Samagaun Development Foundation

Clinic Construction to Commence in May 2011

2011-03-13T12:30:00.004+08:00

There had been some encouraging progress on the healthcare project in Sama Gaun. During the opening ceremony of the Sama Boarding School, a Hawaiian doctor came with the group specially for the purpose of giving medical consultation and treatment to the ill villagers.

A doctor who specialised in telemedicine will also visit Sama Gaun at the end of 2011 for reconnaissance, to check the specifications for a suitable Internet infrastructure for the village for the purpose of telemedicine.

It was also heartening that through this journey, the foreigners who visited Sama Gaun with the Rinpoches experienced first-hand just how hard life was in Sama Gaun. Thus, under the name of Mingyur Rinpoche's organisation Tergar International, the group had made a donation of USD$5000 to the next project that was already on the cards -- the construction of a clinic in Sama Gaun. And this was further supported by S.E.E.D.S, which donated USD$10,000. S.E.E.D.S had been a long-time supporter of the development projects in Sama Gaun.

With a part of the funds secured, the clinic construction will commence in May 2011 by Zeal Infrastructure Services Pte Ltd. The total cost of construction is estimated to cost 1998,568.66 Nepali Rupees (approximately USD$27,642.72 or S$35,183.65) And if the remaining funds can come in soonafter, the clinic was targetted to complete in November 2011, before the harsh winter sets in.

Sama Boarding School Opening Ceremony

2011-03-13T11:30:00.012+08:00

30 November 2010 was the opening ceremony for the new Sama Boarding School. Jointly organised by Samagaun Development Foundation, Nubri Culture and Youth Development Society and Tergar International, this event had been a success. The ceremony was graced by the two Buddhist masters, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. The brothers were born in Sama Gaun and spent many memorable childhood years here before they moved to the city for their Buddhist studies. Hence, it had been more than 20 years since they returned to their hometown.

On this special and joyous occasion of their first visit home, a group of 40 students of Mingyur Rinpoche followed him on this journey. Foreigners from USA, United Kingdom, Mexico, Denmark, Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan made an arduous 8-days trek through the scenic route of the Himalayas to the village. From 19 November to 2 December 2010, they had spent some time out of their comfort zone to experience the freezing temperature of the winter and the very basic life in the village.

The celebration commenced when the villagers welcomed the Rinpoches' arrival. Following that, there were some Buddhist ceremonies performed for auspiciouness and short speeches given by the Rinpoches. The villagers played games such as tug-of-war, which brought the joyous spirit to its highest. Led by their teachers, the children also put up dance performances. These had been the highlights of the event as it was very entertaining to see these little ones dancing. Everyone, the villagers and the foreigners alike, had enjoyed themselves completely. As a souveneir, those who were present were given a specially printed calender.

The opening ceremony was merely a beginning of a longer road. It was our wish that the school will continue to serve its greater purpose, and that is, to offer a better quality education available to the new generation.

Top: The dance performance by the children and their teachers.
2nd from top: The foreigners enjoyed themselves.
Bottom: A group photo of the Rinpoches and the villagers.

Finally...Nurses for Sama Gaun

2010-08-26T22:58:00.009+08:00

It was an excellent news for Sama Gaun that finally, there are 2 very experienced nurses who will be stationed in the village for long term. They will be great assets in providing the much needed assistance to the villagers when they are sick by giving them health checks, dispensing the right medications and providing outpatient and inpatient care. Since July 2010, the nurses have already started to see and treat the patients.

This is only made possible with Samagaun Development Foundation's collaboration with another Nepali-based non-profit organisation named PHASE Nepal. Set up in 2006, PHASE (which stands for Practical Help Achieving Self- Empowerment) Nepal works to to improve the livelihoods of rural people by providing immediate support and empowering them. The organisation have projects in 3 districts, in which VDCs (Village Development Committee) in Gorkha (in which Sama Gaun is within this district) are one of them.

So for the time being, PHASE Nepal will help the villagers of Sama Gaun by providing and supporting 2 nurses (staff) and medications. This will continue for a few years until the village comes to a state of self-sustainability.

