Pictures from the Vitamin A Campaign

This pictures are from my Vitamin A distribution adventures. This first picture is from a pooja performed by married women in Patan. A team of us from NTAG happened upon it as we were meeting with FCHVs prior to the National Vitamin A campaign. The other two pictures are from the "slums" of Kathmandu taken during the campaign. The river is in the background of the second picture. Yet, it is stagnant and moves only when the waste water from septic systems flow in from large tubes along the banks of the river. These blackened still waters of the Bagmati are filled with sewage, industrial byproducts, and trash, mostly plastic. The living conditions here are overcrowded.

Many people who have come to these slums are from villages throughout Nepal. The cost of living in Kathmandu is high and renting property is nearly impossible for these families. They move to the only available land in the city, along the river banks. From the original tent homes made from plastic tarps, they have developed over time to more permanent structures made of brick and cement. I have come to learn that it is difficult to distribute vitamin A capsules to new encampments due to the high number of migrants coming through them and the lack of permanent FCHVs. There is a team that is mobilized to service these areas.