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March 13, 2002
Dear All,
It has been a very long time since I’ve written. Really
sorry. A very busy and intense time. As some of you may know,
my older brother Stuart was very ill with a brain tumor. He died
on February 11. It was a very difficult time for all of us, but
as a family it was in a peculiar way a wonderful time of pulling
together in a time of adversity. At least one of us, a brother
or sister, a son or a daughter—and often more than one—was
with him, helping his wife Karen from the time of surgery in December
when I was able to be there, until he died. And now we are going
through the healing process.
Most of our field activities have stopped, except in the major
towns. This has affected our funding. The hospitals are still
going as are the Kathmandu-based projects, but not otherwise.
Needless to say, as a planner I am very challenged! Change management
and crisis management take on new meaning. But truly knowing that
God does have a hand in all of this is reassuring.
I have just come back from a visit to Tansen Hospital, an eight-hour
bus trip away. It is very wise to take our own bus, which goes
twice a week. The bus driver is excellent. Others aren’t
so excellent, and we saw two results of that: buses ending up
in the river hundreds of feet below. The road is windy, going
down to the plains, beautiful, but dangerous. I was so impressed
by our driver who if he would see the truck or bus ahead about
to pass on a curve, would hold back so if there was a head on
collision, he could stop in time. There is something about karma—they
just assume that there will be no one occupying the road when
they come round the corner. I notice that all the time in Kathmandu
when I’m riding my motorcycle and other vehicles come out
from a side road without looking for oncoming traffic. A different
concept of right of way and one must be aware!
Tansen Hospital is a very busy hospital, so full that patients
are lying in the hallway. It is providing training at so many
levels: midwifery, nursing, and medical interns and residents.
And it is of extremely high quality, literally the best in Nepal.
In the coming months to years, we will have to turn the hospital
over to a Nepali organization to run and we hope to be able to
maintain its high quality. Nepal is just beginning to produce
its own doctors, and so training institutions will be very important.
I was there to begin the process of planning how best to make
the transition from UMN (United Mission to Nepal) governance to
governance by a Nepali organization. It will be a challenge. There
are many complicating issues. The Christian community is quite
small and there are relatively few Christians on the staff. But
being a Christian hospital will make it more likely to continue
the current ethos of caring, transparency, and integrity, and
make it easier to continue to get overseas funding and expatriate
doctors. On the other hand, there may be opposition to a Nepali
Christian board and the Nepali Christians are generally not educated
and prepared to be board members. (Until 1990, being Christian
was illegal, so there were no "Christian" schools, hospitals,
etc, and therefore no "Christian" service other than
evangelism. So, for example, there are very few Christian health
workers.) In addition, we do not want to force our vision onto
our Nepali Christians if health ministries isn’t their vision,
especially if it involves trying to finance a mission hospital
that currently requires some external funding. Very complex situation.
The reason we are moving down this path now is that the government
is likely to pass an act that will prevent international organizations
such as ours from directly implementing activities. This is an
attempt to encourage capacity building of Nepalis, and is a good
concept. The problem is that it is a good concept when you are
starting an activity and can move at the pace necessary but when
you are already running something as technically complex as a
hospital, it is difficult to suddenly (the act will have immediate
effect) hand over management. It will be a challenge!
Anyway, I have enough on my platter to keep me out of mischief!
Please keep the leaders of this small kingdom in your prayers—the
King, the Prime Minister, and heads of political parties, that
they may truly put the needs of their people first. Please pray
for the people Nepal. They are suffering and have so little recourse.
And also please pray for our organization (United Mission to Nepal)
as we go through a strategic planning process, that we may know
God’s plan for us. We need to be a changed organization,
responsive to the changing needs and changing circumstances. It
is a very challenging situation.
Beverley
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 153
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