Shelter and Refreshment Home for recovering cancer patients

Dirghajeevi Voluntary Group (DVG) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) formed by a group of youths which is actively working for the welfare and benefit of the Children suffering from and undergoing treatment for Cancer at Kanti Children's Hospital, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu.

Our main aim is to look after the welfare of the children suffering from life threatening diseases, by providing them with food, toys, education, and most of all company. By company we mean sharing our time with them in trying to cheer them up. <!-- break --> We play with them, share poems, stories, jokes etc to make them forgot their pains and smile a little. Our basic objective is:

• To provide nutritional support
• To provide psychological support
• To conduct fund raising programs
• To provide traveling allowance support
• Develop spirit of volunteering in youths
• To provide stationary materials
• To provide entertainment materials
• Other supports

Concept of the program

Since one of our main objective is to provide the recovering patients with a clean and hygienic environment, we believe there is no other alternative for a shelter home where the children undergoing treatment at Kanti Children’s Hospital will stay during their discharge period (1-3 months or above). Since the family are from a weak financial background, they are unable to pay and stay in the city for months awaiting their child’s next round of treatment, and at the same time they are unable to go back to their respective villages since it is costly and time consuming to be travelling back and forth in such short span of time. So we hope to establish and Shelter and Refreshment home in Chitwan, where the patients and their family will be provided with a hygienic and safe environment to stay along with medical assistance.

Why this program

The shelter and refreshment home will not only provide the patients with a hygienic environment, but they will also get an opportunity to get outside of the monotony of the hospital and clear their mind. It has been proven that if a patient is psychologically happy and has a joyous environment around him/her then the recovery is easier. So being one of our goals, we hope in cheering these patients and making them psychologically fit and happy.

How will the program be achieved?

1. Selection of area/land/house: the first step would be to select a suitable house where the shelter could be established. The ideal house would be where there are many rooms, at least two bathrooms and the surrounding environment is clean and not polluted.
   • Materials: Initially the shelter would need the purchasing of the following goods and materials:
   • Beds, carpets, blankets, mattresses, pillows & curtains.
   • Robes & Slippers
   • Daily food and nutrition
   • Table, chairs and computer for the office.
   • Accommodation and necessary materials for the in house staff.
   • Cleaning materials; Mops, anti-septic toilet cleaner, broom, etc.
   • Washing machines
   • Fans
   • Heaters
   • Vehicle which can be used for both refreshment of children and can also work as an ambulance.
2. Funds: Since we are a voluntary organization where the working force is students, we will need funds/donations from outside sources to carry out this big project. There are two major sources for funds.
   1. Community Donations/contributions The community can get involved in generating fund in any way they can. This will be a group of people from varied professions such as business persons, local clubs, farmers, volunteers, media, etc. Concept of generating funds from community:
      • From the community a farmer can provide us with rice and other crops if he/she is willing.
      • A media person or any source of media itself can help us by announcing the objective of our organization and with other ideas, they will agree.
      • He can ask people to provide us with clothes, toys, story books, other stationeries, child entertaining games, etc.
      • The local clubs can provide us with cleaning materials and some refreshment for the children.
      • He can introduce the Drop Coin Method, where each individual drops a 2 rupees coin daily into a piggy bank.
      • He can organize charity events with help from the community.
   2. National and foreign donors: For a more financial help, we can approach national and international organizations who have a similar objectives as we do. Other assistance apart from financial is also appreciated. The major portion of the money from this medium of fund will go to paying the rent, in purchasing the necessary materials for the home, for paying the staff as well as for daily food and nutrition along with medicines which might be needed in case of emergency.
3. Patient intake We will try to accommodate as much patient as we can but at moments when it is not possible, the accommodation will have to be done on the basis of the medical status of patient. But since these will be patients who we have prior information about, accommodating should not be a problem as we will know the number of patients beforehand. We will be accommodating maximum 10 numbers of patients at one time.
4. Legal aspects
   • Home will allow one caretaker per each person.
   • Home will not allow the permission to other visitors to stay overnight.
   • According to the agreement between our organization and patient party, patient will be kept for the treatment period.
   • Home will welcome the member of our organization as a part of the organization, they can stay there for the required time or time dated by the organization.

Expected results

With the establishment of the shelter and refreshment home, we hope in contributing in the better health of the cancer patients who would otherwise have to live in unhygienic and unsafe environment which is stressful to them and their family mentally, physically and psychologically.