Update on the new centre
In December 2017, the Chairman and Sunil Sah visited the new craniofacial centre. Great progress has been made. There is a fantastic new building adjacent to the Janakpur Orthopaedic Hospital, built from ‘Hempcrete”, a combination of hemp and gypsum, a fully equipped for out-patient consultations and for minor operations. There is also an admin office and conference room, and of course, an emergency power generator
We have seven permanent staff, including two surgeons, two dentists, a social worker/liaison officer, two staff nurses and we share with the orthopaedic hospital an accountant/admin officer and a cleaner.
Operating facilities are fairly basic and need updating. In particular, we need a new anaesthetic machine, decent lights and an upgrade of the facilities for laying up instruments and cleaning them
Whilst there, there a gala charity dinner was held to which all local dignitaries and politicians were invited, along with many other local doctors. About 150 people attended
The First International Conference on Craniofacial Anomalies was held on 17th December. Faculty from overseas joined local experts for an extremely well organised day, attended by 75 people, including the Presidents of the Nepalese Association of Maxillofacial Surgeons and Nepalese Dental Association
The success of this new centre is largely due to the commitment of several Nepalese surgeons who give up time from their practice to travel large distances and spend long weekends in Janakpur, seeing patients and operating. Without them it would be impossible for the centre to function.
We are also indebted to Intouch Global Foundation for their substantial financial commitment, without which we would not have been able to start, let alone continue this venture
We had a meeting with HM Ambassador to Nepal, Richard Morris, who tweeted(:https://twitter.com/Richard_Nepal) “fascinating conversation with Future Faces organisation about their work on craniofacial care in Nepal, and in particular, work on a new centre in Janakpur. We are most grateful to him for his time and interest and support