Ganesh Himal Trading

Tag: Business for Social Responsibility

  • Untitled post 95799

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    Denise Attwood, Co-Owner of Ganesh Himal Trading

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    March 28, 2025

    Uncertainty and Collective Action


    by Denise Attwood
    Co-Owner of Ganesh Himaltrading
    Co-Founder of Conscious Connections Foundation

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    Recently I have been thinking a lot about earthquakes & interstitial fluids…

    Why earthquakes? Because when Nepal experienced their 7.9 magnitude earthquake and 400+ major aftershocks there was massive destruction & death, no certainty, no stability, no understanding of what the future might bring. Only a present of chaos and fear. What did exist, though, was a palpable energy of people of all walks of life coming together to help and calm each other, to feed and house each other and to find a common pathway forward. There was a knowing that each person played a part and that everyone’s efforts, no matter how small, were needed. The lessons of earthquakes apply to our time.

    Why interstitial fluids? Because I recently learned that this is the largest organ system in our bodies, a system that is 4 times larger than our cardiovascular system and one which coordinates, connects and communicates with all of our other organs constantly bringing balance, harmony and health to our entire system. This life serving organ, so vital to keeping us alive, was just discovered recently but is still unknown to many. Not unlike where we find ourselves at this moment. As Otto Scharmer recently stated “There is no shortage of good intention on this planet right now…we  potentially are the biggest movement this planet has ever seen, but it is a planetary movement that is not aware of itself”.  He emphasizes that we have to become aware of each other so that we can become an historical force to confront the unprecedented challenges we face. We must, if you will, come to know ourselves as the interstitial fluid, the most vital system, bringing balance, harmony and health back to our entire system. 

    We are in the midst of huge uncertainty and have no idea what the future will hold but we are part of a movement that has been modeling and working on creating a future of mutual benefit for all beings for a long time…and there are many of us. Now is the time for us to come together, to recognize each other, to support and care for one another so that we can make our huge collective visions of mutually beneficial systems of care and balance, a reality.

    We at Ganesh Himal Trading stand with you all, see you all and your enormous efforts toward these visions. We look forward to learning from you and the work you are doing. We look forward to sharing with you the broader work that we do.  In seeing each other and acknowledging each other’s work and acting on our visions we can collectively create a reality that brings us through the uncertainty and chaos and into a more creative, life sustaining future for all beings. We can do this together.

    Namaste 

    Denise

    For reference I would love to highlight:

    Otto Scharmer Mind and Life Podcast- Changing Systems

    Otto Scharmer’s upcoming book Presencing:7 practices for Transforming Self, Society, and Business.

    Neil Theise-Mind and Life Podcast- Everything is connected

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  • Untitled post 30515

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    Featured Artisan: Padhma Creations

    [/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Padhma Creation’s Story

    [/fusion_title][fusion_text]It almost seems too simple: a skein of wool saving a life.  For women of Nepal, beaten down by a complex and consuming social status, wool is a welcome reality.

    IMG_5300-300x225Hasroon is one of these women.  Hasroon was married at 18 and living a happy life with her infant son and husband . . . until her in-laws began demanding dowry money.  When Hasroon’s family couldn’t pay, she was beaten, humiliated, and ultimately covered with gasoline, pushed into the bathroom, and set on fire. Today, Hasroon works for Padhma Creations, a social enterprise founded by Kesang Yudron.   Padhma is the Sanskrit word for lotus, the flower that emerges pure and white from the muddy swamp.  Kesang believes it is a fitting symbol for the women artisans, like Hasroom, who work at Padhma Creations.  Padhma Creations gives Hasroon the training and job she needs to provide a secure and supportive life for her and her son.

    Padhma Creations partners with women from neighboring villages of Nepalgunj, Bardiya, and Surkhet in Nepal.  Wool is divided among their families who then make berets, scarves, socks, and other items in their homes or in shelters for women without homes. These woolens are then sold, and the money reinvested in programs to support the artisans and their children.  Kesang thought of the idea in 2000 when she and her father visited Nepalgunj, a border town between Nepal and India.

