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NEPAL SEATTLE SOCIETY

COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS

For NEYPVAL/CDCF YEAR II

About Community Ambassadors

Ambassadors for a community are those who serve as advocates and representatives for that community. By fostering cooperation and communication, advancing the interests of the community, and assisting in conflict resolution, they act as a link between the community and organizations.They aim to create connections, encourage collaborations, and make sure that the community’s needs and viewpoints are taken into account during decision-making.

Community ambassadors are vital for supporting and empowering their communities from inside, in addition to these outward-facing duties. They might mentor young people, offer assistance and support to neighborhood organizations, and seek to increase the capacity and resilience of the community.

Community ambassadors are essential to the success of communities because they act as the voice and face of the community, promote its goals and needs, and create alliances and partnerships with outside groups. Community ambassadors contribute to positive change and the promotion of a better future for their communities via their commitment and diligence.

During the project, the ambassadors had shown their interest to help the community by participating in events that were organized by the CDC-NEYPVAL team. Not only that, they also participated in webinars to spread information on vaccinations.

We are very proud of our Community Ambassadors and we hope that they will be interested to be the part of similar projects in the future.

AYUSH POKHREL

KUSHAL DHAKAL

SushilA SHRESTHA

sRIJITA GURUNG

SONIYA KUNWAR

sADIKSHYA UPRETI

NEPAL SEATTLE SOCIETY

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

FOR CDCF/NEYPVAL PROJECT 2022

About Advisory Board Meeting

The NEYPVAL Year II team was in need of advisors from our community with the expertise from their respective field. We were able to connect with 5 expert advisors from the Nepali Community who would be able to guide our team on the right path to top; covering most of the areas in Washington State. 

During our first meeting, the advisory members gave us various ideas on how we can cope with the current situation of triple burden disease: RSV, COVID, and FLU. The virus was common among children but we could not move forward as there was restriction from CDCF to cover only from the age group of 18 and above. 

 Link to First Advisory Board Meeting: Advisory Board Meeting

Our team is very fortunate to have them in our team. They have truly shown their dedication and determination to help the community. Not only that, they have motivated us and made our project seems effortless. Without their support, we could not have gone that extra mile.

Once again a massive thankyou to all the advisory board members.

Namaste, I work as a Hindu Priest. I’m also a yoga teacher. I’m also a provider for an Adult Family home which is related to healthcare.

I’m in touch with every community and everyone in the board. After I joined this project, I was able to interact with others and I was able to able to share health information with others which I’m really proud of. 

ARJUN ADHIKARI

JAGADAMBA ADHIKAREE

Jagadamba Adhikaree is a Senior Medical Social Worker at University Of Washington Medical Center. She received her Masters of Social Work degree from University of Washington. Her expertise are in community resources such as healthcare related services, insurance,  low income housing, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, and other government assistance programs. She advocates for patients, elderly and other vulnerable population. 

Jagadmba is interested in contributing to the community with her expertise and the NEYPVAL project provided this opportunity. This partnership has been inspiring and worthwhile because there are many new immigrants and elderly people of Nepalese origin who truly needed help and would benefit from this program.  Any opportunity to contribute to improve  the health and wellbeing of the community is inspiring moment for Jagadmba and she would participate in the future to help whenever there is a need.

I am a pharmacist with an MBA, currently pursuing MPH in Global Health at the University of Washington, Seattle. I am the co-founder and director at Samartha Nepal, a profit-not-sharing Company working towards equity in the health and education sectors in Nepal. 

I am passionate about the development and implementation of community-oriented health interventions. I have previously worked with different organizations – public, private, and development – to create people-centered healthcare service delivery programs in different parts of Nepal. At present, I am working with the UW Harborview Medical Center and I-TECH on qualitative research to bridge inequities in healthcare access. I hope to bring my knowledge and expertise in the field of Public Health to serve the Nepali community in greater Seattle and address their pressing health needs.
I shall contribute to the best of my ability to create an impact in the community.

PRIYASHA MAHARJAN

RUBY SHRESTHA

Ruby Shrestha works as Vice President of Scientific Affairs in a premium chocolate company in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.  She earned her engineering degree from Rajasthan, India under Colombo Plan and MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle under Fulbright Program. 

She is very passionate about building community and has been involved in the activities of Nepali community of the Greater Seattle area for over two decades, even before the inception of Nepal Seattle Society.  She has been a community activist, volunteer, mentor, advisor, and a consultant in various professional as well as in non-profit organizations and possesses a deep understanding of civic engagement for community benefit.  She wants to bring the knowledge and expertise to this project and give back to the community.

