Mid West Trip - Gorhai, Nepalgunj, Surkhet.
In March I went on a trip to look at INFs community work and link up with Community Based Rehabilitation Workers( CBR) The trip was hampered by bandhs(strikes). I travelled with a New Zealander, Jo, her husband wasn’t well enough to travel on the day we left so they had planned he would leave the next day and they would met up in Gorhai. Due to the bandh they didn’t get to meet up til 4days later when we finally made it to Nepalgunj. The bandh also meant we were unable to travel to more remote areas and had to go everywhere on foot.
We met a former leprosy patient, Sukhmaya, who developed leprosy at 16 and her family put her out of the house and she lived in a leper community in the jungle. This was not uncommon. She heard of the INF mission hospital in Gorhai and despite having no shoes and weeping sores on her feet walked for 6 days to the hospital for treatment. She is now in her 60’s and lives in a 1 room house, with a toilet, which INF built for her. We went to visit and she was so proud to have us in her home.
In March I went on a trip to look at INFs community work and link up with Community Based Rehabilitation Workers( CBR) The trip was hampered by bandhs(strikes). I travelled with a New Zealander, Jo, her husband wasn’t well enough to travel on the day we left so they had planned he would leave the next day and they would met up in Gorhai. Due to the bandh they didn’t get to meet up til 4days later when we finally made it to Nepalgunj. The bandh also meant we were unable to travel to more remote areas and had to go everywhere on foot.
We met a former leprosy patient, Sukhmaya, who developed leprosy at 16 and her family put her out of the house and she lived in a leper community in the jungle. This was not uncommon. She heard of the INF mission hospital in Gorhai and despite having no shoes and weeping sores on her feet walked for 6 days to the hospital for treatment. She is now in her 60’s and lives in a 1 room house, with a toilet, which INF built for her. We went to visit and she was so proud to have us in her home.
In Nepalgunj we visited a lady who had polio as a child which left her legs disabled. When young the family tolerated her and allowed her to stay but once she turned 16 and with no prospect of marriage they made her leave. With the help of INF she now runs a small shop from a wooden hut and they also built her a 1 room house. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough money to build a toilet.We met many other people living in remote areas, or in difficult circumstances, but with help from INF they are being supported and are setting up business in order to become independent and earn a living.
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