VIN welcomes all interested medical students, individuals, professionals, organizations, associations and other groups to join our
Community Health and Medical Care program.
Community Health Program Goal To sustainably and significantly improve the basic health conditions of the Jitpur community by improving: access to health services, hygiene facilities, and awareness of health & hygiene issues.
VIN is dedicated to achieving the following for Jitpur Phedi Community by 2012 Improved Health Services: promoting health post facilities for community people and supporting proper treatment from a professional medical team. Encouraging community people to use the medical clinic by facilitating awareness raising programs and providing sufficient basic medication for free.
Hygiene Facilities: Giving all families access to toilets (VIN should help construct over 600 toilets); and providing all the families with proper waste management systems.
Health and hygiene awareness: Training the families in basic health and hygiene. Teaching them how to maintain clean and healthy environments. Addressing various female health issues, as well as other health matters such as Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
Sustainable School health program: To
promote the School health, regular health camps in schools are
conducted. The School health program includes regular health check ups
and medicine distribution sessions, screening dental hygiene and de
worming. Special health camps (basically Dental camps and eye camps),
targeting all school children are conducted in regular intervals.
To achieve the above goals, VIN has also been mobilizing local and international volunteers with health backgrounds in the rural communities where people do not have access to any health facilities, as the government is unable to provide adequate health services in those areas.
Rural Nepali people are often unwilling to go to the hospital and other contemporary health services because of orthodox and superstitious thinking as well as other conservative cultural influences. This nature of the peoples’ mindset is a great barrier in the process of trying to achieve widespread wellbeing.
Some Nepali people may visit a dhami / Jhakri (witch doctor) when they are suffering from a disease. Often, this resort to a spiritual kind of professional rather than medical, leads to many deaths. The most despairing part of it is that the numerous deaths are preventable through simple health care. VIN is playing an active role in linking these rural people with the rest of the world, in order to educate them, and in the process save lives, while also making sure that this integration of new practices does not completely disrupt the ancient culture of the people.
VIN Runs Community Health Program in three Ways: Health Institutions: Volunteers will be assigned to health posts, hospitals, and other health institutions, either being run by the government or a local community, in both rural and urban settings. Volunteers will work with health assistants, doctors, nurses and local volunteers. They will work daily, 3 to 5 hours, for 5 to 6 days a week. VIN's first priority is always its own main working community Jitpur Phedi, where volunteers can get involved in our integrated community development approach.
Health Camps : Medical Volunteers will be mobilized to work in health camps for a prearranged schedule: 1 day to a week. Volunteers will work with their Nepali counterparts, who assist both Nepali and foreign volunteers. Volunteers' responsibilities are to distribute medicine and consult with citizens about health care, by this means raising the awareness of health, sanitation and environment in the community.
Awareness Raising Programs: Many Nepali people are unaware of health and hygiene and environmental issues. We therefore mobilize local and international medical volunteers mainly to work with the youth clubs, women's groups, children's clubs, women microcredit cooperatives, and other local organizations to teach them about proper health and sanitation habits. VIN aims to prepare local health advocates by training the local groups of women, youth, teachers and children.
In addition, volunteers will provide First-Aid information to the local people in rural villages, thereby providing them with practical and sustainable health and sanitation skills. In the mean time, volunteers will give health education classes to children clubs in public schools. Clubs community groups will pass this information on to other Clubs, groups and communities at large. We prefer medical students, doctors or nurses for this program; however, we do accept other volunteers who have some experience in the field.
I spent a week working
with VIN in their Community Health/Medical Care program. I received
basic orientation to Nepali culture and language prior to being placed
within my host family in the village of Jitpur. They were very
hospitable and endearing. I was allowed the opportunity to experience
authentic Nepalese life and culture, and regarded as family. There was
an intense admiration and appreciation for the Nepalese people almost
instantaneously, for their resourcefulness, simplicity, and good-natured
dispositions. I worked in the community health post, which involved
assisting patients with symptom management, and offering health
promotion and illness prevention strategies. I also had several
occasions to go remote areas and model tooth brushing for particularly
vulnerable individuals and children. Overall, my experience was
insightful and empowering. I learned so much. I extend my deepest
gratitude to VIN for their continued support throughout my time in
Nepal, specifically Bhupi, Kabita, Sam and Nishan. - Shelley Pikes, Canada
