You're going where? Why?: 5 reasons we are moving to Nepal

I can't begin to count the number of times I received a surprised look followed by the question, "You're going where? Why?" Most colleagues, friends, patients, and work associates do not anticipate hearing that you're moving to Nepal when they asked the question, "What are your plans next year?"

We’ve been making plans for number of years to move internationally to work as healthcare professionals. In fact, it's the reason why we both went into healthcare and one of the primary commonalities that Allie and I share.

So, "Why are you moving to Nepal?" I thought it would be helpful to share five reasons why we are moving to work at Scheer Memorial Adventist Hospital:

1.) Christian responsibility: As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ, God's son, came to this earth, taught us how to live a life of selfless service, died for us, and was resurrected. He invited every person to follow in His footsteps, in selfless service to humanity, bringing His GOOD NEWS—His love for each and every person on this earth—to every person in every nation. We believe Jesus desires wholeness or completeness for each and every person. Wholeness is manifested by spiritual, physical, emotional, and social healing; all of which He did for us while living on this earth. We’re excited because we believe He is coming soon, permanently ending suffering and taking us to Heaven. We choose to give back in this capacity because of all that Jesus has done for us.

We believe the best way to demonstrate the reality of Jesus Christ in our lives is to live genuine, sincere Christian lives focused on the principles that Jesus taught when He was here on this earth. Health care is a fundamental right for everyone, discrimination based religious affiliation, nationality, socioeconomic status, political partisanship, ethnicity, orientation is inappropriate and unethical. We will be providing equivalent, nonbiased care to everyone. As John Wesley, Anglican theologian and founder of Methodism, said, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” It’s our prayer that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ here on this earth, in Nepal.

2.) Service opportunity: Albert Schweitzer, a famous musician, clergyman, and physician, lived and worked in West Africa for most of his career. A group of medical trainees were visiting him and posed the question, “Why do you do what you do?” He responded, “I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” This quote, since discovering it in high school, has been a guiding principle in my life. The times I’ve been the happiest is when I’m serving others. The same is for Allie, one of the happiest years of her life was spent volunteering as a nurse at a clinic in a remote, mountainous, jungle village in the Philippines.

As of 2004, the last year with data, there were 4 physicians for every 10,000 people in Nepal (compared to approximately 25/10,000 in the US or UK) (WHO). The 2015 devastating earthquake wreaked havoc on the country and decimated many homes and families. Nepal has tremendous needs and our hope is to make a small difference in the community where we will serve. We will be happy if we make a difference in one person’s life. We are thrilled to partner with local providers to care for patients who are seeking relief from ailments.

3.) Career development: Bedside, clinical medicine has, in some instances, been eroded and dehumanized with e-medicine: computer screens and data. Rather than clinically treating a patient some providers’ are increasingly relying on non-clinician derived bedside data to make clinical decisions. As Osler, the “father” of Internal Medicine said, “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” In an environment where data is limited and very expensive one must rely on bedside clinical skills, learning clinical intuition. As we are both “early” in our careers, we’re looking forward to gaining these invaluable skills that will, hopefully, be of tremendous benefit for all patients whom we treat during our careers.

4.) Escaping the "Western Dream": Honestly, we’re really excited to simplify our lives. Yes, there will be inconveniences: water may not always run; electricity may come and go; and air quality may be poor. Nonetheless, escaping the materialistic, social expectations of North America will be therapeutic and allow us to focus our time, energy, and attention to each other and our family.

5.) "Adventure" factor: We can’t deny reason 5: adventure! Considering that we are moving to a nation that is home to the tallest mountain peaks of the world, we wouldn’t be telling the truth if we said there isn’t a component of adventure that motivates our decision to move. It will be really fun to explore the hills, mountains, and culture when we have scheduled time off.

So there you have it. We'd be discouraged if you came away thinking we're heroic or that our lives should be lifted up onto a pedestal. No! No! No! We're choosing to move to and live and work in a different culture because we want to give back to Jesus for all He has done for us and to give something back to our global commmunity.

We'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to drop a comment in the field below!