Case Studies

Keshari Thapa is the daughter of brick factory workers. She was born with a cleft lip and palate. Her parents would not have been able to afford the operation to correct the congenital defect of their daughter. CDO arranged and paid for the necessary operation, which was done when Keshari reached the age of two. By now (2013), Keshari is 3,5 years old, and she is developing well. NareshThapa, Keshari’sfather, is thankful: “We are very pleased that you helped us. Even our own brother in the brick factory did not help us. You gave new life to my daughter.”

Mobile Health Clinic and Awareness

The Mobile Health Clinic and Awareness Program (MHCA) is designed to make people more aware of the importance of healthy practices. This program is tailored to the needs of the people working in brick factories. Exposure to pollution (especially to the dust of bricks) and unhygienic living conditions are a major cause of health problems for brick workers.

CDO provides health care services to around 10,000 brick workers and their children in a total of 20 brick factories of the Lalitpur district in the Kathmandu valley. The program covers the entire brick season from the month of December to the beginning of the monsoon rains by May or June of the following year. CDO has one health worker* fully dedicated to this program. Together with a community mobilizer* she visits the brick factories regularly, going from hut to hut. They bring along medical equipment and medicines.

Health workers provide the following services:

On-site medical checkups with supply of medication as needed
This program first and foremost provides health counseling and appropriate medication for sick people in the brick factories. Each patient’s history is recorded on a carbon receipt, with one copy given to the patient, and the other kept for records. Instructions foruse of prescribed medicines are written in symbols to provide for those who cannot read, and seriously ill persons are referred to the hospital, where they are accompanied by CDO who cover medical expenses.
Health education
Usually conducted during the workers’ lunch break, the goal of health education is to raise awareness of helthy practices, personal hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and the importance of safe drinking water. Depending on whether or not it is the rainy season, our health worker might emphasize either water-borne diseases like diarrhea and dysentery, or air pollution-related problems like lung and eye irritations. Serious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are also adressed.
Health training
During health training, people can practice proper hand washing as well as solar water disinfection methods. Different from health education, on-site health training requires the active participation of the people. Therefore, health training events are scheduled ahead of time, and the people are informed of an upcoming event by a community mobilizer.
Pamphlet distribution
The information presented during health education and health training is been printed in form of picture booklets which are distributed to the people who attend an MHCA event. With this booklet, the people can maintain healthy practices and act as ambassadors to spread the message to others who could not be present.

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*“Health worker” is a person trained as a nurse who will be able to carry out simple medical tests and dispense medications to patients.
*“Mobilizer” is a person who informs the people targeted by a given project about an upcoming event and helps coordinating that event.