The Story of Chhekampar Health Post
Rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake and given a safe birthing centre: a health post in the Tsum Valley that grew from a community’s voice.
A story of community voices, determination, partnership and a shared commitment to healthcare in one of Nepal’s most remote mountain communities.
- 2033 BS (1976/77)Community leaders ask King Birendra for healthcare and education, which leads to Chhekampar Health Post.
- 2015The Gorkha earthquake destroys the health post, and the community asks us to help rebuild it.
- After 2015An 18-month agreement with the Ministry of Health and Population; the rebuild is finished in about nine months and handed to the government.
- 5 June 2023A separate birthing centre is set up and equipped.
- TodayThe health post runs with government-provided medicines and staff.
A Health Post Born from a Community’s Voice
The story of Chhekampar Health Post goes back to 2033 BS (1976/77), when the late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah visited remote parts of Nepal, including Chhekampar in the Tsum Valley, where he travelled to Rachen Gumba with Khabjay Khushok Tsechu Rinpoche. Senior community leaders from Tsum had the chance to speak with the King, and they raised the health and education of their families and children.
“We need education for our children, and we need healthcare when our people become sick.”
That voice helped bring about Chhekampar Health Post and a government health service closer to the people of Tsum. But a health post was only the beginning. In winter, heavy snow and extreme cold sometimes made it hard for health workers to stay, and medicines and supplies often ran short. For people in remote mountain villages, that could still mean travelling for hours or even days to see a health worker.
The 2015 Earthquake
In 2015 a massive earthquake, centred near Barpak in Gorkha, struck Nepal, and Chhekampar Health Post was completely destroyed. Our founder, Wangchuk Rapten Lama, was in the Tsum Valley helping with relief distribution. Community members and the Health Post Management Committee came to him with a written request and meeting minutes, asking for help to rebuild it.
Wangchuk is from Chhekampar himself, and as a paramedic he knew first-hand how hard it is to reach healthcare in Tsum. He had lost his own mother when timely healthcare was not available in the community.
“Today, I believe that community healthcare is not only about reducing deaths from preventable diseases. It is also about helping people understand health and hygiene, giving families hope, and making them feel that someone will be there to support them when they are in trouble, especially when it concerns their health.” — Wangchuk Rapten Lama
As a Buddhist practitioner and paramedic, he follows a teaching of his guru that has become the guiding principle of his life:
“No matter how learned you are or whatever skills you possess, they should always be used for the benefit of others.”
He promised the community he would do his best to rebuild the health post, and encouraged them to keep working with the government for regular health workers, medicines and essential services.
From the District Health Office to the Ministry of Health
The Gorkha District Health Office could not approve the rebuild, so Wangchuk took the request to the Ministry of Health and Population in Kathmandu. There he met Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, who was working on earthquake reconstruction. He listened carefully, understood the realities of rebuilding healthcare in a remote Himalayan village, and agreed that the rebuild could go ahead with the necessary documents and the Ministry’s cooperation. It was a turning point for Chhekampar Health Post.
Building Together
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health and Population for an 18-month rebuild. With strong community participation, local commitment and the support of our partners, the work was finished in about nine months, well ahead of schedule. The rebuilt health post was formally handed over to the Government of Nepal under the Ministry of Health and Population, with Mahendra Prasad Shrestha as chief guest.
The Hoffmann Family: A Partnership That Made It Possible
Rebuilding the structure was only part of the journey. Wangchuk shared the health post’s remaining needs with our friends the Hoffmann family in Germany, and they responded with extraordinary generosity. Their support rebuilt the health post from the ground up and equipped it with:
- Complete furniture
- Medical equipment
- Pharmacy and medicine-storage facilities and racks
- Solar power and solar panels
- Other essential health-post infrastructure
Much of the building used local stone and timber. Anything not available locally, including the roofing, had to be flown in by helicopter. What may look simple from the outside was an enormous logistical challenge, and none of it would have been possible without the Hoffmann family and their friends from Mühlheim.
A Safe Birthing Centre
Several years later another need became clear: women in the community needed a safer place to give birth. A separate birthing centre was set up and equipped, as part of our safe maternal healthcare work, with:
- Oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators
- Safe delivery beds
- Baby warmers
- Suction machines and Penguin suction devices
- Fetal Dopplers
- Cord clamps
- Autoclaves
- Baby weighing scales
- CPS sets
- Ring pessaries
- Uterine Balloon Tamponade (UBT) devices
- Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garments (NASG)
- Other essential maternal and newborn supplies
They help the health post provide safer deliveries and respond to emergencies involving mothers and newborns. Today it runs with government-provided medicines and staff, and it is encouraging to see the community receiving healthcare more reliably and closer to home.
A Community Partnership That Continues
The story of Chhekampar Health Post is not simply the story of a building. It is about a community that spoke up, a government that listened, local leadership that persisted, friends who believed in the community and donors who supported the vision, and about people who worked together to turn a difficult situation into something that can serve future generations. For us, the greatest reward is seeing people from our own community receive healthcare closer to home.
With Gratitude
There are no words enough to thank the Hoffmann family and all our friends from Mühlheim, who stood beside the people of Tsum when support was deeply needed. Your generosity turned a destroyed health post into a working healthcare facility. You did not simply help build walls: you helped build hope, protect mothers and children, and bring healthcare closer to home.
Chhekampar continues to inspire our work. It shaped our vision for the Kyimolung Community Health & Wellness Center in Phillim, a future healthcare facility for the people of Tsum, Nubri, Sirdibas and the surrounding mountain communities. From one community health post, a broader vision for community healthcare continues.
Health is not only a service. It is hope, dignity and the opportunity for a community to build a better future.
What Comes Next
From One Health Post to a Health Center
Chhekampar shaped our plans for a Community Health & Wellness Center in Phillim. The land is secured and the plans are approved; construction now needs funding.