June sees the start of the monsoon period, bringing rain, heat and humidity and unfortunately diarrhoea and mosquitos!!The monsoon sweeps up from the Bay of Bengal across Bangladesh and north-eastern India, and up through Nepal.The monsoon is a blessing and a curse at the same time.   The rains are essential for rice planting. It would be catastrophic if it didn’t come as this would lead to no rice planting therefor starvation follows along with disease and death. BUT If the monsoon is sev...

In Nepal the number of Covid cases is climbing and has nearly reached 16,000 today (4th July). As has been said many times, this is a very conservative estimate because testing is limited, although it has increased recently, with 740 tested positive in the 24 hours leading up to yesterday afternoon. The death toll stands at around 34 people. There are still many thousands of Nepali people on the Indian/Nepal border desperately trying to get back into Nepal because they have had no work in Ind...

Lalgadh hospital staff have been very busy cleaning/disinfecting and whitewashing all the wards. This is almost finished and then they will think of what to do with the 20 rusty bed side cabinets.   Maybe when lock down has finished!! They have also finished painting the murals in the devotion/creation room which means all the picturesque painting of the IPD, the school room and the devotion/recreation room are now complete.

HimalMag.com has published some interesting articles from journalists and others in the India/Nepal region about people's experiences in lockdown. You may be interested to read them as they give a flavour of life there: https://www.himalmag.com/a-death-in-the-family-2020/ https://www.himalmag.com/notes-across-borders-covid19-2020/ https://www.himalmag.com/southasiasphere-issue-5/  

The CEO of NLT Nepal, Kamal Shrestha, reports that in Nepal there have been 1567 confirmed cases of Covid-19 up to 31st May, and of those, 8 people have died. So far, none of the NLT staff or producers have been infected by the corona virus and, after more than two months of lockdown, Kamal is planning to do a careful return to work for staff, observing all necessary precautions. The day to day lives of many people have been difficult due to the lockdown, and they are hoping that the governme...

Nurses are on the front lines as the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic. During these unprecedented times nurses continue to play a critical role in global health and we honour their service and commitment. In recognition of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, the World Health Organization has designated 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Lalgadh Hospital sent a photo of all the nurses working there on this celebratory day.....