Newsletters from Nepal

If you come to Nepal in January you should prepare yourself for almost freezing cold, and take into consideration that there is no heating anywhere indoors. That doesn’t mean that you won’t have the time of your life, it only means you need to take some good measures to stay warm and healthy.

This Nepali folk song was in everybody's head after the Poon Hill Trek. We started this trek at Oct 3rd. We drove by tourist bus from Thamel to Pokhara. This was, approximately, an 8 hour drive. When we arrived in Pokhara, our guides, Pesel and Upper, brought us to our hotel: Hotel Dharma Inn; a nice hotel with lake view.

On Saturday we saw the big talent show at Snowland Ranag Light of Education School and the kids had practiced hard for many days in order to become Snowlands new superstar.

A month ago, “Nepal” conjured up nebulous maps of Asia and the vague notion it had something to do with the Himalayas. Today, after spending just two weeks there, I can explain, eloquently, why I would give anything to exchange my comfortable Californian suburbanteen life for a cramped Nepalese abode, all thanks to Projects Abroad.

After a few days of sight-seeing, cultural activities and becoming accustomed to the individual vivacity that Kathmandu has to offer (cows in the road perhaps being the most bizarre!), myself and the 22 other Two Week Special volunteers arrived at J House, a home providing care and shelter for abandoned and orphaned boys, ready to start work. Our main task for the two weeks was to construct a basketball field as the children had recently moved house leaving them with nowhere to play.

The first week of August saw the arrival of 40 volunteers, all between the ages of 16-19, coming to Nepal to spend two weeks in various placements; an orphanage and a HIV/Aids care centre for children for the Care and Community volunteers, a teaching hospital and cancer clinic for the Medical placement and a physiotherapy based care home for the Physiotherapy volunteers.

After living in Nepal for 6 weeks and volunteering at a school with Projects Abroad for 4 of them, words cannot describe the experience and memories that I shall take with me and remember forever. I feel that helping out in any and all ways possible with the youth of Nepal not only helps them but brings awareness to the differences in cultures between countries and has definitely changed me in a positive way. The smiles of young Nepali children who literally have nothing compared to Western standards it absolutely priceless.

On 5^th June three Projects Abroad staff, six volunteers and six local doctors and nurses from Chitwan Teaching Hospital attended a project in a rural school where all 180 children were given a routine medical check-up.

My name is Rebecca and I am one of the latest recruits to the Projects Abroad team here in Nepal. I have been here almost a month now and am settling in very well. Home for me is the UK where I am currently studying Geography and History at The University of Liverpool but am taking a break at the moment to get some work experience. I was so excited when I found out I would be coming to Nepal, and having very little previous knowledge about the country only added to my anticipation.

As a nation of people predominantly following the Hindu, and to a lesser extent Buddhist faiths, the major Christian celebration of ‘Christmas’ has only just begun to emerge as a noteworthy holiday in Nepal. The nation celebrated its first Christmas ever after being declared a federal republic in December 2007.

As Dashain comes to an end this week, Nepal is preparing for its next event on the calendar: Tihar. Ask any Nepali what their favourite festival is and this is usually the answer! Tihar - the festival of lights - is one of the most dazzling of all Hindu festivals. In this festival they worship Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth. During the festival all the houses in the city and villages are decorated with lit oil lamps.

This month, things in Nepal are beginning to change as festival fever well and truly sets in with the beginning of Nepal’s biggest festival: Dashain. This is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar (like their version of Christmas!), and is celebrated by Nepalese of all caste and creed throughout the country. The fifteen days of celebration occurs during the bright lunar fortnight ending on the day of the full moon.

During my stay in Nepal, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to a remote village in the Kathmandu Valley as part of the work I was doing at my placement, the Nutritional Rehabilitation Home. I and three other volunteers accompanied an NRH staff member, Lolit, on what was called a field visit- a trip outside of the NRH in order to conduct in-home follow up assessments of children who have already been discharged.

July kicked off with an amazing show at one of the projects here- 'Snowlands Got Talent'! Volunteers Gen Cox, Judith Work, Grace Johnson, Amilcare Caselli, Daniel Schaefer, Elizabeth Hernandez and Adrian Khan helped the kids to put the show together, from organising the sound system and microphones for them, to helping choreograph S Club 7 style dances for the boys!

