Monthly Archives: July 2006

Jul25

Immunization project – Sajwaar

Posted on July 25, 2006 by Payson Stevens

Sajwaar Village

July 21-22, 2006:

Sajwaar is the largest village we visit in the Khandadarh panchayat. It has an approximate population of 800 and is the largest village in panchayat. We hike up from Ghiyagi, a distance of 10 km, to an elevation of approximately 9000 feet. Sajwaar lies in the shadow of Lambri Peak at 12,000 feet, surrounded by beautiful ridges the form the source of the Hirub nullah/stream.

There is a spectacular sunset and we pray for a break in the Monsoon rains. Padam Singh, who has done a great job organizing our trip, introduces to our hosts where we will spend the night. Other villagers arrive and want to know more of our plans and goals, which we explain. Dinner is a simple meal of dahl-chavel followed by local music and songs into the night.

The next day we set up in the village center. There is a large mandir/temple named after their Devta: Manu, the First Man in Hindu mythology. The clouds are low and beautiful, constantly sprinkling us with fine mist.

It is full, hectic morning with many children showing up with their parents or grandparents. We immunize approximately 70 children, continue our diet/nutrition survey of the children, and measure their weight & height.

Vitamin A & Zn supplements are given. Vaccinations include: MMR, BCG (for tuberculosis), Hepatitis B. AIDS Awareness literature is handed out.

SAHARA’s Kala Jatha theater is very popular and the skits elicit a lot of laughter. Some of the older village men join in with dancing. At the end of the street theater, more music is performed. Villagers Psy Gentleman mp3 download
do the local Himachal Pradesh dance, called a Nati with members of out Health Mela team joining in to form a large circle dance. The mood is very joyous and festive and the dance seems very symbolic of our connection here, high in the mountains.

To add to the festive and auspicious moment, the village Devta, Manu, is brought into the plaza as we end our work.

The good weather holds as we descend the mountain to Ghiyagi. There we have an hour debrief meeting to assess the Health Mela activities and learn from the experience. Right after the meeting breaks up, a huge thunderstorm hits—the heaviest rains of the Monsoon! What a blessing to have hiked down under the sun.

Number of children vaccinated: 75
For My Himchal:
Padam Singh, Himmat Ram, Payson R. Stevens

For Jibhi Clinic/Lady Willingdon Hopsital:
Dr. Kaaren, Khanti, Kanta Devi, Robyn Rai (Health Assistants)
Volunteers: Sara Deane & Family (sister & father visiting from Canada)
For SAHARA: Kalajatha: Devinder/leader, Bubbly, Maya, Surma, Bitu,
Rajender Chauhan, Tek Singh

Brief from Drs Kaaren and Jeph Mathias – for the Jibhi team

Health Mela: July 7-10, 2006, Brief Summary

Health Mela at Jibhi-Kullu

Jul13

CM TO BE PATRON-IN-CHIEF OF MY HIMACHAL

Posted on July 13, 2006 by avnish

CM TO BE PATRON-IN-CHIEF OF MY HIMACHAL

Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh would be Patron-in-Chief of My Himachal Group, a Non Governmental Social Welfare Organization registered as charity organization in the United States of America and set up mainly by overseas Himachalis to project separate identity of hill people world-wide and market the Himachal brand name in Industries, Tourism and Service Sector in multi-national Corporate Houses.

Mr. Bhugol Chandel, President, My Himachal Group called on the Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh at New Delhi today and requested him to lead the organization as Patron-in-Chief and Chief Minister accepted his invitation. President, My Himachal Group also invited Chief Minister to address the annual conference of the organization to be held this year in America. Chief Minister accepted his invitation.

Shri Chandel told the Chief Minister about the historical need to set up separate organization of Himachalis world-wide so as to project the rich cultural heritage of the region and act as ambassadors of goodwill and peace of the region throughout the world. He said that the Himachal Pradesh was known world-wide for its scenic and natural beauty, peace loving citizens, clean natural environment and honesty and dedication of its people and this organization was set up to build a separate identity of Himachal
Pradesh so that the goodwill created could be encashed and marketed for further growth and development of the region.

Shri Chandel appreciated the stepsbeing taken by present Government under the leadership of Shri Virbhadra Singh and congratulated him for taking bold initiative in harnessing the natural resources for development works and starting various new welfare and developmental schemes for the common man of the region.

Shri Virbhadra Singh congratulated the overseas Himachalis for setting up a separate global organization and hoped that it would help in attracting foreign investment in the State. He advised the organization to project Himachal Pradesh as best tourist destination and educate and motivate the foreigners about the
tourist potential of the State.

He also advised non-resident Himachalis to work as goodwill Ambassadors of the State and organize the fairs and festivals to preserve and protect the rich culture heritage of the State. He also advised them to encourage their children to adopt the rich traditions of the motherland and organize frequent get together and meetings of fellow Himachalis and maintain the live connection with grass-root level people in native villages.

Shri Virbhadra Singh also appreciated them for showing concern for the development of the State. He offered all possible assistance to the organization at ground level working and said that Government would encourage such organizations and seek their expertise and experience for over all growth of the State.

Jul12

Brief from Drs Kaaren and Jeph Mathias – for the Jibhi team

Posted on July 12, 2006 by Payson Stevens

Brief from Drs Kaaren and Jeph Mathias – for the Jibhi team

Child Health Mela in Jibhi 7 – 10th JulyWe’ve just completed our child health mela in the villages of Khadagarh panchayat. It has been a big effort with a team from Manali supporting and it was a great success. We started on 4th July with visits to villages with the Kala Jatha (village
theatre team from SAHARA NGO) to put up posters and tell people about the mela. Then over four days we ran the mela in 5 different villages.

