Meelan Karki: “The Development Sector Chose Me”
Thursday, April 06, 2023
What does it take to address the whole-person health of over 400 Kopila kids? Maybe the better question is WHO. Meelan Karki, our Health and Wellness Program Manager, has worked with Kopila Valley for nine years and cares deeply for each child. Recently she recounted her program’s growth and various focus areas, and we are amazed. She and her team have built a strong foundation and added important services as needs arise, innovating new methods of caring for physical, mental, and emotional health of both Kopila kids and community members.
Born and raised in Kathmandu, Meelan earned a Bachelor's Degree in Pharmacology and has a Master's in Business Administration. She has worked in various other healthcare roles before Kopila. She currently oversees both our physical and mental health programs, creates smooth processes and documentation, and improves our nutrition knowledge and practices.
“I always knew that I wanted to do something for the community. I called myself an animal lover. I studied healthcare but never thought I would be working in a development center for this long. I never chose the development sector, the sector chose me.” In fact, she is working on a second master’s degree, this time in Development Studies.
Growing Programs and Roles
As our Health and Wellness Program initiatives have grown, Meelan has become responsible for a large number of staff and outreach activities.
In the health clinic, two technicians assist with yearly checkups, awareness programs, healthy brushing, and minor interventions. Meelan says, “We do all the diagnosis and treatment we can but refer to our doctor networks in Surkhet and Kathmandu when we need to.”
Mental health is important and traditionally not part of schooling in Nepal, so a school counselor works with both students and staff, as well as providing classroom awareness programs and group therapy sessions.
The new Family Development Program is an active intervention for the families of Kopila Valley School students – the staff visit families, identify their needs, prepare action plans and goals, and guide each family toward independence. The goal is for services to phase out to a monitoring phase for six months, and then the family graduates from the program if it can maintain household needs like shelter, food, health, etc. A Family Counselor works with the families as well, after the social workers identify a need.
Nutrition and Safety
Kopila Valley’s Nutrition Program is important to ensure that the school students and Children’s Home residents are eating proper foods, and that food is cooked to maximize nutrition. (Meelan says Nepali food can easily be overcooked and lose its nutritional value.) The Program also provides nutrition awareness classes and monitoring of food practices.
Meelan oversees the Big Sisters’ Home, a refuge for at-risk girls, along with two staff caregivers. The Home staff provide lifeskills workshops and a reintegration program targeted at reuniting girls with their families when it is safe.
The Community Center in Ward 1 is providing outreach programs one day per week, where community members can receive counseling, information to resolve challenges they are facing, and join in group discussions on social issues like child marriage and mental health. The management of this center will soon be handed over to the local community.
Kopila Valley School
Meelan oversees a number of educational activities for Kopila Valley School students, especially to work with girls on hygiene and empowerment issues: Girls’ Club, Big Buddies Club, and the Race for Equality 5k in March for International Women’s Day.
She says her favorite part of her work at Kopila Valley is the kids. “Of course kids. They’re so loving, they’re so welcoming. They like to hug, see you when you’re working. It does not even feel like I’m working there, it’s like another family waiting for me every day.”
The students call her the "Problem Solver," because they believe any issue they bring to her will be solved in no time.
Adapting to Growing Needs
How can one person do all these things and solve so many problems? Meelan has worked at Kopila Valley during a time of major growth, as we identified new student and community needs. This can be challenging, but she has adapted with each change to create the team that handles each initiative and oversees the health and wellbeing of every child we serve.
The emotional work can be difficult too, as Meelan and the staff observe the challenges many Surkhet residents face in daily life. “I get to hear a lot of stories that break my heart, and that’s really more overwhelming than the work.”
There are a number of health problems and crises in the community and the world, but Meelan holds out high hopes for the Kopila kids, who are thriving under the systems she has set up. Her greatest wish: “I hope that someday they’ll be able to help someone change their life. That’s my goal. I tell them every day, especially the girls. Because you have so much opportunity, you have been given all these things, you should be giving back to the community.”
As Meelan prepares to depart this role for new adventures in a few weeks, we are very sad to see her go and very, very thrilled with the work she has done and the team she has built, to continue the important work of whole-person health and growth. We are so thankful.
Meelan has certainly impacted every Kopila kid and the entire community, and we have all been healthier and happier to know her and work together with her.
Best wishes and thank you, Meelan!