Colourful introductions to life in rural Kathmandu, Nepal

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Health
WRITTEN BY: Kate Wildes

"Everyone's first impression in the group of Nepal is despite how poverty stricken it is, it is so colourful! There is 7 of us in the group and most of us got here on Sunday afternoon to a tiny airport where we were met by Rajesh our in-country guide. On our trip from the airport to Chapagaun which is the small village we are placed in located about half an hour out of Kathmandu. There were cows, goats, dogs, chickens everywhere in the roads and because cows are worshipped in Nepal the traffic does everything to avoid disturbing them! And the car horns are constant! Can already tell the place is never going to get boring!

We all met our host families on the first day and despite the awkwardness at first after a few days in we felt at home! We were all placed in pairs to a host family and in my family is hajur- Amma (grandma), hajur- ba (grandpa), ba (dad), Amma (mum) and our two brothers Sumyuk and Swoyam who are 14 and 8 years old. Our family all speak fluent English except our grandparents who are the most caring people ever! Thanks to our brothers and lots of body language we manage to basically understand them. Grandpa has been teaching us some Nepali and I think he now assumes that we spoke fluent Nepali! Our house has a beautiful view of the rice fields and mountains, especially from our rooftop terrace. We were surprised to have a western bathroom but only cold water and there's a Nepalese bathroom for when the other one is leaking.

We had an orientation on Monday with Rajesh and Matris where we were introduced to the basics of the Hindu religion, the health care centre we are volunteering at, some Nepali language and Nepal customs such as using your hands for eating and don't point your feet at anyone as they are considered the least holy sacred part of the body....

Our first week in Chapagaun Health Care Centre has been very interesting, because it's a clinic in a rural area it doesn't specialize in anything but takes on a lot of maternity patients. For our first week we did a lot of observing and getting our feet because the language barrier poses extra problems especially with the patients. Some of the patients include a baby who was delivered with six fingers on each hand, a construction worked who fell from scaffolding and had a deep gash in his shin that needed stitching,... We are also helping out at a local orphanage next week.

We all finished the week off by going to Thamel in Kathmandu for the weekend, where we all satisfied our need for a hot shower and food cravings after a week of eating Dal baht (rice, lentils, soup, and often a vegetable curry) for nearly every meal, breakfast included.

Already after a week we have had so many experiences and unfortunately a couple of people have been pretty sick from the food or water and someone else has been bitten by a dog which led to chaos regarding getting his rabies shots but it all worked out! So far, having the best time with an awesome family and group of volunteers in a crazy country."

Thanks !