    “I remember being shocked at the sight of a 13-year-old village girl being rescued from trafficking by the police,” Kesang said. “The story was that a distant relative of hers had intentions of selling her to a brothel in Mumbai. This incident created a lasting and profound impression on my life.”

    Thousands of young Nepali women are trafficked to India every year for prostitution, child labor, and slavery, Kesang said.
    Others are victims of domestic abuse.  All have no jobs or paying skills. “Padhma Creations not only helps these women but saves their families from a life of spiraling poverty. [In addition,] we want to raise awareness about the lives of people in other countries,” Kesang said. “Our hope is to influence a new generation of empathetic young adults  who will be socially conscious consumers.”

    Or, like Kesang, they’ll become entrepreneurs investing in human life worldwide.

    -Article from St. Benedicts College

    [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_text]In addition to providing above market wages for the women, Padhma aims to provide women artisans with health, education and social welfare programs.  And so, since 2011, Ganesh Himal Trading has contributed $1.00 for every item made by the group to a Worker Development Fund.  A Worker’s Development Fund is a social benefit package which compliments already existing fair wages and steady employment. The money that is set aside gives women in the group the chance to decide how that money can be used to create additional financial support for the artisan group as a whole. Since 2011 the women have chosen to use a portion of the funds to provide scholarships for their children.  Originally, these scholarships were prioritized for the women most in need, but as the fund grew the number of recipients grew and now, all of the children of Padhma knitters are on scholarship (49 children as of 2015).  In 2015 alone, Ganesh Himal contributed $6,345.  Additional funds have been used for medical expenses, funeral costs and family emergencies.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Artisan Spotlights[/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_2″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Radika Zenda

    [/fusion_title][fusion_text]Radika is 34 years old and has been knitting for 3 years. She was introduced to the shelter project by friends in the neighborhood. Her income from knitting helps send her son to school since her husband does not support the family. In addition to knitting, she raises chickens.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_2″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Meera Balmiki

    [/fusion_title][fusion_text]DSCN0418-2Meera is the master knitter at Padhma Creations. She travels to Kathmandu to learn the pattern from Pemala and then she trains the other knitters. At age 35, she has 1 brother who paid his own way through college, and 3 sisters, all of whom finished high school. Because of a tumor in her leg, Meera is unable to use a sewing machine, so she relies on her knitting skills to support herself and her family.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_2″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Kesang Yudron

    [/fusion_title][fusion_text]DSCN0347-2Kesang Yudron first visited Nepalgunj as a high school student when her father wanted to train women of the area to knit.  A typical teenager, Kesang didn’t think much of the experience at the time.  After completing her accounting degree in Minnesota and working in a cubicle for a large company, however, she realized that she would rather serve her home community.   Inspired by the story of a 13 year old village girl being rescued from trafficking by the police in Nepagunj, Kesang founded Padhma Creations to provide women artisans with employm[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_2″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    Dhana Visht

    [/fusion_title][fusion_text]Meera is the master knitter at Padhma Creations. She travels to Kathmandu to learn the pattern from Pemala and then she trains the other knitters. At age 35, she has 1 brother who paid his own way through college, and 3 sisters, all of whom finished high school. Because of a tumor in her leg, Meera is unable to use a sewing machine, so she relies on her knitting skills to support herself and her family.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]

    A Small Sample of Padhma Creations Knitwear

    [/fusion_title][fusion_text]

    See all of Padhma Creation’s Knits Here>

    (you must be logged-in to view)

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  • Power of 5 launched and Girls Scholarships get funded!

    While in Nepal in 2013, Ganesh Himal staff had the opportunity to meet with two recipients of the ACP Girl Child Education Fund, an girl scholarship fund at the Association for Craft Producers that Ganesh Himal has donated to for years. Sisters Heema, 16, and Heena, 10, had both received a scholarship for 3 years and loved school, but their scholarships were ending. Due to high demand for the program and lack of funds, ACP had to limit scholarships to no longer than 3 years for the children of their producers. Determined to extend Heema and Heena’s scholarships, we at Ganesh Himal each donated $5 with the dream that we could get 1000 people to do the same. The Power of 5 campaign was born.