An avid reader, an occasional poetry writer, a runner, a nature enthusiast, and a passionate yoga practitioner, she says giving back to the community fulfills her.

I am a Registered Nurse currently working at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. I have always wanted to help the Nepali Community in one way or the other. I am very happy to be working in this project and contributing to the society.

I have worked at the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic organized by King County in partnership with EvergreenHealth during Covid-19 pandemic and I would like to help NEYPVAL with my knowledge transfer where applicable.

This is my first time with the NEYPVAL project, and I hope to join this project in the future as well. 

 

sINDHU KOIRALA

YUG DABADI

I have been involved with the social organizations over a decade. Primarily, I am trying to build a bridge between available resources and the immigrant community in Greater Seattle Area.

Professionally, I work for Multicare Health System as a technical specialist where I oversee the functions of medical scientists. I am also pursuing MBA from Washington State University.

My goal for joining the advisory team of NEYPVAL is to help the team to connect members of the Nepali speaking community to the available resources related to healthcare.

NEPAL SEATTLE SOCIETY

Events

NEYPVAL YEAR II

NEYPVAL team at Dashain Cup 2022

📆10/29/2022, Saturday

⏲️10:00am

Learn More

Collaboration with Newah Organization of America for promoting vaccination

📆10/26/2022, Wednesday

⏲️5:00pm

Learn More

NEYPVAL TEAM AT NSS DASHAIN-TIHAR EVENT

📆11/05/2022, Saturday

⏲️6:00pm

Learn More

NSS has conducted multiple virtual workshops during pandemic to increase awareness on
mental health in the Nepali community. With this DOH Project Spring Forward grant, we planned to invest in our community’s health and well being with a focus on nutrition pertaining to the Nepali diet to bridge the gap of easily accessible, easy-to-understand resources.

With these initiatives, we planned to advocate for healthy nutrition and healthy eating habits, including maternal and child nutrition, with frequent informational sessions on the Nepali diet with subject matter experts. A recent 2020 study shows that South Asians are four times more likely than the U.S. general population to have heart disease or diabetes (Hussain M, Qureshi S, Suryanarayanan S, Sridaran L, Howard R. Unequal Consequences: The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 Across South Asian Americans. SAALT; September 29, 2020.)

Maternal and Child Nutrition:

It is very important to take steps towards a healthy body through healthy nutrition
and exercise. Since a majority of our elders live in multi-generational homes, and not in
nursing homes or adult care homes, our elders will benefit greatly from health classes.

Thank You to Nima Sherpa, a Bachelor Undergrad in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health from the University of Washington shared with us some basic information about Maternal and Child Nutrition. Following that we had experts as our panelists: Dr. Nitin Thapa, Pramoj Adhikari studying DNP, and Dr. Seema Prasai, MBBS ECFMG Certified Physician who answered our questions along with Nima.

For more details visit: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

In this initiative, we also included Hypertension Awareness as it is prevalent in our Nepali community. Dr. Seema Prasai ( MBBS, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduate Certified) graciously volunteered to share her expertise with the help of Nepali Health Board volunteers such as Dr. Nitin Thapa.

Diet Associated with Hypertension:


Included in this initiative was also a webinar about the Nepali Diet with Pramoj Adhikari, an active community member of NSS and Doctor of Nursing Practitioner who talked about Culturally Tailored Diabetes Dietary Education Among Nepali and Bhutanese Community.

If you have any further questions about these issues or our project please email us at [email protected].

Stay safe, stay healthy.

Chandra Kumar Gurung Ji has been holding yoga sessions for our community every Sunday for the past few weeks. He has graciously been teaching beginner and moderate levels of yoga and it has been an amazing experience.

He was born in a remote village of Gorkha, Nepal, and had an inexorable quest for life and the wonder of the universe which led him to become a student of science. A student who wanted to get deeper into the idea of mind and matter. But, he thought that there must be a broader concept than science for learning and applying the idea to life and it was spirituality. In order to quench the thirst for spirituality, he was involved in the practice of yoga and meditation under the tutelage and direct discipleship of Dr. Yogi Vikasananda. Through the long years of practicing yoga and meditation, he realized that the quest and thirst for spirituality are unappeasable and he felt to make it his life-long phenomenon. With his dedicated and devoted mind, he received unpayable and invaluable wisdom during the period of a program named ‘Five Years Self-transformation and Personality Development’ conducted by his mentor Dr. Yogi Vikasananda at Manokranti Matrix Gurukul, Godawari, Lalitpur, Nepal. Determined to be a spiritual practitioner, he became a Yoga and Reiki Master.

