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CAN Projects Ghyamrang Area Health Post It was identified at an early stage the necessity to establish a health post at Ghyramrang. There would be over 4000 people in over 500 households living in the health post catchment area including people from other communities. For almost three years the health post operated out of a room in a private house, now it has finally moved into a purpose build building situated in Lower Ghyamrang.
The community have
shown overwhelming support for the work of CAN. The villagers
believe that the teaching standards in the school have improved over
the last few years. The number of students has increased
dramatically and the exam results are exceptionally good. The
presence of a health post has improved the general level of
community health and as a result the villagers to take particular
pride and ownership of this local facility.
Ghyamrang Health Camp – 2006
Community Action Nepal organised a Health Camp at Ghyamrang in December 2006. This was a well supported event with over 1200 people attending. Some patients had walked for over three hours to reach the Health Camp. For the 10 Nepali rupee cost of registration patients were screened for general health, eye surgery, minor surgery and gynaecological issues and at the same time there were facilities for attending talks on general health education and women’s health. There were also counseling sessions for Cancer Support, Family Planning and HIV support. The camp operated from 8.00 am until to 9.00 pm for the three day duration of the programme. Specialist surgeons performed 43 cataract operations, 24 minor surgical operations and many more patients had eye tests resulting in glasses being prescribed at a subsidised rate. Minor surgical operations were performed to remove non malignant but potentially dangerous lumps and skin tags. The Medicine Tent staff were constantly under pressure to deal with all the prescription requirements and at 11.00 pm at the end of day one porters from the Ghyamrang Youth Club had to be sent out to collect more medicines from Pokhara, over six hours travel by foot and jeep away. To their credit all the medicines were in the camp store by 8.00 am on day two! These medicines were prescribed free of charge as a result of the generous support from Surgery in Nepal. At one time the queue of patients waiting to register stretched for nearly 400m down the forest trail. The community provided facilities for visitors to have food and drink and the more enterprising members established a small shop where biscuits, food and drink could be purchased.
To assist the camp programme a team of volunteers from the community manned the facilities provided by the local CAN supported school and worked in partnership with the CAN nurses and a team of volunteer surgeons. The Health Camp was sponsored by Surgery Nepal. The weather was kind during the actual camp which, as well as performing a much needed medical service, also provided a platform for a great social occasion.
During January 2007 CAN Community Nurses attended a specialist Dental Extraction training course. This course is not for the faint hearted as the nurses injected each other using syringes and local anesthetic!
Income Generation Ghyamrang Income Generation Initiative: The allo (Girardinia diversifolia) plant grows in most northern parts of Nepal and is also found in the hills from the west to the east of the country at altitudes ranging between 1,200m and 3,000m. It flourishes under the shade of deciduous forests, and in moist, sandy soils, especially ravines; it can also be found on shrub land and on the edges of cultivated land, where it is used to consolidate bunds on terraced land. Growing to a height of 3m, the thorn-covered stem, which contains the fibres, can measure up to 4cm in diameter at the base. The plant has long, white thorns that have a very nasty sting, the effect of which lasts for about half-an-hour. Although there are variations in weaving techniques in different parts of Nepal, the basic methods of allo harvesting and spinning remain similar all over. Harvesting begins towards the end of the monsoon season in August-September, and continues until March when the plants begin to flower. The villagers, both men and women, spend up to a week in the jungle collecting the bark. The best-quality fibre comes from the early harvests. Allo weavers believe that allo growing under shade yields the finest and whitest fibres, while plants that are more exposed to the sun are brownish in colour. Fibres from plants growing at high altitudes are the most valued for weaving. Only mature, thick stems are harvested; others are left to seed. The stems are cut at about 15cm from the ground, using sickles (hasias), in order to leave sufficient stem for new shoots to sprout. The stinging thorns on both stems and leaves make the cutting hazardous and the harvesters protect their hands with bundles of cloth. Often the stems are left for a few days before fibre extraction begins - this is done to reduce the potency of the stinging hairs. On an average, in one day, the bark from about 370 stems is harvested. The fresh bark of one allo stem can weigh up to 100 grams - this yields a maximum of five grams of dry fibre. The bark is left to dry for a few weeks. The dried bark is then boiled with wood ash for about four or five hours to make it soft and to extract the fibre. Then it is washed with white mica clay soil (kamero mato) to lubricate the fibres and make the separation and spinning easier. Finally, the strands of fibre are hung-up and sun-dried. The surplus mica soil is dusted off before weaving. During weaving - to prevent the allo yarn from getting fluffy - the weaver occasionally brushes the warp with water, using a shelled maize cob as a brush. Traditionally, all allo cloth was woven on back-strap or body-tension looms, the women using a lightweight hand-spindle, about 40cm long. Spindles and looms are standard equipment in every home. Weaving takes place mainly during the winter when no fieldwork is done. With the minimum of simple components this type of loom fulfils the basic function of keeping the warp threads under tension while the weft thread is interwoven with them at right angles. All parts of the loom, except the wooden beater, are carved from bamboo at home. Though spinning by hand-spindle is slower than spinning on a wheel, the spindle has the advantage of weighing very little, being easily carried and it can be used anywhere. Allo fibres are taken on most journeys and are spun not only when resting but even when walking. When the weaving is completed or at the end of the day, the loom parts can just be rolled together into a bundle and easily stored in the roof rafters. Traditional methods of spinning the yarn using a hand-spindle are still in use, though innovations in technique, materials, and equipment have resulted in giving this craft a big boost. Many changes have been introduced in the past few decades in processing, dyeing, weaving, and knitting. The adoption of a new type of allo cloth in which the traditional gimte pattern was woven with an allo warp and a wool weft, created a new market opportunity. CAN has worked with local craftsmen to make a larger loom resulting in the production of wider, more commercially acceptable cloth. New finishing techniques have also been adopted by the weavers. The allo tweed cloth is first burled so that all knots and loose warp threads are mended, after which the cloth is washed and 'wet' finished by trampling with the feet in a thick soapy solution until it felts and shrinks to a prescribed measurement. It is then thoroughly rinsed and rolled onto a slatted drying roller. As the Giant Nettle is harvested, it expands its tough erosion controlling root system. Thus the production of allo cloth promises economic security and ensures the preservation of the high forests under which it grows.
CAN, under the watchful eye of Ratna Strethsa [Community Generation Manager] has invested in one ‘over-sized’ loom as a sample for the community. The Mothers’ Group was so impressed with the obvious potential that they, on their own account, purchased three additional looms to match the looms provided by CAN. The Youth Club members have been trained to manufacture and maintain the looms. The community has provided temporary accommodation to house the looms, enabling CAN supported training to be provided. Once the training programme has been completed the looms will be re-located into the homes of members of the Mothers’ Group from where they will produce the cloth. They have already developed a quality control system and will start producing the material in March following the re-location of the looms.
At present a local market has been identified and if the Mothers’ Group can maintain their estimated production rate they could generate over 630,000 Nepali Rupees (NRs) a year. This will give the workers a good daily wage and will also provide the community with an income to invest into their proposed co-operative bank. At the same time they have agreed to offer financial help to the CAN supported school and Health Post with an equal 25% of the generated income. This would amount to 50% of the yearly running cost of the Health post excluding, the nurse’s salary.
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Reg. Charity No: 1067772 - Stewart Hill Cottage, Near Hesket Newmarket, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 8HX |
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