Getting back into routine after a great break

Back in November we wrote that Megan was planning to travel to Rukum. That was originally planned for December but got postponed, so she is actually there as we write. By the time you receive this she may be back in Kathmandu – maybe 30th or 31st January. It's a one-hour flight and then a jeep ride, on rough terrain. Obviously, it is expensive to run a vehicle backwards and forwards just for her, so she will wait to see who else might be travelling around the time she needs to return. There are 2 options for her: one is via Surkhet with the road travel being less than 4 hours and the other route has a similar flight time but is 5-6 hours by road. It just depends which town others need to go to. We just share this detail as an example of the ongoing challenges and uncertainties we face living here – it's hard to part not knowing when Megan might get back.

The bonus of travelling via Surkhet, with no-one else's plans to work round, was that Megan was able to spend a full day in Surkhet, where we used to live.

The not so joyful part of that was the opportunity to visit our old church. Sadly, the father of our pastor (we call him Pastor Buwa which literally translates pastor father) has a terminal brain tumour and does not have much longer on this earth. It was good to just go and hold his hand and pray one last time. His wife appreciated the visit too.

More positive was the time Megan spent in the rehabilitation unit working with old colleagues, plus a more recently appointed physiotherapist, just encouraging them and also doing a little bit of hands-on training.

In Chaurjahari hospital, Rukum, she is busy teaching the physio assistant in the hospital. Please pray for this young lady, Elishaba, she is medically trained as a paramedic but not as a therapist (apart from what she learnt from Megan the last time she visited Rukum). She is doing a great job following through on what she learnt last time and eager to learn more this time. Although her job title is 'Assistant' she is the only 'therapist' the hospital has. She was very happy to have her photo taken for your thoughts and prayers.

Megan also hopes to get out into the community during her second week there. HDCS has a community outreach programme and Megan hopes she will do a home visit or two with the physio on the team.

Thinking about health services in Nepal, there is so much room for improvement. Even if Chaurjahari hospital had extra funds available, such rural hospitals struggle to get good staff - they want to be in Kathmandu to advance their careers. We are grateful for the 'mission hospitals' of Nepal where services are of good quality and affordable. However, they face financial problems with promised government funding not being given, leaving a big deficit in the budgets and also some antagonism for political reasons. It is very basic but the staff have big hearts for the people they serve.

A week after Megan returns from this trip, she will head to Bangkok, Thailand, to attend the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) Congress taking place there. She is quite excited to be attending after a mere 44 years of being an OT.

We are thankful that Alan's health improved enough for him to help to run the workshops we mentioned and that the team had a good week of meetings thinking around strategy for the next five years. Whilst Alan has mostly recovered from the Chikungunya virus that we mentioned in our last newsletter, and he is back to almost full function, he still has some hand weakness. He doesn't like having to ask Megan to help with simple tasks such as opening new jars or replacing the drinking water bottles on the dispenser!

He is currently busy working with his team to prepare a big proposal which will be presented to the development ministry of the German government. This is for a project that will help to improve emergency medical services and help communities to prepare for and respond to disasters. Disasters such as flooding and landslides are increasingly common in rural areas, as the effects of climate change are felt here with changing weather patterns. We are even seeing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases that were previously not seen in the mountainous areas of the country. There is also the ever-present danger of serious earthquakes.

As for the nation of Nepal, since the riots last year, life has been quiet and fairly settled but now things are starting to move towards election fever. Flights were delayed on the day Megan travelled due to various senior ministers being at the airport, several of which were heading to Surkhet. All potential candidates had to register their intention to stand by the 23rd January.

Our requests for those that pray are:

Whilst we are both thankful for generally good HEALTH please could you pray for:

Alan's complete recovery from Chikungunya – especially full hand strength to return

Megan as she is struggling with her vertigo, experiencing dizziness daily; please ask for healing and/or time to get to a doctor and get it properly assessed/treated.

Pray also for pastor Buwa and the family in Surkhet

For work:

Megan in ongoing rehabilitation support and the travels involved to do that

A good experience at the WFOT Congress

For the work Alan and team are doing to be completed well and on time and to get a favourable response (i.e. the promise of lots of support).

Pray for us both for balance with the different demands on our time for our work in Nepal and for the requests for support from BMS partners in other countries that we are seeking to support in their capacity development. Also wisdom about further visits for face-to-face support.

For Nepal:

Please pray for a peaceful election time (election day is March 5th) with good outcomes whereby there will be good people running the country with a genuine heart for the development and wellbeing of Nepal. You can read more on that here: 2026 Nepalese general election - Wikipedia

Please pray for the government to respond to the calls for health services funding to be better managed and for quality of care to improve for those who cannot afford the private hospital services.

As always we thank you for your love and support

Wishing you all the best

Alan and Megan xx