Medical expedition- the Kallasha Valleys

The Kalasha valleys,on the highlands of Pakistan, are the home for approximately 8.ooo people. There are no doctors in the area.

This year's medical expedition was succesful: End of July 2019 a group of 11 people, two doctors and nine volunteers (and some members from the NGO KOINOTOPIA) travelled to the Kallasha valleys, in the northwestern frontier of Pakistan near Afganistan borders in Khyperpakhtunkhwa after a long road trip in Karakoroum Highway, one of the seven miracles of the modern world.

The expedition started from an idea to help the community when teacher Stavros Fragkakis and the NGO Koinotopia and Andreas Spiliotis collected 4000 pills, toohbrushes and toothpaste, 4000 books for the children of the Elementary School and clothes. All these were donated to the community and the schoolchldren.

The two doctors (one general practitioner and one dermatologist, amazing Kyriakos Oikonomidis) we could work for two days in the clinic and four of the members of our group served as nurses and optometrists (one of them even teached the schoolchildren for two hours about the importance of toothbrushing and also teached them the proper way of tooth brushing, Kοnstantina Lakoumenta you were amazing! We were able to examine 28 children and 5 adults in two days and provide them with the proper medication when needed.

Dr Despoina Deligianni was an amazing optometrist for the children of the Elementary school!

Our goal for the next trip on May 2020 is that at least two doctors travel to this remote area and work in the Kalasha valleys for one week and offer their services to the community. Your contribution will mean a lot to these people who live under unbelievable conditions as for at least six months every year they cannot travel due to the heavy snowfalls and in case of emergency during these months they are practically helpless.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Dr Iliostalakti Kontou

General Practicioner- Homeopath