Summer Health Camp A Tremendous Success

Along with quality education, Rukmini Foundation also focuses on sound health and well-being as one of our core values. To meet this objective, Rukmini Foundation organized a School Health Camp on 29th of June on the premises of Shree Setidevi Secondary School located at Sokhel, a village just outside of Pharping. This is our first of six health camps that will be carried out in this school year. 

RF Staff Usha Adhikari and Sabina Bisunke (left to right) start the registration process by checking in one of our student Salina Magar

The health camp was organized in coordination with Manmohan Memorial Community Hospital. The medical team consisted of two Doctors, Dr. Rajesh Adhikari and Dr. Ramesh Raila; two Pharmacist Mrs. Bagheshowri Raj Thala and Mr. Nirajan Kuwar; one lab technician Mrs. Pratima Shrestha and one Staff Nurse Miss Dibya Khatri. In total 177 students (57 girls and 60 boys) belonging to grade 5-10 benefited from this health camp. Along with the students, a few teachers, non teaching staffs and locals also participated in the camp.

Dr. Adhikari and Dr. Raila start their check up during the first health camp of 2016 held at Setidevi School.  Rukmini Scholar, Saru Shreshta (right), shares her information with Dr. Adhikari.

The health camp was primarily focused in two areas: one preventive and the other curative. For the preventive aspects, there was an awareness session among the adolescent about the reproductive/adolescent health and physical hygiene. In total 25 girls of age group 11-14 were involved in this awareness session. The girls listened to the nurse very carefully and enthusiastically asked any questions they had. They expressed their gratitude in having this program.  “Although we do have all these teachings in our health book, we tend to feel very shy when it comes to asking questions because a male teacher teaches this subject,” said Sumita Bista, one of the participant of the awareness session. “We also have our male friends who take the class with us, which makes us feel uncomfortable to ask questions on subjects like reproductive health,” Sumita added. 

The girls intently listen at the health awareness class, exclusively for women, that focused on women’s reproductive health issues .

In the meantime, there was another session with the boys of the same age group (11 – 14 years) about the proper use of medicine/drugs. In Nepal, boys this age are more prone to using drugs if they are not educated and made aware of the dangers of drug abuse. Therefore, Rukmini Foundation requested Mr. Nirajan Kuwar, a Pharmacist, to give a talk based on proper use of medication.

The boys, joined by our intern Philip, listen closely to the awareness lecture given by the pharmacist on various drugs and medication.

For the curative session, there was a health checkup conducted by the doctors. Along with the general checkup, we also distributed basic medicine if it was needed. A majority of the cases that were found were related to gastritis, dental hygiene, respiratory problem and a few cases of common cold. Few of our Rukmini scholars, who seemed to be experiencing some health problems, benefited from this camp. Saru Shrestha had suffered from severe headaches and was given medication for her pain, while Laxmi Poudel had some dental issues and was told to maintain proper dental hygiene and visit the dentist soon. The doctors also checked the BMI of the children and taught them the importance of  having a balanced diet and the difference between being under or over nourished. While having enough to eat and having good food to eat is a daily challenge in Nepal, education on nutrition is also important. They also reminded the children of taking simple steps to lead a healthier lifestyle like washing hands, exercising, keeping surrounding clean, maintaining personal hygiene, and consuming homemade food rather than packaged/unhealthy food.

One of our new student, Asmita Mangarti, meets with the doctor of her general check up.

RF Staff Pramila Gajmer also takes the opportunity to get her blood pressure checked.

“Going to the hospital for a general checkup is not a top priority in Nepal, especially in an area like this, where the active population is the breadwinner who are hardly making ends meet,” said Mr. Ramkumar Basnet, Headmaster at Setidvi. “Finding the time to go to a hospital before getting ill for preventative measure has never been the case. Therefore, we are very thankful to Rukmini Foundation for providing this sort of opportunity for our children in the school itself”

Setidevi School students express their happiness in having the opportunity to get a general health check up at their school

With the dedication of the medical team, organization of the Rukmini team and support from the partner school, Shree Setidevi Secondary School, this health camp was extremely successful. Both the teachers and the students were happy to have such a talented group of medical staff conduct a health check up for them. At the end of the Health Camp, Headmaster Ramkumar Basnet, provided Rukmini Foundation with a letter of Appreciation for its continuous support to the school in the field of education, mentorship and leadership development, teachers training and the health camp. Our Rukmini team was very happy and thankful to find such a supportive and dedicated medical team, school management team, volunteers and students that helped make this Health Camp a great success.