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Since 1995 a group of European and Nepalese homeopaths, led by Tinus Smits from the Netherlands and Ortrud Lindeman from Barcelona, began establishing a homeopathy centre in Nepal: the International Homeopathic Clinic in Bhaktapur. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) aiming to improve medical care in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world. The clinic is run by a Nepalese team and supported by European colleagues who come monthly to help with patient care and to train new assistants on site: the centre is also a training centre for health professions in homeopathy and naturopathy. In the mornings they work in the homeopathic clinic, provide supervision and treat complicated cases. The rest of the day they prepare lectures for the homeopathy schools, hold seminars for the local homeopathic colleagues or attend appointments at the Ministry of Health. |
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Bhaktapur is one of the three towns in the Kathmandu Valley and has 200,000 inhabitants. In Nepal there is only one doctor for 80,000 people and in some remote areas there is even only one doctor for 200,000 people! The Nepalese live in hazardous conditions: lack of clean drinking water, poor healthcare, uncontrolled deforestation, high urban pollution and rapid population growth. Since last year even electricity has become scarce in this country. |
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The clinic provides medical help to a large number of patients, who mostly come from the towns and villages of the Kathmandu Valley. Many receive practically free treatment because they cannot afford it. Patients usually come to the clinic for treatment, but those who are too weak to attend are sometimes visited at home. Case: a boy with typhoid I then gave him Baptisia because of his swollen face and because he could hardly think or speak. His father had to answer the questions for him. The next day they returned and his condition had deteriorated further. The boy reminded me of my own 15-year-old son in the Netherlands. I realised I had spent the whole day worrying in advance about their next appointment with me. I was very concerned for the boy and I knew the parents could not afford to have him treated in a hospital. On the third day the father had to carry his son because he was too weak to walk. He still had a high fever. He said he had terrible headaches and could hardly keep his eyes open because his eyelids felt so heavy. All his muscles ached and when I examined him I noticed he was trembling. Fortunately I thought of Gelsemium – and it is important to note that I myself was almost in a Gelsemium state, as if I were facing an exam: if my treatment failed, the boy would die. I gave him Gelsemium C 200 directly into the mouth and prescribed a sip of Gelsemium C 200 dissolved in water once an hour. The next day they came back – and what joy: the boy had slept well, the fever was gone, he could eat and drink and the headaches had gone. The father was happy and so was I! A few days later I saw the boy walking through the streets of Bhaktapur, strong and healthy, as befits a fifteen-year-old. |
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Photos: Huib Wigtenburg |
