Namaste Everyone,
I’ve returned to Australia (from my adventures in Nepal) and looking forward to the next fundraising challenge, that myself and three friends are participating in on the 26th/27th June. This challenge is called the Nepal Health Mega Marathon and we will be attempting to each walk 100kms in 24 hours at Mt Glorious near Brisbane.
We are hoping, with your kind support, to raise much funds to go towards NAFA supported health projects in Nepal and also to help make these projects sustainable. There is an immense need for health care services in remote areas of Nepal.
In January I visited Tawal and the surrounding villages (which from Kathmandu is a day and a half of travel by bus and walking) where NAFA established a Health Clinic in 2001 and funds on-going costs from generous donors. Having this clinic in this region is the difference between life and death for some residents and we heard some amazing stories of how it has helped.
One story that was really touching was of a woman whose unborn baby was in breach position and the two female health workers (who have been trained in obstetrics care) managed to turn the baby around and deliver the baby. The mother and baby returned to the clinic while we were there and they were both doing really well. I hated to think that without the clinic at Tawal this mother and/or her baby may have become another statistic!
A second shocking story was of a woman who was scalped when she had her long hair caught in mill stones that grind grain. The health workers were called and were able to stabilise her enough to transport her to Kathmandu for treatment. She amazingly survived this horrific accident due to the valuable training the health workers had had (funded by NAFA).
While in Kathmandu I had the privilege of visiting the Tilganga Eye Clinic. NAFA aims to fund one remote area cataract eye surgery camp a year, conducted by Tilganga. People in remote areas are not always able to travel to Kathmandu so these remote clinics are a huge benefit for them. At Tilganga, I watched two cataract eye surgeries and it was amazing to think that a quick 10 minute surgery restores sight for one person.
I was also fortunate to be involved with the newly established NAFA Hearing Project run by Audiologists, Sue and Lew Tuck. To see the joy on the faces of people receiving hearing aids when they could hear again after such a long time was so wonderful. The best moment for me was when an old Tamang woman in Tawal turned on her hearing aid and the smile on her face said it all!!!
The Walk Flyer is attached below and visit
http://www.nafa.org.au/ for more information on NAFA supported health projects in Nepal.
Thanks for your support with my “Climb for Children of Nepal” last year and I sincerely hope that you can support me again on this new challenge.
Kind regards,
Kylie
Nepal Health Mega Marathon ... 100kms in 24hours
Please help raise funds to support & improve health care services in Nepal
How will the money be raised? At 8am on Saturday 26th June 2010, Ray Baker, Kylie Gilbert, Jeff Dunn & Suzanne Chambers will commence the extremely difficult physical challenge of walking 100kms in 24hrs at Mt Glorious (1 hr west of Brisbane). They are requesting people to kindly sponsor them in this challenge.
The reason they are attempting to raise this money? Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of the population lives in extreme poverty with little or no access to affordable health care. Inspired by their love of this beautiful country with its wonderful culture and gentle people, Ray, Kylie, Jeff and Suzanne are raising funds to help provide basic health care in remote villages.
Facts on Nepal from the World Health Organisation: Community based health workers are the key to effective health care in rural areas; Educating women, providing sanitation and clean water dramatically improve family and community health; Perinatal conditions, affecting women and babies is the leading cause of death across all ages; In Nepal, a newborn baby dies every 20 minutes and every 4 hours a woman dies of child birth related causes; 32,000 babies die each year during the first month of life; diarrhoeal disease which can be treated with low cost medicine is the fourth leading cause of death.
Where will the money go? All of the money raised will be donated to the Nepal Australia Friendship Association (NAFA) for health projects in Nepal. Through NAFA, a Brisbane based non-profit organisation with twenty years experience in community projects in Nepal (which include building and funding health centres and providing training for local health care workers), it is hoped to provide sustainability for current projects and to start new ones in areas of high need. Donations are tax deductible and 100% of funds donated go directly to NAFA supported projects in Nepal. Please take the time to read the attached information sheets on NAFA & the health projects it supports or visit
http://www.nafa.org.au/How do I become a sponsor? Sponsorship forms can be found as an attachment if you have received this flyer by email, otherwise they can be downloaded from the NAFA website, or contact Ray on 0416 808 497 or Kylie on 0409 055 173 or at
nepalhealthwalk@hotmail.com_______________________________________________________________________
Ray Baker has been trekking in Nepal for 30 years & is inspired by the resilience of the people in the face of immense adversity. Ray has made many close friendships in the Nepali community & it means a great deal to him personally to be able to raise funds to assist in providing much needed health care services in Nepal.
Kylie Gilbert is an avid supporter of NAFA & the Nepali people. In 2009 she raised over $11,000 for NAFA, which was used to build two classrooms & supply other resources to schools in the lower Everest region of Nepal. Kylie has just recently spent 3 months in Nepal visiting NAFA supported projects.
Jeff Dunn has visited Nepal on numerous occasions and he has a great love for this special country and its people. He is a very keen participant in this 100 kilometre endurance walk in an attempt to raise much needed funds to support the health & welfare of the Nepali people.
Suzanne Chambers’ career in the health industry has inspired her to raise funds to assist people in the area of health in a developing country. She has a particular interest in Nepal due to her passion for trekking. Suzanne hopes to visit Nepal in the near future to see first-hand how the funds raised will make a difference.
In January I visited Tawal and the surrounding villages (which from Kathmandu is a day and a half of travel by bus and walking) where NAFA established a Health Clinic in 2001 and funds on-going costs from generous donors. Having this clinic in this region is the difference between life and death for some residents and we heard some amazing stories of how it has helped.
I was also fortunate to be involved with the newly established NAFA Hearing Project run by Audiologists, Sue and Lew Tuck. To see the joy on the faces of people receiving hearing aids when they could hear again after such a long time was so wonderful. The best moment for me was when an old Tamang woman in Tawal turned on her hearing aid and the smile on her face said it all!!!
I did though visit the school at Lapsiphedi in the Kathmandu Valley yesterday with Ramita from the Joy Foundation and another friend, to present the Room to Read library books that were purchased with the funds raised from my climb. It is only a small school with classes from nursery to class 5. They ha
ve a community library that has been set up with help from the Joy Foundation and NAFA, and NAFA has also funded two drinking taps (one inside and one outside) and distributed jumpers.
I fly back to Australia on Thursday the 6th May. My 3 1/2 months in Nepal have been pretty incredible to say the least. It is so rewarding to be able to help this country and its people in some way as they appreciate the help so much. Just seeing the smiles on the faces of the children when you give them a book or a jumper or even just interact with them makes it all worthwhile.
