COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Tracie Attard, Central Queensland University
Friday 8th November a contingent of CQU nursing students accompanied by two lecturers left Brisbane International airport for a 26 day adventure. Our destination, Pokhara Nepal, with the purpose of assisting local doctors conduct health camps in remote villages, attend local hospitals and broaden our learning. All of us thought we knew what was in stall but still the differences in landscape, culture, food and services shocked and amazed us.
First stop was Bangkok for an overnight stay. Once settled into our hotel a few of the group decided to walk up the road to find some markets. It didn’t take long for all of us to decide it was overwhelming, the people (mainly men) sitting around tables on the footpath, the amount of scrawny dogs and the smells was a little bit of a shock. Saturday morning saw us back at the airport for two more flights, one to Kathmandu then another to Pokhara. Wow, Kathmandu airport was like the flip side of Bangkok airport. It was hot, overcrowded, and people everywhere. However, once through customs we were greeted by our in country partner, Sonam. His happy smiling face made us all feel safe. We had to walk from Kathmandu international to the domestic airport, trying to avoid the many men who hassled us about helping with our luggage. There were monkeys climbing over rooftops at the domestic airport. Here we had to go through another two checkpoints and experience a quite strange frisk search. We boarded a small aircraft and after a 49min flight reached our final destination of Pokhara. Our luggage, both personal and donated items were loaded on the roof of a rickety bus and we jumped inside ready to be driven to our hotel, Hotel Panorama, Lakeside.
That night we enjoyed a lovely meal at a local restaurant with Sonam and his family as well as a few of our guides. Due to strikes caused by elections we were unable to start our first day at Fishtail hospital so we climbed a huge steep mountain to visit the World Peace Stupa. What a magnificent, serene place to have the honour of visiting. Tuesday our nursing placement began with a tour of Fishtail hospital. We witnessed so many things that were so different to Australian hospitals. After lunch we visited a small relatively new maternity hospital where their standards of practice were a little better. Wednesday saw students being placed in different areas of the hospital; we interacted with doctors, nurses and patients. It was interesting to discover that even though Fishtail is a private hospital patients have to pay for everything and meals are not provided. Before surgery they are given a list of items for the family to go and purchase from the pharmacy, items like cannula s, IV fluids, medications, sutures, and dressings all have to be purchased before the operation can begin. Nurses do not shower the patients this is left to the family and bed making is left to cleaners. Beds are changed once a week or if linen becomes dirty. Hand hygiene is also very different to the standards here in Australia.
On Thursday we visited the Children of Nepal Organisation where we conducted health education to many children and young adults. Everyone was happy and so appreciative of our talks and gifts of toothbrushes, toothpaste and necessities. Young woman are taught to sew and the items are sold in a little shop where we were happy to purchase items to take home.
Friday we went to Rato Pahiro Aged care village and assisted local doctors in conducting a health camp. We had the opportunity to take blood pressures, temperatures, checked pulses and listened to chest sounds. This place made us all feel very overwhelmed as the conditions were so different to a nursing home here in Australia. Despite some of the conditions we saw, all the residents were very happy and content. Saturday was a free day so the students and lecturers went white water rafting in the morning then a small group went paragliding in the afternoon.
That is a wrap up of our first week. We have come across amazing people, sights and sacred places, and already our lives have changed in so many ways.
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