Progress pics of the new rooms we are building on the roof in Pokhara. 

This extension will give us another treatment/training room, a private office/staff room with much-needed storage space and one more bathroom (which should help with the hand-washing queues!). Our contractor has promised us it should be ready by mid-March and we are looking forward to kitting out our new space when the time comes. 

 

We are still planning to open a third clinic this year as well, but building more rooms now will allow us to fulfil our need for extra space more cheaply in the short term. It will also enable us to move training activities back to Pokhara again from Kathmandu. Training in the capital did have some advantages but it was much more difficult for students to find nearby accommodation and make their way to the clinic for lessons. 

New signage in Pokhara

Christmas in Bardia National Park with Mel Cash (ISRM founder & SHN Member), Cedric Jeanson (SHN Trustee) and Stefi Addetta (ISRM Tutor). Since Cedric and Mel both happened to come to Nepal at the same time, and we are all connected with Seeing Hands, we took a trip together to Bardia (one of Nepal's more remote National Parks) with the hope of seeing tigers. Sadly the big cats eluded us but we had a great time in the jungle all the same, and stunning scenery on the way back to Pokhara, via Lumbini.

Mel and Stefi also spent a few days teaching both the students in Kathmandu and the therapists in Pokhara during their stay in Nepal and were particularly impressed with their skill levels. Mel helped us to devise a 30 minute remedial massage routine to suit runners taking part in the Annapurna 100km race on New Year's Day (which SHN supported with discounts for participants). The therapists who treated the runners also got a good education on what a calf muscle feels like after a 100km race (like stone apparently!).