Life is crazy. Living back home in our lovely first world countries while we work, study and play is a privilege most of us, including myself, take for granted. Here in Australia I drive my car down well maintained roads, not crowded with men riding bicycles carrying cages of chickens, as I head to work every morning.

Well, it’s definitely heating up here in Nepal so the occasional downpours to start off the monsoon season are more than welcome! There is quite a lot packed into this newsletter as a lot has been going on in the past month.

Once upon a time there was a girl called Satya who went on a boat journey. After some days a big storm hit the boat and there was lots of big sea waves. The boat crashed into a desert island and made shipwreck. Satya was the only survivor after shipwreck. After some hours Satya woke up on a beach and saw lots of palm trees and fruit and there was humid over all the island.

In the Tibetan tradition, the offering of white silk scarves, called khatas, symbolizes an auspicious offering of one's good intentions during the welcoming and commencement of new relationships. Khatas are also offered ceremonially to the deceased; perhaps a well-wishing for the departed's auspicious transition and welcoming into his/her next life. Khatas can be offered as a blessing to any new relationship.

Well, this month’s cookery corner will be a little different than the normal traditional Nepali food recipe. While visiting Matilda, Kristy and Laure at MSPN in Patan, they were telling me about their “Australia Day” celebrations at the centre. They were horrified to find that I had never heard of what Lamingtons were, and when they described the chocolate and coconut covered cake, I was also quite upset that I was 22 and had never heard of these delicious things before.

The Medical Camp was organized on January 16th 2010, by Projects Abroad and provided free medical care service for around 150 women from the suburban community of Sunakoti. The services were provided by Nepali doctors (3 female, 1 male) from the Maternity Hospital. Six of our medical volunteers had the opportunity to join the camp and actively participated alongside the Nepali doctors from 9:30am to 4pm.

I am a volunteer physiotherapist from Australia currently working at the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC) in Banepa. The centre has been open in its current location for a little over a year, prior to this it was based in Jorpati, Kathmandu. Banepa is approximately 25kms east of Kathmandu (although about 2 hours on a local bus!) The centre provides medical and nursing care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, peer counselling and vocational training for patients who have suffered spinal injuries.

The rafting trip this month was such a popular one that we took 3 rafts along, and an army of safety kayakers! We went along the Trishuli River through the rapids, with one night camping in the middle. The warm weather was a blessing as, thanks to Dan, I don’t think anyone was lucky enough to stay dry! Everyone had fun and we also celebrated a birthday at the camp on the river bank with a chocolate cake that had been cooked on the camp fire!

Dashain is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, celebrated by Nepalese of all castes and creeds throughout the country.The tenth day of this festival is the main day, called Dashami. All the volunteers, accompanied with Projects Abroad staff, spent the main day of Dashain at a local children’s home, ‘Happy House’ to celebrate with the kids. Volunteers took tika (a red powder made from rice, curd and dye) and jamara from the elders and received their blessings.

All volunteers enjoyed a weekend of action‐packed rafting on a white water rafting trip down the Trisuli River, in the southern part of Nepal. About three to four hours south of the capital, Kathmandu, the Trisuli River was an ideal choice as it offered a nice introduction to rafting for the volunteers. Led by Projects Abroad staff members, the trip consisted of two days on the river and a riverside camp overnight.

Namaste everybody, for the last time! August has brought yet more things to do and see in Kathmandu and the surrounding valley, and has also bought (unfortunately!) more rain!! With the monsoon reaching the end, Nepal is starting to prepare for the next busy tourist season, starting in September.

On a very wet Sunday morning, around 15 volunteers trouped to Snowlands Ranag School in Bishalnagar, KTM to start an EXTREMELY busy day. Snowlands is a charity run school for children from remote Himalayan regions of Nepal who would otherwise not receive an education. Even though it’s a good cause, the school has its problems. Oversubscribed and underfunded, the children live at the school without adequate hygiene, care or healthcare. They very rarely go home to their villages, if ever, and some haven’t seen any members of their family in 8 years.

