Nepal Program On Site Visits-Updates 2016 by Scott Hamilton, President & Program Director

May 6, 2016

 

I had a super busy day, starting with a meeting at the Hans Eye Hospital with the Sakya Hospital from Dehradun, then a 2.5 hour wild ride to the Ngoenga school, followed by a another 1.5 hour wild ride to the Dehradun airport. Made the flight back to Delhi. I’m at the hotel until 1am then heading back to the airport for the flight to Doha, then connecting to JFK. 18 hours of flying ahead so I am taking a shower and a nap. More when I get back to the USA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 5, 2016

This morning Dooley President, Scott Hamilton, is heading back to the Hans Hospital for a meeting with the Hans Eye Hospital, and the Sakya Hospital for Tibetan refugees.our Dooley team is finalizing a cooperative program that will provide quarterly eye screening clinics at the Sakya Hospital in Dehradun, conducted by experts based at the Hans Eye Hospital. This will bring free of cost high quality eye care to the local Tibetan community in and around Dehradun. In addition the Hans Eye hospital, located in Haridwar, will accept referral patients from Sakya Hospital on an ongoing basis, and will provide free surgeries and treatment to anyone who cannot afford to pay. After that meeting, Scott is heading to Dehradun for a meeting at noon with the Director of the Ngoenga School for Disabled Children. Dooley Intermed has previously provided support for these kids, and Scott will be conducting a site visit and needs assessment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 4, 2016

I flew from Delhi to Dehradun yesterday. Daytime high temperatures in Delhi have been reaching 115 degrees. so it is good to arrive in the slightly cooler hill country. After reaching Dehradun I traveled for two more hours by car, at one point along the Ganges River, to the Hans Eye Hospital located in Bahadarabad, Hardiwar, in Uttarakhand Province. I spent the entire afternoon at the hospital meeting with their chief ophthalmologist Dr. Pradhan, and other key staff members. Today I will be back at the Hans Hospital for more meetings. Then, tomorrow we will be meeting with the management of the Sakya Hospital located in Dehradun, to formalize plans for an upcoming cooperative eye outreach project to aid Tibetan refugees and disadvantaged local villagers. After that meeting I will head over to the Ngoenga School for Disabled Tibetan Children to meet with the Director to assess needs, purchase supplies, and identify children who may be aided by appropriate pediatric surgery when the ISMS-Operation Kids team is here next year.

 

May 2, 2016

Dooley Intermed congratulates Dr. Tom Roberts, of Seattle, USA, for his enormously successful free dental camp held at the Pema Ts’al Sakya Institute in Pokhara, Nepal. We are proud to have helped by donating 3 complete dental units to assist the team of doctors and technicians. 726 patients were examined and treated in the 4 day clinic.

Our Dooley Intermed reconstruction project in Namjung Village, Upper Gorkha District was the epicenter of the earthquake last year. The 3 new classrooms are being built on the footprint of the old classrooms, visible as rubble around the perimeter. Our new classrooms are ” earthquake proof”. Construction materials are extremely difficult to obtain and transport in these regions must be brought in by tractor. The new construction has iron frames around all doorways and windows, and also has 3 separate levels of reinforced concrete with iron re-bar around the complete circumference. Roof beams are all going to be made of welded iron pipe, and the roofing will be corrugated tin. Each classroom will have a door and 3 windows for lighting and ventilation.

We had a busy afternoon in Pohkara yesterday, starting with a visit to the Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute. We met with the monks we have worked with so successfully on past outreach eye projects in remote regions of Nepal. We discussed possible future projects, with possibilities including the Manang region, lying to the North of The Annapurnas, and a project for Tibetan refugees in the local area.  Following our meeting with the monks we went directly to a dinner meeting with the senior staff of the Himalaya Eye Hospital. Possible future eye projects include Western Nepal, and the lower regions of the Kali Gandaki region, both remote and very impoverished regions. In a few minutes we are heading to the Eye Hospital to deliver 3 duffel bags of donated surgical eye supplies, and to map out details of our future cooperative projects. Later today I am (weather permitting) flying back to Kathmandu for my onward flight to Delhi, India tomorrow. Next stop after that is Dehradun, for meetings with the Hans Eye Hospital in Haridwar, India.

 

Update April 29 2016

After leaving Gorkha Gaun this morning our Dooley Intermed team visited the Shree Manakamana School for the deaf in Gorkha. We inspected the earthquake rebuilding coordinated by our Nepal partner organization, Mission Himalaya, and discussed issues regarding water supply with the principal. Nepal is undergoing a severe drought right now. After the meetings we re-crossed the Trisuli River and made our way to Pokhara. In a few minutes we are heading to the Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute for meetings to discuss possible future eye projects, followed by a dinner meeting with the senior staff and doctors of the Himalaya Eye Hospital.