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.

Resham’s Story 

The account of a young 2½ year old boy, Resham, gives an insight into some of the daily challenges facing many people in Nepal.  

Resham was accidentally burnt by his brother who was playing with fire outside near their house.  He is one of six brothers and sisters. Along with these siblings and parents, his grandparents and uncle and aunty also live in the same house.  

A few years ago this family lived about 5 hours away from Tansen, but after a severe house fire the family home was destroyed and they were forced to move to an area not far from Tansen into a rented house. Resham’s father is the only wage earner and is in essence supporting 12 people. For them the challenges of daily life and re-establishing a new home from scratch (after the fire) were enough to deal with, but then there was Resham’s accident.  

In October 2008 Resham presented at the hospital with 29% of his body burnt, and his survival was very much in doubt. Over the following few months he received a total of 12 skin graft operations, slowly re-covering areas of dead tissue that had been lost to the fire. Recovery after such extensive surgery is also heavily dependent on the child’s general physical health and nutrition levels at the time of admittance. We often see many children who are already malnourished before they present at the hospital.  A malnourished child has a much slower recovery rate so it is imperative that they receive a supplementary high protein diet too.  

During his hospital stay his parents were asking for him to be discharged as they had lost hope of him surviving. The Pastoral Care Team was able to spend time and pray with him and his parents as they went through an extended stay at hospital. Over the weeks he slowly improved and was at last able to be discharged home. As you can imagine his parents are delighted and saying that he has been given life again. In addition the pastoral care fund was able to pay 90% of Resham’s final bill, as well as providing him with a high protein diet too, thus removing a bill that otherwise the family would never have been able to afford. 

At a time when we see many painful sights, especially with children, we are thankful to God for the opportunity to witness stories of success despite all the odds.

If you would like to learn more about the work of our Pastoral Care Team please click here. 

We are always looking for long-term GPs and surgeons to come and work at Tansen Mission Hospital. Terms range from 6 months upwards. Having this sort of continuity really aids the stability and smooth running of hospital services and allows us to deliver a consistent standard of medical care to Tansen and the surrounding communities. For more information click on the specialty above.

We also have opportunities for short-term surgeons to help cover staffing shortages and enable the surgical team to continue to run in an effective way. At present we are in real need of orthopedic surgeons to cover staff shortages. Please click here for further details.