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.

November 2010  

We want to give thanks for the following:  

• If you remember in our last prayer update we had a 16-year old girl who was on the ventilator after a snake bite. We are pleased to say she recovered fully and is now back home with her family. The snake had also bitten her mother too, but she was in a less serious condition.

• 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. Renovations of our Operating Room are now complete and we have managed to install piped oxygen, rather than having to use heavy cylinders that have to be moved around by hand. If we have enough funds in the future we hope to extend this oxygen system so it is available on some of the other wards too

• The number of patients seen and operations performed are up year-on-year. We are seeing a growing demand for our services which is wonderful. We are trying to enhance the level/range of medical services available, and in so doing offer an even higher level of care to the people of Palpa district and beyond.

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 pray for a suitable primary teacher from June 2011, as this is when our current teacher will be leaving. The teaching role at our small international school is crucial in order to allow expatriate medical personnel to have education for their children and thus enable them to continue to work here. Without a teacher we would lose many of our families. If you know of anyone who may be suitable for the role please ask them to get in touch. More information can be found by clicking here.

• Hospital security is still an issue. Across Nepal there is a continuing trend toward unhappy patients/relatives resorting to threats/violence against hospitals in order to gain some form of compensation. This is done if they feel the care/service they received was below standard. Sadly these situations arise frequently, even when there has been no negligence, and put a huge pressure on hospitals and disrupt services. Please pray that we would be protected from these as we have been through some very difficult situations in the last few months.

• An ongoing need is for our Pastoral care team who 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 they go about their duties.

• As patient numbers increase and we continue to enhance our facilities we need more experienced staff. Please pray that we would have the necessary resources both financially and staffing-wise to continue to move forward.

Thank you for your ongoing support for the hospital.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like any more information.

Dr Rachel Karrach

Hospital Director

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.