Charity Project
Karmi Farm Clinic
KARMI FARM CLINIC – CHARITY PROJECT
ONLY £2 A YEAR PER PATIENT provides a first line drop-in clinic service for the 2,500 subsistence farmer families of the Kolbong area near Darjeeling, India.
• Every penny raised for the project is given to the clinic for it’s services
• All the administration is carried out by volunteers
• All the admin & travel costs are covered by the volunteers
• All the visiting medics work as volunteers
TO DONATE
• Send a cheque made payable to ‘Hill Tribe Health Centre’ to:
Karmi Farm Clinic Project
c/o Nomad
Unit 34 Redburn Industrial Estate
Woodall Road
Enfield, Middlesex
EN3 4LE
• Fundraising projects – please contact Cathy@nomadtravel.co.uk if you are interested in organising a fund raising event for Karmi Farm Clinic
HOW DONATIONS ARE SPENT
The Karmi Farm Clinic costs £5000 per annum to maintain it. This money is currently distributed as follows:
• Medical & first aid supplies 58%
• Full time health care worker 16%
• Transport to & from hospital 8%
• Hospital treatments (xrays, tests etc) 15%
• Ancilliary supplies (cleaning,redecorating) 3%
Any funds raised over and above £5000 are used for hospital care for serious cases.
TO DONATE MEDICAL SUPPLIES
Supplies of medical & first aid items which are very expensive or not available in Darjeeling are all donated from individuals and companies in the UK and delivered by guests and medical volunteers of Karmi Farm. If you are able to donate any of the following contact cathy@nomadtravel.co.uk :
Gloves- medium
Inadine- size- 9.5x9.5
Parafin gauze
Wound dressing bandages
Micropore – all sizes
Tube bandages- for finger, hand and leg
One Touch Ultra- glucose test
THE CLINIC
The Clinic was established in 2001 by Cathy & Paul Goodyer, co founders of Nomad Travel Stores, in conjunction with Andrew Pulger-Frame, owner of the Karmi Farm Guest House, to deal with the influx of local farmers who regularly turned up at Karmi Farm with health problems.
Located in N E India in the foothills of the Himalaya on the Sikkim border, the clinic now caters for 2,500 people, mainly local subsistent farmers and their families. The nearest hospital is a 3-4 hour walk away and in most cases has little in the way of medical supplies or, sometimes, even medical staff.
The Karmi Farm Clinic is run as a first stop clinic for these people. It frequently has to deal with accidents such as deep machete cuts, dead fall injuries, and other accidents relating to living off the land.
In addition to accidents, the clinic deals with everyday problems such as scabies, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis and other infections associated with basic living conditions and water shortages.
Using some of the donations, the Clinic has now trained its own full-time health care worker who carries out first aid, post operative wound care, medication distribution and first aid. He also acts as a translator for visiting volunteer medics.
PROJECTS
Following the success of our scabies eradication campaign over the last two years, the clinic has again supported many local families by supplying removable washable bedding and washing facilities. This has led to yet a further decrease in the number of scabies cases in an ever expanding area around the clinic.
This year we have funded trips for some of the ladies to take advantage of the sterilistion programme at the main hospital in Darjeeling. The Clinic follows through with post-surgical care. This is a continuing activity by the Government and so far the clinic has provided transport and after care for over 50 of the local ladies.
In conjunction with Professor Larry Goodyer of De Montford University and Dr’s Paul & Tripta Schur (all regular volunteers at the clinic), we are carrying out research into the high levels of hypertension in the area which is affecting a large number of younger men & women. (link to Larry’s article)
MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS
To keep up standards and offer a broader service, we have volunteer vacancies for medical professionals to come and give training at the clinic and carry out diagnostics for the more complex cases. Any medical professionals wishing to experience life at the clinic first hand are given special rates at the Karmi Farm Guest House. If you are in a position to offer your time please email cathy@nomadtravel.co.uk.
Saroj treating a wound at the Karmi Farm Clinic