Nurses fundraising for Nepal trip
Two Nepalese natives cramming to pass state nursing exams didn’t stop studying even for a media interview.
Medical notes at their hands, the two CCAC graduates explained they are trying to pass certification tests before leaving for their home country, which was ravaged by earthquakes in April that left more than 7,000 people dead. The two recently-approved U.S. citizens have lived in Baldwin-Whitehall for nearly six years, and are now trying to raise money to train and care for Nepalese villagers in remote areas of the county.
“So many people are going to be dealing with longterm effects of spinal fractures, bodily trauma that will affect them for a lifetime,” said Chandra Neupane, 28.
Neupane and his friend, Deepak Acharya, 27, are looking to leave for Nepal after their GoFundMe fundraising efforts wrap up in August.
“We’re looking to raise $5,000. We’ll pay our own way there, but we need funds to care for – and more importantly – train Nepali people how to care for themselves,” Acharya said, “because you need to know how to stop and prevent infection; how to do physical therapy, otherwise they’re not going to get better. You’re not going anywhere with broken bones, stuck in bed, causing more infection and having it potentially spread to others. The people have gotten immediate care, but there’s nothing set up right now for follow-up care.”
The two men said they plan to stay in-country for about a month training and treating those in outlying areas of Nepal, and will eventually return to Pittsburgh.
“We have families. I have a 1-year-old daughter. Deepak has a 2-year-old son,” Neupane said.
“And we would have done this sooner, but we do have families to take care of, and we were in the midst of graduating, and now applying to take and pass our board certifications,” added Acharya.
The thought of children is partly why the two are leaving, they said.
“There are obviously those who don’t have parents anymore, or have parents who are severely wounded. That’s a unique situation I don’t think caregivers are going to be thinking about or reacting to, maybe in Katmandu or cities, but definitely not in the villages,” Acharya said.
The first goal, though, is passing board exams. That, and netting their $,5000 fundraising goal.
“If we don’t reach that, we’ll have to decide what to do in terms of going or not; we’ll still directly donate the money, but if there’s not enough to actually help us on our mission, then it’s better to directly donate,” Neupane said.
As for how the two met, they were just looking for jobs.
“I wanted to get into engineering, just wanted a job when I got here. But the reason I chose nursing, also at first just to get a job – because it was easy to get work in a nursing home or in mental health care – but that goal of ‘getting a job’ changed to helping people,” Acharya said.
The website to donate is www.gofundme.com/recoverearthquake
“On there is an email address. If people are skeptical, as it is with online donating, then they can meet us and we’d be happy to tell our story,” he said.