Nepali Mountaineer Vishu Sijali will attempt to summit Mt Everest in April this year.  Wonderfully, Vishu wants to use this amazing opportunity to raise desperately needed funds for Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre.

He's climbing Mt Everest. I won't be.  I will instead be doing a Triathlon.  That is my "Everest" I can promise you!

Please watch our VIDEO in the 'gallery' section below or by copying this link into your web browser in a new tab - http://youtu.be/EZr1LVokU4M

Why a Triathlon?

Inspired by Vishu, a gang of us here who work for the hospital (who feel Mt Everest is a little too high a bar for us) are going to take part in the Himalayan Rush Triathlon on Saturday 28th March.   This is going to be a pretty challenging triathlon set against the backdrop of the snowy Himalayas (I'm hoping the view can distract from the burning legs).  

I'm doing the Sprint Triathlon which is 750m swim (in the rather stunning Begnas Tal), 20k cycle and 5k run. 

As you would expect of a Triathlon in Nepal, there are hills, lots of hills.  I'm a little daunted by said hills but determined and am even more so if it means we can raise some cash for Green Pastures.

A little about the hospital where I have the privilege to work...

Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre was established in 1957 by the International Nepal Fellowship, Nepal’s longest-serving international non-government organisation. Green Pastures specialises in the treatment and rehabilitation of Nepalis living with leprosy, stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and other neuro disabilities. 

I am currently working at the hospital in the Occupational Therapy Department and see the impact of the treatment and care given to those at the Hospital.  Hospital staff counsel patients and their carers and we provide and train patients in every day life-skills and livelihood/vocational training, to help ensure that when patients return home they can play an active role in their families and the wider community despite their condition or disability.

There is also a Community based rehab team and recently the Occupational Therapist Kirstin was doing a follow up visit in the Terai area near the Indian border.  One of the families she met there spoke so highly of the work of Green Pastures Hospital.  The wife of one patient who had rehabilitation following a spinal cord injury said to her "I didn't realise that we had people in Nepal who would love us and care for us, but the love and care from the staff in Green Pastures Hospital made us realise that there are.  We never expected that."

People living with leprosy or disability in Nepal are often so marginalised and stigmatised that they have no one to care for them and no ability to pay for their treatment. Often families and patients run into immense debt as they are forced to pay fees at the government hospitals.

Because patients cannot afford to pay for their treatment, without external funding Green Pastures Hospital cannot afford to keep providing its vital services.  I can vouch that the Hospital is in desperate need of funding and your support will truly be appreciated in making sure the work here continues and Nepalis who desperately need love and care can continue to receive it. 

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