Greetings!
You are receiving this newsletter because of your past interest in VEC or because you are the friend or family of a Helambu Project board member, which almost obligates you to at least look at the pictures. Well, it's been a while and there's been a lot of growth to our organization. Helambu Project is working with rural Nepali communities and grassroots organizations to continue growing access to quality health care, education, and economic development. As an established non-profit organization in both the UK and USA, is expanding its range in Nepal. While Helambu Project volunteers have been placed almost entirely in the village of Gangkharka, Helambu Project is now placing volunteers in schools across the region, at the formal request of the administrations of those schools.
Helambu Project is fresh off its 2011 health camps (click here for video) which have become a much-anticipated event for the communities we serve. This year, we were able to add some stops and still visit the same communities we have in the past (click here for video of the 2009 health camps). This is a big time for Helambu Project as we are seeking new projects in communities. We are also going to be expanding our emphasis to investing in people through trainings and scholarships, as well as in structures.Read on for details about the health camps, the efforts of many of our fantastic volunteers, and also the first trip of Helambu Project USA's Chief Financial Officer, David Mabry, to Helambu. He worked with Field Coordinator Nima Sherpa and meeting with school administrators in several villages to examine opportunities for new partnerships. We are excited at what lies ahead. Check out our website for ways you can get involved! |
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Helambu Project's 2011 health camps (Part 1)
 | | Helambu Project UK and USA staff, along with new and old friends conducted another successful series of health camps |
Helambu Project held it's third and biggest Health Camp trek in May with Dr Mike Steven and nurse Pearl Wight returning to the region with a supporting tram of translators and porters. They were also joined by Australian nurse Greg Allen and a 'pharmacy team' of Chris Limburg and Sarah Steven who helped to organise and distribute the medicine. During their nine-day trek they assessed and treated over 350 patients at the camps which took place in the villages, schools and retreat centres throughout the region. Out with the clinics they also undertook home visits for those to ill to travel and saw people ad-hoc whilst trekking.
Tarkegyang
We held our clinics in the newly constructed Tashetang primary school which sits around a mile below the Tarkeyang village. We held three clinics over a two-day period at the school itself and an additional clinic in the community hall at Tarkegyang for the elderly villagers too frail to make the journey downhill. Overall 120 patients were seen, from infants to the elderly.
With large numbers of people to see, we developed a triage system whereby the villagers would document their personal details and symptoms to a translator following which they'd be directed towards the appropriate medic. If the consultation led to a prescription, they'd see our makeshift pharmacy for the medication. We were careful to given both written and verbal instructions when necessary and the patients were all encouraged to ask questions.
One the morning of the second day we walked up to Help Self Dharma Group Centre, a Buddhist retreat run by Meme Urgyen where we held an open clinic. Dr Mike was also allowed into the compound itself to see those individuals who were currently in isolation. This visit was particularly well-received as several with ongoing conditions were able to access treatment they would otherwise have done without.
 | | Greg Allen and Nima Sherpa examine the knee of a Buddhist nun |
Gangkharka
After a morning walk up to the foot of Ami Yangri, we stopped for a few hours at a monastery and retreat compound as the guests of Sangye Sherpa. We visited two retreat compounds and held impromptu clinics in the small entrance rooms to the buildings, treating several young students in each. The clinics also offered shelter from the early Monsoon downpours we'd been growing used to since our arrival! After saying goodbye we descended down to Gangkharka village and Penang Memorial Community school where we would hold clinics at over the next two days. On the first day we did routine health checks on around 60 children who had arrived early for the new school term and focused on the wider adult community on day two. Since our last camp 18 months before, it was impressive to see that each child had their own medical folders which documented any ailments they had experienced and what, if any treatment had been given. It was also encouraging to see that the children were in better health and that various infections and skin conditions were under better control. We'd like to pass on our gratitude to the teachers and volunteers for their help in making this progress.
Check out our next newsletter for the concluding report of Helambu Project's health camps.
- Dr. Mike Steven, the Executive Director of Helambu Project UK, filed this two-part report of the the Helambu Project health camps
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Volunteers going the distance for Helambu Project
 | | Wojtek, upon successful completion of the 2010 Athens Marathon |
Helambu Project would be nowhere without the amazing volunteers committing their time and energy both in Nepal and in their home countries. Since the inception of the volunteer program, we have had volunteers from around the world come to work with us, and many have continued to support us well after their return. Others have undertaken fundraising efforts even before their trips to Nepal to support their projects there.
