First We Find Them

The children HRDC treats are among the poorest in the country. Grinding poverty means that 20% of the population earns less than $2 per day and families rely on daily wages, small-scale agriculture, and remittances from family members working abroad. A child with a disability in such a family is often destined to a life of misery. 

HRDC understands these families simply can’t afford to travel to the hospital outside Kathmandu. In order to reach them, HRDC must bring medical care to the villages, and they do just that through Mobile Medical Camps. It’s an ingenious solution.

Community-Based Rehabilitation workers announce Mobile Medical Camps through radio, social media, local leaders and home visits. Then, a team of 13 – 15 medical personnel travel to remote villages throughout Nepal for camps lasting anywhere from one to five days. They come equipped with medicine, orthotic/prosthetic devices, casting materials, physical therapists, counselors, a nurse, and surgeons.

Arriving on foot or by local bus, each child is assessed. First-time patients are evaluated and given a plan, and those who need surgery receive a date along with travel arrangements. Some treatment is offered on the spot, and children who are undergoing long-term care receive updated orthotic/prosthetic devices, new casts, physical therapy, and a lot of encouragement.

We recently joined the Mobile Medical Camp in Melamchi and witnessed the team in action. Every corner of the clinic hosting the camp was filled to the brim. Grateful parents watched as their children were seen by the medical team and the child who got new braces that allowed her to stand for the first time was miraculous

HRDC conducts more than 150 mobile clinic days every year throughout rugged and mountainous Nepal. It’s the only way to effectively reach families where they live. Instead of a lifetime of suffering, children become mobile, they go to school, make friends, and experience a future filled with hope and opportunity.