Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
It is late in the day. The sun is setting. In the distance, the huge mountains of Eastern Nepal disappear in the reducing light. The Okhaldhunga district may be poor - but it is beautiful. Families are together in small houses. They look forward to resting after a day’s work. But for some, the work never ends. Okhaldhunga Community hospital is the only hospital in the area. It treats around twenty thousand [20,000] people every year. The doctors and health carers work extremely hard - with little rest. But each life they save makes the hard work seem worth it. And there are many stories to tell.
Voice 2
A mother and father walk through the door of Okhaldhunga hospital. It is not easy for them to come here. They are worried. They do not have any money. They do not know how they will pay for treatment. But, their biggest worry is inside a baby carrier. It is their little boy, Nagendra Rai. Nagendra is not a baby. He is six years old! Yet he weighs only eight kilograms! Other children his age weigh three times more than this. Nagendra has diarrhoea. He has had this condition for five months! His body is not taking his food. It is rejecting everything as waste! The young boy is severely lacking vitamins and minerals in his body.
Nagendra’s parents are very concerned. They tell how before this, their boy was in good health! He studied at school like the other children. When he became sick, they went to their local witch doctor - the dhami. The dhami did not have any medical training. But he claimed to have powers. Dhamis claim to speak to spirits to treat sicknesses. Nagendra’s parents gave the dhami some of their farm animals as payment. But Nagendra did not get any better. He got worse. They went to a private store. The people there said Nagendra did not need to go to hospital. They sold costly medicines to Nagendra’s parents.
However, Nagendra’s condition got worse and worse. His parents knew that he was dying. So, they decided to take him to hospital.
At the hospital, Nagendra needed intensive care. He needed special fluids. Doctors fed these liquids through a tube in his nose, into his stomach. Nagendra also needed food every two hours. Doctors gave him medical treatment for his diarrhoea and infections.
After two weeks Nagendra was ready for the next treatment. This was in a centre that helps sick people to start eating again. Here, Nagendra ate special foods to make him gain weight and strength. Slowly, the young child became stronger. Four weeks later, he could walk again!
The hospital helped Nagendra’s father to pay some of the bill. The remaining debt was less than the money for the dhami and the medicine. Nagendra’s father could not believe it! His eyes filled with tears. If he had known, he would have gone to the hospital first! He asked the doctors for a picture of Nagendra before his treatment. He wanted people in his village to see what the hospital did for his boy.
At home now, Nagendra looks like any other young, happy child. It is hard to believe the picture in their home is the same child. People from the village come to see Nagendra. They call him ‘the child who returned to life.’ They listen to the young boy’s story in wonder. Happily, he shows them where he had injections. He talks about his treatment and the special food he ate. Other children listen as he describes the play things in the hospital. Nagendra’s parents now know where to go to get real help. And the hospital on the hill? It continues to save lives….
Voice 1
Suna Maya Biswakarma is forty-six [46] years old. She often makes the long trip to Okhaldhunga hospital. It takes her an hour and a half to walk there. But she is in good physical health. So why does she do it? Well Suna may not be physically sick. But she has a story of suffering to tell. And Okhaldhunga hospital is helping her.
Suna’s story began twenty [20] years ago. At that time she and her husband had a small plot of land. They had their own house, and three children.
However, things went wrong when her husband became sick. Sadly, they did not go to Okhaldhunga hospital. Instead, they travelled to Kathmandu for his treatment. They had to borrow money to pay for his treatment and travel. Back in the village, they worked on other people’s land to earn money. But they could not pay back their loans. So the money lenders took away their land and their house.
Their employers gave them somewhere to sleep - on the land where they worked. But life was very hard. Suna’s children left as soon as they could. They travelled to India to get jobs. Suna did not hear from them after this.
The struggles of life left Suna with depression. This is why she travels to Okhaldhunga hospital. Here, they treat her depression. She does not have to pay. At the hospital, she talks about her worries and problems. The workers listen with understanding and care. They feel her pain. One of these workers is Kristin Bohler. She spoke about Suna,
Voice 4
“One day she came. As usual she shared her worries. I pointed to a picture on the wall. She read the words from Psalm 34, a poem in the bible.”
“The Lord is close to people whose hearts are broken. He saves those who are broken in spirit.”
“Her eyes filled with tears. She left the office. Two minutes later she was back. She asked me where the church meetings were. Next Sunday she came to a meeting. And now she comes often. Now when she comes to hospital she is smiling! And she greets us with ‘Jai Masih!’, Christ is victorious!”
“I have learned from Suna how a broken heart can welcome God our heavenly father. I have learned how the Lord God can give hope and joy in the middle of poverty and hopelessness. Suna has taken me to holy ground.”
Voice 2
Okhaldhunga hospital. The small community hospital, hidden in the mountains of Eastern Nepal. It has come a long way since its small beginnings in 1962. The United Mission to Nepal continues to manage the hospital. One government official said Okhaldhunga hospital has extended the people’s years of life by fifty [50] percent! Doctors and health workers continue to serve people’s physical and emotional needs. A notice hangs on their hospital wall. It reads, ‘We serve, Jesus heals.’
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