Journeys to democracy

The President graciously comes down to meet the people who came to see the Beetle off / SpinalNepal fb page

Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav flagged off the Spinal Beetle on its journey this morning. Great photos here. Below: the press note with planned itinerary and local contacts in India and Pakistan:

After his near miraculous recovery from a spinal  injury in 2001, Kanak Mani Dixit, a prominent journalist and civil rights  activist in Kathmandu started Nepal’s first Spinal Injury Rehabilitation  Centre, together with friends and family. The Centre, inaugurated by the late  Sir Edmund Hillary in 2002, runs entirely on private funding. It now needs to increase its service from 38 beds to 51. “The Great Nepal-India-Pakistan  Spinal Beetle Fund-raising Drive” (1100 miles)  – and all for a good cause – is being made on a 1973  Volkswagen Beetle, raising funds at USD 100 per mile.

Proud Spinal Centre walas pose by the VW Bug that is to make the journey on their behalf / SpinalNepal fb page

Kanak and his wife  Shanta Dixit, a prominent educationist, started the drive from Kathmandu on  4 November 2011, going through Lucknow, Agra, Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Lahore,  Rawalpindi/Islamabad, ending the drive in Peshawar. Please alert anyone  interested in post-disaster care, spinal injury, Southasian connectivity,  people-to-people contact, VW Beetles, etc! More information at Spinal Nepal website. Twitter: @spinalnepal; Facebook: Spinalnepal

• Nov 4th – Departure from Kathmandu. The drive  heads forward from Kathmandu towards the Nepal Tarai. Arrival at  Bhairahawa.
• Nov 5th – Arrival at Lucknow, India. Drive towards Delhi on 6th.
• Nov 7th – Arrival at Delhi via Agra, visit the  Indian Spinal Injuries Centre at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.
• Nov 8^th – 11.30 am Press Conference at Women’s Press Club, Delhi
• Nov 9^th– Arrival at Chandigarh
• Nov 10th – Arrival at Amritsar, then towards to the Wagah-Atari border.
• Nov 11th – Arrival at Lahore, Pakistan,  visiting Mayo Hospital.
• Nov 14th – Arrival at Rawalpindi, visiting the  AF Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine Rawalpindi (approval  awaited).
• Nov 16th – Arrival at Peshawar, visiting the  Paraplegic Centre at Hayatabad.
• Nov 17th – Departure from  Peshawar.

Twitter: @spinalNepal, Facebook:  @spinalNepal

Contacts

Esha Thapa, Director, Spinal Injury  Rehabilitation Centre, Saanga
Mobile: 98510-70320 e-mail: spinalinju@wlink.com.np ,  website: http://www.sirc.org.np

Kanak Mani  Dixit, Founder-Chair, Spinal Centre-Nepal
Nepal mobile: 98510-53209,  India mobile: 95607-58147

In  Pakistan:

Dr Waseem Iqbal
MBBS, Dip Rehab Med,  FCPS
Assistant Professor Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Head  of Department
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
Combined  Military Hospital
CMH Lahore Medical College
Lahore Cantt,  Pakistan
Office: +92-42-6699-36174
Cell phone:  +92-333-5600-504

Dr. Zaheer  Gill/Major-General Akhtar
AF Institute of Rehabilitation  Medicine(AFIRM)
Abid Majeed Road
Rawalpindi,  46000
Pakistan
Phone: +92 51 561 31721
Mobile:  +92-3215178796

Ilyas M Syed
CEO, Paraplegic Centre
Hayatabad, Peshawar
Pakistan
Phone: 001 92 91 921  7900-2
Website: http://www.paraplegiccenter.org
Mobile:  091 301 884 8845

Dr Khalid Jamil
Head, Rehab Med  Department
Mayo Hospital, Lahore
+92 3018411125
drkhalidjamil@yahoo.com
In India:

Dr H S Chhabra  (issicon@isiconline.org)
Chief  of Spine Service & Medical Director,
Indian Spinal Injuries  Centre,
Vasant Kunj Sector C
New Delhi- 110070

Dr. R K  Mishra

SIPS Super-Speciality Hospital,  Shahmeena Road Chowk
Lucknow
Tel: 522-2258888, 9415171434
E-Mail: drrkmishra@hotmail.com,  rkmishra@sips.in, sipshospital@gmail.com

INDIA  MEDIA CONTACT:
Shreshtha Kumar
Communicators India
Tel:  46082436 (Ext 37)
Mobile: 98730-77438
Email: shreshtha@communicatorsindia.com
Website:  www.communicatorsindia.com

Filed under: Southasia | Tagged: Agra, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, islamabad, kathmandu, Lahore, lucknow, peshawar, Rawalpindi, Spinal Nepal, VW Beetles, VW Bug |