Dear Friends,

             I hope summer is going well for everyone J.  My name is Narissa Puran and I am currently a graduate student studying Global Public Health at New York University. I am so honored and excited to be working next month with Volunteers Initiative Nepal (VIN) . This organization is working very hard to improve the lives of the people in Nepal, particularly those in rural communities because many people, particularly women and children lack the health education need to lead healthy and productive lives. Many of the people that receive aid and participate in VIN’s programs are very poor and many lack basic health amenities. VIN’s mission to empower these people through education and community-based programs make a tremendous improvement in their quality of life. This organization paves the way especially for the children to have bright futures.

  During the month of August, I will be working with VIN to teach health education classes to children covering the topics of human anatomy, hygiene, mental health and disease etiology. I also will be teaching on Fridays at Women/Children’s Clubs about safety, AIDS and the Human Papilloma virus (HPV).  During the time I have free, I am going to volunteer at health posts and clinics to learn about the Nepal health system and the types of medical services offered in Nepal.

 In researching about the Nepal Health System for my internship with VIN, I was saddened to read in the journal Vaccine (2008) that  cervical cancer accounts almost 20% of  detected female cancers in Nepal cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Bharatpur. Many of these cases were in very advanced stages.  Very few women in the Nepal population have access cervical cancer detection methods such as pap smears due to cost and poor accessibility to health care because a majority of the population lives in the rural areas. It brings to light the fact that disease statistics currently seen in public health and medical journals about Nepal most definitely under represent the extent of the disease burden prevalent in the population.  It is my hope that through health education projects created by VIN that women and children can learn how to protect themselves from infectious diseases such as HIV, HPV and helminthic (worm) infection.  Advancement of the Nepal Health system is occurring gradually, but I think health education should be the most basic step toward improving the health of the people.

During the month I will be in Nepal,  I want to give the women and children I will be teaching an overall picture of the importance of good health practices, nutrition and how to protect themselves in society. Through the use of visual media, handouts and hands-on chemistry and anatomy projects, I want to help them gain confidence in themselves and the sciences so that they can understand how their bodies work and how medicines can treat diseases.  I think giving the children this knowledge will help them make better-informed health decisions and explain what they have learned to peers and elders in their community.

 For this program, I will be doing various activities with the children such as explaining how the heart works and how cancer spreads. Some of the lessons that I will be teaching the children would require some basic school supplies such as crayons and stationery. We would greatly appreciate your assistance in purchasing materials for the children and in the workshops we will be doing at the Women’s/Children’s clubs. Thank you so much for your help and concern. God Bless. J