The longing for spirituality even got higher and higher which led him to undergo the ‘8 Days Underground Meditation’. He didn’t stop there. He kept doing various experiments to realize the power of spirituality. To be specific, the power of yoga and meditation. On the other hand, he also undertook ‘21 Days of Water Fasting’ which had a lot to tell about the mind power and power of spiritual practice. Definitely, spirituality doesn’t emphasize the practice of power. However, they are the tools to heighten and empower one to lead further into enlightenment. After getting as much knowledge as he did, he followed the path of healing and teaching needy people. He imparted his spiritual knowledge and life-inspiring ideas to people from different corners of society. He traveled to many places in Nepal to share his practical experience so that he could share the practical approach to spirituality through yoga and meditation by incorporating them into the life of people. Not only did he deliver the wisdom on spirituality, but also inspired many people to live their life with optimism, positivity, and hope. While traveling different districts of the nation, he kindled the light of health, peace, positive mind, and happiness to hundreds of thousands of people. The unyielding effort of helping the humanity has not ended but has been continuing even after moving into the USA.  Mr. Chandra Kumar Gurung from Nepal currently resides at Seattle, Washington with his loving wife Ambika Adhikari and a beautiful daughter Satyaa. 

Please watch this Moderate Yoga tutorial by our Reiki and Yoga Master Sri Chandra Gurung.

Thank You to all of our Board of Directors, especially Tara Aryal and Saurav Kakshapati, our Yoga Master, and Videographer Deepak Karki for making this event session possible.

Pramoj Adhikari, RN, BSN is the 2022 candidate for DNP-FNP at the Pacific Lutheran University and is an active community member of Nepal Seattle Society and the newly formed Nepali Health Board. In guidance with Nepal Seattle Society, Nepali Health Board and Bhutanese Community Resource Center, especially in participant recruitment, Pramoj was able to go door-to-door and provide education geared toward Nepali diet. This webinar was made possible under Project Spring Forward funded by Department of Health. Please watch to learn about his project findings and how you can incorporate some of the stuff discussed in your day-to-day life!

On the morning of May 7th, Pramoj Adhikari presented his study findings to the community and we had around seventeen participants. Our questions and answers session was very engaging and interactive and we had great questions like what type of rice to eat and when to eat rice as we Nepali love rice.

Sachin Gurung, one of the participants who works as Software Engineer at Amazon shared,

“Very informative presentation. Loved it. Looking forward to future projects!”

Pramoj shared that the next phase of the project is going to be creating informative materials about what to eat as a Nepali living abroad with pre-diabetes.

On May 5th, 2022, the Nepal Seattle Society organized a Gardening 101 class to learn the basics of gardening in the pacific northwest region. Our respected community leader and organic gardener, Nil Tilija conducted the class and gave us a tour of his garden. Even though the evening started with some rain; our host Nil Tilija started up a fire pit and served us some warm tea with organic mint and honey from his garden. He started the class by sharing some benefits and background of how he began his journey to become an organic gardener. 

Benefits of Gardening 

With several benefits from gardening, Nil mentioned some from his own experiences. For instance: 

  • Gardening as meditation and stress reliever; a relief of mind, body, and soul.
  • One can be as close as possible to nature. 
  • A great form of physical activity; pulling plant roots, digging soils, reaching to various tools and plants, twisting and bending your body helps strengthen muscles, and build flexibility.
  • Eat what you grow, healthy and nutrients from your own hard work. 
  • Cost efficient and pesticides free organic food. 

Process of Growing your Vegetables

As a beginner for gardening, an individual should have some basic knowledge and familiarize themselves with what kind of planting zone they belong to such as timing and seasons best for each vegetable, consideration of exposure to lights, water, soil, fertilizers, and insects. To start with, we do not require a big yard to start. One can start from their patio or a small backyard where there is better exposure to light.

