The solid core of Mountain Heart Nepal is mostly made up of medical professionals who were either working or doing an internship in various hospitals in Kathmandu at the time of the earthquake in 2015. They were confronted firsthand with mass casualties as a direct result of the earthquake and managed, fascinated and offered hands-on care to a huge flow of patients with a variety of injuries presenting themselves. The original group is expanding as we bring in new skills.

The initial purpose of Mountain Heart Nepal was disaster relief and treating those who suffered injuries during the tragic natural disaster (2015 Earthquake), but soon the organization expanded under the leadership of founder Dr Aban Gautam and focused its attention on providing free medical care to people in remote, inaccessible, and austere environments. As a result, the organization further developed its extensive networks throughout the country and also became well known for its emergency medical response following natural hazards (such as flooding in the Terai region every year). As well as the organization evolves to have its own 15 bedded hospital and involved in clinical research.

Mountain Heart Nepal is registered in the capital, Kathmandu, Nepal at the District Administration Office as a non-profit organization (charity number 497). The registration is renewed every year.

We seek out sponsors to carry out our projects and welcome approaches from individuals and organizations. At present, we have partnered with Direct Relief and CHANCE for Nepal (UK) to execute our programs. Our internal fundraising mechanism adjusts our administrative expenses of the organization. Therefore, 100% of the funds that we receive are utilized for the projects. We have rigorous accounting practices that we are ready to discuss in detail with potential donors and sponsors. All of our expenses are audited and verified by the end of each fiscal year (Mid July).

Our board members, including medical volunteers on the ground, are all volunteers, offering their time freely and receiving no financial benefit. We, however, have an emergency response officer, accountant, a lawyer for regulatory and compliance, an admin assistant to look after the administrative work of the organization and a driver. The emergency response officer is central to most of the work of the organization. We also have staffs (n=6) working on research projects.

The first thing to do would be to register in our medical volunteer database by completing the online form available from our website (https://mhn.org.np/join/). Active volunteers will be invited to attend our Annual General Meeting in June and provide membership. The current Board of directors and members will elect new directors for the next year through the voting system.

We do offer elective placement (4-6 weeks) to international medical graduates/students (nurse/midwife/paramedic/doctors). Please send us an email to mountainheartnepal@gmail.com or info@mhn.org.np for more info or visit https://mhn.org.np/placements/.

When you register on our website or wish to get involved in the placement/volunteering, research projects or training, we may collect the following information: your name, address, email address, profession, telephone number, social media links. The data held by Mountain Heart Nepal will not be shared with any third party.

We use your information: (1) to follow up on your query for placement/volunteering or training, and (2) to inform you of any future programs that may be of interest to you.

We will keep your data until you wish to be removed from our mailing list. Contact us at info@mhn.org.np to (1) update the details we hold for you (2) unsubscribe from our mailing list, and (3) raise concerns regarding our use of your data.