Mahabir’s plane touched down on tarmac with a view of mountains similar to his native Nepal. The cold dry air mimicked Nepal’s dry season in the high mountains but Mahabir was thousands of miles from home during a visit to Denver, Colorado.
On February 22, 2012 he gave a presentation to the medical students of the University of Colorado (UC) School of Medicine’s Center for Global Health. The 90 minute talk titled “Bridging Medical and Educational Gap in Nepal’s Isolated Villages via Wireless Internet” introduced students to the challenges of providing health care in austere environments.
That same evening he presented a similar talk to UC’s student group Engineers Without Borders in Boulder, Colorado. Mahabir outlined to the engineering students how they can help develop appropriate technologies in the rural areas of Nepal.
His final meeting in the mile high city was with “Bridges Between” an organization that focuses on women’s’ education in rural Nepal. The financial and technical issues of building a wireless network in Solukhumbu district of Nepal were discussed.
Mustering his well known endless energy Mahabir then flew to Kearney, Nebraska spending six days lecturing, networking and visiting supporters and old friends at his alma mater.
In less then one week he lectured to six University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) classes ranging from commerce to technology; developed plans with Good Samaritan Hospital TeleHealth staff and UNK School of Nursing for future TeleMedicine projects; provided an interview and commentary for the local newspaper; appeared on “Talk of the Town”, a local radio station; was interviewed for a Central Nebraska TV broadcast about his wireless projects; reviewed the progress of present projects with Himanchal Education Foundation supporters; met with community clubs such as the Kearney Dawn Rotary Club to speak about the success of his Nepal projects; and finally, acted as the gracious guest of honor at a reception hosted by the Dean of College of Education and attended by local Nepalese students.
Long time friends and supporters made every minute count before seeing Mahabir off on his long journey back to Nepal…a journey that started twenty years ago and still marches on fueled by the dreams and dedication of one man.
Leave a Reply