Karing for Kids (KFK Nepal) Trip Update 2

All is well in Nepal today. EWB (Engineers Without Borders) returned yesterday from the clinic and reports that all the water taps in the villages are contaminated with e-coli.  Ian stopped in Dunche and had a conversation with the district water supervisor who seems not to know what e-coli is or that it is a problem. He stated that the cold temperatures at altitude should kill it off. Don't be too shocked though as often these jobs are political favors and require no actual knowledge of the subject. Margot is out looking for supplies today to ward off a potential landslide beneath the village the of Chilime. Water flowing downhill there has totally saturated soils and it is showing signs of instability. The plan is to channel the water via a culvert, or rip-wrap a trench and focus this in one narrow area.  Today The Mountain Fund is hosting a get together with a few local NGO's working in the same district as the clinic at the Hotel Tibet.  It is a meet and greet sort of social hour. Dawa Sherpa, TNF athlete who raised money and awareness of the clinic with his mountain bike adventure here will also attend. Just this week the King announced new regulations for NGO's that make it much harder to operate in Nepal. That is one of the things we will be discussing. Under the new rules, small NGO's like Karing for Kids would have to produce an annual audited financial statement, for instance, which is a large financial burden for so small an organization. Scott

Earlier Update

Background

Karing for Kids (KFK Nepal) runs a Mother and Child Health Clinic (MCH-Clinic) in the rural mountain communities of Rasuwa, Nepal. KFK Nepal is a non-government charity organization working to save the lives of children in Nepal since 1997.

KFK-Nepal’s MCH Clinic has been providing the medical services to approximately 7,000 people of remote Gatlang, Goljung, and Chilime villages of Rasuwa district since late 2000. Before this clinic was established, there was no medical service available in these communities. Because of the extreme level of poverty in these communities and remoteness from a nearby hospital, which is about a days walking distance, most people could not manage to get medical care when they were sick. Seeking care from local healers who did not have access to modern medical techniques or treatments and  was the only option. Government outreach immunization services were so infrequent and irregular that many children were left without immunization against the major childhood illnesses. Prior to KFK’s Clinic it was difficult to find a mother who had not lost a child and impossible to find a household without a sick person. It is estimated that the Child and Maternal Mortality rates of these communities have been almost two-to-three times higher than the national average. Nepal's average infant mortality rate, 78 deaths per 1000 live births, and average maternal mortality rate, 539 deaths per 100,000 live deliveries, are among the highest in the world.

KFK operates on an extremely low budget. For about the cost of lunch in an American restaurant, $15.00/day, we staff the clinic and provide medical supplies and equipment as well as overhead costs, such as utilities. But even this small sum of money is difficult to obtain in a country as poor as Nepal. We desperately need your help to save lives and improve the health and well being of these poor, indigenous Buddhist-Tamang communities on the Nepal-Tibet border.

How You Can Help Save this Clinic and build more...

a)       Individual Sponsorship:  We welcome and encourage individuals to sponsor our basic clinic operation cost. To meet our yearly budget of US$ 7500, we need just 25 people to contribute the small sum of US$ 25/month. That is less than $1.00 a day to keep this clinic open!

b)       Volunteers supports: We welcome and encourage professionally trained medical personal, preferably nurse practitioners, midwife, and medical doctors to provide volunteer services in our clinic. Interested individual should be able to cover his or her own costs while we will provide free accommodations.

c)       Institutional/Corporate Supports: We request charity organizations and corporate agencies to help us sustain, develop, and expand our medical and other development activities such as sanitation, community health education, community library, child education sponsorship etc. We also accept donations of medical equipments and supplies such as medicine etc.

Please help us to save lives and improve health and well being of the deprived poor indigenous Tamang communities.

To make a donation send your check to:

Karing for Kids PO Box 1170 Sandia Park New Mexico 87047 or make a donation using your credit card or your checking account on-line using Pay-pal here: 

Doctors and Dentists, and others wanted to volunteer. Give a little back! E-MAIL US TODAY!

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