Good Works - "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." Titus 3:8

 As you know there is a road widening project going on, on our street.  The houses and shops have for the most part been moved and the underground work is being done.  They are installing a 4 foot sewer down the street.  as they dug the trench for the sewer there were lots of other things in the way, which were simply dug up with the backhoe.

As we were walking I saw these guys repairing the water line into the peoples houses that were destroyed when they dug the trench. There were about 15 galvanized pipes running from the main, which is a 1 inch line, that they were repairing.  That doesn't look so bad.  Well, they also have sewer lines from the same houses that were broken as they dug.  That was a smelly mess for awhile.  I think they have it mostly repaired now.

The month of January was filled with many activities.  We trained the master trainers in the Paropakar Maternity Hospital on the 18th and 20th of January and now will followup with them as they continue to train the nurses and doctors that will be delivering the babies.  This is an amazing Hospital in the amount of babies that are delivered here.  It is a government hospital and as such the mothers to be can get many perks by coming to deliver at this hospital.  With that information the hospital delivers between 23 and 24 thousand babies per year.  That means in round numbers 64 babies are born in the hospital each and every day of the week.  There are 5 delivery rooms and 1 operating theater (operating room) for abnormal births.  The delivery rooms have 4 to 6 birthing beds each and they are in constant use.  We looked in on a delivery room a while back and there were three mothers giving birth at the same time in that one room.  There are usually only one or two doctors available for the deliveries, so most of the babies are delivered by nurses.  The neonatal mortality is around 43 per thousand in Nepal with means on any given day in this hospital 3 babies will not survive, one more interesting note, about 85% of babies born in Nepal are not born in this kind of setting, they are born in

homes and other facilities like a small clinic (sort of).  Our goal is to eventually have all of those charged with delivering babies to know and understand the protocol of HBB.  There have been two studies in like settings and the results of the studies show in one of the countries there was a 50% decrease in mortality and in the other one showed a 33% decrease in neonatal deaths.  The Dr. at Paropakar wants a 50% mark to be reached.

These next couple of pictures are the nurses studying and getting hands on training with HBB.

The training is so different than what they usually get in the classroom setting.  The major difference is that they get to try their newly acquired skills on these Neo Natalies (baby dummies).  The babies are very lifelike in size and feel and they have lungs (air bags) that expand when the trainees use the bag and masks on them.  It isn't easy to use the bag and mask.  The trainees also learn first to stimulate the baby by drying and covering them for warmth.  It sounds very simple and it is if you are not in crisis mode.  That is the reason that they practice and practice until it become more of a reaction for them to go through the steps of the protocol.  To pass the class they must have 100% understanding of the protocol which is determined by a hands-on practical test given by their trainer.  In the picture above you can see the trainer writing in their test booklet if they understand and can explain the procedures  

At the end of the training there is the usual closing ceremony where the trainees get certificates and praises  for their efforts. We were asked to meet with one of the local doctors we work with about a week ago.  We talked about his needs and what we still need to do to help him with the study he is working on regarding HBB.  After we talked for a while he asked me to speak to those who had just completed their HBB training.





We didn't know that was coming.  So here I am trying to say the right things to nurses who will be delivering babies at this hospital.

Here they are all ready to go!!








While we were in the hospital we visited the NICU because one of the doctors from the US wanted to see what they were doing there, he is a Neonatalologist.  here he is in the NICU with Dr. Clark and one of the residents of the hospital.








After church on Saturday Dr Clark needed to meet with a friend, so we, Janet and I, took Dr. Bell on a whirlwind tour of Kathmandu.  First to Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple.  The name is because there are holy monkeys living in the north-west parts of the temple.  The monkeys are holy because Manjushee the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning was raising the hill which the Swayambhunath temple stands on.  He was supposed to leave his hair short but he made it grow long and head lice grew.  It is said that the head lice transformed into these monkeys.

This mother and her baby on the right do not look anything like head lice to me, but then what do I know?  The picture above is Janet, Dr. Bell and me at the stupa on the top of the hill.  The next pictures are of the stairway to the stupa on the top.






In the 17th century there was a very powerful king of Kathmandu, he is the one who had the stairway built to the Stupa.  As with most construction in Nepal they just went straight up the hill, consequently very steep stairway.  You can see from this angle with Janet and the other missionaries walking down just how steep it is.

Probably the worst part is the stairs are not consistent in height and width, which make for interesting navigating.
One last picture before we move on with our adventure.  I know that the inversion in the SL and Utah valleys has caused quite a lot of polluted air to breathe, so I thought you might be interested in the air in Kathmandu.  This picture was taken about 11:00, it shows you the valley looking to the east.  Just below us is the clock tower which  is very near Thamel which is kind of the down town part of Kathmandu city.  If you look carefully you can see it center right of the picture.