    What can $5 do? It can buy you a coffee, or a hamburger. It can buy you a gallon of gas. Or, it can help a girl in Nepal attend school for 2 weeks. That means that for 10 days a young girl is reading, writing, learning with her friends, and stretching her imagination. What happens if she isn’t at school? She is three times more likely to be married before her 18th birthday. She stays at home, and the traditional cycle of exclusion that keeps girls disengaged from decision making continues. $5 helps a young girl battle the cycle of poverty.

    Now imagine if all of your friends gave $5. Then they asked all of their friends to donate $5? 10 friends donating $5 is a scholarship for one girl to go to school for 6 months! That’s a ripple–an ever-expanding body of people changing the lives of girls in Nepal. And the ripple doesn’t stop there. These girls each create their own ripples of change starting with their families, then their village, and even their country. When 10% more girls go to school, a country’s GDP increases an average of 3% according to the Council of Foreign Relations. That affects the world. The ripple is limitless, and it starts with $5. This is the Power of 5.

    Our goal is to sponsor at least 100 girls, or boys if in need, in Nepal for one more year of schooling through the ACP Child Education Fund. In order to do so, we need 2,000 people to donate $5. We’ve created beautiful bookmarks for you to use to collect donations. By asking for a $5 donation for each bookmark you place in your store, you not only help us reach our goal, but you start the discussion about why girls are such an amazing investment and about why they aren’t in school.

    There are two ways of creating a ripple:

    Personal Ripple– Place  bookmarks in your store and ask for a donation of $5 for each.Customers can get involved as individuals and feel good knowing that 100% of their donation is going towards the ACP Child Education Fund. Not only that, their donation is tax deductible through the Conscious Connections Foundation, a foundation started by the founders of Ganesh Himal Trading.

    Power of 5 Ripple–

    Encourage friends/regular customers/community members to take a packet of bookmarks (either 5, 15, or 30) to distribute for donations amongst their friends. If each person finds 5 friends who turn around and find 5 friends, then through networking, the ripple multiplies by the power of 5. You can use your store as the collection point, creating community and exposing new people to the world of Fair Trade and girl’s education.

    Join the Power of 5 campaign today. Here’s how…

    1) Request a packet of bookmarks via the Ganesh Himal website. www.ganeshhimaltrading.com If you want to participate in the Power of 5 Ripple then order multiple smaller packets; if a personal Ripple better suits your store, then order one large packet.

    2) We will issue you an invoice for the number of bookmarks you want and send them with your next order.

    3) You gather donations for the bookmarks and write a check to Conscious Connections Foundation and send it to PO Box 342 Spokane WA  for the amount of donations gathered. Please put  “donation for Power of 5”  in the memo line. The Power of 5 is a project of the Conscious Connections Foundation which is a 501©3 nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS. EIN #:471602190 and all donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

    4) CCF is all volunteer run and so is the program in Nepal so 100% of donations will go directly to sending children, who otherwise would not be able to attend, to school in Nepal. Our focus and priority is on sending girls to school but if girls are served and boys are in need we will sponsor them as well.  If each of us gives a little, it’s no longer pocket change but big change: JOIN THE POWER OF 5!

    Use these to generate donations for the scholarship fund AND raise awareness about the importance of educating girls!

  • Spokane City Forum, Reading, and Product of the Week

    Hello Blog Readers!

    It’s the newly established Ganesh Himal Trading Intern.

    Before I begin I want to share my excitement about a product I discovered while exploring the Ganesh Himal Trading inventory: the little felted elephant bags. They had caught my eye when I was browsing the website and during my tour of Ganesh Himal Trading. Between the adorable design and the story behind them, I couldn’t resist featuring them in my blog post. The design reminds me of a bag I had as a child, a horse purse, who was a stuffed animal with a zipper across the back and the bag compartment was his stomach. Adding to the whimsical design of these bags are some wonderfully unexpected color combinations. Long story short,  I may soon be walking out  with one of these bags for some young girls who live next door.

    The elephant bags are created by a group of crafters that was formed by a former employee of the Association for Craft Producers (ACP), Hari Basnet. Hari, with the help of ACP and Ganesh Himal Trading started his own business, and up until his recent death employed 15 women with steady work and fair wage. The women have been able to continue on carrying on his mission. I find his mission and commitment to women very admirable.

