Nyaya Health

Posted by Dan Schwarz, following conversation with Ruma Rajbhandari

Over the past two weeks, communication with the Nyaya Health staff in Achham has been very difficult due to the severe storms occurring throughout the region. One week ago, the Bayalpata Hospital satellite dish was struck by lightning, effectively cutting off all outside communication. Since then, it has been fixed, which required a technician from Dhangadi—a 10 hour trip from Bayalpata Hospital—to come, incurring significant costs and time.

The following is paraphrased from email conversations with Ruma Rajbhandari, MD, who is currently volunteering at Bayalpata Hospital.

“…there has been rain non-stop for the last three days, just like monsoon rains.  The rains have caused landslides which have killed about a dozen people in Achham.  It has also knocked down some of the electricity poles such that we have had very intermittent electricity, and in fact, no electricity at all today.

The hospital is up on a hill at Bayalpata about an hour walk from the main town of Sanfe Bagar where the paved road from Dhangadi ends.  Sanfe Bagar is close to the river, Budhi Ganga.  In order to get up to Bayalpata, pedestrians have to cross two parts of the river, only one of which has a foot bridge.  The other part of the river is currently impassible due to the heavy rains.  This means that many of our staff who live in Sanfe cannot get up to the Bayalpata Hospital.  It also means that we and the hospital are essentially cut off from any road access.  No food, no medications, no fuel for the generator can get up to us because all of these are available in Sanfe.  Many parts of the road from Dhangadi (the closest major town which has an airport with direct link to Kathmandu) to Sanfe are also closed off due to landslides caused by the rains.

The cook, Dhan Bahadur, who looks after the kitchen supplies and runs the generator tells us that there is approximately 10L of fuel left for the generator. Approximately 1.5L of fuel is required to run the generator for an hour.  We have been rationing the fuel such that the generator is used only for an hour during the day to run labs and then 1-2 hours at night for staff to eat in the kitchen and charge their laptops and have access to the internet….”

On the same day that Dr. Rajbhandari wrote this email, a two year old girl was admitted who had sustained a head injury following a fall from a height of approximately one storey. On admission the girl was lethargic and the Nyaya clinical staff was concerned about the possibility of neurological damage from increased pressure on the brain. Dr. Rajbhandari wrote that,

“…In an ideal world, she would get a CT scan and be referred to a surgical center. …Due to the rains and landslides, this is currently impossible.”

We are happy to report however that the girl was able to be sent home after two days of close observation on the inpatient wards of Bayalpata Hospital. She will continue with nutritional support in the community and close follow-up to ensure no long-term damage.

In the face of these obstacles, our staff continues to press forward. We thank you for your continued support, and look forward to being able to pass on more stories of success and perseverance, even during these most dire and complicated of circumstances.

Tags: Achham, Bayalpata, Dan Schwarz, emergency, global health, global health delivery, healthcare, Human Rights, Nepal, NGO, Nyaya Health, poverty, Ruma Rajbhandari, rural health, rural healthcare, rural nepal, rural poverty, social justice