Bichhya

What Is Bichhya Like?

Bichhya located in Bajura, Far West Nepal is beautiful and remote, PHASE Worldwide’s most isolated location. It is a large area with scattered households and settlements.

The centre of Bichhya is an arduous 8 hours walk away from the next closest village of Rugin (another PHASE Project area) along rugged mountain paths (or 5 hours to a remote jeep track) It is only accessible on foot. All medicines and equipment are brought in by mules and porters. For the communities that live there, many households live several hours away from help: a long walk or stretcher-carry by your community when you are pregnant, elderly, sick or have had an accident and cannot walk that far unaided.

To get to the nearest town and Higher Primary Health Centre in Kolti, it is another 2 hours walk from Rugin to Kuwadi, (no regular 4 x 4 jeep service from Rugin) then a 3-hour 4 x 4 jeep drive from Kuwadi (along an unpaved road if a 4 x 4 jeep is affordable and available) or another day walking to reach Kolti to see a Doctor.

Bichhya is prone to earthquakes, landslides, flooding, and drought. On the front-line of climate change, there is now either too much rain or not enough. All rural communities here rely on subsistence livelihoods and kitchen gardens, with food insecurity for families for much of the year, meaning that many children under 5 are malnourished, and dietary diversity is still difficult to achieve.

Our Health Post in Bichhya has been damaged by disasters (earthquakes, landslides), but the health services provided by PHASE have bravely continued to improve the health of 5,000 people who make up these remote communities despite these devastating challenges over recent years.

What do we do in Bichhya?

Health – Alongside out partners PHASE Nepal and PHASE Austria we work alongside government staff in the health lost to add extra capacity. Providing additional medication. Outreach services for the remotest households and health education sessions across the community.

Livelihoods – We are currently working with 140 pregnant and new mothers providing agricultural equipment and materials along with technical support to increase diet diversity and reduce malnutrition.

Education – We work alongside schools in Bichhya to improve infrastructure, water supply, toilets and increasing awareness around empowerment for girls and reducing early pregnancies.