CURRENT VOLUNTEERS
Laura Parker | February 2016 – Present
Laura was incredibly grateful for her time spent with the Friends of Shanta Bhawan family. She was privileged to be able to spend the last semester of her Kinesiology degree working in Kathmandu at FSB. She learned a great deal about the inspiration of a dream and the reality of supporting a local community. She continues to be inspired by the work Sanjay and the rest of the team at FSB have accomplished over the years. She is grateful that her involvement with FSB has continued even after her return to Canada. The collective efforts with her Canadian community’s own grassroots organization, Sahakarini, have resulted in the expansion of a the new pediatric and gynecological unit at FSB. The profound nature of her time with Friends of Shanta Bhawan continues to inspire her to commit her efforts towards the realization of local and international change.
Professor Nathan Kuppermann | March 2013 – Present
Professor Kuppermann – Bo Tomas Brofeldt Endowed Chair of Emergency Medicine and Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at UC Davis School of Medicine, USA – developed the partnership FSB had with Healthright International. He continues to be an adviser and provide professional assistance and knowledge for our clinic.
PAST VOLUNTEERS
Elisabeth Avery & Isabelle Chan-Emery | January 22, 2019 – April 19, 2019
Elisabeth Avery is a Behavioural Neuroscience student from Simon Fraser University, Canada.
Isabelle Chan-Emery is a Kinesiology student from Simon Fraser University, Canada.
During their time at FSB, Elisabeth and Isabelle have worked on multiple projects to improve the functionality and productivity of the clinic. In terms of promotions, they updated the clinic’s social media platforms and redeveloped the website from scratch. Within the healthcare center, they created informative posters, painted a mural, and redesigned the layout of several clinic departments including triage and the waiting areas in both the nursing and doctors’ departments to improve the patient experience. Further, they were able to raise 3500 CAD to fund their two Health Camp which benefited 673 individuals. Isabelle and Elisabeth also implemented new Health Camp day procedures, which led to a smoother and successful execution of the event.
Olivia Aguiar | January 28 – April 20, 2018
Olivia was a Kinesiology student from Simon Fraser University, Canada who volunteered over 400 hours at our clinic. Olivia organized, fundraised and facilitated a 2-day Female Community Health Volunteer (FCHV) training program hosted at FSB. She also facilitated the re-design of FSB’s main building floor plan and the new nursing department. In addition, she developed consent forms, criteria for future case study projects, and conducted research on patient satisfaction with other healthcare providers. During her time with FSB, Olivia raised over $3500 USD to support the FCHV training and two free Health Camps, providing free health services to over 600 members of the Northeast Kathmandu community.
Dr. Christine McBeth | May 5 – 25, 2018
Dr. McBeth spent a month with FSB clinic in May 2018 for continuing education in point of care ultrasound. She performed lectures for the clinic physicians on the FAST exam, cardiac and lung ultrasound, and abdominal, obstetric and gynecologic pathology. She spent many days scanning with the physicians during clinic and evaluating patients. She also lectured to visiting medical students who were volunteering at the clinic . The most rewarding part of the experience for Dr. McBeth was seeing the amount of ultrasound that was already being used, and teaching physicians who were so enthusiastic about expanding their knowledge and skills for better care of their patients. Dr. McBeth looks forward to continuing a partnership with FSB clinic and supporting ultrasound use and education.
Michael Schick | May 5 – 16, 2018
Michael, Assistant Professor at UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine, USA, provided enhanced training and shared his skills regarding ultrasonography with our doctors.
Tessa Leyland & Marie Purificacion | Jan 27 – April 12, 2017
Marie and Tessa Leyland were Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology students, from Simon Fraser University, Canada. Together, they contributed to updating the FSB website, did an observation report, created health information posters, hosted a free Health Camp in Gothatar for 269 people, and organized a hygiene and sanitation training and networking event for the Female Community Health Volunteers.
Mehreen Arif | May 24 – July 24, 2017
Mehreen shadowed doctors at FSB and worked on a research project that included interviewing Tibetan Refugees who visited our clinic.
Sandy Shergill | February 15 – April 29, 2016
Sandy was one of the first two students from Simon Fraser University, Canada to volunteer at FSB and was instrumental in establishing the strong relationship we have with the university. With sponsorship from Sandy, FSB was able to host a free Health Camp in the community of Sundarijal. Sandy also participated in a training program for nursing students completing their clinic observations at FSB, presenting on subjects such as basic hygiene, sanitation, and health ethics.
Blen Girmay & Rediet Mersha | June 20 – July 29, 2016
Blen and Rediet, both medical students, conducted research on “Assessing the Role of The Friends of Shanta Bhawan Nepal Clinic in the Communities of Northeast Kathmandu, Nepal” and implemented a patient satisfaction survey.
Dr. Janet Grimes | October 29, 2015 – May 8, 2016
Dr. Grimes, a family physician, played an active role in promoting the clinic’s activities through the establishment of relationships with local Tibetan communities and other NGO’s like Rokpa and Shanti Sewa Griha. She also examined patients at FSB and assessed the needs of the clinic. With her help, FSB was able to build a relationship with the National Reference Laboratory for laboratory investigations that were not performed at our clinic at that time. Dr. Grimes also volunteered her physician services in Boudha, Nayabasti, where victims of the April 2015 earthquake from Sindhupalchoke were living in temporary shelters.
Dr. Bianca Grecu | April 2015
Dr. Grecu, emergency medicine resident at UC Davis School of Medicine, USA, was of great value to the clinic and community, by providing her expertise in treating almost 17 patients per day. Furthermore, she observed and treated diseases that were rare or eradicated in the USA, including rheumatoid fever and various water born diseases.
Nathan Jacob | April 2015
Mr. Jacob, with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, was instrumental in helping FSB’s management to find strategies to sustain the clinic financially. This was essential for the clinic to continue to offer subsidized health care to patients living below the poverty line.