connected to underground water tanks.  During the monsoon season, the rain water exceeds the capacity of all of our water tanks.  If this water could be collected and stored, it would help us through the dry months of summer.  At times when the water level is low, we have to cancel surgery or send patients away.

We have obtained a construction estimate. The design of the underground water tank needs to be sufficiently robust to withstand earthquakes and land shifts (which are common in this region). The tank would hold 1 million litres of water, and the projected is estimated to cost US$ 250,000. A tank this size and of this quality would allow us to provide water for our hospital's needs for many, many years to come.

Please do pray about this as it is clearly a huge undertaking, but one we feel will be a huge asset to the hospital for the future. If you would like to donate towards this you can send money directly or by cheque. Please see p15 of Friends of Tansen showing options for giving.

Thank you.

February 2010  

We want to give thanks for the following:  

·          Our recent AGM showed that figures for patients seen, operations performed, babies delivered, free care given to patients are all up on last year.

·          It looks like our search for a primary/elementary teacher for our school is coming to an end. Later this year we will actually need 2 teachers and we have had 2 people start the application process in the last month – which is great news!

·          Excellent renovation work going on in the hospital as our workshop team move departments and enhance existing ones – it really does make such a difference to the environment and the quality of service we offer. We now have a new Chapel, Canteen and Minor Operating Room. More information on this work and pcitures will be available in our annual magazine ‘Friends of Tansen 2010’ which will be published in March. A pdf copy will be put on the website but if you would like a hard copy please email us and we will happily send you one.

·          In December we opened our first ever Intensive Care Unit. This is something we have hoped to do for a long time and now it is here! It is a one-bed unit with ventilator. We had various outside ICU trainers come last year to give appropriate training to a group of nurses as to how to manage an Intensive Care Unit and equipment. To-date we have had 3 patients who have needed to be put on the ventilator and required 24-hour one-on-one care. At present one boy is in there with tetanus – more details below.

We’d really appreciate prayer for the following:   

·          We are still urgently in need of an orthopedic surgeon. Currently we have one Nepali surgeon who is really stretched trying to deal with all the cases single-handedly.

·          Please continue to pray for the recruitment process for our new teachers that it would go well and allow them to get here at the right time.

·          In our new ICU we have a 10-year old boy suffering with tetanus. He is currently on the ventilator and needs prayer for recovery of his damaged nerve endings and that he would soon be able to breathe unassisted. Please also pray for the small medical team as they care for him.

·          The Hospital Director Rachel Karrach will be taking home-leave from the end of February till early July. Please pray for her as she hands over the management of the hospital to a team of people covering different roles. Pray for protection and wisdom for the group whilst she is away.

·          Now is budgeting and planning time for the hospital for the next financial year so prayers for wisdom for this would be appreciated.

·          The future ownership of the hospital is still not clear. Please pray for the team committed to taking the hospital forward, and for clarity and wisdom as to which path the hospital should take.

·          Our Pastoral care team do an amazing job here sharing with patients, providing counseling, running the toy round, helping long-stay children with their school work as well as administering financial assistance to the poorest patients. It, as you can imagine, is extremely stressful and draining at times. Please pray for strength and real encouragement for them as the go about their duties.

Thank you for your ongoing support for the hospital. The last few months have been much more settled and positive, and I think that is in large down to the prayer support we have had during the past months, especially as we went through a difficult period. As we look ahead at all 2010 has in stall we know that we have a faithful God who cares about this hospital even more than we do.

            Rachel Karrach

Trees falls - a common sight in Nepal

Falls from trees and associated complications are a common sight here in Tansen. People often climb high trees endeavoring to cut leaves down for their animals or to pick tree shoots for cooking with. In December 2008, 36 year old Ram (name changed) had just this form of accident and was trapped by a tree branch after the fall, leaving him with multiple fractures in the ribs and legs.

Ram has a wife and 4 children, all of whom are reliant on him as the sole income earner. The family owns no land and Ram had been earning his living as a day labourer, with a good day bringing in around $2.

Ram was admitted to hospital and underwent countless operations to slowly rebuild his shattered limbs. During his two and a half month stay in hospital his wife and child were also admitted, exacerbating an already difficult situation.

The cost of care in Nepal is a huge issue for poorer members of society as neither medical insurance nor a national health system is available. For Ram and his family, faced with a large hospital bill, the money issue was a big concern. Thankfully, many of their local villagers rallied round to raise funds towards the family’s medical costs, and through out Pastoral Care fund we were able to give free care and treatment to his wife and child, and pay 60% of Ram’s hospital bill, which came to just overUS$900 equivalent.

Please continue to pray for our Pastoral Care team as they daily assess many needy patients, that they would have wisdom in giving to the people that need help the most.

Thank you.