We took our adventure to the center of Kathmandu City which is Durbar Marg.  This is where the past kings palace is located and also many temples.  We might call it temple square.  I told our friend Rakesh that it reminded me of temple square in SL, he said no.  I asked him why he said that and he said look around how dirty it is.  He has visited our Temple Square so he really could tell the difference.

This is one of the temples in Durbar Marg.  I am with Dr. Bell and Rakesh Hamel.

The last place we visited was Budhanilkanth with is the Sleeping God, Vishnu.  It was a day of celebration and many people were doing their religious observances.  The following picture is something I had not seen before.  The pots that are burning are filled with strings that have been twisted into a candle wick looking thing.  The people that burn them take many months to make the wicks because there a thousands of them in the bowl.  I think the significance is that doing this will bring great blessing to them and their families as they walk around them as they burn and say some rote prayers.




A view of another family worshiping.




They are walking around a man, probably their Father or Grandfather with their right side to him saying prayers.

That evening we went to visit a doctor who we hope we will work with to do the the training in April, at least that is our hope, and depends on what Hong Kong decides.



More training on Sunday.
On Monday we visited many of the hospitals and INGO's we would like to partner with in the future as we proceed with HBB Training.

As we traveled from hospitals and INGO offices we stopped in to visit with our friend Raj Kumar and gave him some bandages that Dr. Clark's wife, Ann, had sent along with him to give to the leprosy clinic.  This picture is of the nurse cleaning the wound of one of the patients staying at the center.  The bandage she is wrapping his foot with is one of those sent by Ann Clark.

The clinic is very near the Pashupatinath temple, so we decided to walk to the temple and have a look around.  Pashupati is a very sacred Hindu place, there is a huge history regarding he temple which is why we see things here that seem very unusual to us.  For example,  the cow legend says the Lord Shiva once took the form of an antelope and roamed unknown in the forest on the Bagmati river's east bank.

 The gods later caught up with him and grabbed him by the horn and forced him to resume his divine form.  The broken horn was worshiped as a linga (to most Hindu's this is a symbol of divine energy) but overtime it was buried and lost.  Centuries later an astonished herdsman found one of his cows showering the earth with milk.  He began digging deep into the ground only to discover the divine Linga of Pashupatinath.  Now you know the story and why cows roam uninhibited around the temple grounds. Look for the monkey near the cows.

This temple is where the Hindu's cremate there dead as you can see from the picture that someone was on their way to heaven when this picture was taken.






They like us, use symbolism in their structures to help us look at the eternities.  This is a picture of some temples lined up to show the depth of our existence.  These are small, maybe 10 feet square, structures placed in a line from east to west and you look through them they seem to go on forever.

The doctors left and we still had the Blacks with us.  They are a public relations couple from our mission who wanted to see the doctors at work and stayed an extra day.  We visited the Sewing center that we support to deliver yet more things that Ann Clark sent for the centers to use.

This is Janet handing the material and some very sharp scissors to the trainer at the center.







We also had a distribution for some of the wheelchairs LDSC provided here in Nepal, this week.

 Before the wheelchairs are distributed, the recipient must be assessed for the proper type and size of chair.  This is one of the recipients being assessed for his chair.









Before we started this wheelchair need to be adjusted, so I am making some last minute adjustments.  This man for the past 15 years has supported his family by selling newspapers on the street.  The wheel chair he is provided helps him get to more places.

  This distribution was held at the Read Nepal Leprosy clinic in conjunction with the World Leprosy Day. Janet is giving the tools for the chair to the recipient 




Last picture of the ceremony is our good friend Raj Kumar.  He is the founder of the clinic.

  Moving on we have another project that is finally complete.  Last fall we started a project at Read Nepal Clinic with chickens.  The purpose is to grow chickens for eating and also laying eggs.  We were told that the chicken would be eaten before they could lay.  Raj promised us they would not be eaten but would grow to laying hens.  The following is proof of that.

The man holding the egg is Hussan,  He has been the primary person watching over the chickens.  He is very proud of the egg as you can see.
It is amazing to me to see the vision of this one man as he has developed this clinic, and nurtured it to the point where it is now.

As you can see there are many good works going on in this little country.  Those that we meet and work with are very humble and committed to make a difference if only in the life of one person.
I asked our partner Rakesh why he did what he does.  As most Nepalis do, he went on for about 10 minutes explaining the whys and wherefores of his endeavors.  Simply put, by changing the life of only one person you change the life of their family and the families ability to provide for each other,

That is the good work by which he will be judged.

Next time:  "Keeping the Faith"

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