TAMC staff donates $1,000 on behalf of co-workers
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The recent, destructive earthquake in Nepal is hitting close to home for the TAMC community.
Six providers at the hospital are anxiously checking their phones and social media pages awaiting additional news from their home country of Nepal after a devastating earthquake — measuring somewhere between a magnitude 7.8 and 8.1 — rocked the country April 25, causing, so far, more than 7,500 reported deaths, more than 10,000 injuries and countless dollars in structural and economic damage.
TAMC medical staff voted at a meeting last week to send $1,000 to a relief agency to help the victims in Nepal and to demonstrate support and appreciation for their six Nepalese providers. Plans are also already in the works for a community benefit to raise more funds for the cause.
Media outlets are reporting that the earthquake has affected 8 million people across the small Himalayan country of Nepal, a landlocked nation nestled between the borders of China and India, and which is known for its tall mountainous region along the country’s northern border — including the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest.
For Nepalese doctors at TAMC Anuj Kandel, Neeti Pokharel, Niraj Karki, Puja Shrestha, Lochana Manandhar and Manish Nepal, the effects of the situation reach far across the world to the tightknit Aroostook County community where they are struggling to cope with being so far away while their friends and families in their home country deal firsthand with the devastation the earthquake wrought.
“I could not communicate with [my family] for the first couple of days,” said Kandel, a general and colorectal surgeon.
His family, afraid to return to their home in the midst of a wave of seemingly unending aftershocks, were living without shelter for the first 24 hours while it was pouring rain in the aftermath of the quake. Now they at least have a tent. The family of his wife (Pokharel, an internal medicine provider at Family Practice & Internal Medicine) fared worse with their home, one of the numerous damaged. When conditions are safe to bring their two young children to Nepal, the physician couple is looking forward to returning for a visit to reunite with their loved ones and help rebuild.
Manandhar, a hospitalist at the medical center, was born and raised in Kathmandu, just about 60 miles south of the earthquake’s epicenter in the hilly town of Barpak, which took five days for rescue workers to reach. It was 3 in the morning when she first received a call from her sister who had heard the news from her friend’s family in Germany. Manandhar eventually learned she had a close family member among the casualties.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear all of the stories,” she said. “I just feel guilty that I’m not there to be with them or to help out. I cannot even imagine what they are going through.”
In Kathmandu, temples and old buildings crumbled, homes were destroyed and people are sleeping out in the open because they are afraid to return to their homes, even if the buildings were fortunate enough to remain standing.
“The problem is, it’s very populated. People were terrified to go back home because of the aftershocks. A lot of people actually lost their houses, and there are areas just outside of Kathmandu where we don’t even know the damage yet,” said Manandhar.
“I heard there were more than 99 aftershocks after the main one,” said Kandel. “I talked with my uncles who are near the epicenter; nobody has been able to reach them yet. We actually don’t know the total number of casualties. I think it’s going to go up. I fear it may be more than 10,000.”
He noted that it was probably a good thing it happened during the daytime when many people were outside of their homes.
The mountainous terrain and poor weather are hampering rescue efforts. Even in good weather, Kandel says the roads in Nepal are bad. Helicopters are needed to transfer victims to hospitals, otherwise the only means of transporting them to places capable of giving them help would be walking them, for sometimes days, through the damaged countryside.
Being so far away from their families during this time is difficult, but the group of Nepalese providers at TAMC, who have a unique understanding and appreciation for each other’s cultural background, reached out to one another.
“We’ve been talking to each other and comforting each other, trying from our side to see what we can do best as a group,” said Manandhar.
Kandel already sent some of his own money to help with the aid effort, but that is just the beginning of what he hopes to be able to do.
“My older son is 5 years old. He doesn’t understand. He’s very sad when he sees the pictures of the houses down, but he’s not mature enough to understand,” said Kandel. “We’ll have to show them pictures. I hope the country can rebuild some kind of replica so that future generations can benefit from our culture.”
Kandel says monetary donations will be the most helpful to rebuilding Nepal and helping with the humanitarian crisis. In the upcoming months, the country may face additional problems as access to proper water, food, shelter and sanitation create potential health hazards.
The situation in Nepal and the desire to support their colleagues has inspired staff to take action. Hospital employees are donating funds to support agencies providing relief to earthquake victims.
Additionally, TAMC nurses and other staff who work with the Nepalese providers — and who were concerned about the providers and their impacted families — are already coordinating an event to raise funds to benefit those impacted halfway around the world.
“Neighbors for Nepal: The County Community Comes Together for the Global Community” will feature music and entertainment by local talent. The effort is being led by Jessica Smith, RN and Ashley Caron Estey. Manandhar has agreed to be among the judges for the talent show, and the organizers hope to have some of the other providers from Nepal serve as additional judges. It is planned for Friday, June 5 at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium at 7 p.m. Proceeds from the event will be handed over to the local chapter of the American Red Cross for Nepal earthquake relief efforts.
“I’m very overwhelmed by all the help we’ve already received, not just internationally, but we’ve had a lot of small communities who have been raising whatever support they can locally from their own hospitals, their communities, a lot of my doctor friends,” said Manandhar.
Aftershocks were still being experienced as late as last Wednesday morning, so communication with her family has been difficult to maintain. Manandhar says she just wants to be there for her family and give them moral support in any way she can.
Likewise, Kandel said he’s had difficulty returning to work after the news, and his wife has yet to return to work for fear of being unable to properly focus on her patients while she is so concerned for her family in Nepal.
“My thoughts are certainly with my family and friends back home,” said Kandel.
He’s been checking in with his family every couple of hours, which helps. When he first learned the news in the middle of the night, several tense hours passed before he was able to reach any family member in Nepal.
“The situation is getting a little better for them, but my condolences and prayers go out to those people who have lost their lives and who are injured,” he said.
Individuals interested in supporting the relief efforts or helping with the June 5 talent show are encouraged to contact the TAMC communication and development office at 768-4044.