Currently, another non-profit organisation called the S.E.E.D.S had sponsored some village children to study nursing in Kathmandu. These children will be fully supported in their entire course of studies until they undergo a specialty training programme in nursing, which is a 3-years course. Once these children graduate from their advanced education, they will return to the village and employ what they have learned to benefit their village people.

Until this wonderful day happens when Sama Gaun can finally rely on its own people as fully qualified nurses, the nurses from PHASE Nepal will have an important role to play.

Top: Conducting basic healthcare training for the village women community

Moving Into New Sama Boarding School

2010-08-25T22:07:00.016+08:00

Since the completion of the basic school structure for the Sama Boarding School, the villagers had been the biggest winners so far...

Since April 2010, 82 students had moved from the old Gauri Shankar school to the new school compound. At the same time, an assistant cook had been hired to assist the main cook in preparing free meals to the students during mealtimes. As some children are staying in the school, an aya (babysitter) had been employed to take care of them.

Another new appointment is a new English teacher who had joined the team of academic staff since June 2010. Currently, there are 2 teachers who teach Tibetan (the native language of the region) and another 6 teachers who teach the rest of the subjects, such as English, Mathematics, Nepali, Social History and Science.

For 7 of the students, for the first time in the village history, they have begun their studies in the 6th grade (equivalent to secondary/high school). Previously, the village school can only provide basic education up to the 5th grade for the students. An education above the 5th grade will have to be pursued in the capital city of Kathmandu. Because Kathmandu is so far and to study there is exorbitant, and furthermore since many parents do not see a need to give their children a higher education, many students stopped schooling after that. Hence, this is an excellent move that the school provides a more viable option for students to continue their higher education closer to home.

Apart for these children, the school is also a venue for trainings to be conducted to the other villagers. For instance, there were nurses who came to the village to impart some basic healthcare knowledge to the village women community.

Although the basic structure for the school have been up and lessons have been conducted at this new compound, there is always room for improvement. The next phase will tentatively start in September 2010 and finish in November 2010 before the freezing winter comes. The works will include fixing up the wiring for electricity (approx. 1 km from the village to the school), channeling water supply from the village to the school (approx. 2 km from the village to the school), building a kitchen and applying ply on the walls.

Further plans for the school are to:

- install desks and chairs in the classrooms

- install mattresses, blankets, pillows for the dormitory
- set up new classrooms for higher grades students
- set up a library
- build a sport ground / court
- start a new class in village history

Top, 2nd from top and 2nd from bottom: Lesson and morning prayers outside the classroom

Bottom: Lesson conducted in the classroom

First and Foremost : Clinic Construction

2010-06-06T16:07:00.007+08:00

The first and crucial task the organization will undertake is to construct a clinic for the villagers of Sama Gaun. Currently, there is no clinic in the village to take care of the villagers’ healthcare needs. Those who are ill will have to walk for days before they can get to the nearest clinic to seek treatment.

Because of the harsh Himalayan climate, malnutrition, a lack of sanitation and basic healthcare facilities in Sama Gaun, the infant mortality rate is high and it is common for the people, especially the children, to develop fever, diarrhoea, infections, tubeworms in the stomach and other diseases. As a result, simple and easily treatable diseases often develop into more serious conditions. For villagers who have more severe and complicated illnesses, they will have to go to the hospital in Kathmandu, which is about 6 days trek from the village or 2 hours by helicopter, which exorbitant cost the villagers can ill afford.

With the assistance of an experienced architect who had assisted in the designing of the proposed clinic layout, the initial quote for the total cost for construction materials, material transportation, electrical and sanitation works, site development works and workmanship costs had worked out to be an estimate of 3,303,000.00 Nepali Rupees (approximately USD$45,684.65 or S$5,8147.00). However, we are currently in the midst of looking for other quotes so as to secure the best for the new clinic.

Please kindly email to us should you have any enquiries and we would greatly appreciate if you can kindly give us your support. For online donation, please visit http://www.ammado.com/donate?114040.