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    I had a fun time herding up some bags for this photo

    In addition to Hari Basnet, I also loved hearing the individual stories of producers from Denise at the Spokane City Forum on the 17th. The stories of the women are so empowering, how through their employment they have become strong and are now advocates for their communities. I hope to bring the same empowerment to women in my career. I was very excited to attend because my dad, who works at First Presbyterian Church, has been encouraging me for months to attend City Forums and I’m glad I finally received  the opportunity.  What I loved almost as much as I loved hearing Denise and Kim speak, was seeing how the audience reacted. They were completely hooked and when Denise passed around some examples of the products made from what was considered trash (tire innertubes and recycled billboards)–the audience was tickled. Each person examined the products with glee, smiles and whispers of admiration to their colleagues.

    After my first day I was given some reading to do, “An Overview of Fair Trade in North America” which gave the basics of Fair Trade: its history; its principles, importance, major names, challenges and personal impact. Everyone should read or a least skim through a copy. The pamphlet may not be every one’s cup of tea, I would say a lot fact based reading isn’t, but it gives a great overview of the subject including a conflict I found particularly interesting. The concern is over the emerging differences between certification guidelines.

    The overview mentioned the specific coffee and how different groups are now allowing hired labor and plantations to have their coffee certified. I would like to avoid becoming pessimistic but I believe caution should be taken to ensure there are guidelines. The typical consumer is most likely unaware of these differences. While this may be good for business and while I am not condemning organizations for altering guidelines to encourage larger companies and corporations to apply for certification to encourage the shift to fair trade practices, I am worried this could dilute the reputation of the fair trade, much like the USDA’s organic certification and corporations strategic use of phrases such as “100% natural”.

    All of this being said I fear preaching to the choir. What are your thoughts readers?

    Until next time,

    Lauren

    The Ganesh Himal Trading Intern[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Meet Ganesh Himal’s First Intern!

    First Entry: October 15th


    Hello Blog Readers, my name is Lauren Merrithew. I am Ganesh Himal Trading’s first intern! I am a senior in high school and I am taking a class that partners me with an organization of my choice whom I than intern with for around 3 hours a week from the beginning of October to the end of May.
    I had a rather interesting way of becoming connected to Ganesh Himal. I was interviewing with another organization when the interviewer stopped me and said their organization wasn’t the place for me. I was shocked, wondering when in my description what I love and value went wrong before the interviewer smiling, sat me down and showed me the Ganesh Himal website that prominently featured aspects of their business that summarized everything I had mentioned in my interview with her.
    What I would like to do is become a fashion major and eventually start my own business, a business based on fair trade, empowering women, and sustainability.
    Ganesh Himal has been an incredible fit thus far and within the less than six hours I have been here I already feel at home. Their message, mission and process is genius—for lack of a better word–and I have learned so much already as to what it takes to run a fair trade minded business. And I am hooked.
    Already I have been exposed to Ganesh Himal’s incredible mindfulness towards the producer, which became evident within minutes of Denise elaborating on product design, including how designs are chosen for specific producer. Each one of their transactions with their producers is thoughtful, and because of their consciousness, Ganesh has been able to facilitate amazing change, which I love. (Read how Ganesh Himal helped build a Medical Clinic below if you haven’t already).
    I will be posting throughout my internship, sending updates on my experiences and what I am learning. I’m excited to see where this internship will take me.
    Until next time,
    Lauren Merrithew
    Ganesh Himal’s Elated Intern

  • Creating a Grassroots Healthcare Clinic in Nepal

    Sita Gurung, Denise Attwood, Ric Conner (Ganesh Himal Trading)

    The Story of the Baseri Health Clinic,  Baseri Nepal

    How does a small, locally owned, grassroots health clinic in Nepal get a start! Here’s the story of how the clinic in Baseri Nepal did!

    Denise and Ric (of Ganesh Himal Trading) met Sita Gurung in 1984 while they were trekking through her remote village of Baseri, Nepal. She was 14 at the time! Sita was an enthusiastic girl in the village who walked long hours to get an education. They became lifelong friends. Over time all of them dreamed together of someday building a clinic in Sita’s village where there had never been any healthcare before. In 2006 Sita’s mother, Ama Gurung and Denise’s good friend Dr. Marilyn Ream both passed away. Their lives and memory gave Sita and Denise the inspiration to pursue that dream.  24 years after their initial meeting in Baseri they decided it was time to build a clinic!