Timing is one crucial part in gardening that every individual should be aware of and which season is best for which kind of vegetables. There were varieties of vegetables and herbs that were planted and explained which vegetables are best according to seasons. He gave a brief explanation about vegetables that are suitable for summer, spring, fall and winter seasons. The best growing season in the pacific northwest region is from May 10 to October 5 (5/10 to 10/5) , but there are certain vegetables that can be grown in winter such as: garlic, leeks, potatoes, kale, chards, mustard green (Rayo Saag), and other root vegetables such as carrots, beets, turnips, parsnip etc.

In addition, an individual should have knowledge on what kind of nutrients are required for the plants. Another crucial ingredient for the initial stage of gardening is soil and light. He also mentioned that using organic compost is a good nutrient for the plants and better for the environment. Nil makes his own organic compost which is very beneficial to the plants and soil health. He collects vegetable waste from his kitchen including eggshells and coffee grind in a worm bin to make the organic compost by feeding earthworms in order to expedite the fertilization process. Earthworm casting is the source of organic fertilizer that is full of microorganisms. This process is beneficial for the growth of the healthy plant. Furthermore, he also mentioned that without pollinators we can not grow vegetables and fruits. Bees, hummingbirds, and other forms of insects and flies are the best pollinators.

The final step after planting is proper irrigation. It is another crucial process for growing healthy vegetables. The best way to water plants is with the help of a sprinkler system. We can also water plants with a hose and make sure that the water reaches the root of the compost by feeding earthworms in order to expedite the fertilization process. Earthworm casting is the source of organic fertilizer that is full of microorganisms. This process is beneficial for the growth of the healthy plant. Furthermore, he also mentioned that without pollinators we can not grow vegetables and fruits. Bees, hummingbirds, and other forms of insects and flies are the best pollinators. The final step after planting is proper irrigation. It is another crucial process for growing healthy vegetables. The best way to water plants is with the help of a sprinkler system. We can also water plants with a hose
and make sure that the water reaches the root of the plants without overflowing our plants.


He then took us inside to his first phases of gardening where he explained how to start the seeding process and how to take care of seeds at an early age and when to transfer them outside.
For the initial stage of seeding, one should be prepared with seeds, potting mix, and seed starter kit which are easily available in the market during the season. The most informative part of the seeding process is that it depends on the size of the seed and how deep we need to plant the seed. The early stage of seeding needs heat and light. As we live in the pacific northwest, heat and
light are the things to be concerned about. Nil mentioned that in this kind of weather like the pacific northwest, we can put the seed starter by the window for light and provide them with additional grow light and heat pad. Once the plants are a few inches tall from the starter kit, it can be transferred outside for further growth. Another takeaway note was, not to transfer the seed starter if the weather is not consistent. The plant needs consistent heat and light and the weather should not be frosty, which will kill the plants.

Lastly, as a participation appreciation, the participants received various seeds which Nil Tilija
had harvested in his garden and distributed to the group. It was an informative gardening
session for beginners as well as medium gardeners. There were positive responses from the
participants and Nepal Seattle Society is looking forward to conducting this kind of event again
in the future.

by Sierra Cvach

On March 26th and 27th, Seattle FC in partnership with Nepal Seattle Society successfully hosted the annual Nepali New Year Cup. The tournament was divided into two categories: Teams under age 35 and Teams over age 35. 

The under-35 category had 12 teams, including 3 out-of-state teams from Oregon, Idaho, and California, and included 144 players.  

The 35+ category had 4 local teams competing with a total of 56 players. Total attendance for the two-day event was over seven hundred, with around five hundred spectators on Saturday and roughly two hundred on Sunday.  

In the under 35-category, Seattle FC Yellow team won the finals and took first place. Seattle FC Black team was second place.  The MVP in the under-35 category was awarded to Umesh Pandey from Seattle FC Yellow. The final’s Man of the Match was Bharat Monger of Seattle FC Yellow.  

In the 35+ event, Everett Warriors Red team won the finals and took first place.  Everett Warriors Blue was second place. The MVP in the 35+ category was Jamyang Dorjee.

A total of $5000 cash prizes were awarded to the winners. 

The NEYPVAL team conducted a health assessment survey during this event.  The survey assessed the accessibility of healthcare in the surrounding Nepali community. 180 surveys were completed with the help of our community ambassadors. Stay tuned to see what data we have gathered and what we can learn about our community.

by Rachit Raj Shrestha and Sierra Cvach

We are two years into this pandemic and things seem to be getting better. This has only been possible because we have taken precautions and gotten the vaccines to protect ourselves and our community from Covid-19. However, some of us have yet to get the Covid-19 vaccine or its booster. 

