Bumburi Community Medical Clinic
ABOUT THE BUMBURI MEDICAL CLINIC IN NEPAL
The Bumburi Medical Clinic is in the village of Bumburi which can be reached either by heading south for two days from Lukla or trekking two days from Paphlu airport. Since the road from Paphlu to Lukla is being built it will soon be possible to drive almost all the way there.
FUNDING AND ACTIVITIES
The clinic has been funded by Moving Mountains Trust and in particular, the donors have been medical students who have taken part in our medical camps over the past seven years, which are run in the same area. The clinic is part of the long-term commitment to the regeneration of the whole region, which has included hydro-electric power, new schools, businesses and refurbished monasteries. Since the charity began in 1991, the demographics of the villages has completely reversed, and now people are moving back with their families because they recognise that the quality of life is better. Education is of a high quality and the introduction of electricity and machinery has meant the village co-operative is now selling corn and oil to the markets as far away as Namche Bazaar.
Providing good quality healthcare is obviously an intrinsic part of the development of any community, and Moving Mountains embarked on a number of projects some years ago to help tackle some of the primary health care problems facing the villagers. In particular respiratory problems caused by smoke from open fires inside the houses was helped by installing closed stoves that use a third of the wood and have a chimney. We also installed water into almost all the houses and in some cases back boilers so that people had hot water for the first time.
HISTORY
The community then took applications for two villagers to attend nursing college for three years, during which we built the clinic itself on land donated by Moving Mountains Nepal Chairman Ang Chhongba Sherpa. The study course was also funded by medical students running the medical camps, and on April 13th, 2016 (Nepali New Years Day) the Ang Kami Memorial Clinic was officially opened. Ang Kami was the father of Ang Chhongba.
The clinic has a pharmacy, several treatment rooms and it’s own toilets and shower facilities. It is in a beautiful location overlooking the Solu Khumbu, built from local stone and slate. The village of Bumburi comprises 129 houses but the through traffic will ensure there is a steady flow of patients.
WHO CAN VOLUNTEER?
We would encourage medical students to add on a week or so in this medical clinic in the Himalayas after their elective and donate some time to helping the nurses and assist with the programme of community health events. There are various free clinics such as ante-natal and baby, plus home visits and health education talks in the school. Complicated cases are referred to a number of hub hospitals in Lukla or Saleri. The two nurses, Mingma and Ang Dawa, will greatly appreciate your presence and help.
Medical elective students coming to Nepal to complete their medical elective have a great opportunity here to fundraise for the clinic and give something back, and also to spend some time in the community to get some additional experience.
The visit to the community medical clinic can easily be linked to an adventure trek after the elective. This village is on the Everest Base Camp trail so it would be easy to drive to Saleri or Jiri or Paphlu and walk from there all the way to Everest in about two weeks, with a stop in the clinic en route.
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