    In the fall of 2007 Sita went back to her village of Baseri  in the mountainous region of NW Nepal and met with the village leaders. She asked them if they were interested in helping to create a clinic.  The villagers were thrilled with the prospect of having their first health clinic ever! They formed their own non-profit, donated community land for the clinic and agreed to donate time and labor to help build it. The team was forming!

    In the spring of 2008 Sita and Denise held the first fundraiser in Spokane and raised the money to start the construction.  Carol Schillios, of the Fabric of Life Foundation, who works with women in Mali met with Sita and Denise, discussed the project and lovingly agreed to have the Fabric of Life Foundation became the home of the Baseri Clinic funds!

    In the meantime, the villagers chose a site that they felt was accessible to everyone in the surrounding area and started building in the fall of 2008. They agreed that they wanted this clinic to be available to anyone who needed help and that they would not turn anyone away. They designed a 4 room, one story building in the traditional architecture of the village and located a local water source. Trees were cut from their local community forest and milled by hand. Slate for the roof was cut from a nearby quarry (all by hand). By the spring of 2009 they were able to construct the main shell of the structure.

    Over the summer of 2009 the villagers were busy planting and harvesting their local crops of millet, barley, corn and rice. Sita and I were busy planning out the future staffing of the clinic as well as where to source electricity (the village of Baseri has none).  Sita and I dreamed of finding a local woman to staff the clinic. We wanted to find a woman who could be a mentor to young girls in the area. Remarkably, just as we were investigating the staffing, a Spokane family approached Denise about helping the clinic. They wanted to help with finding qualified permanent medical staff.  Sita knew of a young woman from Baseri who had dreamed of being a nurse but couldn’t afford the tuition. The Spokane family jumped at the chance to fund her training. So, Nisha Gurung, a Baseri village girl, applied for and was one of 4 rural Nepali’s accepted to the field nursing program at the National Medical College in Birgunj, Nepal. She started the demanding 3 year program in the fall of 2009 and Sita visited her at the college soon after.  Nisha has been a star student and will be finished with her program this fall, 2012.   When Nisha finishes she will be qualified to do minor surgery, maternal and infant health care and primary medicine and at that time she will become the lead medical personnel for the clinic. She is thrilled since this has been her life long goal and she never dreamed she would have the money to complete the schooling!

     

    While Nisha has been in college, a local man, who was a medic in the Nepal Army and worked for 10 years in the Army hospital in Kathmandu, has  filled  the position of medical personnel for the clinic. In 2009 he come to Kathmandu to meet with Sita’s friend Dr. Holly Murphy, an Infectious Disease Specialist, who is working in CIWEC Canadian clinic in Kathmandu.  Holly worked with him to make lists of the supplies of medicines necessary for the village clinic and to make sure that everything needed would be ready for the clinic opening.

    Also in the summer of 2009, Sita was busy with a fundraiser in Seattle that raised money specifically for the solar, toilet and water systems for the clinic. The fundraiser was sponsored by the Living Earth Institute in Seattle http://living-earth.org/ and raised almost $5,000 for the clinic. There was a fantastic program of traditional singing and dancing by Sita and others and many members of the Nepal Seattle Society came to support the clinic. Sita, contributes the proceeds from her traditional Nepali music CDS to the clinic project.  With this money we were able to fund a solar panel, five small tube lights (the first light in Baseri!), a battery, the design and installation of a toilet system, a 5000 liter water tank and piping and have them installed in the clinic.

     

    The building was completed in the winter of 2010 and then a grand opening ceremony was scheduled for February. Sita, Denise, Ric and Cameron were all able to make their way to Baseri for the grand opening. Two other Nepali’s, Harimaya Gurung and Dhane Gurung, who have been instrumental in the construction of the clinic were also able to attend. The grand opening ceremony was held on February 26, 2010 with all of the villagers turning out and much music and fanfare and a ribbon cutting ceremony!