Samagaun Development Foundation on Ammado

2010-06-06T14:46:00.004+08:00

Samagaun Development Foundation is now formally registered on ammado, an Irish based network which connects nonprofits, socially responsible companies and engaged individuals in a unique environment of shared interests and lsupplies the tools necessary to support online campaigning, fundraising, engagement and communication. Please continue to show us your support!

Samagaun Development Foundation Is Formally Registered As A Non-Profit Organisation

2010-04-11T18:41:00.005+08:00

The Sama village project had obtained its long-awaited society status. Formally registered as Samagaun Development Foundation in Nepal on 29 March 2010, it is pursuant to Section 4 of the Association Registration Act (1977) and Section 13 of Social Welfare Council Act (1992).

With its formal status, the Samagaun Development Foundation will take on more development projects and hopefully, obtain more support to improve the lives of the villagers, which is our objectives.

Kickstart the Clean-The-Village Campaign

2010-03-22T12:34:00.008+08:00

2010 will be a busy but definitely fruitful year for the Sama village and the villagers.

It has always been a priority to improve the villagers' state of health. However, it is insufficient to merely build a clinic and set up the basic healthcare infrastructure in the village. The villagers themselves have to learn certain things and adopt some good hygiene practices so as to reduce the incidence of common preventable sicknesses, which are direct results of poor hygiene practices.

As part of the healthcare objectives for 2010, a 'clean-the-village' campaign shall be implemented. Every household shall receive a bin or basket which they can discard their trash into. Currently, this is not practised by families as they dispose their rubbish everywhere (and nobody cleans up these garbage) or leave them lying around in their houses for months! So the objective of this initiative is to teach them in a practical way, that garbage should only go into designated bins.

The plan is as such: During their weekly holidays (either Friday or Saturday), the school children will be assigned into groups and perform this volunteer service of collecting the trash from each households. They will then bring the garbage to a common dumping area where the biodegrable trash will be burnt. Those non-biodegradable ones such as plastic bottles etc, will either be kept for future recycling or used to make toys and handicrafts. Other recyclable items such as glasses and metals, will also be kept aside for future recycling.

In 2011, the plan will be to bring those non-biodegradable and recyclable items to Kathmandu to sell to recycling companies. However, there is much logistical issues which will have to be ironed out, such as the cost of transportation, which company to sell these items to and so on. Hence, this will have to be looked into before implementation.

Top: 2 children peering out from the roof of their houses.

Bottom: A glimpse of the houses the villagers stay in.

Updates from Kathmandu trip (30 Jan - 6 Feb 2010)

2010-02-09T12:45:00.005+08:00

A group of us from Singapore had gone to Kathmandu from 30 Jan to 6 Feb 2010 to follow up on the progress of the project and discuss what needs to be done. There had been some promising progress which we would like to share with you.

(1) Some funds had been raised in Singapore since May last year. These funds will be used for 'SAMA - School' project to complete the building of 2 uncompleted classrooms, roof and windows for the new Sama Boarding School. The completion of Sama Boarding School will ensure that the approximately 100 village children will have a new and more conducive place for study.

(2) We had also met with an experienced lawyer Mr Surish, who will assist us in the registration for a formal foundation/ organisation status. After submission of the necessary application documents, it will take approximately 15 working days for the approval process. Once approved, this will surely boost further our development work in the Sama village and we really look forward to that.

(3) With the new Sama Boarding School almost in completion, we are looking to focus on 'SAMA - healthcare' project -- on the immediate healthcare needs of the people. First, we are looking to set up an internet infrastructure in the village to facilitate medical consultation via the web by volunteer doctors in Kathmandu. A generous Singaporean donor had already kindly sponsored a huge bulk of this internet set-up cost.

(4) The construction of a simple clinic is also underway -- we had discussed with an experienced architect, who had done a similar clinic project for a remote village in Lukla, in a Khumbu region of eastern Nepal, where most trekkers ascending Mt. Everest will start. He will be helping us in the functional and structural design of the clinic.

