A volunteer waiting for other volunteers ! बाजुराको एउटा कथा

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(Mukunda Raj Karki in Bir Hospital )

Mr. Mukunda Raj Karki, 28 is a primary teacher in Kalika Primary School, Bajura, Far-west Development region of Nepal. He has to walk a pedestrian path to reach his school. He was returning home from whole day’s tough job. It was a windy evening of 8^th May in the southern mountain of The Himalaya. As the population density of the mountainous villages is less, schools are far for students and teachers. He was tired and slowly heading towards home. As he got a bent on a mountain he saw smoke rising from a roof of a house and peoples were shouting of fire. It was sure that the house was caught in fire. So, he run down the hills and reached the house in fire. Women and children were crying. Males had no ideas to proceed. They used to save the homes in fire only by throwing water or soil in it. It is done with the stem of banana trees in the low and warm lands in Nepal. The May is windy and hot season and they had no sufficient water. All the streams were dry. The sources of drinking water was not sufficient to throw in the fire,

People were excited to see the teacher running to them. He was tall, brave and known as a courageous youth in that village. Teachers are supposed to be the social leader in the villages of Nepal. They had to participate in all the events of happy and sorrow there. People gathered around him. They had a high hope on him and requested to control the fire. The poor house owner came nearer to him and told that he had some money on his wallet kept in a tin trunk which was left in the 2^nd floor. 

He saw the roof at the top was burning. He took off his bag crossing his shoulder, pant and shirt, hanged those stuffs on a tree in front of the yard. Seeing the roof burning, he thought the possibility of going up to the 2^nd floor. He entered home running and climbed the single ladder made of log. He reached the corner and pulled the trunk. He was seeing roof with widened eyes. The heat come from the roof was deadly. Suffocation due to the smoke was making him blind. He was totally wet of the sweat.

The roof was made of stone slates supported with the wooden bars. One side of the roof was burning and coming to his corner. With “krrrrrrrakka” sound, the roof felled at the same time. His way to pull the trunk was blocked and the fire came nearer and nearer. He had no way to get down. The he threw the trunk from a small hole made for ventilation. The hole wasn’t sufficient to get him out. In minutes, he would die if couldn’t take sharp decision and act wisely. Then he went near the fire and tried to push the roof. He succeeded to open a little. His body started to burn from the underwear vest. He had no options and forced the body in the fire. He came out from the burning roof. He felled down from the burning roof as a log on the yard. He was alive but lost senses and deadly burnt.

There was nothing and no one to treat him. No ambulance or any vehicles were available as the district itself is having no roads. It took many hours in the night to take him to the district health centre. Villagers did it using a career made of a wooden poll and jute sack. Then after one day, he was brought to reach the road access. He reached Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, only one renowned hospital with burn ward in Nepal after two days.

His family had no savings to treat him. His poor wife was firstly in this huge city from the remote mountainous village. Everything was new to her. She was happy to listen from the doctor saying, “He must survive as he has done a great voluntary task”. Some burnt patients seen lesser serious than him are dying day and day in the hospital. She was got socked time and again.

After one month, his story was shared to all the participants and representatives in Kathmandu Conference of his teachers association, NNTA. His local union leaders requested to support their victim member, Mr. Mukunda Karki. They collected NRs 73,337.00 hand to hand from his organization members from all over the nation. It was 15^th june.

( Mr Thapa , chairman NNTA handing over the donations collected)

As he was a contract positioned teacher, government has no concern and care on him.  It is a real story, you can see Mr. Mukunda Karki in the burn ward of Bir Hospital. His family has paid there more than 2 hundred thousand rupees. They don’t know how much rupees he saved there but guessed it was less than ten thousand rupees.