There was lots of action – we had one stall with nutrition posters and displays and teaching. Sara and Prema worked together to make soy pranthas for mothers and children to sample, as well as a weaning food – “Sathu” made
from a mix of ground and roasted rice, barley and wheat. We vaccinated children a total of 216 children with first doses of MMR and Hepatitis B. It was great to have the help of Miriam – visiting nurse from Switzerland for vaccinating and cold chain management. Jasmine did eye checks on all the children and prescriped glasses for a number of older women. All children
were measured for height and weight and we found a very worrying feature that over 70% of the children were under the 5th centile for weight indicating high levels of undernutrition. Robyn handed out the Vitamin A supplementation and deworming tablets.

Pushpa also performed a nutritional assessment on 50 children reviewing their diet over the past 24 hours. This will provide essential information to assess where and how under-nutrition is occurring.

The ‘natak’ / drama and song by the group from SAHARA was great and children and parents laughed and watched riveted. Top performer was our own Kantha Devi playing as Dr Ji, telling how to feed a young boy who hadn’t had enough breakfast before school! Padam Singh did all the organizing and coordinating with villages and was invaluable in this role. Thanks to all those who helped in different ways – and thanks especially to Payson Stevens and Kamla Kapur and friends and My Himachal for the funding support.

From Drs Kaaren and Jeph Mathias – for the Jibhi team Previous posts on health mela:

Health Mela: July 7-10, 2006, Brief Summary

Health Mela at Jibhi-Kullu

Jul12

Health Mela: July 7-10, 2006, Brief Summary

Posted on July 12, 2006 by Payson Stevens

Health Mela: July 7-10, 2006, Brief Summary

The collaboration started in 2005 with doctors from Lady Willingdon Hospital (Manali, HP) continues in 2006 with efforts to bring improved health care to the Khadagarh Panchayat in the more remote Seraj Valley of Upper Banjar, Kullu District. This brief summary will give both a background and the first of periodic updates to our activities in 2006.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul7

Health Mela at Jibhi-Kullu

Posted on July 7, 2006 by Payson Stevens

Health Mela at Jibhi-Kullu

Friends:The Health Mela today at Jibhi Clinic went very well! A real success and great flavor of a mela with music, Kala Jatha, great team from LWH, Drs. Kaaren & Jeph Mathias, Close the Gap, Padam Singh, Sara, Bhimla,and many others whose names I’ve omitted. Having the AIDS NGO from Banjar also a big plus, along w/ the food and solar cooking demos, games for kids, etc. I think we vaccinated 88 children!

I’ve documented some of the activities w. video and stills and at some point will make it available.

May this wonderful beginning continue for the rest of our work together this year in the rurual villages to bring health care to those who most need it.

Many thanks…
Payson
for My Himachal

Jul1

It’s a dam(n) bad situation in Kullu valley

Posted on July 1, 2006 by Payson Stevens

It’s a dam(n) bad situation in Kullu valley

Publication:Times Of India Chandigarh;
Date:Jul 1, 2006;
Section:Times Chandigarh;
Page Number:31
By Vandana Shukla TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chandigarh: Dams are fast becoming a cause for concern in the Kullu valley. They may not be as big as Sardar Sarovar, but, construction of a number of hydel projects are disturbing the valley’s fragile ecological balance. The power produced by these projects may benefit denizens of Delhi and othergrowing metros. But, the locals will have to bear the brunt of the development. That includes, less water at their disposal, and, threat to a number of endangered species.

The focus has returned to the cumulative environmental impacts of multiple hydels. Ironically, this has happened after the Himachal Pradesh high court banned construction of any hydel project on the Tirthan river in June this year. The court directed J P Negi, Principal Secretary, Non Conventional Energy Resources, to issue a notification to the effect. Strangely, the notification applies only to construction on Tirthan river, leaving its tributaries open to environmental abuse.

Since a number of mini hydel companies have applied for MOUs in Banjar valley region, locals are concerned that tributaries of Tirthan like Jibhi and Hirub Nala, the only watershed left in the Kullu valley that has not been dammed, will also meet the same fate sooner than later. This means protecting only Tirthan river, without giving similar protection to its tributaries and catchment areas, will turn out to be a futile exercise in ecological terms.”You can’t just save the head and not the body. The nalas are part of one living ecosystem and must be saved together,” says Padam Singh of Save Seraj Tirthan Nala Committee.

The sensitive environment of the Tirthan river habitat needs to be protected as a complete watershed system. “This is not only for their intrinsic natural and human aspects, but as a baseline for future understanding of natural processes,” says Payson, an earth scientist based in the region. The region houses some endangered species like musk deer, Western Tragopan and Chir pheasant and has the rich wealth of very old Deodar and Horse Chestnut trees.

“We have appealed to the government to stop all construction, not only on Tirthan but on other rivers too. We don’t want a repeat of what happened with the Parvati Hydel project. Not only trees but people are uprooted, disturbing their social ecology,” says director, Sahara, Rajender Chauhan. According to him, Tirthan tributaries go through the Great Himalayan National Park. “The government does not allow people to enter the national park, but, plans to carry on construction inside it. We will not let this happen.”

DAMS BUILT FOR POWER

Beas and tributaries – Pandoh diversion dam Larjee ( 120 megawatt) Pong ( 600 MW) Parvati River Phase II dam( 800 MW) Phase I ( 600 MW) Sanij River ( 100 MW proposed)

ECOLOGICAL CONCERNS:

In 1925, the British government notified a ban on any hydel project on Tirthan river valley. In 1976, the Himachal Government notified to protect Trout Fisheries in Tirthan river and its watershed. Trout has historically been recognised in the Hirub and Jibhi nalas dating back to the 1925 notification.

Hirub Jibhi and Deodar Chestnut trees

View as MS Word file.