BABU - Bringing About Better Understanding

02/16/2016

And so we begin an exciting new project! In the previous few months, we have been working closely with Health and Development Society Nepal (HDSN) - check them out in a search on Facebook - to expand our rural relief programs. HDSN does amazing work, and has been working hard since the earthquake to deliver shelter to various health posts across Nepal using temporary structures that can be insulated and used where health posts were damaged.

Over the past several weeks, HDSN has started some data collection for project evaluation, and will be in the field this week to start our comprehensive health camps. We will be working in the community of Bhardev, a couple hours outside of Lalitpur.

A list of a few of the things the health camps with involved include:
- teacher training in schools that run from primary school to 10+2
- training the health workers in the local health post in dental practices, and improving the hand hygiene facilities in the health post, as well as some 'reminder' hand hygiene sessions for all the health care workers.
- general health camp with children in the, finding out the major diseases are present in the school children, and referral of any cases that require additional information to the local clinic or hospitals in Kathmandu
-an oral health camp with the HDSN dentists
-measurment of all the children's height/ weight to monitor nutritional status
- a comprenhesive school tooth brushing and hand washing program all the year round, including supplying hand hygiene materials to the school.
- supply of the IEC materials in the school
- collecting data about the vaccination, and other medicines.
- acupuncture for stress relief through Acupunturists Without Borders-Nepal.
-a youth motivation program

We are excited to see where this collaboration will take us, and will be posting updates over the coming weeks as the project fully unfolds! A big shout out to Dr. Bijay Tamang and all the HDSN staff for their hard work.

Cheers,
-The BABU team

01/02/2016

From the BABU team to you, we wish you all very happy New Year. May your 2016 be filled with joys and successes.

After a challenging 2015 for Nepal, we look forward to the year ahead and exciting new projects in 2016. Thank you for your ongoing support of our work, and for all your love and support for Nepal!

11/12/2015

Happy Tihar from all of us at BABU. I have now been here for 6 weeks, and have lots to share. A few hand hygiene highlights:

-new hand sani program at Patan Hospital ER supported by Canadian docs seems to be running smoothly!

-ongoing successful hand sanitizer project that is totally self-sustained by Anandaban Leprosy Hospital

-IFCH is self-sustaining 50 hand sanitizer stations throughout the hospital, in particular in critical care areas.

-Manmohan Memorial Teaching Hospital creating and using hand sanitizer in the ER And in key areas.

It's super exciting to see these programs being sustained by our partners with little to no external support from BABU at this time. It seems like this is a priority for our partners - kudos to all of our volunteers who worked hard to get these programs up and running! It worked!

10/09/2015

Lana has arrived safely in Kathmandu and has shared a brief update with us:

"The sun is rising in Thamel on my 3rd day here in Kathmandu. It's been a whirlwind. My first stop was at International Friendship Children's Hospital, IFCH. What a pleasant sight to see. It was 7 years ago that Dr. Shakya saw his first patient here (capture in this picture), when there was little more than one office and his dream. Today, the hospital boasts 100 beds, 35 of which are ICU beds. And on Wednesday night when I arrived, all of those beds were full, and patients were waiting for one to become free. IFCH is a well-oiled machine, due to the 16-hour work days of our colleague Dr. Shakya. The hospital is doing well since the earthquake, and is currently in the process of making 4 new OPD offices to meet the needs of their patients.

The fuel shortage is causing a large amount of strife here - right now it mostly affects vehicles, but cooking fuel supplies are desperately low, and it's hard to predict how this is going to turn out. It seems unfair that this should hit a country that has been so devastatingly affected by the earthquake just 6 short months ago. There is much more to see and share over the coming weeks."

09/29/2015

Hey Team - BABU is heading to Nepal again next week! It's our first trip back since the earthquake, and we are going to be connecting with our partners and friends to see what role we can fill as Nepal continues to build back! We'll be posting lots of updates on here and Twitter - stay tuned!

