NEPAL: Water Purification & Potable Water for Dhulikhel Hospital

Dhulikhel Hospital, GEI, and NEOMED have teamed up to make the water in Dhulikhel Hospital potable.  With over 3,000 people to accommodate daily, potable water hospital-wide is a necessity.  Acquiring potable water is a financial burden that can be nearly eliminated at relatively low cost given the scale of water needed for the hospital to operate (180,000-200,000 L per day).  The plan includes maximizing the efficiency of this spring source using gravity to feed water throughout the filter GEI will administer and distribute throughout the entire hospital.

 

 

NEPAL: Sustainable Water Purification for Rural Communities

The Problem: Diarrheal Disease (DD) is a leading global killer, especially in developing regions.  According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, lack of access to sanitary water causes 1,200 deaths a day of children under the age of 5.  That is more than AIDS, Measles, and Tuberculosis combined (Gates Foundation).  The UN sheds more light on the issue with data revealing that over 772 million people globally are almost completely barred from even the most basic access to water and 1/3 of the world population lacks access to safe drinking water.  Different regions present unique water purification challenges.  Some water sources may be clear, but contain high viral loads.  Other regions may have a high sediment and metal content, but otherwise require no further purification.

 

GEI Solution via Community Implementation & Sustainability

Water purification needs in rural regions vary so widely that our system will have a modular capability that allows the system to be customized to the region’s needs (this includes scalability based on population size) before delivery and installation.  Our system will be built to filter any contaminant, will be all-weather resistant, modular, green, scalable, and portable.  GEI’s academic partner (NEOMED) recently completed a series of surveys, tests, and studies for a small rural community in Achham Bajura to: a) quantify the DD problem in the region, b) gauge community support, c) learn about their current water supply and sanitation practices, and d) test the quality of the water in the region.  Finally, North East Ohio Medical University will fine tune protocol to ensure narrow variation in error and high compliance.  The protocol will generally cover the following (roughly in this order): 1) Administer standard community surveys/tests to measure rates of DD as well as understand current water and sanitation practices, 2) test the water, 3) establish a community outreach & sustainability plan, 4) build a modular water system customized for the region’s water specific needs, and 5) follow up on community health and ownership of the system.

 

 

NEPAL: Affordable Healthcare for Rural Communities via Telehealth Posts

GEI, with NEOMED, local stakeholders, and local government, has initiated the development of health posts across rural Nepal that leverage low-cost telehealth kiosks to reduce medical costs for locals.  These kiosks are clinical databases that standardize diagnoses and treatments generating higher rates of positive outcomes for patients than current medical systems (often non-existent).  Nurses are trained on the kiosk systems and doctors can be video called via the device for specialized input.  This technology could be the answer for standardizing medical care in developing regions across the world.  GEI has performed a health baseline analysis to measure its impact.

 

 

NEPAL: Safe childbirth and Medical Services for Women and Children

Deaths associated with pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading causes of death in Nepal, especially in rural locations with limited access to higher level healthcare facilities. In collaboration with the Nepal government and Nepal based implementing partners, GEI developed a health systems approach to sustainably upgrade rural healthposts to deliver critically needed services during pregnancy, childbirth and infancy. Targeted infrastructure upgrades, skills training programs, data systems and community engagement activities, GEI empowers local stakeholders to improve service delivery and outcomes.

 

 

NEPAL: Baseline Survey Study for Community Partnerships & Development Across Achham & Bajura

Before selecting rural communitiy partners, GEI has launched a large-scale baseline survey across Nepal to identify most urgent clinical/environmental needs as well as local stakeholders who will commit to own and sustain with integrity and GEI initiative agreed upon by all involved local parties. 

 

 

NEPAL: Income Generation Initiatives via Local Nepali Partner: Social Welfare Association Nepal (SWAN)

GEI has teamed up with local Nepali INGO to support income generation programs in rural Nepal.  These income generation initiatives will be the core of our sustainability initiatives moving forward to implement healthcare, electricity/connectivity, nutrition programs, etc. using green, affordable methods that the local community can own and afford moving forward. 

 

 

INDIA/NEPAL: Piloting a Novel Strategy to Address Macro and Micronutrient Deficiencies

Malnutrition and micronutrition deficiencies such as anemia are major contributing factors to morbidity and mortality in vulnerable communities. Our teams in India and Nepal work on the validation of a bloodless Point-of-Care device a novel strategy to improve screening access and pilot a community based nutrition management program in collaboration with the government.

 

 

KENYA: Clean Water Pilot Project

GEI with its partners has just completed the successful implementation of a borehole/potable water project in a rural Africa community (Lodwar) adjacent to a school.  This pilot project is the first of many green, solar powered clean water projects GEI will implement in the years to come across the globe. 

 

 

KENYA: MCF Hospital Partnership

GEI with its partners has worked the last serval years on a 4-level hospital in rural Kenya.  GEI with its academic partners will help implement training and provide equipment for this local community hospital upon completion of the infrastructure (early 2024).