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The Ranjana Project: A success story
Many of you have had the opportunity to meet the family of my dear friend Tikabaldap, at his village just north of Chitwan National Park in the Nepalese Terai region. Tikabaldap has been one of Chitwan's most celebrated nature guides for more than a decade now - and through his efforts, enthusiasm, and amazing knowledgability, many hundreds of nature-lovers, both Nepali and foreign, have been introduced into a never-ending love affair with the Himalayan Foothills and the Terai marshes. Unfortunately, in 2003 disaster has struck his family. |
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It being remarkable that the family had taken so well care of Ranjana, their severely handicapped daughter, for more than 13 years now - the fate of the little girl all of a sudden became quite uncertain: After a major fall from a wood bridge, with a heavy load on her back, Tikabaldap's wife had broken her neck and was operated upon in a Kathmandu hospital - and in the process, a cancer was diagnosed in the woman's stomach. A life-saving operation was urgently needed. If not, our beloved Ranjana risked losing her mother forever - and how would the family have cope, might it have come to that?
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Of course, the major obstacle, again!, was money. In Nepal, any form of health insurance or social security is fairly non-existent, which means that a hospital's invoice has to be paid to the full - regardless of the patient's ability to come forward with the necessary cash. Tikabaldap was in serious trouble. Without the horspital bills (EUR 1500) debt being settled, the hospital would have no other option but forwarding a claim on his land, and his family was at the risk of losing whatever means of existence they had. |
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A rescue team from Belgium
And then came the rescue team: In the course of three months, twelve warmhearted donators have contributed to raising a small fund, and on March 15th 2004, we were able to send a total sum of EUR 1,530 to Kathmandu. It took the Nepali bank officials an enormous amount of time to sort things out - but in the end Tikabaldap received the money and his family was out of trouble. The donators were: Mr Guido Abrath, Mrs Ria Boghaert, Mr Eddy Claert, Mrs Myriam Decae, Mrs Geertje De Puysseleyr, Francis Laleman, Mr and Mrs Theo Maes, Mrs Lieve Ponet, Mrs Laurette Six, Mrs Yasmina Vanalme, Mrs Gaby Van Bauwel and Mrs Marie Christine Van Labeke.
A special word of thanks is due towards Mr and Mrs Eddy Claert and Myriam Decae - who have set the wheel of this little project in motion. |
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