Dear sponsors and supporters

The health centres in Betang, Bhorle and Gope which were established with your help, are groundbreaking for the entire mountain region of Nepal.

Success gives courage!

We trust in your support this time as well, even though many challenges, including financial ones, affect us all in these times.

We very much hope to build the fourth health and maternity centre with your donations in eastern Nepal.

Location of the region

Despite the adventurous and costly journey - 18 hours by jeep from Kathmandu, even though Google calculates 11 hours and 29 minutes - Ram Kumar Tamang of NHEFoN considers the construction of a health station in this region to be feasible. The necessary construction material can be supplied from Dumlingar / Biratnagar.

The goal is

• to ensure basic and emergency health care in the long term by establishing a health and birthing centre in Kimalung,
• to provide women with a competent and safe place to give birth and care for their newborns,
• to establish the facility as an advisory centre on health issues for the people in the region.

Currently, there are only sporadic visits by a nurse in a so-called health post for the entire region. In the future, two nurses will be on duty in Kimalung, financed by the government on a long-term basis. A doctor can be called in for difficult cases. One of the nurses must provide evidence she has undergone a state training as a nurse.

Population

Baidar Bhanjang is centrally located in the large community of Kimalung, which includes about 600 houses with an average of 6 to 7 people.

The population structure consists of Tamang, Rai and Sherpa.

Livelihood mainly comes from agriculture and livestock. Yields are good, bartering is still very common. People with little or not so productive land often have big problems with nutrition. Income from trekking is scarce, as the community is located far from the frequented trekking routes. Increasing weather changes due to climate change make livelihoods increasingly insecure.

Education

There is a state school up to 10th grade. There has also been a private school in Baidar Bhanjang for about 5 years. The cooperation of the health and birthing centre with the schools is an important approach to health education and birth control.

Health care, social services

There is no hospital in the entire district. The nearest intermittently staffed health posts are Bhojapur which is 7 hours walk away, health post Dingla 4 hours, health post Khadabari 9 hours away. The nearest hospital is in a neighbouring district, but it is not responsible for the people of Kimalung and is two days walk away.

A special award

The government has promised NHEFoN to hire and fund two nurses in this health station as well. One of the nurses must have additional government training as a midwife and childbirth educator.

Thus, besides Bhorle and Gope, this health station, too, will offer a special qualification.

Decisive for this qualification are, among other things, the good endowment with ultrasonic device, small warming bed, separate birthing room and corresponding diagnostic facilities for pregnant women as well as for regular check-ups of the babies. In special cases, the nurse will obtain additional support by medical specialists via the Internet.

Births currently all take place at home, with the known high mortality of mothers and children. There is currently no accompaniment of the pregnancies, no birth attendance and no aftercare.

Things are already moving

Since August there are an elected health and a women’s committee in the community. There are state land social workers as in Bhorle and Betang. These committees were elected by the population as part of the project development - a good development for us.

The plot

There is a very suitable building plot. It is safe from landslides and earthquakes, located by the road, near the local school. The father of a former participant in our education project, Tshering Ganden (principal of the private school), has donated the land. The land has already been transferred to the authority which is a prerequisite for the construction of the station.

With about 300 sqm the land is big enough to build the station in the same way as in Gope - with about 100 sqm enclosed space. Electricity and water are nearby. The site of Kimalung Bhanjang Ward 9 is easily accessible from all other villages and centrally located. It was chosen by the population.

Structural requirements

There are no rock fragments in the region that could be used to build the station. The construction must be built with bricks, as in Bhorle. Architect Madhav Regmi will finalize plans for the site during the next site visit in December 2022. Earthquake resistance and related construction methods are a given.

When Ram Kumar Tamang and architect Madhav Regmi travel to Kimalung again at the beginning of December, they will inform the population further, deepen the networks with teachers and other groups, initiate considerations regarding the participation of the population, prepare the construction works and organize the procurement of materials.

This is how it will continue

Ram Kumar Tamang, an experienced construction manager, plans to have the bricks and other building materials delivered as early as January, because that is when the conditions are best for transports of this magnitude. Climate change has extended and postponed the rainy season in this region, too. Construction would take place after the rainy season in early November 2023 until April 2024.

Construction costs

In Nepal, people are struggling with the same global problems we face in Europe. Among other things, transportation and construction costs have increased significantly. The construction is estimated at 80,000 - 90,000 €. Negotiations with transport companies and building material suppliers have not yet been completed. Also the low Euro will influence the financing.

DESWOS is on board again

A reliable partner

Deswos will contribute 50% to the construction of the health station.

NB&G, our Swiss partner, will provide 25%.

What the name of DESWOS stands for:

The “DESWOS German development assistance for social housing and settlement” registered association (DESWOS Deutsche Entwicklungshilfe für soziales Wohnungs- und Siedlungswesen e.V.) is a private non-profit association. It was founded on 11/17/1969. DESWOS is supported by memberships, donations and honorary engagement from the housing companies organized in the “GdW federal association of German housing and real estate companies” (GdW Bundesverband deutscher Wohnungs- und Immobilienunternehmen) as well as from their further associations in conjunction with companies of other economic sectors and private individuals.

More information can be found at: https://deswos.de/

We ask for your support for the birthing and health station Kimalung.

As so often in the past, it is the same again here …

…only with your donations all the successful projects could be realized. In the past, they have concretely and noticeably improved the lives of the entire population of Betang, Bhorle and Gope and certainly improved the survival of babies and residents.

We thank you!

Information about our donation account can be found at Support us.

Gecotec e.V Germany,
NEPAL Education & Health Switzerland and
NHEFoN Nepal