In keeping with Helambu Project UK's tradition of undertaking arduous endurance tests for a greater good (click here to read about Dr. Mike's kilted bike ride to Paris), Wojtek Szymczak entered and completed the 2010 Athens marathon, raising money for transparent roofing panes that will let more light into the classrooms. Finishing the marathon in 3:19.59, Wojtek accomplished a personal goal and a fundraising goal by beating his target time by eleven minutes and raising more than enough money in the weeks leading up to the event to cover labor and materials for the new roofing project. Though Helambu Project UK may have preferred Wojtek accomplish this feat in a kilt, Helambu Project, VEC, and the Pasang Memorial Community Boarding School are grateful to Wojtek's efforts, and even more grateful that his marathon experience ended better than that of the original marathon runner.
Many (albeit be-lated) thanks also go out to Laura Kleiman and Danielle Preiss for organizing a house party fundraiser for the school in September Their organizing abilities brought in donations of fermented adult refreshment from Rochester, New York's Dundee Brewing Company morning-after nourishment from Bruegger's Bagels, and a significant monetary boost to our work. More recently, volunteers Rachel Hart (UK), Sarah Bolasevich (USA), and Marni Henry (Australia) also held fundraisers of their own to support projects in Helambu, including the construction of desks and benches for the school in Okrani village. Agnieszka Slodownik (Poland) organized a fundraiser through an artists' collective in Warsaw to contribute to the 2011 health camps, and the Booker family (Germany) cleaned up at a garage sale, raising almost 1,000€ for Helambu Project.
 | | Marni Henry (in purple) and Nima Sherpa hold a class in Okrani village |
Finally, big thanks are also due to Jeanette Dodds, who organized a Ladies' Day fundraiser in Scotland, and also to Dawa Sherpa, the Hyolmo Society of America, and Alanna Badgley, whose combined fundraisers brought in thousands of dollars (and pounds) of support to Helambu Project. It is truly humbling to see all the people out there doing what they can for Helambu Project and the communities we serve. As we continue expand our work in Nepal, we are holding ourselves to a level of accountability that rises relative to the number of those who are joining us and helping to make our work possible. Our infinite thanks go out to all who have contributed time, energy, or money to our work.
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HP's 'finance guy' makes first visit to Helambu
 | | Dave 'IRS Compliant' Mabry strikes a pose in Helambu |
After working with HPUSA for a year and a half I experienced life in Nepal for the first time this May. Escorted by Nima, a Nepali resident, HPUSA employee, and Sherpa-extraordinaire, I journeyed to Kathmandu and a few villages in Helambu. I spent two days over-packing for a four day visit. After riding ten hours on what should have been a five hour bus ride (the driver left no one behind), and getting irreversibly stuck in the mud, we decided to trek the two hours into Tarkeyghyang. After the short overnight stop in and a visit to HPUSA staff member Chris Limburg we continued on to Pema Choling Ghyang Lower Secondary School . Nima did not break a sweat while I and huffed and puffed behind her to Melamchi Ghyang School.
 | | Lining up for a day of classes in Melamchi Ghyang. |
Both schools are offering a solid education by very dedicated staff. Many of the teachers, particularly at Melamchi Ghyang School, are former students of the schools where they are teaching. The eagerness and dedication of the teachers shows the clear growth occurring at a rapid pace. The school's Principals expressed concern over the lack of quality English speaking teachers. The classes are being taught in English with Nepali language spoken as needed. The Nepalese nationals speak English but without the influence of stronger English skills some bad habits persist and get passed on to the students. The principals want better training by native English speakers for both teachers and students.
 | | Nima leads the way across a suspension bridge |
They also expressed the need for supplies for different subjects, especially science. Materials such as beakers, flasks, globes, wall maps, and other standard classroom materials were lacking. They expressed desire for enabling hands-on engagement of learning. In a culture that is so closely tied to working in rural villages, labor intensive, challenging tasks, the need for innovation is strong to keep the culture alive. Engaging the students early and empowering the creativity to innovate is what will, in time, bring these villages to modernity and breathe life into a culture fading from the enticing pull of opportunities elsewhere.
- Dave Mabry has since returned to Boston, Massachusetts, where he lives and works for Philips Electronics
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Help us keep up our momentum by making a tax-deductible donation to Helambu Project UK or USA today. We couldn't do it without you!
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Sincerely,
The team at Helambu Project
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Helambu Project on Facebook 
That's right. Helambu Project is on the Facebook. 'Like' us and keep checking in for regular updates from Nepal and around the world, photos and video, and weekly words of wisdom.
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