Fortunately, having not committed any crimes, we were allowed free passage into and around Tansen Jail last Wednesday. We were a part of a small team, going under the banner of a Christian organisation called Missions Nepal. Apart from Matt and I, there was a dentist (Dr Roshan), a dental assistant, a pharmacist, two people from the pastoral care department from the hospital, and the leader of Missions Nepal (who is also an anaesthetist). Before arriving, both of us were slightly worried about our safety, although during our time there we found we had not much to fear.
The prison atmosphere itself was very different to what we had anticipated. The prison was like a small community, where different inmates had different jobs - from administration, to cooking in the kitchen, being a trademan by making stools or weaving, to being the "town" hairdresser. There were large board like games set up inbetween the dorm houses for the men to play as well! Their rooms were cramped and small, having 8-10 beds in one "room" where the only space they had was a bed (no more than 1m x 1.5m) with a mud base and a very thin mattress. Yet we were astonished at how gentle these men were, not only in helping us out form organized lines and waiting patiently for their turn, but also by buying tea and biscuits for us, after we had finished.
While there, we would carry our free dental and medical check-ups, give out some simple medications (such as paracetamol, amoxycillin, metronidazole and omeprazole (for reflux), as well as make referrals to this hospital for follow-up or treatment. Dr Roshan and I also set up an outdoor makeshift dental clinic consisting of two dining room chairs and a spit box and carried out a number of extractions in the jail courtyard. We were expecting to be in a separate room with guards, and have one prisoner come at a time for security purposes. But it was not so! We had all 150 male inmates crowding around our small team plus our two rather casually unarmed guards! It was made more daunting by the fact that we had a lot of sharp instruments spread out on a table. Unfortunately, for security purposes, we were not allowed to take any photos from within the grounds.
As Cat and Roshan got to work, I sat watching on a small stool enjoying the show. It wasn't more than 5 minutes before Roshan asked me to see a patient with chest pain that the hard work started! With no medications, ECG or oxygen, I just sat him down for observation. He didn't look too bad, so I wasn't too worried. Whilst busy with this patient, a small crowd had started gathering by my stool. When I sat down again on my stool I didn't get off it for the next five hours except to examine patients in the prison dorms. The pharmacist acted as an interpreter the entire time and together we saw dozens of patients and made some referrals to the hospital.
The leader of Missions Nepal gave them a short evangelistic talk, telling them of the love of Jesus and how our team was there to serve because Jesus loves them too. The library in the prison has many bibles donated for the men to read, and through other work carried out, some men do become Christians during their stay. We found out that even Christians get sent to jail, mainly for cultural reasons. One Christian man had been in jail because he was making shoes from leather from cows (which is a sacred animal here). Apparently if you kill a cow, even accidentally, you can get a long sentence in jail here.
Give thanks that the gospel is preached so faithfully here in Nepal. Please pray for the men, that they will come to know that Jesus is Lord and that many will be challenged from what they have heard and seen. Please pray for the referrals that we have made, that ways will be made for the men to receive the follow-up care needed (it is a security risk to take them to the hospital, so strategies need to be put into place to keep them secure and separated from the rest of the Tansen community and it is also very expensive for them, as they need to pay for the transportation costs as well as the treatment fees, as well as other government policies that can cause interference).
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