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For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  |
| Matthew 11:30 |
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| New opportunities linked to the revolution and opening of the country in the early fifties, led to the founding of the United Mission to Nepal as an international, interdenominational mission at a meeting in Nagpur, India on March 5, 1954. The decision was based on an invitation by His Majesty's Government of Nepal to Robert Fleming, an ornithologist and science teacher at Woodstock school, India to open a hospital in Tansen and to start Women's and Children's welfare clinics in the Kathmandu Valley. |
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| The first maternity clinic had already opened in Bhaktapur on 7 January 1954 and the first UMN hospital was opened in Kathmandu a month later, housed in the government Cholera Hospital. This was to become the Shanta Bhawan Hospital, which later evolved into Patan Hospital, established as a partnership with HMGN and the local community. |
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| In September 1954, medical work began in Tansen in a rented house in the bazaar. Soon plans were made for building a larger Tansen Hospital, and work expanded to include community health, agriculture, and other activities. |
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| Education activities were quickly added to UMN's work. From 1957 schools were opened in Amppipal and later in Luitel. A dispensary was set up, which later became Amppipal Hospital. Agricultural and animal health work was also initiated - the first seeds of UMN's involvement in rural development. Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, UMN opened the Mahendra Bhawan Girls' School. This was the country's first girls' high school, and it soon gained a reputation for its academic excellence. |
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| In Tansen, the building of the new hospital made progress, but the pace was slow because of the difficulty in finding skilled workers. Odd Hoftun, who led the construction work, had a vision for educating young Nepalis in technical skills and utilising the hydropower potential of Nepal's rivers to create opportunities for small businesses. He managed to raise support from his home country, and brought 176 tons of equipment from Norway to Butwal in 1964. This was the beginning of UMN's Engineering and Industrial Development work. Tinau Hydropower plant was built and the Butwal Technical Institute established. In 1966, Butwal Power Company was formed, the first of a series of companies founded by UMN. |
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