Our Team in Nepal out in the field…

Our Area Welfare Centres in Nepal play a vital role in providing welfare support for veterans, widows and their families. We have a team of over 500 staff across our 20 Area Welfare Centres, all working tirelessly to support Gurkha veterans and their families.

Our Pensioner Support Teams are at the heart of our work and spend much of their time on field visits which can involve hours or even days of travelling to reach pensioners living in remote villages. Travelling by 4×4, motorcycle, or even on foot, they visit our most vulnerable veterans and widows deliver their pensions, carry out health checks and bring vital medical supplies.

During monsoon season travel becomes very difficult in Nepal, with flash floods and landslides making many routes virtually impassable. Our teams battle these conditions to reach those in urgent need of financial and medical aid. Now that monsoon season is over, field visits have ramped up as travel becomes a little easier.

Here are some glimpses of recent field trips by our Pensioner Support Teams across Nepal and from the centre in Darjeeling, India.

AWC Taplejung

Situated in the foothills of Eastern Nepal, the centre is a base from which the medical team heads out to visit veterans and widows to check their wellbeing, deliver vital medicine and carry out medical checks.

AWC Syangja

The team from our Area Welfare Centre in Syangja deliver a wheelchair to a veteran who is no longer fully mobile. The carer is briefed on how to safely use it.

“It gives me immense pleasure to bring a smile to their faces when we visit them at their home.” Lilprasad Gurung (Assistant Area Welfare Officer)

AWC Bhojpur

Many of the vulnerable veterans and widows we support live off the beaten track and it is impossible to reach them by vehicle. The team from Bhojpur transported an oxygen concentrator in a Doko basket to get it to a critically ill widow in a remote village.

AWC Darjeeling

Our staff are devoted to their work, many of them being ex-Gurkhas themselves or having a strong family connection with the Gurkhas. All are passionate about enabling veterans and widows to live in comfort and with dignity.

“I must admit that home visits are the best part of working in the AWC, it brings the essence of camaraderie and bond, and reminds us they once sacrificed their comfort for our betterment… Home visits also enable us to assess the health of our frail and old pensioners and address any concerns.” Vinod Kumar Shrestha (Area Welfare Officer)

AWC Damak

The team in the southeast of Nepal delivered and installed a hospital bed for a pensioner to help make life more comfortable.

AWC Gorkha

Regular health checks are vital for our most vulnerable pensioners. Mobile Health Practitioners carry out a detailed assessment on each visit, check if they need any additional support, and where necessary refer them for hospital treatment or arrange a consultation with a doctor.