Lifesaving healthcare for remote farming villages

Dear supporters of DCWC:

 It is with great pleasure that we are writing this first progress report for you. We want to share with you what your valuable donations are making possible. Many of you have only known us for less than three months but much has happened in that time.

 Our Global Giving Challenge in September has exceeded our wildest expectations!  Through your generosity we raised $16,131 from 106 different donors for the Rajbash hospital.  This constitutes nearly one third of the yearly operating expenses of our precious facility. Our Nepali colleagues join us in extending our deepest gratitude for your gift.

 Our staff at the Rajbash hospital has been busy as well.  In the most recent 2 months period 367 patients sought treatment.  We did 271 lab tests; 66 patients were admitted to the hospital, 14 were transported by ambulance to a city hospital for further treatment. The remainder were treated in Rajbash and sent home. Cutting wounds, burns or injuries from falling as well as respiratory and urinary tract infections constituted the majority of cases. Other ailments treated were gastritis, enteric fever, eye problems, common colds and coughs, joint pain and dental issues.

 Sujita, our midwife, delivered 14 healthy babies - each one returning home with a baby blanket and a bag of rice. 

 A free health camp was held in Rajbash on Nov. 7 & 8.  Our hospital staff, assisted by western volunteer doctors, treated 427 patients. Some of them had walked long distances to receive treatment for a wide range of ailments.  An astounding 188 of those patients came for eye problems which are ubiquitous in the himalyan mountains. 

 Our patient load is steadily increasing as we carry the message of services available at the hospital to more and more communities.  Over the course of the last year we doubled the number of patients treated.

 An instructional video on Personal Hygiene was made to be distributed and shown in as many schools as possible.  We also called a meeting with the medicine men in the region to work out a more reliable referral system, particularly for women in the late stages of pregnancy. 

 Finally, at the beginning of November we celebrated the completion of the first floor of the hospital, made possible by a very generous donation of one of our dedicated American supporters. The newly finished floor was immediately put into service to house additional patients and to provide some much needed office and meeting space.  

We could not do what we do without you. Right now Nepal is trying once more to constitute a new, functional and stable government. Yet it seems near impossible to unify the more than 100 different ethnic groups and to develop a new constitution.  With a lack of leadership corruption is rampant and in non-urban areas services are painfully lacking. Your support allows us to step in and bring services to those who most urgently need it.