    On February 28 the first 35 people came to receive care! By Sept 29, 2010 1600 patients (an average of 10 people a day) had been seen at the clinic for everything from maternal health care issues to burns, breaks and intestinal disorders. As of Feb 2011 over 3600 had been served! They have been able to save 3 peoples lives, one pregnant mother and child and one very dehydrated young boy! The clinic is supplied with basic lab testing facilities for urine and blood tests an otoscope for ear infections, stethoscopes, a blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and saline iv drip system.

    News travels fast in the remote areas of Nepal and now people living in even more remote areas than Baseri have heard of the clinic and are coming seeking primary care treatment. It is obvious from the popularity of the clinic that we will need to increase the staffing so in the spring of 2012 we hired a young woman of Baseri as a part time assistant to help with record keeping.  Our next steps will be to explore funding for 2 full time medical staff people. The clinic charges cost for medicine and a small fee for those who can afford it and a bank account has been opened in a nearby village. Their goal is to be able to replenish their medical supplies with the funds that they receive. The villagers of Baseri take part in  the care and upkeep of the facilities. Our organization has agreed to pay for the staffing.

    In the summer of 2011, Greg Starling, a board member of the The Nepalese Women’s Health Foundation contacted Denise about their interest in helping to fund women’s health care at the clinic. Sita met with their board member Dr. Devi Dawady, and they agreed to fund specific women’s health care issues at the clinic for $1000 for 3 years. With the first $1000 granted  we have been able to create 1) an emergency fund for pregnant women who may need emergency transport to Kathmandu, 2) purchase prenatal vitamins that are made available to all pregnant women who come to the clinic free of charge and 3) begin to explore hiring a teacher for an adult women’s literacy program at the clinic.

    At present, in the summer of 2012, the clinic is serving on average 10-15 people per day. Last February Sita went to the clinic twice and held meetings with the village board, the medic and the village people in an effort to determine how to make the clinic more effective and self-sustaining. Great progress was made and the village board is taking on more responsibilities. Records are being kept of the illnesses treated and medicines distributed, vitamins are being distributed to women who are pregnant and much more.

    Sita has been working hard to put a strong foundation in place by talking with the village committee members and organizing a plan for the future and her hard work is paying off! The clinic is truly growing from the ground up! In September of 2012  when Nisha  graduates from nursing school  Sita has arranged for her to attend a 3 month training in intensive care at the Dhulikhel teaching hospital in Kathmandu. When she is finished she will return to Baseri and become their lead caregiver! The first woman health care provider in the first clinic in Baseri! A dream come true!

    Nisha has decided that she would like to live at the clinic so our next phase for fundraising is to raise $2500 to build a 4 room addition to the clinic. Two rooms for Nisha and two rooms that we can use for guest physicians, health care educators and perhaps women’s literacy or economic development groups in the future. This project will hopefully be completed this fall.

    On this journey we have had incredible help from many different people. We have one 5 year old who raised over $70 selling bracelets he made and 10 year old twins who asked people to donate to the clinic for their birthday present. A 90+ year old man, Mr. Biele, who is a friend of Sita’s has been a great supporter and has donated more than $10,000. There are dozens of others who have given generously to this dream. This clinic is dedicated to the memory of two amazing women who have held the light aloft for many of us to follow in their service and love of humankind. Aama Gurung, Sita’s mother, was a kind and powerful woman who is from the village of Baseri and led by example. She gave Sita the opportunity to become the first female to have a high school education in the area. Aama Gurung instilled great faith and humanity in all she encountered.  Dr. Marilyn Ream, a physician in Spokane who worked in many rural clinics throughout the world  was bursting at the seams with compassion and love. Both were amazing healers in their own way and a huge inspiration to others.

    Aama and Marilyn inspired this dream and so many of our friends have worked to make it come true!  Thanks to everyone who has helped. We’ll keep you posted along the way!

    If you would like to make a donation:

    For online donations, visit http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/denise-attwood/besarihealthclinicold

    To make a donation by check, please make the check payable to “The Fabric of Life Foundation” and send to the address below. Please write Nepal/Besari clinic on the memo line.

    The Fabric of Life Foundation

    PO Box 547

    Edmonds, WA 98020

    Please write Nepal/Besari clinic on the memo line