Paul Pholeros Foundation Nepal Sanitation Fellowship 2025
Plumbers Andrew Craine and Danny Hoekstra returned to Nepal to continue the working partnership with Dhulikhel Hospital, focussing on sanitation system upgrades and ongoing skills upgrading of the local teams led by Sanil Makaju and Shanker Shrestha.
PPD and Hospital teams from left: Sanil Makaju, Danny Hoekstra, Sandra Meihubers, Andrew Craine, Bijar Karmacharya, Pramesh Koju
The Hospital Works
The improvements within the Hospital included repairs to the solar hot water panel to the oupatients department building (OPD) and the pump hot water circulation system to the obstetrics and gynaecological departments building (OGD).
Water supply to the Hospital from a mountain spring source several kilometres away was improved by eliminating water overflow and wastage due to blocked sedimentation tanks.
In preparation for futuer works the team identified hot and cold water cross connections in the Hospital departments and identified the need to improve hot water supply to the Paediatrics building. These works will be followed up in 2026.
School Oral Hygiene and Handwash Trough
Following a request from Hospital Dentist Dr Dilip Prajapati in 2023, a tooth brushing and hand washing troughwas designed by PPF members Shane Marshall, Bishnu Shrestha and Andrew Craine. A prototype was constructed at Bethanchok Rural School in 2024 and trialled for approximately 18 months.
An evaluation carried out by the PPF team in consultation with school teachers identified some required modifications, but overall feedback regarding the trough and its function were was very positive and the unit has been integrated into the school’s daily routine, whereby all children wash their hands thoroughly with soap and brush their teeth.
The team plans to supply troughs to more schools within the Hospital’s remote outreach networks.
Acknowledgments
The PPF would like to acknowledge DG///Group Plumbing and Civil for their very
generous donation of the pump that greatly enhanced the waterflow efficiency in the Obstetrics and Gynaecological Departments. This new, stronger pump boosts the velocity of the hot water flow to patient bathrooms, resulting in better delivery to patients and less wastage of water due to reduced wait time for the hot water flow.
Dhulikhel Hospital acknowledged the efforts of the PPF team to reduce internal water wastage to the point that the Hospital no longer needs to buy 20,000 litres of water daily and is functioning well on its existing water sources via springs and water storage tanks.
Future Training
Talks and discussions between Hospital Management and PPF teams identified the need for establishing formal training for plumbers, starting with workshops for hospital technical teams within the Dhulikhel Hospital’s network. We are all keen on this great initiative, something that has been the intended goal since the beginning of our partnership. We plan to implement training workshops in November 2026.
