Nepal 2016: Day 1 - Banepa and Taeskelo

Monday 11th July 2016

Today, after arriving at Pastor NP's house in Banepa, we ate lunch and then travelled by bus up to a church in Taeskelo to run a half day medical and dental clinic. We arrived at around half one and a few patients were already waiting. The team set up the clinic with areas for waiting, triage, medical diagnosis and treatment, dental treatment and issuing of medication. The nurses and other volunteers from CRS looked after triage and the issuing of medication, while the two doctors (Ivan and CJ) diagnosed patients with the help of Sarina and Pradhan translating from Nepalese, while Josh and Gloria assisted with diagnosis.

Sharon's physiotherapy expertise also came in very useful when a mother was in need of treatment for back pain. While she was being treated, her son was patting her and trying to see if she was okay. Although he seemed quite shy, when I managed to ask his name in some dodgy Nepalese he told me and then we played with his slightly deflated balloon dog for a bit. The other children also loved the balloon animals that the team made for them and later on the bubbles and stickers also went down extremely well - many went out with a face full of stickers. The joy of the children was so amazing to witness. 

Although at first there weren't many patients for dental treatment, by the end of the clinic Jason was pulling out teeth left right and centre with the help of Angel, Sharon and Aaron. 
After asking the patients, various members of the team prayed with them for healing or for peace about the treatment they would receive. When a couple of the team prayed for one woman, she began praying herself too. Another lady, despite having recently lost her father, was rejoicing because he was a Christian and the rest of her family was too. Praise the Lord!