(5) Previously, there had been no formal development projects for the village. Foreign assistance is limited to trekkers donating their medications which they brought along for their journeys. It was only until last year that some foreign doctors offered some medical assistance. Very soon, on 22 Feb 2010, a group of 11 Japanese students will be going to the Sama Village to bring solar panels to be installed onto the Sama school.

Please visit our blogsite for more updates.

Solving the Current Healthcare Woes: Effective Clinic and Internet Technology

2010-01-02T17:37:00.003+08:00

Current Situation:

There is only a temporary clinic located in the house of a village family that serves the entire community. The nearest hospital is in Gorhka, which is some 5 to 7 days trek away. The Nepali government provides their assistance by giving medications to the village.

However, it was an uphill task to find a good doctor who is willing to station in the long-term in such a desolated village faraway from home when there are plenty of better-paying opportunities in Kathmandu. Occasionally, some foreign medically-trained volunteers will go to the Sama village and offer their expertise by providing consultation and prescribing appropriate medicine to the villagers who are sick.

There had been 2 medical missions to Sama village in 2009:
1. From April - May 2009: Led by 1 Malaysian and 2 Danish doctors.
2. In December 2009: Led by 1 American doctor.

Immediate Plans:

1. To make use of internet technology in consultation.
In December 2009, the American doctor who had visited Sama Village proposed the use of internet and web-camera technology to facilitate foreign volunteer doctors based in Kathmandu, to give consultation to the villagers who need medical attention. Since then, discussions with the doctors had resulted in positive outcomes, as they are very interested to provide assistance. Hence, the setup of an internet infrastructure to support this innovative process with the kind assistance from the right medical experts, will definitely benefit the village, just as many rural villages in other parts of Nepal did. This will serve to complement the traditional face-to-face consultations. What's better, with the basic internet infrastructure set up and in place, there are further potential to use this technology to enhance education and as a source of livelihood (e.g. Internet cafe for foreign trekkers, which will be managed by villagers)

2. To build a clinic equipped with the necessary medicine and medical equipment.

3. To retain good and trained medical staff.

4. To support foreign medical/nursing volunteers in providing healthcare training to the local people.

Topmost: A Malaysian and a Danish volunteer doctor giving medical consultation to the villagers.
2nd from top: A sick child was fed with medicine by Lama Ula Jigme.
Middle: The volunteer doctors attending to a local monk.
Bottom: An old woman suffers from goitre, a condition caused by a lack of iodine in the diet, which results in the swelling of the thyroid gland.

Completion of First Phase of Sama Boarding School Construction

2010-01-02T16:05:00.001+08:00

Current Situation:

The Sama Village Council, together with the Nepali Government and the support of non-governmental organisation (NGO) such as S.E.E.D.S and Rangjung Yeshe Shenpen Societ y, founded the Gauri Shankar Primary School.

The only school in Sama Village, the Gauri Shankar Primary School currently has 2 government teachers and 4 additional teachers paid by donated funds. As parents gradually recognise the value of culturally-based education, the existing funding is no longer adequate. To address the issue, a new Sama Boarding School building has been constructed with the generous support from donors from Malaysia and Japan and it has since been completed in 2009. The new building has included rooms where students can stay in after school. In this new school, approximately 60 students will be able to study in the new, sheltered classroom, away from the weather elements.

Immediate Plans:

Although the construction of the new dormitory school building has been completed, there are still much to be done. The classrooms will have to be equipped with basic amenities to facilitate studying such as tables, chairs, black boards. Some other plans include:

1. To build more classrooms in the Sama Boarding School so that it can provide studying opportunities for 100 students.
2. To increase the number of trained local teachers.
3. To provide nutritious food and healthcare for boarding students.
4. To hire additional school staff to take care of the needs of the boarding school students.
5. To extend the school to the secondary level from the primary level.

Top: Students have to study outside the school since there's not enough classroom.
Bottom: The new Sama Boarding School building.

