Heroes: Netra, Chanakya, Chet Raj, and Pradip

While the doctors are working to save the lives of patients, the administrators are there, working in the background, to keep the entire hospital afloat. They may not always get the most attention when it comes to the care that Nyaya provides, but without them, Nyaya would offer no care in the first place.

Pradip is Nyaya’s Kathmandu Administrator. He was the first person we met upon arriving in Nepal, and we can honestly say that without him, we would never have made it to Achham or back home again. Every day, Pradip hits the streets of Kathmandu, going from store to store to acquire lifesaving medications, securing supplies for the hospital, purchasing plane tickets for staff members to get them to Achham, meeting with government offices to get our paperwork in on time and forge partnerships. He is the hospital’s bridge to the capital. Pradip though, goes above and beyond his duties. He spent his entire day off taking us souvenir shopping, and taking us sightseeing to places like the Monkey Temple, all because he wanted to show us a good time in Kathmandu. He is incredibly hard working and honestly one of the kindest people we have ever met.

Netra is the Administrative Director of the hospital. As such, he is in charge of pretty much everything. He works long hours to make sure the hospital is moving smoothly, and that the staff are doing what needs to be done. He is Greg’s right hand man and so much more. He is phenomenal at coming up solutions to all different problems that arise, and is incredibly kind and patient in doing so. He knows how to run a hospital. While some of his talent likely comes from his business degree, he is a truly natural leader who knows how to work with others. He is incredibly kind hearted. Netra always is interested to hear about what you are working on and to offer any help. When we had some time to kill in Dhangadi, he put us into contact with his family and friends who showed us around the city all morning. His wife opened their home to us, and fed us an incredible feast. We are indebted to him for his kindness, and will definitely be staying in touch.

Chanakya is the hospital’s financial officer. He spends all day making sure that all of the hospital’s payments are delivered on time and that all of our budgets are balanced. Chanakya is a relatively quiet guy most of the time, going about his work in the admin office without fanfare. However, if you give him a mic or music to dance to, then you see a completely different side. He loves giving speeches and acting as the MC for events and ceremonies. He is also incredible on the dance floor, dancing hours without rest, and is definitely the best dancer in Achham. We’ll miss our time spent with him working away.

Chet Raj, or CR as we call him, is the Store Manager. The store is the heart of the hospital as all pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supplies must first go through CR for processing and distribution. Over the past couple of weeks, I have come to know CR through our major project with him completely re-organizing the store and to updating the baseline inventory. To help us finish this daunting project, he has spent numerous evenings working well into the night and his entire day off making sure our database is up to date. Without this work, we could not hold ourselves accountable for the resources we acquire or hold ourselves to the highest quality of patient care with ample medical supplies. 

Netra, Chanakya, Chet Raj, and Pradip are heroes.