Badigad Burtibang Report on KarmaFlights Emergency Provision of Medical Equipment Project (12-16 June 2021) Team members: Raju Pariyar, Prem Kunwar and Ishwor Tamang (driver and owner of amazing 4WD Scorpio jeep) DAY 1 June 12th Pokhara - Baglung - Burtibang - Nisikhola It was raining all night long before we set off. We were picked up by Raju from Hemja and left Pokhara at 04:15. Near Kusmu, our jeep got a flat tyre so we stopped in Baglung Maldhunha to repair it. Our Guruji fixed it in an hour. At 12 noon we arrived in Burtibang. In the presence of the deputy mayor of Dhorpatan Municipality, the medical superintendent and several journalists, we provided the following medical equipment and covid-19 health safety materials to Burtibang Primary Health Centre: - Coetry Machine , 1 unit (used for birthing operation to stop bleeding). - Auto Clave Machine , 16 litre - Covid19 Face-masks , 500 piece - Covid 19 Survival Gloves , 25 packets - Covid19 Steam inhaling containers, 25 units Dr. Milan Malla had informed us beforehand that the aforementioned Coetry machine was out of order and consequentially several birthing operations were affected during the pandemic. Equipment like this is crucial to these rural hospitals so thanks to your donations, the medical staff can resume the operation from now on. Arnakot community health centre unit Nisikhola 2 Jhiwa Khola Health Post Nisikhola -4 Devisthan Health Post Nisikhola -1 Because of the monsoon season, the roads to Rajkut and Tamankhola Rural Municipality were blocked and impassable so Juna Kunwar from the Rajkut Health Post was given the essential medicine and Covid19 safety kits in Burtibang to transport back. We also provided Tamankhola Rural Municipality with medical safety kits including an oxygen concentrator which was similarly collected in Burtibang PHC itself. W e then set off for Arnakot, an uphill journey from Burtibang. The dirt road had turned into a small muddy stream full of ditches! We drove with great difficulty via Masti village. Luckily, our driver, Ishwor, and his 4WD jeep were tough and resilient. At 2pm in Arnakot, we had our first meal of the day at the home of a local family. We then visited the Arnakot Community Health Centre with the following medical equipment: - 1 Oxygen Concentrator of capacity of 10 litre - 3 Digital BP sets - 2 Oxymeter - Various other medicines and personal health safety kits. We thank NEPAL-ease Charity for your support! No sooner had we arrived than already we were setting off for the Health Centres of Nisikhola Rural Municipality. On the way, we provided medical kit packages to Devisthan Health Post (ward no 1), Bohoragaun Health post (ward no 3), Nisi Basic Health center (ward no 5) and Nisi Health post Bhalkot (ward no 6). The health workers were so happy to receive the medical safety kits and medicine against covid and flu; essential equipment for these communities where many people are suffering from Covid. For the first night, we stayed in the Nisi village where, thanks to headmistress Madam Amrita of Gyanendra secondary School, we were able to stay at the local hotel. They opened especially for us! How sweet! There we experienced wonderful hospitality and also ate great food. Nisi Health Post Bhalkot Nisikhola -6 Rajkut Health Post Nisikhola -7 Nisi Community Health Unit Nisikhola -5 DAY 2 June 13th Nisikhola- Rukumkot-Musikot- Lukum Since June 12th, the monsoon was very intense and it was raining cats and dogs! There was little visibility on the roads but thankfully we woke up with clear heads after a good nights sleep. Our first mission was to meet at 7am with the Nisikhola Rural municipality team that consisted of the Chairman, Executive officer and Health Chief. The donation to the municipal managed Covid hospital and isolation was one of the largest deliveries consisting of the following equipment: - 3 Oxymeter machines - PPE consisting of facemasks, gloves, sanitizer, - Various medicine These machines will be vital in caring for and saving patients who experience loss of oxygen due to Covid. Chairman Taranth Paudel thanks all the supporting partners of Karmaflights for helping us provide for people during this hard crisis. He further assured us that these machines will be utilised in the hospital that the Rural Municipality is building in the future. The Municipality has 7 health centres in the entire area and all of them will receive essential medicines says Health Chief Bahadur Chand. We provided Rukumkot with the following equipment: 2 units of high flow 10 litre capacity Oxygen Concentrators (the first of which to enter the entire District), 1000 face- masks, 20 packets of surgical gloves, 10 units of electric steam pots and a pulse oximeter. Chief District Officer Raj Kumar Rai expressed his gratitude to the donor community for helping the district by providing such important and vital resources. Thank you Project Trust volunteer alumni for coordinating and inspiring karma flights to bring these important machines here. After the delivering the equipment, we made our way towards Rukum via 3200 meter pass to Rukumkot, the district HQ of Rukum (East) where we had an appointment with our contact Madan Shah who coordinated the program in the CDO office along side the District Covid Management Committee (DCMC). We had to wait till noon before the road was cleared up due to a landslide that had caused one bolero jeep to become blocked. Madan Shah on the left , deputy CDO, deputy DCC chair, CDO and Prem in Rukumkot The mayor of Nisikhola Rural Municipality Taranth Poudel is receiving medical equipment for Nisikhola Covid Hospital Due to the landslide, our schedule was disturbed and we had to wait hours to get back on the road. After Rukumkot, we drove towards Musikot, the district HQ of Rukum (West). We coordinated with our local partner Child Help Centre based in the Rukum and Musikot Municipality. The deputy mayor Prem Kumari Sunar was ready to welcome our team at the district hospital and public health office, Salle which is currently operating as a covid centre. The family running the hospital