Tag: Health care

A milestone: The first Back to Life hospital

Back to Life completes the first hospital in the association’s history – a network of 19 birthing centers and a mother and child hospital is created. In August 2022, Back to Life received approval for a major project that had never been seen before in our history: the construction and establishment of a mother and child hospital for the Karnali region, the poorest province in Nepal. Although we have already been able to build, set up and operate 15 birthing centers in Mugu over the last ten years and have started building four more, a hospital building of this size is new territory...

The first heart clinic in Karnali

The FirstHeart Clinicin Karnali Die erste Herzklinik in Karnali A lifesaver for countless affected: Back to Life establishes a cardiology department in the provincial hospital of Karnali. Die Rettung für unzählige Betroffene: Back to Life richtet eine kardiologische Abteilung im Provinzkrankenhaus von Karnali ein. Our Heartfelt Concern Unsere Herzensangelegenheit The Inauguration The Immense Need for Cardiological Care Access to basic health care is not just a fundamental human right but also part of the UN’s Agenda 2030 goals. To move a step closer to achieving these,...

Killer in the Kitchen

Madhav P. Bhatta, Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at Kent State University in the USA, was born and raised in a rural mountain village in Baitadi district in far western Nepal. Madhav Bhatta received his Master of Public Health (Epidemiology and Global Health) from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. Why open fire should stay outside When our immediate neighbors light their backyard wood burning firepit to enjoy cool Ohio autumn evenings with a sip of wine and good company, I sequester myself...

Saruli – unconditional will to live

Her corona odyssey from India back to Nepal When the children dance and sing in school, 11-year-old Saruli from Mugu was there with great joy when she was not collecting wood or protecting her parents’ small field from the wild monkeys. Unfortunately, she was often more busy with her duties than she could find time for school – a classic problem for girls in the poor mountain regions of Nepal. In any case, dancing was great fun for Saruli. So she dressed up in her mother’s sari at home on a winter evening in December 2011 and danced. But Saruli came too close to the open...

Cut off from the rest of the world – no salvation

Winter in the high mountains, 2014: Because of the persistent bad weather in Mugu, a young woman paid a very high price.WITHOUT ADVICE AND HELP DUE PREGNANCY Jaukala originally comes from Shreekot, a village that was outside of our project area in Mugu at that time. The young woman had come to the small district capital of Gamghadi a few months earlier to find work. Since her husband is blind and rarely has a job, she earns a living. Despite the progressive pregnancy, she worked day in and day out in the market and carried heavy loads from morning to evening. She never had a medical check-up,...

A look back and ahead. Loharbada in the Mugu Mountains.

When program director Dikendra Dhakal looks around Loharbada today, he can hardly believe it. “When we first arrived here 10 years ago, not only was the standard of living extremely low, but hygienic conditions were actually non-existent.” The people did their “business” on the doorstep, mushy animal excrement covered the paths, and it smelled like hell. Swarms of house flies sat everywhere: on the children’s faces, on the food. People rarely washed themselves or their clothes, and sewage was simply poured into the alley. The open cooking fire was smoking in and...

Open your eyes – for the children of Nepal with a mobile eye clinic through the mountains

As part of the health care for the schoolchildren, Back to Life also has the boys and girls examined by an ophthalmologist. With a kind of outpatient, mobile eye clinic, our team travels or walks with the doctor in the remote areas from school to school. There the pupils are examined for their eyesight. The teachers of the respective schools support the campaign. The doctor usually stays for one day per school. Up to the rescue of the eyesightCorneal and lens opacity, strabismus, nearsightedness and farsightedness, conjunctivitis and eyelid inflammation as well as tear duct obstruction are...

Last minute rescue

With the last of her strength, 18-year-old Sandhya Nepali reached our birthplace in Loharbada in Mugu. The 7th month pregnant woman suffered from profuse bleeding. Our midwives immediately recognized the gravity of the situation. They decided that Sandhya had to be taken to hospital immediately because the life of the mother and child was in acute danger. Every minute was important, we couldn’t lose any time. In December there are only a few and irregular flights to and from Mugu, as there are no flights in unfavorable weather conditions or snowfall. Nevertheless, our on-site team managed...

Help for those who don’t get help

22 April 2021
Stella Deetjen
Health Care

Our health camp for 1200 people in Khatyad It only takes seconds and the weather changes. Thick fog blocks any view of the landing strip at Kolti in Mugu. Again and again the pilot aborts the landing and flies over the area again. It’s dangerous, he has to catch the right moment within a few moments, otherwise a catastrophe threatens. Too often these little fan guns have crashed. Only the 8th attempt succeeds. Not far from the runway, our Back to Life team sits together with the doctors from our health camp, which has just ended. Everyone looks at the scenario in silence, nobody wants...

Month after month – becoming a woman shouldn’t be torture

22 April 2021
Stella Deetjen
Health Care

With the taboo subject of menstruation, we are addressing girls directly in schools. We found out that they don’t know anything about their period. Our midwives and health assistants explain to the girls that it is a completely normal biological process and discuss shame, superstition, silence, myths and stigma together. During these conversations one can clearly see the “burden of guilt” that falls from her shoulders. Some girls do not even want to believe that all women in the world, regardless of religion or origin, whether rich or poor, even those in the big mega-cities are affected...

Proper hand washing needs to be practiced – Global Handwashing Day

“Global Handwashing Day” has been celebrated in schools around the world since 2008 to make children aware of the immense importance of daily hygiene. Because only when you wash your hands thoroughly with soap for at least 20 seconds are bacteria effectively combated. This significantly reduces the risk of fatal diarrheal diseases, and early childhood development is less disturbed. Stella attended the school in Thakaltar in Chitwan and, together with our team, showed the children how to wash their hands properly. The students had a lot of fun and were happy to demonstrate what...