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Tag: Actual stories

Home at last!

Finally Home! The deaf children of Mugu now live in their new school dormitory. For 17 deaf girls and boys in the remote region of Mugu, it was the beginning of a new life: In June 2022, they moved happily into the recently completed dormitory. With the new building in Gamgadhi, Back to Life not only provided the children with a comfortable and safe home but also the opportunity for a good education. Thus, the children have the chance to lead a self-determined life in the future, despite their physical limitations. Deaf children in Nepal are often particularly disadvantaged and receive little...

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Now the boy can go his way

When Sanjaya Rokaya was born in the mountains of Mugu in early October 2018, his right leg was deformed. For the parents, a world collapsed. In the remote mountain region, they had no access to medical help and the shamans waved them off, certain that they could not heal the boy. While he was still small, he could crawl and his parents could carry him, but what would happen to him later? Because especially in the mountainous regions of Nepal, a disability means that people can neither lead a normal life nor receive the support they urgently need. The Rokayas are poor, living with 8 people...

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The Bärbel Schäfer interview with Stella

25 years of Back to Life, dear Stella. With what feelings do you look back? It seems to me that all the emotions of the human scale were there, I think that’s enough for several lifetimes. Today I live in the here and now, I am happy with what I have achieved. Nevertheless, I would rather look ahead and make a difference with Back to Life for the people in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world. Success, change often comes with small steps – with which project in Nepal were you impatient and thought, we’ll never make it? I...

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My bumpy road to deceleration

During my 16-day journey through the mountainous region of Mugu, I experienced deceleration like never before: no cell phone reception, no power for the laptop, no news about Corona, the Ukraine war or the looming climate crisis, no Netflix or social media either, and instead of traffic jams on overcrowded roads, there are dirt roads on which resistant jeeps move at a maximum of 10km/hour, defying seemingly insurmountable landslides and demanding everything from man and machine. Sunrise and sunset determine the rhythm of the day. Already the journey to the mountain region is an adventure....

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In conversation with Dikendra Dhakal and Achyut Paudel

Dikendra Dhakal (Program Director Back to Life Nepal) and Achyut Paudel (Finance Director Back to Life Nepal) have been by Stella’s side since the first minute. We look back at the last few years. How did you meet Stella, whom you call Tara in Nepal, and what made you trust her – as a stranger in your country? A: In 2008, we were introduced to each other. Tara already had the idea to help in Mugu and so we traveled there together, got an overview and joined forces. Shortly after, we started our first projects. D: We had a lot of conversations with Tara and...

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In memory of Mikhail Gorbachev

When I learned of Mikhail Gorbachev’s death today, the news took me back to 2006, when I was able to meet him in person. Mikhail Gorbachev presented me with the “Women’s World Award of Hope” in New York. That was a very special moment in my life to meet this man who made history and was a Nobel Peace Prize winner. His charisma and presence are vivid in my memory. My condolences go out to his loved ones. I have lit a candle in memory of him. Namaste, Stella

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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...

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Birthcenters for Mugu Nepal

Stella Deetjen tells the story of Sushila, who made building birth centres Back to Life’s core mission. Without this encounter we would probably not have built our 15 birth centres. When I first came to Loharbada village in 2009, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the daily lives of the women. It was the beginning of our projects in Mugu. Sushila immediately besieged me and never stopped talking. We found out that we are almost the same age, both are mothers and she let me share her hard everyday life. From fetching water, the hard work in the fields, her meagre home without...

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COVID-19: the current situation in Nepal

Unfortunately, the developments of the corona pandemic do not stop at Nepal either. As early as January 2020, it was announced that a Nepalese student had been infected in China before returning to Nepal. In the weeks that followed, the number of infections rose rapidly around the world, but initially no further infections were reported in Nepal. The epidemiologist Prof. Dr. Madhav Bhatta of Kent State University in the United States, speaking to us at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, expected the COVID-19 epidemic in Nepal to be more advanced than official statistics suggest. Strict...

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Solar lighting systems for 520 households

The night grows lighter in Gamtha In March 2017 we reported on the delivery and installation of solar lighting systems for over 500 families in Gamtha, Mugu. From the beginning of our activities in Mugu, we have also focused on ecological and clean energy sources in our on-site projects. In addition to our smoke-free stoves, which gradually replaced the usual open fire – with the resulting toxic smoke development – in the houses, we also opted for simple but very effective solar light systems. Resource protection in the barren mountains of Mugu is not only a practical side...

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Goodbye, Mugu – the new life of Khushi

Children’s laughter echoes through the small room. Amma is heating a large pot filled to the brim with oil over an open fire. Her youngest daughter Khushi, still a toddler of one and a half years who only recently learned to walk, rages around her mother with her siblings. The flames of the open fireplace in the middle of the room cast only a weak light on the sooty walls. The house consists solely of this room, here the family cooks, eats, sits together and sleeps at night. Amma sifts the coarsely ground flour. The oil is finally boiling. The mother kneads the dough. It works quickly,...

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