offered us water, warm tea and snacks. It is was our first snack of the day. We handed over 2 units of Oxygen Concentrators (5 liter), 1000 pieces of face-masks, 9 packets of surgical gloves, 4 units of electric steam pots- the last of our medical previsions! Deputy Director of the hospital, Bishnu B Budhathoki told us that there had been a high increase in the number of admitted covid patients in the hospital due to their substantial medical infrastructure so we were happy to further contribute to such a worthy cause . Our truck was empty but our hearts were filled with satisfaction! We received much joy donating this equipment. As the law of karma states; as you give so shall you receive. The rain was constantly falling as if indicating the unforeseen crisis that was about to come! We decided, nonetheless, to go against the river current or in other words instead of going via Dang as suggested by the deputy mayor, we decided to drive towards Baglung via Rukumkot as this route is normally more efficient. Just like stereotypical princes, we were a little too stubborn against the call of nature. It was already the time when chickens and birds were returning home but we were driving in heavy rain in the woods towards alpine forest and beyond human settlements. It was already 5 pm when we left Musikot. Out target destination was Nisikhola late that night but unfortunately around 8 pm we were blocked by a thulo pahiro (huge landslide) past Lukum. We had no choice but to turn around with the hope of getting shelter. Finally, in the village of Lukum, one family opened their door for us! Thanks to Bhume RM office staff Shekhar Ji and Kubir Ji from Nisikhola RM-2, we were hosted at a homestay. There, they gave us warm food and tea. We slept well. We had to wait till the local road construction company JCB opened the road the next day as it was ‘mother earth worshipping day’ or ‘ bhumey pooja’ and they weren’t supposed to dig any earth till the pooja finished. In Salle district Hospital Musikot Rukum (West) Lumbini Province DAY 3 June 14th, first of Asaar (4th Month- means beginning of rain) Lukum - past landslide -Lukum - Rukumkot- Musikot - Salyan We woke up with clear view of Lukum village still with a drizzle. I moved my phone to where I could reach NCELL phone signal. I started requesting the help of some important connections to come and assist us in clearing the road. We had to reach Pokhara that day and really didn’t want to repeat the long route towards Dang. I hoped we could be lucky enough to get through. We were in the middle of an oak tree forest within the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve. The rain was constant just like the last 4 days. The temperature was low and we were shivering. We waited for the JCB to come and clear the landslide. One jeep was in front of us and one bus behind. It was drizzling and pretty cold outside. The cattle were grazing in rain. They seemed to have water proof bodies! There is plenty of greens for them to eat. The bell hanging on their neck made us alert and reminded us that ‘we have promises to keep before we sleep'. There was a sense of melody and melancholy in this place. The wet coniferous forest was so beautiful to see with all the O2 for breathing. The tall green herbs were dazzling in the rain and wind. Since we had already eaten our brunch, we were caught in this timeless situation, capturing a beautiful moment of tranquility, purity, freshness with no worry about the virus in our car. The JCB finally arrived and cleared the first landslide. Finally, around 2pm the road was cleared of the landslides. However disaster struck again when we learned from the Mayor of Nisikhola that we could not reach Pokhara via Pushpalal Midhill Highway as there had been yet another huge landslide near Nisi and as a result many roads were blocked along Burtibang and Baglung. We were compelled to U-turn our drive back via Rukum, towards Dang and down to the Terai near Bardia, driving almost 800 kilometres over the next 24 hours. At least the road was clear! Our good friend Khem helped us on our way, giving us a warm meal in Musikot. Although we wanted to drive through the night across the hilly roads via Rapti Highway, we were in for another shock. Our driver Ishwor drove on till midnight till we finally arrived in Sarada Municipality Salyan district where we were told not to go any further as there was huge landslide near Kapurkot. We were suggested by the police to go via Khalanga and Nigalpani. We followed the road towards Dang, using google maps with Raju directing us. We thought it was reachable but after driving over 25 kilometres in the heavy rain and darkness, we were shocked to see that the road came to a dead end with an impossible-to-remove landslide. We had no choice but to turn the jeep towards Khalanga. Our driver did not give up! We decided to take a nap in the jeep because they said that the road towards Kapurkot wouldn’t be open till midday. We were exhausted and thirsty so we fell asleep in no time. A fleet of mosquitoes entered the jeep and had a party, celebrating by taking our blood. We didn’t sleep deeply. As soon as the morning broke, we started driving through Rapati Babai river corridor where we could see the beautiful rice paddy farms. Finally, after 20 hours of impatient waiting in Kapurkot RM, Salyan, the landslide was partially opened! We got through the landslide thanks to the construction crew and our smart and resilient driver Ishwor Tamang. We arrived in Dang Tulsipur. It was such a relief for all of us and the other hundreds of vehicles stranded on either side of the landslide. On the final night, our driver drove from 4am till we arrived in Chitwan. After 2 hours of rest and sleep, we took the road arayangad- muglin to Pokhara. We were safe and well fed along the way. People were so kind to us! We are so happy that we were able to bring, thanks to our collaborators, essential medical supplies to these rural health posts and district hospitals safely. Thanks to all who donated and supported Karmaflights in providing Covid Relief.