Skip to main content

Pyutar birthing center now a cause for EVERY ONE



Giving is happiness for many. Yesterday, Save the Children in partnership with Social Tours and Kathmandu City Cycling community had organized a press conference to promote the Kora cycling event. Although only one journalist arrived for the press meet, working as an external communication person I was happy. The happiness came from seeing hundreds of people – small children, young boys and girls, professionals from all walks of life come to the press meet not just to listen to what we had to say but to pledge for the cause. 

This is the third edition of the Kathmandu Kora cycling event organized in partnership with Save the Children. This year’s cause is to raise funds to build a new birthing center in Pyutar VDC, Lalitpur 1. The Auxiliary head nurse serving in the one room birthing center from Pyutar VDC was also present at the meet to share her job experiences and her ordeal while performing her job. Gyanu Ghimire, Auxiliary nurse said, “I didn’t know all of you were raising money for us and that too by cycling. I am so grateful to all the cyclists. In the past 18 years I have delivered new born in dire conditions sometimes holding a torch light in one hand and delivering with one hand.”

What Gyanu Ghimire narrated as her ordeal is not limited to the health post in Pyutar VDC but her experiences are similar with all the Auxiliary nurses working in birthing centers in Nepal.  In Nepal, there are more than 3000 birthing centers but more than half of them lack skilled human resource to assist in birthing. Pyutar’s case is a bit different – an independent birthing center does not exist, it only exists in name sake after the one room allocated for the birthing center in the VDC secretariat was brought down two months ago.

However, there is hope for the Pyutar birthing center because more than 1300 cyclists have registered to cycle and raise funds independently as individuals. Among the 1300 cyclists I spoke to few who had come to donate funds they had raised from their friends and family members. 

Anil Maharjan is an IT professional  said, “This year I raised NPR 10,000 because I support the cause which will support a birthing house in Pyutar.” 

Another fellow rider Claudia Cocha said, “Last year I could only raise NPR 2,000 but this year we have a group of 10 riders and we have raised NPR 11,000. Being a mother I feel strongly for this cause.”

Bhusan Tuladhar who has been a part of the kora cycling event for the past three years mentioned that it is a family event for him and his daughter and his wife have been raising funds too. “My target is NPR 45,000 if I don’t meet it I will put it from my own pocket.”

Every person I spoke to mentioned they learned about the event through facebook. The power of social media has been a great influence in reaching the general population of Kathmandu. While I have been constantly hooked on to Facebook to promote the event I saw a post where a mother had mentioned that her daughter would pledge the amount from her piggy bank.  I almost welled up when I read this post. This cause, which is  part of a people mobilizing campaign of  Save the Children and facilitated by Social Tours is now a cause for everyone to call for action to say "no child should be born to die". The ownership exhibited by  the Kathmandu City Cycling community to support the cause is beyond words – youths giving time and inquiring how they can help. We couldn’t ask for more. 

Through this platform I want to thank every individual who are cycling and raising money for the Pyutar birthing center. 


The money raised through this event will be channeled through Karma Foundation with zero incurred administrative cost to the District Health Office Lalitpur. Save the Children has received a written approval from the District Health Office Lalitpur to construct a new birthing center in Pyutar VDC. Our target is to raise 2 million for Pyutar. If you haven’t donated yet, please do kathmandukora.net/pledge-form/. Because no child is born to die and no mother should die giving birth!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dreams pursued

My precious Photo: Shradha Giri Last night my nine-year-old and I held hands and cried. We then laughed and then cried again. This isn’t something we normally do – our daughter, our precious one who was quiet for a change sat still, listened to what I had to say. The thing is, I have decided to change my career at this age and it is creating a ruckus which I didn’t think of earlier. I guess no one thinks through until the day one starts working on the decision. I decided a year and a half ago that I would invest in a school. Both my husband and I danced at the idea one idle weekend. We didn’t think of the distance - 500km. A year and a half spent running to banks, local ward office and to tax departments, the deal was done. Just like that with considerable amount of loan on my shoulders, I became a part of the system where I have always wanted to make a difference. I spent the past two weeks in my new role and I was baffled by what I observed (I also spent a few nights c...
8 comments
Read more

Esspeaking English

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2013/04/26/on-saturday/eespeaking-english/248047.html “If one has to earn a MBA degree to work in a management position and an Engineering degree to become an Engineer why are teachers in Nepal teaching without an education degree?” The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist , has attempted to measure countries that are best for a newborn. I checked and rechecked the whole list and was sad to see Nepal missing from the good lists again. Nothing surprising though, I reckon we may never appear in the list until our children continue ispeaking English. Being a mother of a toddler is tiring enough, finding a proper kindergarten in Kathmandu is depressing. I admitted my daughter in a Montessori exactly a year ago hoping for better. Of course, I won’t blame the school for not teaching my daughter everything there is to teach in a year but I do blame the Montessori for teaching my daughter to i speak En...
Post a Comment
Read more

keep calm!

I work the 9 to 5 job so you would expect me to be ecstatic on the day my salary arrives. Nah. I get emotional and negative for the whole day still contemplating on why we pay taxes. Add up the salary tax, the car tax, the road tax, the home tax and the food tax. It’s appalling. With the amount I pay, I and you should have access to free education for our children and access to free quality health care. Although I kind of sucked at math in school, but when your hard earned money trickles down the drain I tend to add and subtract pretty good. A couple of week ago Nepalese witnessed the breakdown and chaotic Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) Association convention which led to the election of the new NRN President. The sight no doubt was chaotic but it also reminded me of the fight that broke in the parliament couple of years ago. The NRN’s complain regarding the systematic failures of doing clean business in Nepal yet they brandish the same image – their status, money and their change ...
Post a Comment
Read more