Journey to Nepalgunj
2 days after returning from Gorkha and enjoying some sights around Kathmandu with Maria I was ready to plan my next venture out to far west of Nepal. This area has some of the poorest and hard to reach communities, resulting in the worst health indicators for Nepal. When we arrived in the Phase office, I met Yogesh, a very friendly and relaxed health supervisor who would accompany me to the
west. We did some planning for the 3 health posts I would visit and decided our route. The first leg was a overnight 16 hour bus journey, that with frustration seemed to break less than hourly for unknown reasons. We took with us 16 boxes of medicines, a solar battery, and an oxygen cylinder and some special food health workers relatives had given to us to deliver to them. The roof was packed, and to get to your seat you had to clamber over dozens of solar batteries which fitted so neatly into the isle, it was as though the bus was designed for this purpose. Once again my down jacket rescued me, as cold air blasted through the broken window for the many hours to come.
In the darkness of the early morning, one long break was next to four identical rustic chai stalls, with warm welcoming fires enticing you to sit down to greet the new day with a tiny cup of milky sweet goodness. We arrived tired in dusty hot border town of Nepalgunj. After some rest went shopping for more essential goods to take back to the far west. Another sleepless night came as I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of Mosquitos and couldn’t wait to get back up into the mountains.
Onwards to Kolti
The following days chartered plane ride was beautiful. Flying through impressive mountains and again lush wheat terraces dotting the rough brown valleys. The people here believe these 3000m plus mountains to be hills, I wondered what they would think to the mountains we think we have in the UK. We landed in Kolti, a low lying part of the west with the ability to grow banana, papaya, guava among all sorts of veg. People still stick however to potato, spinach and occasionally just tobacco in their gardens. That is why Phase has agriculture advisors here who promote better kitchen gardens, with more variety and improved nutrition.
Other Phase staff here work in the local primary health post along side government doctors and midwifes improving the service provision. The delivery room is so cold however, that they prefer to deliver the baby on a mat outside in the sun, overlooking the valley behind the primary care centre. Sounds nice in a way.In Kolti, there was a midwife from America, who had impressively been staying in the west for 2 months. They are currently building a new accommodation for the staff who at present squeeze into 2 bedrooms. She was helping to improve the standards, and it was great to hear some of her insights before I ventured onwards. I slept incredibly well that night. The next day was a strenuous hike deeper into the mountains to visit 3 more health posts over the next 3 weeks.
Travelling with General Practice 