It might be because of time constraints, or not being able to get an appointment.  Or, maybe, because you had a dose of a different vaccine overseas, and didn’t know if you could get one of the boosters available in America.  

This was the case for a husband and wife who had just moved to Seattle from Nepal. They have taken their first dose of COVOVAX in Nepal but didn’t know if they could get a booster in Seattle. They reached out to NSS, and with the help of the NEYPVAL team and King County Public Health, we found out that they were approved to receive the Moderna booster after getting their COVOVAX shot in Nepal. During our recent vaccination event, we were able to get them their booster shots and update their vaccination cards.

Shubhechha Shakya and Sakar Sakya, our administrative assistant and community ambassador, also got their booster shots during our vaccination event. In total, we were able to get 8 people vaccinated during our 2-hour camp held at Sanatan Dharm Mandir on March 19th, in partnership with Sanatan Dharm Mandir, WA Department of Health, King County Public Health, and the CDC Foundation.

This month we are holding a vaccination event as well as a Tech literacy event. If you are still waiting to get your COVID-19 vaccine, join us on March 19th, or if you need help navigating through My Chart, Zoom, accessing your electronic vaccination card, or have any other queries, RSVP and join us on March 20th!


Follow the links below to get your COVID-19 Vaccination appointment for March 19th!


Ages 12+ Clinic Link: https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov//appointment/en/reg/9293301686


Ages 5-11 Clinic Link: https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov//appointment/en/reg/0368291968

RSVP through the link below for the Tech Literacy event on March 20th


RSVP Link: https://forms.gle/3JcogfW4kkDuyx6h6

We made this video because there was a lack of education around using home testing kits in Nepali language catered for our community. This was made during the initial phase of government policies providing free home testing kits around the second-third wave of COVID spike.

If you are showing COVID-19 Symptoms or have been exposed to someone who has COVID, you can use the At Home Covid testing kit to check if you have it. If you do test positive for it or test negative and are still showing symptoms, please contact your health care provider!

We have also made an instruction manual in Nepali to provide information for Nepali-speaking people and work towards health literacy.

Instructionssss

Who is eligible for vaccination ?

WASHINGTON COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility is now all ages 16 and older . Please follow this link for more information about vaccine prioritization guidance and allocation framework : https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/SummaryInterimVaccineAllocationPriortization.pdf

How do I schedule a vaccination appointment ?

To schedule your COVID-19 vaccine, please follow this link : https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/ . So far, more than 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the state of Washington. We are in the right path to have a good percentage of vaccinated population which will help us get back to our normal lives soon.

When are you considered fully vaccinated ?

People are considered fully vaccinated ≥2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or ≥2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson (J&J)/Janssen).

Even you are fully vaccinated, you still need to take precautions. Here’s a quick guide from the CDC for the use of masks and your activities based on your COVID-19 vaccine status: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/pdfs/324153_choosingSaferActivities11.pdf

What do we know about Johnson & Johnson vaccine ?

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH)  resumes use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine across the state. This decision is based on recommendations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, as well as careful consideration and close review by DOH.

Facts and Myths about COVID-19 Vaccine

DOH has shared COVID-19 Vaccine facts as part of ongoing efforts to dispel rumors and provide factual information:

  • You should still get the vaccine even if you already had COVID-19.
  • The vaccine will not make you sick with COVID-19. There are three COVID-19 vaccines that are authorized for emergency use in the United States. None of them contain a live form of the virus that causes COVID-19. 
  • It is normal to have side effects after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The most common side effects are a sore arm, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. These usually last a day or two after you get the shot. Side effects are a sign that the vaccine is working.
  • There are no microchips or any other tracking devices in COVID-19 vaccines — or any others. Vaccines do not track people or collect any personal information. Any claims about microchips or tracking devices are simply myths from science fiction stories.
  • There are no home remedies that can prevent or cure COVID-19.
  • The best way to protect yourself from COVID-19 is to get the vaccine. You should also follow other coronavirus guidelines like washing your hands, wearing a mask, and staying away from others.
  • If you have COVID-19, talk to your provider about managing your symptoms. And stay home — except to get a test or medical care. 

Please contact any Nepal Seattle Society volunteers or email us if you need help on COVID-19 vaccines and related issues. We will do our best to provide the most up to date info.


Nepali Community Health Board
Nepal Seattle Society
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.nepalseattle.org/

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