Vision & Mission of Samagaun Development Foundation

2010-01-01T15:40:00.002+08:00

The Samagaun Development Foundation to implement practical and sustainable projects which:

a) Provide access of health services to the villagers of Sama Gaun who are deprived from basic healthcare,

b) Help children on their education, especially those who do not have opportunity to attend school,

c) Promote environmental and cultural preservation and

d) Help provide skill-oriented programme to the local communities.

Its vision and mission is as follows:

1. EDUCATION

> To provide a culturally-relevant, high-quality education to the local children, which will emphasize on the the standard Nepali government curriculum.

> To increase the standard of education among the local people by increasing the opportunities for vocational and technical training, income generation, which will serve as sustainable means of livelihood for the community.

2. HEALTHCARE

> To improve the healthcare infrastructure and facilities, which is currently seriously lacking.

3. LIVELIHOOD

> To provide opportunities for local community to engage in livelihood that can provide them with sustainable incomes, thereby raising the standard of living of themselves and their families.

Top: A villager walking his herd of yaks

Healthcare and Education Problems in Sama Village

2010-01-01T13:12:00.001+08:00

Left: Waiting to see a foreign volunteer doctor.
Right: The children and staff of Gauri Shankar Primary School.
Below right: A child suffering from eye and skin infection.

The people of Nubri have Tibetan ancestry and are Vajrayana (or Tibetan) Buddhists. As the area's infrastructure development was badly neglected, the livelihoods of the people are affected. The people rely on animal husbandry, weaving, agriculture, exploitation of natural resources and more recently, by becoming porters or guides to the foreign trekkers, for generating income. As agriculture cannot sustain their livelihood, a high dependency on natural resources is constantly putting a strain on the ecosystem.

The literacy rate is low. Village schools are inadequate and have bare minimal facilities. The parents, not realising the importance of education which can open up more employment opportunities, prefer to keep their children at home to work in the fields or herd livestock. Traditionally, children can only study primary school in the village school and they will have to move on to Kathmandu for further education. Those wishing to receive a quality education will have to leave their village to attend private schools or monasteries. For children who have done so, few return to the village.

Health problems in Sama village is another major concern. Due to lack of education and basic medical knowledge, the people do not realise the importance of hygiene in preventing illnesses and what to do when they are sick. The infant mortality is high: 40% of the children die before the age of 5 from preventable diseases. Vaccinations are non-existent. In every family, there will be at least a child who will die before he/she reaches 5 years old. Flu, cough, fever, diarrhoea, tapeworms in the stomachs, malnutrition and the infection are among the common ailments that affects children. Childbirth is often difficult and frequently, women died during labor. The nearest hospital is in Gorkha, a five to seven-days walk away from the village. Currently, there is only a temporary clinic to serve the Sama villagers within one of the families' home. The government provide assistance by giving medicines. However, finding a good doctor who is willing to station in the village is a real challenge.

Hence, the society's chief focus is on improving healthcare and providing quality education opportunities for the children. This will ensure that the community is given the same basic human right to healthcare, especially when sicknesses strike. A good education will also ensure that the young generation are equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to break away from the cycle of impoverishment, and at the same time, be appreciative of their cultural heritage.

Where Is Sama Village?

2010-01-01T12:29:00.003+08:00

Right: Aerial view of Sama Village.
Left: Location of Sama Village in Nepal.

Sama Gaun is a village development committee in Gorkha district in the Gandaki Zone of northern- central Nepal in Mount Manaslu. It has a population of approximately 1000 villagers from 200 households. Sama Village is one of the 10 villages situated deep within the Nubri Valley of Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest mountain in the spectacular Himalayan mountain range at 8,156 metres (26,759 feet). The village lies within the restricted Manaslu Conservation Area, more than 3000 metres above sea level.

Because of its geographical location, Nubri Valley is one of the most isolated areas in the Himalayan border region. It is not accessible by road and the only mode of transportation is either by trekking through the mountainous terrain for 6 days from Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, or by air via helicopter, which local people can ill-afford.

This region of Nepal is a place of stunning physical beauty. But unfortunately, it also faces a harsh climate, high illiteracy rate, high infant mortality and extremely limited medical and physical infrastructure. This makes Sama Gaun village one of the poorest in Nepal.