Oct 2009 It's been a while since we've updated you on the clinic but things have definitely been happening! Over the spring and summer while planting and harvesting have been consuming most of the villagers time we've been working on future staffing of the clinic. I'm so pleased to announce that we have a family of donors who has offered to pay for the education of a young woman from Baseri to attend field nursing school full time at The National Medical College in Birgunj, Nepal. Nira Gurung who grew up in Baseri took the entrance exam early this summer. She passed and  was accepted to the nursing school (no small feat) and will begin in early October. It will take her 3 years of schooling but when she finishes she will be qualified to do minor surgery, maternal and infant health care and primary medicine. She is thrilled since this has been her life long goal and she never dreamed she would have the money to complete the schooling!
Sita was busy with a fundraiser in Seattle in July that raised money specifically for the solar and toilet systems for the clinic. There was a fantastic program and many of the Nepal Seattle Society came to support the clinic. They raised almost $5000 for this work. That is our next big push this fall once the harvest is over.
Denise and Sita plan to go to Baseri in January (now February) to determine the next steps. We will need to hire temporary medical staff in the beginning until Nira has finished her schooling.
On other fundraising fronts we have one 5 year old who raised another $42 dollars for the clinic from selling bracelets he made and another 14 year old who donated on behalf of his mom for her birthday! Kizuri, a fair trade store in Spokane is donating 1% of her sales this week to the clinic too!!! You are all helping so much and we're getting closer to opening! Thanks for all of your hard work! Denise and Sita

Background of Clinic:

We met Sita Gurung when she was 14 in her village of Besari, Nepal. That was in 1984!  We became fast friends and dreamed together about someday building a clinic in her village.  Now 24 years later it is time!

In the fall of 2007 Sita met  with the village leaders in the area of Besari, in the mountainous region of Central Nepal, to talk about creating  a clinic.  The villagers were thrilled with the prospect of having their first health clinic ever! They were so interested in the idea that they formed their own non-profit, donated community land for the clinic and agreed to donate time and labor to helping build it. 

We are now working our way through our initial phase of this project. The site has been found, the building is going up and now the roof is on!  We figure we will need a total of $7,000 US to build the 4 room building they have designed and install a solar system and a water system. The remaining $7,000 will be used in Phase 2 to purchase medical equipment, supplies and provide full time staffing for the next few years.

Our friend, Dr. John Charyk, has been on a medical aid trip to Nepal and collected information on what we will need to outfit the clinic. He has agreed to help us coordinate phase 2. We've recruited a group of enthusiastic health care professionals who will be meeting soon to start organizing supplies now that the clinic building is so far along. At some point,  we hope to have western medical personnel visit  the clinic to give basic health care training to local villagers and further training to the clinic's medical staff. This will be phase 3.

This clinic is dedicated to the memory of two amazing women who have held the light aloft for many of us to follow in their service and love of humankind. Aama Gurung was a kind and powerful woman who led by example. She instilled great faith and humanity in all she encountered.  Dr. Marilyn Ream was bursting at the seams with compassion and love. Both were amazing healers in their own way.

If you knew Aama and Marilyn you would know this was their dream too. Thanks for helping us. We'll keep you posted along the way!

If you would like to pay by check please make it payable to:
The Fabric of Life Foundation
PO Box 547
Edmonds, WA 98020
Please write Nepal/Besari clinic on the memo line

Denise Attwood, Ric Conner (Ganesh Himal Trading) & Sita Gurung

Thanks to all of our offline contributors as well! Hailey Poutiatine (Age 9!) $23.00 Mike and Sally Poutiatine $1,000.00 Fred Runkel $1,000.00 Phoebe Thomson $500.00 Wayne and Joy Attwood $500.00 Jane Bowen $100.00 Bill and Patty Houff $100.00 Cam and Susan McIntyre $100.00 Jim and Lynn Pippard $100.00 Madeline Gordon $100.00 George and Lila Girvin $300.00 Margie and Gerry Heller/Copeland $600.00 Stacey Mainer $100.00 Karn Nielson and Paul Fish $225.00 Ted Hensold and Daya Goldschlag $60.00 Andrew and Helen Biggs $150.00 Edward Biele $1500.00 David Hays $100, Kimberly Grimes & Marco Hernandez $30, Lily Laemmle $50, Tamara Belgacem $100, Robert & Angelina Rose $30, Francesca Wainwright $20, Steve Frike $20, Ganesh Himal Trading $280, Shelly Flores-Pacha $20, Alena Robison $10, Ron McComb $100, Cameron Conner $20, Marilyn Irwin $20, Sarah, Michael, Jadwin &Josias Michalko $1000, Katy Maynard & Steven Box $200, Kizuri Fair Trade Store $50, Conner Green-$72 (4 1/2 years old! Our Youngest Donor!!) Carter Power-Beggs (for his mom Laurie Powers birthday)