COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Health & Teaching
WRITTEN BY: UniBreakers, Pokhara Nepal
Week 2 in Pokhara has drawn to a close for the Nepal Antips UniBreak volunteers. This week we’ve settled in to our assorted projects and really hit the ground running. We’ve also done some more exploring of the beautiful town that is Pokhara and even travelled a little further afield to Chitwan National Park!
Here are the stories of three Pokhara volunteers from their 3 separate placements;
Toni: Kumudini Homes School (Primary Education student)
“I have enjoyed the teaching aspect of my placement so far, as well as the next-door teachers popping their heads in the window! I’ve been mainly teaching at a year one level. You can’t go in thinking you’re going to teach in the style you’re used to – you have to go in it for an open mind. If I had my time again I’d learn more about Nepal prior to arriving so I could teach the content with confidence. I have particularly enjoyed the group-based work, which the students are not used to. It was fantastic! The kids got a lot out of the new learning styles and I hope they can employ the new styles in the future.”
Lyn: Fishtail Hospital (Nursing student)
“The clinics are fantastic – I find the way that the medical staff deal with a variety of aliments and complaints with very limited resources to be truly inspiring. The gynaecology clinic is very interesting due to the variety of cases. The doctors are very cooperative and enjoy teaching us even though they don’t have to. The Operating Theatre was impressive - they do so much with so little! I couldn’t believe when I saw the surgical instruments in toolboxes on the Operating Room floor – so different to Australia.”
Amelia: Manipal Teaching Hospital (Reproductive Medicine student)
“I’ve really enjoyed the past few weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Manipal – the doctors and nurses have been very considerate and enjoy teaching me! I’ve been allowed to assist in some procedures in the NICU and have attended deliveries with the on-call staff from Paediatrics. The wards are very basic, with functional but old equipment, but the staff do the absolute best job they can with the resources they have. It’s very sobering!”
In our spare time in between placements and family time at home in Tashi Ling Settlement, we’ve been paragliding, hiking to the Peace Pagoda, lounging by Fewa Lake and exercising in the lead up to a group hike we plan to do before leaving. After the busy week, the whole group spent the weekend at Chitwan National Park, living it up with elephants! We went on a sunset elephant-back jungle safari, took part in some birdwatching at dawn and had a splish-splash with the elephants in the river for their bath-time! We were even lucky enough to catch a few glimpses of the Annapurna range through the monsoon clouds at sunset.
We’ve reached the half-way point now and we’re all enjoying our time immensely. Bring on the next fortnight!
Lots of love!
UniBreakers Pokhara Nepal
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