Thanks again for supporting us ... Ray Baker, Kylie Gilbert, Jeff Dunn and Suzanne Chambers ... last year in the Nepal Health Mega Marathon ... 100kms in 24 hours!
A total of $12,692 was raised due to the many generous sponsorships ... this money was donated in full to the Nepal Australia Friendship Association (Qld) Inc (www.nafa.org.au) to support Health Projects in Nepal.
Some of the funds raised went towards -
* a Remote Area Cataract Eye Surgery Clinic in December 2010 in the remote village of Jalbire (partly funded)
* the 2011 Hearing Nepal Program, which included a Primary Ear Care Clinic at Tawal in January 2011 (partly funded)
* the purchase of a hospital bed with an IV post and a waeco fridge for the Tawal Health Clinic.
Remaining funds are earmarked for other NAFA health care projects in 2011.
See below for further information on the Eye Clinic at Jalbire and the Primary Ear Care Clinic at Tawal.
Kind regards,
Kylie Gilbert
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The Remote Area Cataract Eye Surgery Clinic was held on the 28 & 29 December 2010 in the remote village of Jalbire. It was conducted in the school building of Shree Ananda Higher Secondary School. Over the two days, a total of 608 adults and children had their eyes checked and 104 surgeries were carried out. This eye clinic was held in association with NAFA, Joy Foundation Nepal, NAFA's main partner in Nepal (www.joy.org.np), and Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (www.tilganga.org).
Click on this link for more photos ... https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=277770&id=675116731&l=585133b583
"The World Health Organisation estimates that 45 million people worldwide are blind; 90 percent of them are in developing nations. Many of these cases may be easily preventable or treatable. Nearly half could be helped by a procedure that’s become routine in many nations – cataract surgery. In Nepal the rate to cure blindness through cataract surgery is one of the highest worldwide, according to National Geographic.
The importance of eye camps is based on the fact that loss of vision as a result of cataract is impacting people’s lives drastically. Esp. in remote areas, where the people live far from hospitals, it is important to find a way to reach them. Cataract has increased, it is said that two third of the cases regarding blindness in Nepal are results of cataract. In cases with serious visual impairment, the standard treatment is surgical removal of the lens.
This is a process that takes only about 4 to 5 minutes. These short procedures can change an individual’s life forever." (from www.joy.org.np/category/joys-projects)
The Hearing Nepal Program was conducted at Tawal in January 2011 by NAFA members, Sue and Lew Tuck in association with Keshab Dangol of Nepal Association of the Hard of Hearing (NAHOH www.nahoh.org.np), Tashi Sherpa from Kopan Monastery and Jade Frederiksen, a volunteer audiologist from Australia.
A Primary Ear Care clinic, staffed by Keshab and Tashi (two Nepalese men who volunteered their time to the project), was set up in the multipurpose room at the school. The ears of 509 school children and adults from Tawal and surrounding villages were checked over the 5 days and NAFA funded medication was dispensed to those with ear infections. Any audiological referrals were made to Sue and Jade; this allowed audiological reports to be provided to those where ENT referral was recommended. These referrals will be facilitated through NAHOH in Kathmandu.
Keshab advised that there were similar outcomes to other ear camps held in Nepal, with only the foreign bodies being different … (apart from a lot of wax) the foreign bodies included a cockroach, stones, wire, bits of feather and straw and a grain of rice!
The Hearing Program at Tawal was a great success and NAFA is very happy to be associated with NAHOH to promote Primary Ear Care in remote Nepal.
