Sewakendra

I first became interested, several months ago, in coming to Nepal because of a family friend, Maggie Burgess, who runs a charity (Promise Nepal) helping leprosy-affected people in the country.  The initial plan was that I'd spend my time here volunteering in one of their hospitals.  Somehow, Maggie, in consultation with her friends Rabi and Sapna, decided that I would be much better off, given my background of working in education and my total lack of experience of nursing, helping in the schools instead.  I'm glad that's how things worked out.

Nevertheless, I am still very keen to see the work that Maggie and the doctors here do to help those affected by leprosy.  It's a truly nasty disease, in terms of both the actual physical suffering as well as the social stigma attached to it.  Today I went to the main hospital that Promise Nepal supports.  It's called Sewakendra (my spelling may be off) and it's run by the delightful, totally committed Dr Prahdan.  I only had time for a quick tour but it was enough totally impressed by Dr Prahdan and the work she's doing there.  

I'll be visiting again, as well as going to other hospitals that Maggie is involved with.  I'll write more about Promise Nepal and their work when I've done so, but just wanted to mention it now as another dimension of my time here.