The club was visited by Virginia Dixon from Roads to Rehab Nepal who expressed her gratitude for the, ‘Amazing support given by the Rotary Club of Hall’.

Virginia Dixon presenting
Our first presenter of the year was Virginia Dixon who visited the club to update us on some of the ongoing medical work we are supporting in Nepal.

Roads to Rehab Nepal is a small Canberra based Not-for-Profit that works with two project partners – Nepal Healthcare Equipment Development Foundation (NHEDF) and Fistula Free Nepal.

Boy in a wheelchair with progressive weakness in his lower limbs
Bikram had progressive undiagnosed weakness in his lower limbs. He no longer attended school and was bed bound and isolated. Thanks to the support from the NHEDF family, he is happy, back at home, returned to school and uses his new wheelchair to get around.

We facilitate medical care, surgical intervention, nursing care and rehabilitation services for people who have experienced life-changing injury and cannot access medical care due to poverty,’ says Virginia.

‘Our patients have injuries resulting from earthquakes, landslides, work (often overseas) or motor vehicle accidents. They may have osteomyelitis, acquired brain injuries, burns, fractures, fistula (which is classified as an injury), undiagnosed neurological conditions or they may have been diagnosed with bone cancer or a spinal tumour. They have often incurred significant debt in their attempt to have their injury treated and we help people who have no one else to turn to and nowhere else to go.

The NHEDF Shelter Project is based in Kathmandu and the Rotary Club of Hall helps fund the wages of two full-time nurses, a physiotherapist, and medications for the 16 to 20 patients at the Shelter. The Rotary Club of Hall also contribute to the Fistula project in Dharan, which provides support for women with inoperable obstetric fistula and live with permanent urinary and/or faecal incontinence.

woman in wheelchair with badly broken leg
Parbati was swept into a river by a landslide whilst herding the family’s goats. She was pulled out by other villagers. She spent 300 days in hospital during which time her parents had to sell their land that had been in the family for generations to pay the hospital bills.

Roads to Rehab Nepal is also in the process of establishing a Days for Girls Enterprise manufacturing sanitary pads and incontinence products with the aim of both supplying patients with these products and providing a means of generating an income for female patients who cannot engage in their pre-injury employment due to a disability.

‘The number of people we can help is only limited by funding, and our grateful thanks go to the Rotary Club of Hall for their amazing support.’

For more information, visit their website www.roads-to-rehab-nepal.org
Or contact Virginia Dixon at virginia@roads-to-rehab-nepal.org