Corporate social responsibility
giving back to our yorkshire community
The Golche Medical Centre
- Nepal
Target Dental Centre Manager in Starbeck Shirin, travelled to Nepal in October 2022 to work on a local project - the creation of a medical centre to support the local community. Below is her amazing story describing her journey...​
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The Golche Medical Centre was the largest and the first completely independent project we have undertaken. Initially planned prior to the pandemic, it had been a long time coming and the volunteer team was 18 strong prior to departure. The Rebuild Organisation was created and registered as a UK charity which helped greatly with fundraising and gives us a structure to carry this and future projects forward.
Planning with our fabulous Nepalese contacts had evolved and extra funding promised a higher spec building comprising of 2 treatment rooms, toilets, waiting areas, store room and kitchen, complete with UPVC windows doors & roof, and a suspended internal ceiling to help regulate sound and heat, as well as a water storage tank & stand and septic tank.
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In addition to the build we facilitated a feminine hygiene program and donated reusable hygiene kits to all the girls in the school, helping to prevent period poverty. Spare kits have been left at the clinic to support the women in the area once we leave.
Thanks to the incredible work of the volunteers and build team the Golche Medical Centre was completed and handed over to the ward chairman on the 26th October. Once we left, the floor was laid with local stone and lino and the electrics plumbing and internal rendering was completed.
Thanks in no small part to a donation from Target, we also provided medical equipment and basic medications to the clinic to ensure a real head start in the care on offer to a community which truly deserves the support we were able to provide.
None this work is possible without the kindness and financial support offered by so many people, and on behalf of the Nepalese community, The Rebuild Organisation and all the build team I would like to pass on huge thanks for your help.
The project was registered with the Nepalese social welfare council and the local municipality agreed to contribute to the project too and an MOU was given by them that a member of health care staff would be allocated to the clinic once built.
It was clear that we wouldn’t be able to complete this alone and we employed a small team of Nepalese builders who worked with us in a crazy construction tag team to ensure completion within our 8 day timeframe.
The clinic is located next to the Shree Bhimsen School which has 350 pupils and staff, and will serve the communities of Golche, Nemlung, Yarsa, Kipche and beyond in the Sindhupalchwok region- approximately 5000 people, providing health camps, vaccination programs, family planning and minor medical treatments.
Our 6 hour off road jeep journey to the village was a sharp reminder of the struggles faced by the residents of the area to access facilities of any sort.
We laid bricks mixed cement and painted continuously; the reward for our labours was to see the building grow and realise we may just have a chance of completing it on time! Daily villagers came by to check us out, and see what this crazy group of dedicated volunteers were achieving. One such visitor was 21 year old Sangita, currently studying in Kathmandu to be a nurse but home in Golche to celebrate Diwali. She and her friends danced for us to show their thanks and she told of her hope to work in the medical centre we were building once she qualifies.
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