Fatima Rahim's Nepalese Humanitarian Trip
Anthony Mosavi sits down with Pixel Journal's own Fatima Rahim (contributor and Social Editor) to learn more about her humanitarian work in Nepal this past month.
Pixel Journal: As a supervisor, what do you do? What are your duties?
Fatima Rahim: This year I had a variety of responsibilities during our medical camps in Nepal: I helped to take patient’s vitals (BP, O2 sat, weight, etc.), attend to the physicians, and ultimately help keep everything in order. There was no set job for anyone, one minute you could be patching up half of someone’s finger (the other half lost to a snakebite), and the next be handing out candy to the excited village kids.
One of my most memorable experiences during the medical camps was putting a peripheral venous catheter (IV line) in one of our patients. I’ve had no medical experience or background, but there I was sticking a needle in someone’s vein without a problem!
PJ: Why are you motivated to go to Nepal and work at these camps?
FR: There are so many aspects that motivate me to continue helping these people, but what really inspires me is the appreciation they show. The people always greeted us with endless smiles and love, and they went out of their way to show their gratefulness. They put on cultural shows to welcome us to their villages, shared their biggest luxuries, greeted us with traditional flowers and celebrations, they really took the time out to make sure we were welcomed and treated with infinite love and respect. It will always be one of my biggest motivations to see the ear-to-ear smiles on the young patients when we hand them a candy and to feel the gratitude in everyone’s hearts the second I walk into a village.
Another of my biggest motivations is to help the people there. Specifically, the people in the villages live very difficult lives, every day they face a series of obstacles: limited access to water, several mile walks to school, lack of nutritional necessities, severe depression and PTSD, several serious illnesses, the list is endless. However, many of their problems can be solved with only minimal help and effort. There is so much we can do to help them, but over half the world has no idea they exist. We need to educate ourselves and take time away from our sheltered lives to learn about these people. Do not live in ignorance, do not be blinded by your blessings, instead donate your time and effort to help those who are not as fortunate. They are very strong and intellectual individuals, they just need a hand to get them the rights and opportunities they deserve.
Please remember not to feel bad for them. They are some of the most humble and kind people I have ever met, and really there is so much we can learn from them.
PJ: How does your charity help those in need?
FR: I volunteer with JRM Foundation for Humanity, which focuses on women and children’s health and education on local, national, and global levels. We are involved with many different organizations encompassing various causes.
One of our global level projects, in Nepal specifically, is our stove project. After our first medical camp a few years ago, we found that the many of the health problems were reoccurring and significantly similar throughout the population, respiratory and vision problems. We found the primary cause to be the badly ventilated, open fire stoves they used. The women and children spent hours every day cooking, and therefore became exposed to a significant amount of smoke, damaging their lungs and eyes and causing serious respiratory and visual health problems. This was such a simple problem, but had such a big impact on their lives. So many people were negatively affected, and the simple solution was ventilating their homes. We are working to provide families with a new stove design, specifically so the smoke goes outside of the home rather than into their eyes and lungs.
Another important aspect we focus on is education. For the last few years we have partnered with Little Sisters Fund to provide K-12 education for at risk girls in Nepal. An education alone contributes to solving many economic and social problems for girls. By going to school, they can envision themselves achieving goals in the future and it has a very positive impact on their lives. I specifically remember the first girl I sponsored, her name was Laxmi. I first met her several years ago, she was an extremely shy girl who sat quietly and spoke silently, but she had so much potential. Just a year or two after, on our second trip to Nepal I met her again, this time she was excited and passionate, she talked to me about everything and spoke with confidence. Just after a year of education she became so much more enthusiastic. Many don’t realize the true value of an education, but for these girls it provides opportunity, inspiration, and power. The Little Sister’s Fund has empowered over 2,000 girls, it is an amazing cause that I am extremely passionate about.
JRM Foundation has a very broad group of causes, but our projects and partnerships aim to unite communities, support local causes, help people of diverse backgrounds from across the world, and hear people’s stories. If you want to get involved with our projects, come on one of our trips, or suggest a new cause, contact me at fatimar@ohs.stanford.edu.
For more information about the foundation and causes visit the foundation's website.
PJ: Do you fundraise this trip? If so, how do you fundraise? Do you provide supplies for those in need also?
FR: The fundraised money goes directly to support the different projects in the specified area. Every donation is greatly appreciated.
To make donations for our Nepal projects visit our crowdfunding website.
To make a donation to the foundation, please visit the donation page on our website.
If you have any questions, want to get involved, or hear more about the trip to Nepal (like when their jeep crashed into a tractor with dead bodies), please contact Fatima Rahim (fatimar@ohs.stanford.edu).