Lumbini – Nepal

2016 – APRIL 16^th TO 19^th 2 SITES

This our 2^nd visit to LUMBINI – first was in 2014.

Primary ear care 145 total patients

NAHOH Total fittings in district 38 aids

2 camps this time

1^st @ “Lumbini Gyan Prava School”, the site of camp in 2014– 2 days

2^nd @ Amrit Free Health Service Centre

Attendees: Lumbini Trainees: Motilal Yadav, Principal of the “Lumbini Gyan Prava School” and Jungbadhur Baniya, from the Amrit Free Health Service Centre.

CFWA (Dhanusha District) – Kamala,(Audiometry)- and aid fitting assistant

NAHOH (Kathmandu based) – Keshab(Primary ear care)

HH&H_ Saraswoti (assist Kamala) & lew, “social mobiliser” from Australia

We were delayed getting back to Lumbini by political unrest and fuel shortages.

Lumbini program is satisfying our established norms- and we now have added an established free to public clinic to our camp sites there. The school that initially invited us will continue to be visited – as a show of loyalty to our initial partners. It remains a ‘status’ gain for the school, on which its funding from the government is dependant.

Motilal, who initiated the Lumbini program, has become another student of our program, as well as remaining our local convenor. This time, it was requested of him to organise a ‘permanent’ site for us in an established medical clinic that was ‘free’ to those in need, and provide a willing staff member to work with us, learning primary ear care procedures and the responsible dispensation of our medicines. This is necessary to maintain our goals for each new remote area.

We were invited to the Amrit Free Health Service Centre, to meet with Dr. Narendra Mallick, who runs the clinic, and is also the secretary of its supporting organisation, “International Buddhist Society, in Lumbini. The organisation also has a community water supply and sanitation program, and so we were comfortable offering to work with them.

It was agreed they would allocate the separate clinic away from the main bustling clinic, and assign health worker Jungbadhur Baniya to understudy Keshab.

Jung enthusiastically learned the new skills, including use of equipment, interpretation of findings and practical ear cleaning procedures. Keshab explained the purpose of medicines dispensed and their responsible use.

Motilal busied himself organising the school staff to enrol the camp visitors, and then involving himself with Keshab’s primary clinic or with the Kamala and Saraswoti, testing selected patients hearing.

The ladies have responded well to theoretical and practical training, working together to assess a person’s suitability for a hearing device. This includes establishing if there is a real need, management of the device capabilities and degree of family support. If possible, the recipients are expected to pay a small amount for the aid, a deposit for the custom mould and buy their batteries. Exceptions are made, after group discussions.

On this camp, Kamala began learning how to select and program hearing aids, with of course Saraswoti keenly interested, looking over her shoulder.

And now a warm fuzzy…

We always stay at our camps for the advertised periods, and nearly always there is a “late entry” to reinforce our commitment!

On our last day at the clinic, just before closing, the clinic staff asked could we wait another hour for a lady and her family, who were coming from far away. Puja had been attending school, looking forward to all the freedom and self- determination an education can bring. However, ear infections resulted in such a loss that Puja could no longer attend school. She was advised to go to distant Kathmandu for treatment, which was not possible. What an emotional turnaround, with a hearing aid fitted to her dry but perforated ear, and medicines for the other ear, Puja could go back to finish her schooling, and begin again the path of her dreams!

Happy Ending…as promised, if the clinic staff responded to training, we would leave with them primary ear care equipment- otoscope, ear syringe and kidney dish and all remaining medicines.

Motilal will come to Kathmandu for further training, and we have committed to regular visits in the future. This will enable the clinic to offer ear care services on a new level.