IOEP has served Sindhupalchok, Nepal since 2013.
We have built clinics in 10 villages that sit 5 or more days of walking from the nearest doctor.
We don’t visit. We stay.
As we have gotten to know these communities over the years, we have asked the important question again and again: what do you most need?
We kept hearing the same thing from the Mothers of the villages: we want to be trained in healthcare so we can support our families and communities. On average it takes 5 days of walking to get to the nearest town with a doctor – and that’s if there have been no landslides.
It only makes sense to empower the local women with healthcare tools that they can use on their own when our teams of volunteers are not on the ground.
To further support these communities, in 2018 we launched our first ever wilderness first aid and CPR training of Mothers in the Himalayan villages of Sindupalchok.
Each Mother was given a certificate recognized by the Nepali government at the end of their training. We outfitted each Mother with her own first aid kit and each village with its own clinic stocked with medical supplies.
As part of our commitment to this community and to these Mothers, we have been organizing and funding their certification, re-certification, as well as supplying their clinics and first aid kits semi-annually.
Additionally, we are committed to continuing to train more Mothers in this region of the Himalayas in these basic skills.
Meet one of the women running our clinics
Name: Urmila Tamang
Village: Mandra, Sindhupalchok, Nepal
Certified since: 2018
Quote: “I used to feel scared about bad things happening in our community and knowing how far away we are from help. This became worse after the earthquake and I was anxious all the time. People in our village used to become very sick and even die from simple things like a respiratory infection. Since becoming certified as a Community Health Worker, I feel a confidence in my ability to care for my family and community. I am no longer afraid.”
She is one of 100+ Community Health Workers trained and supported by IOEP.
If you are feeling called to donate to this project in support of training more Mothers to become certified Community Health Workers and outfitting their clinics and kits with necessary medical supplies, please consider donating.
If your heart is feeling called to travel with us on our semi-annual service immersion programs to Nepal, please consider volunteering with us. We travel in the Spring and Fall.
Funding first aid and healthcare training for remote, impoverished villages. IOEP trainees are typically the only people with healthcare knowledge in the area. They can troubleshoot basic first aid issues, recognize serious health problems, and respond accordingly.