It started early at 6.30am in what can only be described as monsoon conditions. However, little did we know that we may as well have scrapped the umbrellas and waterproofs, as in approximately 4 hours time we were going to be soaked through to the skin on the raging waters of the River Trisuli, which runs west of Kathmandu.

As the monsoon clouds roll in over Kathmandu, the spirit of Projects Abroad Nepal has not been dampened. A jam packed month of Nepali magic shows, Rafting weekends, rooftop dining and - of course - volunteering has left us all wondering what next month will bring.

Normally Sinterklaas is a typical Dutch celebration, but this year the Sint made an exception and visit Nepal as well! For the people who don't know Sinterklaas: think of Santa Claus, make his beard longer, his body skinner and change his clothes into red bishop’s clothes. He has many black assistants named Piet, comes with a steamboat, ride a horse on the roof and gives candy and presents to children. It's crazy… it must be Dutch.

Sherpas live in the northern districts of the Sagarmatha zone along the Dudh Koshi River and its tributary valley and in the Helmu and upper Trishuli valleys. They are found spread out all along the eastern hill districts, although their original homeland is traditionally the Solukhumbu district. Solukhumbu Sherpas are among the best known Himalayan people.

On Saturday 27^th September a group of eager volunteers headed off to J and K house, two children's homes in Kathmandu to exercise their creative talents and help brighten up the children's playground. The weather did us proud with beautiful clear blues skies, a sight of the mountains and bright sunshine to illuminate the 'canvas'- a brick wall which had been painted white by Shanika and Chrissy in preparation. The tone of the day was set when before we had even lifted a paintbrush, we were offered lunch!

Nepal is an amazing country and it has offered me so many unbelievable opportunities. However, it is the people I have met and the children I have worked with so far that truly make up the incredible landscape of this place for me. The students of Snowland Ranag have made my placement incredibly interesting, rewarding and enjoyable so far and I can’t help but look forward to the next three months with them. If you are interested in helping with the painting weekend at the end of May please don’t hesitate to contact Jenna or myself for more information. Kate O’Connell

Jessica Bell Makes a Return to KTM: We were lucky enough to have a recent visit from Jessica Bell, a past volunteer who spent a short two weeks back in the country accompanied by her mother. Jess has continued to fundraise for MSPN since her departure from Nepal in April 2007. Jess was back in town not only to say hello to everyone and show here mother around, BUT to complete her sponsored bungee jump!!

January’s outreach program was at The Life Development centre (LDC); this is a centre for the mentally and physically disabled. There are 35 people living there permanently at the centre varying in ages from 4-44; LDC provides around the clock support and care. The students of the centre go home on the last Friday of every month for the weekend; this gives them the chance to spend time with their families and for the hardworking staff to take a rest.

After a failed attempt to enter the oft-mythologized land of Tibet, we (Nina Bartz, Germ Anne Hooisma, Jan Grove, and I) obtained our long coveted Chinese visas for the end of November. The only catch was that we had to travel in an organized tour from Nepal. We had some misgivings about this plan but the tour group turned out to be quite good and provided us with many luxuries we weren’t used to after 3 months in Nepal!

Climbing at the Pasang Lhamu Foundation Wall opposite Shanka Park on the way to Chabhil, was a great hit with nearly all who joined on Wednesday evening. We got some great volunteer discount with a bit of persuasion, I’m sure we will be paying another visit before too long.

Fell in love with Nepal. Absolutely loved my time here! The people here are just amazing; so friendly. My placement was better than I could have dreamt! Nepal Orthopaedic hospital is an amazing place if you are a pre- medical student or those with a special interest in orthopaedics. I couldn’t have wished for a better placement. Also, Nepal is a country you can just visit one time; you have to come back!!
Thank you Projects Abroad for a life changing experience!

After that I would join the ward round, observe the examinations in the OPD (Out Patient Department), watch operations in the OT (Operation Theatre) or spend time with the nice and funny physiotherapists. Often I also just play with the children, paint with them, or just sit at their beds when they are under "rest". It still amazes me how content these kids are, although they suffer from hurting illnesses and are forced to stay in this place for a long time.