Over the weekend, the Society of American Nepalese Nurses (SANN) successfully hosted their second convention in Manassas, Virginia. The convention was three days long and began on Friday, July 20 and ended on Sunday, July 22. We began the convention with a Connection Circle, in which many people shared poems that all had a theme of compassion and had delicious potluck food made by SANN’s families. On Saturday, July 21, we inaugurated our convention with a ceremony in the morning. SANN announced its one-year pilot project for mental health awareness focusing on Virginia and Maryland. SANN will lead the project, in collaboration with Be Well Initiative. In the afternoon, there were many presentations by SANN’s own members. We finished off Saturday with a cultural program, in which there were beautiful performances. SANN finished the convention off hosting a free health fair on Sunday, July 22.

Saturday’s program was formally inaugurated by the Honorable Ambassador of Nepal to the United States, Dr. Arjun Karki. Ambassador Dr. Karki began the inauguration ceremony by lighting the candle on an auspicious stand and the students from the Nepali Patasala performed the national anthems of Nepal and America. There were many representatives and guest speakers from multiple organizations, including the Virginia Nurses Association, Diversity Nursing, Perfect Choice Staffing, Chamberlain College of Nursing, and Grand Canyon University. SANN’s own advisors Dr. Guna Raj Subedi, Dr. Maheswor Baidya, Hari Sharma CPA, also delivered speeches with their best wishes for the convention. SANN also awarded people who had been supporting us from the very beginning. They are: Ashok Bhatel; Bibha Gautam, Ph.D.; DCNepal.com; Dr. Maheswor Baidya; Dr. Narayan Dharel; Dr. Guna Raj Subedi; Enepalese.com; Ganga Mahat, Ph.D.; Laxman Mahat; Nepalmother.com, Hari Sharma, CPA; Rita Tiwari; and Sagarmatha TV.

During the afternoon, SANN had meetings among its members including presentations for academic and professional growth in nursing. The cultural program was hosted in the evening for raising funds for the health fair. Ambassador Dr. Karki, Nepal’s Auditor General Mr. Tanka Mani Sharma, and all the community members thoroughly enjoyed beautiful performances from the local artists. We would like to thank to all the children from Nepali Pathshala and the families who performed during the cultural program. We salute their talent. NepDoc Band, singer and musician Shyam Sundar, Rita Shrestha, Rajju Manandhar, and Indra Shrestha performed their solo songs during the program.

On Sunday, SANN hosted a free health fair. The health fair contained many booths about first aid and nutritional education, dental hygiene, mental health awareness, and CPR training. Additionally, there were booths for blood checks for cholesterol and sugar, colon cancer screenings for those who are 50 to 75 years old and dental examinations for all. Altogether more than 500 people participated during the health fair and benefited from health professionals. During the health fair, there were speakers on topics such as Dr. Maheswor Baidya on cardiovascular, Dr. Narayan Dharel on colon cancer, Dentist Vivek Vij on dental health, and Mr. Mark Goldsman on stress management. CPR educational presentations were done all day long. Dr. Guna Raj Subedi, Dr. Narayan Dharel, Dr. Anil Suwal, Dr. Judy Subedi and Dr. Ankit Pokharel checked more than 200 patients from 9 am to 3:30 pm.

Our thanks from the bottom of our heart go to all those doctors. SANN’s own nurses ran the health fair from the check-in desk to vital sign and pressure check, blood test, colon cancer screening, CPR training, first aid education, dental checkup and education, and patients’ check-up. I salute all the nurses who participated in the preparation of the convention to the health fair and performed their duty as needed with dedication. What an amazing teamwork we performed during the health fair and the convention as a whole. It will take too long to name all those volunteers and their activities in this press note, however, all of them are greatly appreciated. Our highly successful health fair is the outcome of our teamwork and wonderful coordination. Last but not least, the blood donation drive was done in the parking lot of the venue. Thirty donors donated their blood and saved lives. Our sincere thanks go to all those donors.

We thank all these generous donors. We recognize them with great appreciation. They are: realtor Rakesh Kumar, Grand Canyon University, Rita Tiwari, Dr. Madan Gupta, Chamberlain, School of Nursing, Bibha Gautam, Air Zone travels, Texas University, realtor Basu Satyal, realtor Kabindra Sitoula, Dr. Narayan Dharel, Dr. Shashi Upadhya and Rajeeb Mainali, Mandira Mainali, Padam Regmi.

We provided food for all visitors during the convention. Our sincere thanks go to Everest restaurant, Raja jee restaurant, Arjun Ranabhat, ANHS and all other families for providing delicious food. All the participants during the 3 days of the convention enjoyed the Nepali food. We also express our thanks to all those poets for participating during Connection Circle evening.

Media are the main vehicle of our publicity. We express our sincere thanks to Sagarmatha TV, DC Nepal, Enepalese.com, NepalMother.com, ramrosansar hamrosansar, Kathmanduonline, Global TV Nepal, BRT Nepal and all friends and families who spread our message in their networks.

Thank you to nurses who spent countless hours, days and nights for preparation of the convention from overall coordination to food and other numbers of logistics including the souvenir. They are: Tika Angdembey, Ishwary Adhikari, Shanta Adhikari, Resham Gharti, Bibha Gautam (PhD), Indira Shrestha, Ganga Mahat (PhD), Laxmi Sharma, Ranjana Dahal, Sangeeta Mishra, Sabitri Aryal, Bandana Luitel, Januka Shrestha, Shanti Bhatta, Shanta Paudel Subedi, Dhana Pangeni, Ambika Siwakoti, Shova Kharel, Sujana Dhakal, Rubina Prajapati, Jyotsna Pudasaini, Bimu Risal, Sunita Kayastha, Radhika Khadka, Rosina Regmi, Maya Baral, Swoti Gautam, Urmila Devkota, Monika Suwal, Ranjana Tiwari, Neelam Joshi, Sabitri Ranabhat, Rosina Regmi, Anusha Adhikari, Sarmila Paudel, Kalpana Subedi, Samikshya Sapkota, Sangita Ghimire, Rajju Manandhar. Many nurses provided a monetary contribution to the convention. Our sincere thanks to all of them.

There are many more friends who supported our programs in different forms of activities including being a moderator to food volunteers, decoration, sound system and so on. We thank to all of them with the greatest appreciation. They are: Dil Shrestha, Hari Pudasaini, Yubaraj Dhakal, Santosh Koirala, Ram jee Sharma, Surya Paudel, Krishna Dahal (sound system), Bipin Upreti (Galaxi decoration), Gopal Regmi, Parashu Timilsina, Sudip Bhadra Khanal, Prakash Nepal, Yeman Prajapati, Laxmi Bhattarai, Kamala Kharel, Suva Shakya, Raju Shrestha, Narayan Kharel, Goma Sangraula Prasai, Padam Regmi, Rishi Adhikari, Pradip Pokhrel (yoga teacher), Dipendra Subedi, Rekh Karki, Laxman Mahat and Kamal Humagai (PhD), Arjun Ranabhat (food donation), Raja jee restaurant (food donation).

We also are grateful for the youth volunteers. They are: Adina Shrestha, Amulya Shrestha, Aroma Sharma, Juli Adhikari, Anu Sangraula, Dhristhi Angdembey, and Khusu Adhikari.

If I missed mentioning any name, please forgive my unintentional error.

Together we can make a difference!!

Sincerely,
Manju Sangraula
President SANN