We had a wonderful visit to the Bajed Kandala Camp today! It was so good to see our friends there and to gift them with our support and the supplies we brought. They are thrilled to have it. We had a delicious lunch and a productive conversation.
The news from the camp is mixed. First, the good: one of the young women that NHTH sponsored for her nursing education graduated this past year and came to meet us today! It was such a joy to get to spend time with her! You can see her graduation photo below. She is one of a few nursing students from the camp whose education NHTH has paid for and we are really looking forward to providing this opportunity to others.
The not-so-good news is that all of the “big name” international aid organizations, like the World Health Organization and USAID, no longer support the camp in any way. This has left quite a vacuum—the health clinic has been closed because there is no funding. We will be doing more to help fill this void, at least on the medical side.
Our next steps for the camp are to come back as soon as we can. Many camp residents have high blood pressure, which is not surprising considering their history of trauma and the daily stress they are under. Diabetes is also a large concern, so we are talking about how we might be able to help them address those needs.
We also met a midwife who sees all of the women in the camp for their prenatal visits. She’s quite busy and could really use some additional support financially, and perhaps an assistant.
All in all, there is a great deal of good work to be done and we are eager to continue to support this small medical clinic. What an absolute joy it was to be there!
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