COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak - Kathmandu
PROJECT: Teaching, Health and Health Promotion
WRITTEN BY: Tessa Rawolle
We have finally arrived in Nepal! We're two girls at the end of our degrees in physiotherapy, ready to volunteer abroad and immerse ourselves in the incredible culture. After a few days in Thamel sightseeing, and two nights in the program house with the rest of the group, we are now staying with our host family in Dhapasi. Here's a typical day for us:
6.30am – We wake up to the sounds of dogs barking, roosters crowing, bells ringing, and these are just some of the many sounds. The light shining through the window signals the start of the Nepalese day. After a very quick and refreshing shower under cold water, we sit down to a breakfast of fried rice on toast.
7.30am – Our walk to placement is through brisk morning air, but with the sun shining down it is a beautiful way to start the day. We quickly warm up as the walk leads us up and down many hills, as we greet people with ‘Namaste’, and wave hello to many adorable children along the way.
8am – Arriving at our placement, the rehabilitation hospital, we begin our day of volunteering, helping and assisting the local physiotherapists. We treat in-patients and out-patients, with conditions such as stroke, fractures, brain injuries, back and pain, chronic pain conditions, and other musculoskeletal conditions. Every day we're learning a little more of the language; the locals talk about us without us understanding a word they say, but hopefully soon we'll be able to join in!
12pm – As the morning session of patients draws to a close, and the in-patients have completed their morning sessions, the physiotherapists head out to lunch. We make our way up the hill to the local Sahara hospital to have our lunch at the canteen. Initially, trying to converse with the man at the counter about what we wanted proved difficult to say the least! After some time, and with the help of another person acting as our translator over the phone, we were able to order from the non-existent written menu. A typical meal would consist of fried rice, dahl bhaat made of rice, dahl, curried vegetables, saag, and radish pickle arrived, with more rice than we could possibly handle! Nevertheless, it was ramroo (delicious).
1pm – We head back to placement for the afternoon block of patients. Treatments are similar to the morning, however our supervisors have recently been giving us more independence in our choice of exercises. In Nepal they value electrotherapy, such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation, quite highly- especially for pain relief. However, manual therapy and exercises are still used. We all shared our ideas as to what physiotherapy treatment is best to give the respective patients. As the patient flow slowed down, we chat more, learn about the sights and sounds of the surrounding area, and get handy tips that help us travelling around.
3pm – Leaving the hospital, we often purchase fresh mandarins from the roadside stall before wandering through the some of the backstreets. As soon as the sun begins to set we can feel the chilled air again, but more hills never fail to warm us straight back up again! The roads are very confusing, they twist and turn and curve in a very disorientating manner. Needless to say we've got lost one or two times on the way back to the family's house. Although walking through the streets like this gives us an experience of the Nepalese culture.
4pm – We relax at home, bring in any washing from the roof and sit down to chat with our Nepalese mother or play cards with our brother.
7pm – We sit down as a family, including Aunty, to a meal of rice, potato and bean curry and spinach. Eating with our hands as the Nepalese do! Questions are directed back and forth as we find out more about each other and our respective backgrounds, cultures and values. We've only been here a short time but are learning so much every single day.
8pm – We organise our room before doing our own things and heading off to bed. A new country, with so many new and different experiences, takes its toll. Our eyes and bodies are tired, but excited at what the next day in Nepal will bring.
Until next time,
Tessa
No comments:
Post a Comment