Medical care & rehabilitation changing lives Nepal

Namaste to our wonderful GlobalGiving Community,

Welcome to our July project report. In Australia we have just entered a new financial year and the years are flying past since we first started working with MeRO in 2016. Our annual report will be published on our website and uploaded to GlobalGiving over the next month or so. We hope you enjoy it.  

Whether you have made a general donation, or one that supports the wages of MeRO’s clinical staff, or your generosity has provided medical care to MeRO’s patients, or has been used to purchase essential medications, medical equipment and supplies, your generosity has changed 57 lives over this financial year. Because of you, 38 adults and 19 children have had access to the best surgical, medical and nursing care, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services possible and have been treated with kindness, compassion, dignity, safety and respect. 

All of MeRO’s patients who were admitted over the last twelve months have been discharged, with the exception of Krishna-hari who has been at the Shelter since soon after MeRO opened. A number of patients with significantly challenging roads to rehabilitation went home including Pooja, Lakshmi,  Arya, Sushma, Dipsika and Dipak. All were able to walk again with Dipak being fitted with a prosthesis.

Since our last report, Saugat, a five-year-old with a significant facial hemangiomas was operated on; seven-year-old Milan with deafness also had surgery, as did four-year-old Gautam who had a hole in the heart repaired. All except Saugat have been discharged.

Other patients included two with leukemia; a toddler with pneumonia; an adult who needed an oxygen concentrator; Raju with a fractured arm and Tek, with a fractured leg, both requiring surgery. Kaliram and Karan also had prostheses fitted as did two others. Bishwokarma had his right arm amputated after a year of struggling to get a diagnosis, and having to sell his land and livestock to pay for 12 months of medical care at several different hospitals. Little Imanual was assessed for open heart surgery which will be done over the next few months. Suparna was admitted with severe burns to her hand requiring skin grafting and assessment of blindness but has also been discharged.

Other new patients include 31 year-old Raaju who fell out a tree whilst collecting fodder for their animals and sustained a spinal fracture. She recently underwent surgery and is doing really well. 25 year-old Shoba sustained a spinal injury seven years ago and whilst she can walk, she is getting increasing pain and numbness requiring assessment and possible surgery. Gulchana was a patient at the Shelter before COVID with significant facial burns. She has had her burns contractures released to her right eyelid, mouth, jaw and neck which will help her to open her eye, eat and drink and reduce significant pain. Moti, had gynaecological issues which were resolved and Yesodhi had a badly fractured arm requiring surgery. In Nepal, it is estimated that half a million additional people fall below the poverty line every year which means there will always be a need for what we do. 

This report comes with ours and MeRO’s best wishes and grateful thanks, as well as a big ‘dhanyabadh’ (Nepalese for thank you!) from all the patients and their loved ones whose lives you have changed with your incredible generosity. We look forward to another year of your wonderful support and sharing with you the impact your donations have on patients at MeRO’s Shelter.

With best wishes and grateful thanks,

Virginia Dixon

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal