COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak - Kathmandu
PROJECT: Community Healthcare & Education
WRITTEN BY: Laura Bryant
Week 3 brought new adventures and challenges for the UniBreak Kathmandu 2014 group. We had our first overnight weekend trip to the 'Chitwan Forest Resort' in Chitwan National Park, and it was a total blast! It was so nice to get away from work and spend quality time together as a group. However, the trip was not without its challenges.
The first challenge was this: waking up at 5am. Lets be honest, that sucked. We were on the bus by 6am, and 8 hours later we had arrived at a bus station in the Chitwan. We were all confused- weren't we supposed to be dropped off at our resort? There were buses and tourist groups everywhere; in the centre of the station there was a flood of Nepali people holding pamphlets for different resorts. Aaron was pretty sure we were going to a resort named something like 'Forest Hotel' - the rest of us had no idea. Gretyl and I went up to the crowd of Nepali people and asked if there was someone from Forest Hotel – One man came forward with a Pamphlet saying 'Chitwan Forest Resort' and luckily he lead us to the right place!
The resort was lovely with green gardens, cute straw-roof huts and cottages, and most of all, fresh air! The beds were incredibly soft (a welcome change from the rock-hard mattresses we sleep on in Kathmandu), and every room was equipped with A/C – which would prove incredibly necessary in the stinking hot climate of Chitwan. Every room also had real showers with hot water available. After spending two weeks washing myself with cold water in a bucket, I could not have been more ecstatic! All of our meals were provided for us at the resort. Many people in our group enjoyed the western influence of the food as we were offered dishes like potato chips and spaghetti. Although it was nice to have the variety, I personally prefer the dal-bhat and curries that my Amma makes.
After lunch we were treated to a tour of the local town. Chitwan was beautiful. We were miles away from the busy, smoggy streets of Kathmandu, in the fresh air of little Saurhara village. Chitwan was more of what I had imagined Nepali life would be like, with its simplicity and calm atmosphere. We were given a tour of a farm where we were shown aged, historic tools used to clean rice or make oil. The homes along the streets were plain huts built from clay and bamboo. Everywhere we walked locals would wave hello.
After that we headed to the Chitwan Elephant Breeding Centre to see the adorable baby elephants- the youngest being only 1 year old! In the centre's museum we learned all about the history, biology and breeding practices of the Indian Elephant. Did you know that an Indian Elephant's pregnancy lasts for nearly two years? That poor Mama! To get there and back we had to cross a river in these thin, dugout canoe's that held 7-10 people. Despite the wobbly canoe making me a little nervous, it was great to end the day in a state of complete serenity watching the beginning of a sunset on the golden Rapti river.
That night we were taken to the Tharu Cultural Program Theatre to watch some traditional Nepali music and dancing of the Indigenous Tharu tribe. Highlights included the stick dances, some impossibly fast fire-twirling, a dancing peacock, and the finale where the audience was invited to come up on stage and join in the fun. I was the first in our group to get up on stage, quickly followed by most of the others. I danced with so much enthusiasm that I may have looked a little insane! I regret nothing.
The next day we were up bright and early for breakfast –the plans for the morning included a canoe ride and a jungle walk. I was determined to see a tiger or rhino, but with such a large group we were probably too loud on our feet. We were lucky enough to see some deer and cool footprints though!
Straight afterwards we headed over to a different resort to bathe with some elephants. Most of us hadn't brought our swimmers, but were we going to pass up this chance? No way! Nearly everyone took their turn, climbing onto the elephant's back in pairs, where we got a few squirts from the elephants trunk and were then thrown off. Although at the time I had a lot of fun, as I watched people take their turn it was clear that these elephants weren't treated very well. The handlers are aggressive and pushy, and use questionable training tools like pointed metal bars to direct the elephants. It was quite upsetting to watch, really.
Luckily, that afternoon when we went on our Elephant Jungle Safari, we saw the trainers there treated the elephants far better. It was really quite an absurd experience riding an elephant. There I was, plopped on top of this enormous mammal with Phil, Isaac and Aaron, all four of us riding through the Chitwan jungle searching for rhinos. It's not exactly the sort of situation you find yourself in every day! Unfortunately there were no rhinos to be seen, but there were plenty of deer and interesting birds. Phil and I are also convinced that we heard a tiger's roar! Luckily, the resort had offered us a Jeep Safari for the discounted price of 1700rp! They told us that the Jeeps would be able to drive deeper into the jungle, where our chances of seeing wildlife would be greatly increased. So of course, we all jumped at the opportunity and booked ourselves in for the Jeep Safari the next day. We were pretty excited.
Unfortunately, the so-called 'Jeep Safari' was hugely disappointing. The expectations we had were incredibly different from reality. And in reality, the 'Jeep' was just the Chitwan Forest Resort's old truck. I mean, you can't blame us for thinking we'd be in a Jeep on the Jeep Safari, right? The old truck was definitely not designed to fit 15 people, which meant the ride was very crowded and we had very little visibility. Not to mention the noise- this truck was SO incredibly loud! It had a motor that sounded like it was consistently screaming! If our loud footsteps scared away animals on our jungle walk, we sure as hell had no chance in this truck.
At the beginning of the so-called 'Jeep Safari' we were all feeling pretty negative, but I remembered what Rajesh told us at Orientation:
If you have expectations while in Nepal, it is very likely that you will be disappointed. But, if you approach our culture with no expectations, you will find wonderful surprises!
So I decided to stay positive and just enjoy the experience for what it was. Although we didn't see any rhinos or tigers, we got to see some beautiful scenes in the Chitwan Jungle, as well as some monkeys, deers and even crocodiles! So in the end, I actually quite enjoyed it. Was it worth our 'discounted' price of 1700rp? Probably not. But, Rajesh was right. Once I let go of my expectations I found some wonderful surprises. Our Chitwan weekend, to me at least, now holds some of my best memories!
For the rest of the week we've been back in Kathmandu savouring our last week of placement. At my placement this week I had the opportunity to teach Year 8 a module on Australian Culture and History. The girls at the other school also got to teach some lessons on Australia – they said it was a highlight of their week, and all the students were eager to learn about our animals, history and culture. Unfortunately though, the textbooks on Australia that the kids were using were outdated and had some incorrect information. This is a great shame, as these books are used across the whole of Nepal.
Nonetheless, I gave three successful lessons on Australian history using both the textbook and my own knowledge. I chose not to contradict any information that was in the textbook, but rather to build upon it. I worked in an Aboriginal perspective, discussed more modern events in Australian History and educated them about Australian culture today. All the kids really enjoyed these lessons, and I had a lot of them coming up to me afterwards saying they want to move to Australia! Now that placement is nearly over, all of us teachers are getting emotional over how much we're gunna miss the kids!
Gretyl and Dani say working at the school has been an incredibly rewarding experience. They are both kept extremely busy, often teaching at least 5 of the 7 periods each day! They say they are learning a lot from the staff and students. Behaviour management skills are quickly being acquired as teaching 70 children can often be quite a challenging and daunting task. However it has been a fantastic opportunity for them to develop their skills and work with lots of smart, enthusiastic students.
For Emily and Skye, their second week at school was better as they grew accustomed to the routine, and added their own touches to ensure the kids were occupied and satisfied. This was made easier by the fact they had improved many things around the organisation. For example, arts and crafts had been hung up everywhere, and supplies such as baby wipes, nappies and toys for the kids were purchased. They also began their new system of having a written daily routine for the children, and started creating reports on the children’s conditions and recommendations for future volunteers on how to approach and help the children as best as possible.
At the hospital, Aaron and Lucy have found their time both challenging and rewarding. They have seen a range of conditions that aren't as prevalent in Australia and how these conditions are managed in Nepal. Overall, they say they have really enjoyed the opportunity to add a different dimension to their skill set and exchange their ideas with the staff at the hospital.
Things have been picking up for Alexander, Casey and Samantha with more patients at their hospital too. In the past few weeks they've been given opportunities to observe minor surgeries and procedures including C-Sections and births. Casey was able to do some work this week administering medications as well. This Thursday the girls will be giving a presentation to the nurses at STUPA hospital on the differences between Australian and Nepali practices – this could be a real chance to make a big difference!
Phil and Alexandra are enjoying their time at the special needs school getting to know the children and staff. The children are so grateful and happy, which has made for a positive experience. It has also been an interesting opportunity to see how Nepali practice differs from home.
Isaac and Gemma say they're having an amazing experience working at the CP Centre. Although the daily travel takes a lot out of them, they both agree that with everything they've learned, it's well worth it. In their last few days they've been using the money Isaac raised in Australia to buy supplies and toys for the children at the centre.
Now it's time for us all to say goodbye to the students, children, patients and co-workers at our placements. For a lot of us this is very hard, but we are looking forward to all the fun/challenging experiences of Health Promotion Week, where we will go around schools and orphanages in Kathmandu giving health education. You'll hear all about in our final blog. Thanks for reading!
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