Since our inception, BPM has chosen to work closely with individual communities to develop functional and sustainable health and education systems. Why…? Because we wholeheartedly believe that the provision of healthcare should be as ‘holistic’ and wide-ranging as possible.

 

NEPAL

Between 2011 and 2017 BPM worked with the small, remote rural village of Kerasawara in eastern Nepal to fund, build and facilitate the Moonlight Community Healthcare Center (MCHC), which officially opened in 2014. BPM worked very closely with local officials and agencies to make it work. Our goal was to put complete ‘control’ for the day-to-day operations and future of the MCHC in the hands of the community. In 2017, we did just that and handed it back to the local community who had become an intrinsic part of the day-to-day running of the centre.

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As part of our involvement in this project, BPM also facilitated a daily Children’s Health + Hygiene programme, trained and maintained a Community Rescue Team, established the very first Community Women’s Health Team in the district and began the Kerasawara Clean Stove Project.

 

BANGLADESH

In response to casualties from the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar the Backpacker Medics Australian Disaster Response Group deployed to Bangladesh. Over a period of three months we sent three separate teams to work in the Rohingya refugee camps- a challenging task that proved life-changing for all involved.

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One of the main priorities of the third team to deploy was the establishment of the Rohingya Volunteer Ambulance Network (R-VAN), a group of 36 amazingly enthusiastic and dedicated refugees who were trained by BPM members in basic first aid, patient transport and rescue techniques. Working in small teams, the RVAN were tasked with providing first aid and patient transport services to their refugee communities- working closely with the larger field hospitals in the area.

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The RVAN project was funded by BPM (thanks to the generosity of our supporters!!) until May 2018, after which the majority of RVAN members were offered employment and training as Community Health Officers.