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KARING FOR KIDS-NEPAL (KFK-Nepal) SAVE
OUR CLINIC |
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Who
Is KFK-Nepal?
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.
Please read all the way down for the latest
news.... |
Why We Are Needed:
KFK-Nepals 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 KFKs 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.
Why We Need Your
Help: Beginning in late 1998, KFK-Nepal developed a
plan to provide health care services to the above
needy communities through the establishment of a
regular clinic targeting mother and children. In the
process of materializing its plan, KFK was able to
obtain a community building for KFK free of cost to
set up a clinic. With support from Americans, like
Author Linda Wyile (Linda Wylie and Anatoli Boukreev
Above the Clouds) the initial capital of US $5000 to
start the clinic was raised. KFK also obtained
official approval from the government Health Ministry
to run a clinic. The Ministry also provides some
minimal training and supplies to the clinic.
KFK carried out the
basic repair and renovation of the building which
houses the clinic and its staff, as well as the
community library. KFK also procured basic
equipment/supplies, and recruited two staff members;
one is a senior registered nurse and the other is a
local paramedic trained by KFK. In late 2000, KFK
launched its clinical services and has been serving
over 100 patients each month, an astonishing number
for such remote and rural area. As of July 2002, KFK's
clinic has provided medical treatment for over 2385
patients. Sixty-three per cent of those treated were
suffering from gastro-intestinal, respiratory
infections, tuberculosis, and skin infections. In
mid-2001, KFK's supporters in Los Angeles and Santa Fe
provided the additional funds needed to continue the
clinic's operation. These funds will run out by
November 2002 and the clinic will have to close unless
help can be found.
KFK operates on an
extremely low budget. For about the cost of lunch in
an American restaurant, $15.00/day, we staff the
clinic and provide medical supplies and equipment as
well as overhead costs, such as utilities. But even
this small sum of money is difficult to obtain in a
country as poor as Nepal. We desperately need your
help to save lives and improve the health and well
being of these poor, indigenous Buddhist-Tamang
communities on the Nepal-Tibet border.
How You Can Help Save
Our Clinic
a) Individual
Sponsorship: We welcome and encourage individuals to
sponsor our basic clinic operation cost. To meet our
yearly budget of US$ 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.
What is Urgently
Needed?
Despite our
achievements, KFK is faced with closing the clinic due
to lack of funds and other necessary support. This
situation has undermined our ability to continue our
clinic's services and to improve our quality of care
and expand our services. Our immediate need priorities
are:
a) In order to
continue the clinic services at least at present
service level we need to raise only US$4500/year, to
pay for three staff salaries for a year, medical
supplies/equipment and clinic overhead costs such as
utilities etc.
b) In order to
improve our service quality and to expand and increase
our services, we need to hire a more qualified staff
member, preferably a senior nurse or a nurse
practitioner level, for our clinic team. It costs only
US$ 3000/year to pay the salary of one of such staff
type member.
c) Due to lack
of refrigerator and basic lab facility, neither we
have been able to keep vaccines nor perform basic lab
tests. We need only US$800 (US$400/each) to purchase
such equipment.
To
make a donation send your check to:
Anatoli
Boukreev Memorial Fund PO Box 1170 Sandia Park New
Mexico 87047
or make
a donation using
your
credit card or your checking account on-line
using Pay-pal here:
Update: In our "Save Our
Clinic" appeal posted in the
www.everestnews.com, we solicited support of US$
8300 (US$ 7500 for clinic operation budget and US$8000
for equipment procurement) for this year budget. Total
amount we have received so far is US$ 5702. Hence, to
meet our minimum funding need of this year's clinic
operation, we are still short by US$ 2598. Should
there be more contribution, we can use them in staff
training in basic lab service development, install a
clinic heating and develop water supply system, and
community outreach clinics.
Regards, Gyanendra
Update: Doctors and
Dentists wanted to volunteer. Give a little back !
Update 2/1/03: Dear
EverestNews.com, I wish to extend our heartfelt thanks
for all the efforts of
www.EverestNews.com to save our health clinic in
the rural Langtang area of Nepal. In the past 24
hours, nearly $500.00 has been received as a result of
your coverage of our plight. These funds will go a
long way in a country as poor as Nepal and help to
save the lives, quite literally of many children.
Namaste, Scott
MacLennan, Karing for Kids - Nepal
To some of you $500
US might not seem like much, but $500 in Nepal can
save lives.... Please consider giving
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