Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
A Salt Lake businessman is spearheading an effort to build a hospital in Nepal. It's aimed at making a better life for burn victims and children with facial deformities.
We met today with a doctor from Katmandu, Nepal, who's here appealing for funding. His biggest backer is a Utah man who imports rugs from Nepal and is now trying to return some goodwill from America.
A woman in a poor country who can't walk because of severe burns might think of surgery as a miracle. After one operation, she's walking on crutches. After another surgery, she's just plain walking.
For two decades, the poorest of the poor in Nepal have been helped by a medical teams sponsored by a charity called Interplast. Besides burn injuries, the Interplast specialty is helping children with cleft lips and palates.
"Last year alone, we did 1,200 clefts and 500 burn reconstructions," said Dr. Shankar Rai.
The one thing they don't have in Nepal is a permanent modern hospital. That's what brings Rai to Foothill Oriental Rugs in Salt Lake. Owner Jim Webber has imported rugs for years from Nepal. He's leading the effort to build a two-story hospital.
"It's really a way to try to give back to them. It's such a wonderful country and such a beautiful spirituality and culture," Webber said.
The cornerstone was laid in Katmandu just a couple of months ago. "We'll have three operating rooms in the facility that Jim is going to build for us," Rai said.
For adults who can't work because of burns, and for kids with deformities, surgery gives them a chance for a better life.
"Many of the kids will never be able to go to school because they get ostracized by their peers; and many of them never get married," Rai said.
If all the funds can be raised, the hospital should be finished in about a year. "It's not a big project in terms of dollars or scope, but we're actually going to make a tangible impact on a country and on thousands of kids' lives," Webber said.
The big event is a fundraiser tomorrow night at Foothill Oriental Rugs in Salt Lake. If you want to R.S.V.P or contribute, the store's contact information is listed below.
Nepal Cleft & Burn Center
c/o Foothill Oriental Rugs
1460 S. Foothill Dr.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
(801) 582-3500 E-mail: jhollenhorst@ksl.com
