Going back to Nepal after a year and to see how much has changed and how the children have changed.
It was with much excitement that Taal and I finally arrived back at our beloved clinic after a whole year of forward planning and fund raising. We entered the gates to a sea of beautiful smiling faces, most of whom we already knew but to lots of new faces too. Over the past year our clinic members have grown by over 30% to 220 registered patients, a clear indication that our efforts to raise the awareness of thalassaemia in Nepal is working.
The most striking part was just how old and grown up our children have become. All of our original children have suddenly become young adults, something that historically is very rare for a thalassaemic child in Nepal to achieve. Likewise our new children are much younger than our original children proving once again that children from all over Nepal are being diagnosed at a much earlier stage and thereafter being directed to our clinic, the only medical establishment in Nepal specifically set up to thalassaemia children at a much sooner time. Oh the joy in my heart is one that I just cant explain, each and every child a blessing to care for and to be so very proud of. Their little lives are so tainted by their illness that its such an honor to be able to offer them some comfort in their treatment at our clinic. Taal and I were blessed to have my old friends Kate and Jackie and a new friend Dot make the visit with us this year and together we had great fun giving out gifts of T shirts, hats made by my aunty Doreen and her friends and fun things that people from the UK had sent. Our yearly visit has now become a time to celebrate us all being together and its tradition now for us to take picnic box for everyone, children, parents, staff and grandparents! It’s a day not to be missed.