3 hrs bus ride there + 3hrs bus ride back = 6hrs in a bus
6 hrs at the camp
377 people provided free medical checks
About 30 teeth pulled
We drove to the Kakani Health Post, which is VERY high up on a steep hill. For the final steep descent into the driveway, we had to get off of the bus. J Pictures never show enough depth to do mountain justice. Good picture of Kedar, our bus driver. On narrow mountain roads, we much appreciate his skill. When the clouds threatened rain, he laughed and said that he would take the bus downhill if it began to rain. There was no way we could navigate that thing loaded downhill on slick clay roads (mostly just wide enough for one vehicle)!! Patients began to come as soon as we arrived. Pictures from the village closest to the building. Due to the steep hilly area, people live in small scattered villages – wherever flat space for a home or garden can be carved. Anandaban staff had come the week before to spread the word over a wide general area that a free medical camp was coming. Some people walked 2-3hrs to come. The health post was a really nice building – but usually in harder to reach places like this, staff, supplies and ability are limited. Can you imagine having the nearest health facility 2-3hrs walk away (or even days walk away)? What if you broke a bone, had a relentless fever or needed a c-section? For contextual reasons, these places are often at the top of a steep hill on public land no one else has use for. Often a doctor may not be available (ie, “gone to KTM”), the meds needed may not be available, the goat paths are steep and narrow (meaning the patient must be carried up), and you had best not need anything remotely like surgical intervention. Nevertheless, it was a nice building and local staff and volunteers came to help sort the people.
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