05/12/2015

Another earthquake has hit Nepal today. We are waiting on updates from our partners - we have confirmed that the Special Education Rehabilitation Centre (SERC) is fine - they had just reopened classes yesterday. We have yet to hear from IFCH and have put out word right now. We have confirmed that Phil, the volunteer physiotherapist is okay - he is now working for Handicap International - you can follow him on Twitter for more updates. We will post updates regarding IFCH and others when we hear from them.

Stay strong, Nepal. We are behind you.

05/04/2015

Here is an interview with Phil Sheppard on CBC Radio's Ottawa morning. Phil worked with BABU in 2012 and was again in Nepal working with our partner organizations the Special Education and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (SERC) and International Friendship Children's Hospital with students supporting physiotherapy services in the city. Phil has been instrumental in setting up rehabilitation relief services in Pokhara and now is back in Kathmandu.

A physiotherapist from Pembroke escapes a roof collapse after the earthquake struck Nepal. Now he's doing what he can to help Nepalese patients get back on their feet again.

05/04/2015

Please see this call for assistance from Social Action Volunteers at Kanti Children's Hospital. Lana Vanderlee, vice-president of BABU has worked closely with SAV over the last years, and volunteered with them directly in 2008. SAV helps the poorest of the poor families who are patients at Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu. As families from outside the valley are brought in from rural areas that were hardest hit by the SAV will undoubtedly be supporting many of the families with accommodation, food and supplies as their children receive care in the government hospitals.

BABU is working with local groups in the Greater Toronto Area and our partners in Kathmandu to see how we can best support the relief efforts. There are much more support in the days and weeks, as the extent of the is not yet known in many of the rural areas, and relief has not yet reached all those affected.

04/28/2015

If you have been to Nepal, or even if you haven't, this drone video will blow you away. We cannot even begin to comprehend what the devastation looks like. A reminder that much aid is needed in Kathmandu and throughout the country.

A fleet of made-in-Canada drones are due to arrive today in earthquake-ravaged Nepal, where relief workers will pilot them for rescue and aid operations.

04/28/2015

If you have a minute, check out this interview with Phil Sheppard, a physiotherapist and BABU volunteer who is currently on the ground in Pokhara and surrounding area. Phis has done some amazing work in coordinating efforts and is putting his skills to use. He had an interview with BBC on the situation and his relief work. His clip starts around 1:07 on the video - you can drag to listen to Phil's update on the situation.

Great work, Phil!

A round-up of the day's top news and sport with Tony Livesey and Anna Foster.

04/26/2015

We wanted to provide a quick update to our supporters. Last night, we spoke with Dr. Shakya and he assured us that 'Everything is okay' with IFCH. He has been working all day and night, but he maintained that they were alright, and for the time being they didn't need any assistance from BABU.

We reflected on how BABU could contribute, and our Board of Directors decided that we would like to donate funds to immediate disaster relief with organizations that are on the ground and positioned to contribute right now. We have donated $2,000 to UNICEF's emergency relief fund in Nepal. We believe in their capacity to have an immediate impact and to reach the children of Nepal who need it most. There are many ways and places to donate, and we hope you will consider how you want to support Nepal at this critical time.

The impact of this earthquake on Nepal's people, cultural buildings and heritage, and infrastructure is great, and all of us at BABU look forward to helping this beautiful nation move forward in the days, weeks and years to come.

UNICEF is the world's leading child-focused humanitarian and development agency. Children need your help right now. You can make the difference in the lives of children worldwide. Help us help those who are most vulnerable.

04/25/2015

We have just gotten word that IFCH is structurally fine and fully functioning at this time. We also received word that the nearby Tribuvan University Teaching Hospital and Kanti Children's Hospital are also fine and fully functioning. We are so grateful for this news. Now sending all our thoughts as Kathmandu and all of Nepal continue in the aftermath of this tragedy. All of our thoughts are with the people of Nepal right now.

This is a photo from 2013 - although I'm sure it looks different right now, I am sending all my wishes to the patients, staff and families at IFCH today.