Moving Mountains Nepal works on issues of social welfare and health in the Solukhumbu region of Nepal, assisting the local people to rebuild their communities and take control of their well-being. In Bumburi we have built an outreach clinic where two nurses work and provide community health cover for several villages with a total population of 1800. The clinic provides diagnosis and treatment for minor injuries and also pre and post natal care. Additionally the nurses regularly offer public health advice in the local schools.
Promoting Good Healthcare in Nepal
Since the villages of Bupsa and Bumburi were isolated for such a long time, they lacked access to proper healthcare. For many years, villagers had no access to healthcare at all. If they fell sick, they would often have to walk for many miles, even days, to reach the nearest doctor. Serious illnesses required a long and expensive trip to Kathmandu. As a result, the well-being of all in the village suffered.
In order to combat this problem and encourage good health and wellbeing in these beautiful villages, Moving Mountains Nepal began running Medical Camps in 2010. These camps bring qualified Nepalese Doctors and foreign volunteers into the village offer free medical care and screenings to all.
Not only do these medical camps give us an opportunity to provide much-needed assistance to our community, but they also enable us to collect valuable data on the status of health issues in the region. This data allows us to develop more targeted and effective health programming for Bupsa, Bumburi, and the surrounding area.
Using this important health data, and money raised from our medical volunteers over the years, we’ve now built a permanent medical clinic in Bumburi. This vital clinic offers frontline healthcare for the people of these villages. The clinic is staffed by nurses and we hope in the future to employ full-time doctors as well.
These valuable medical programs are only possible because of the support and fundraising that comes from our volunteers. Our medical camp volunteer programs are a wonderful opportunity for medical students to gain valuable experience while giving back to a community in need.
Health Programmes in Nepal
Our programmes in Nepal focus primarily on the communities of Bupsa and Bumburi in the Solukhumbu region, near Mount Everest. For many years, these communities were cut off and forgotten, isolated by Maoist rebel violence and a lack of tourism in the area.
Because of this relative isolation, the people of Bupsa and Bumburi lacked access to basic healthcare services. If villagers fell seriously ill, they were forced to walk for days to the nearest large town or take a long and expensive journey to Kathmandu.
Working with the villagers and local authorities, Moving Mountains Nepal set up Medical Camps in the village of Bumburi, bringing Nepali doctors and foreign volunteers to the village to provide healthcare and collect valuable data. Over time, we’ve been able to help thousands of people receive treatments that they would otherwise not have access to.
Todays, thanks to the hard work of the villagers and the funds raised by our medical volunteers, we’ve constructed a permanent clinic in Bumburi, staffed with full-time nurses. Our hope is to bring doctors to the area in the near future.
