Central Queensland University say goodbye to Fishtail Hospital

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Central Queensland University Nursing Group, Geena Lawn

Today was our last day at Fishtail hospital. The farewell program was a fantastic ending to a wonderful beginning.

We started our 1.5 week program with orientation to the hospital which included an extensive ward orientation and meeting the wonderful staff. Our sisters in nursing and the fellow medical members at Fishtail hospital were so welcoming and friendly, this made our short time here at the hospital feel very worth while. Our time at Fishtail has been a fantastic experience which has allowed us to visit surgical, paediatric, intensive care unit, medical, outpatient departments and the operating theatre. The outpatient departments created many great opportunities for the students to be involved in. Outpatients department consisted of the students being able to sit in on consultations with doctors from orthopaedics, gynaecology/obstetrics, physiotherapy, psychiatry, radiology and the endoscopy procedure rooms.


Every student got to be rotated around and we all had great experiences that will stay with us forever! This experience was fantastic but not as great as the operating theatre experiences. Dr Pradeep Ghirmire, had allowed some students to scrub in on many surgeries including ingunial hernia repairs, total abdominal hysterectomies and even Caesarian Sections which was a fantastic once in a lifetime experience to be able to assist in the delivery of a big healthy baby boy! All in all the hospital clinical experience was fantastic as we were also tutored in ICU by Dr Trudy Dwyer as she is our critical care cardio queen and those rotating through paediatrics were educated thoroughly by the one and only Professor Kerry Reid Searl. Words cannot explain how wonderful it has been to be able to be welcomed into such a lovely hospital with such gratitude and have the ability to be continually learning by the sides of our fabulous group leaders. As group A celebrated their farewell program at the Fishtail University, we were graciously welcomed at the same time. This program was filled with singing and dancing which was fabulous! Here group A delivered 3 monetary scholarships to the deserving students in first, second and third year.

Everyday at Fishtail hospital, our shifts finished at 10am and we would visit a range of public and other health clinics and hospitals regarding a specific lecture topic we had received at fishtail.Our first day finished early and after lunch we went and visited the privately run Maternity and Children's hospital which is a 20 bed facility. Throughout the next 2 weeks we had visited the public maternity ward at Manapal hospital, leprosy green pastures rehabilitation centre, HIV and drug rehabilitation centre and the Buddisht Nunnery which is where girls are donated by their families at a very young age, this is seen to be a great honour, and they migrate into Pokhara during the winter as it is too cold for them to stay in the mountains where they live. These girls were so beautiful and lovely, they harmonised incredibly well whenever a camera came out all you could hear were beautiful ringing sounds of CHEESE! The rehabilitation clinics provide fantastic help to those who need it and the clients receive the best care possible hitch was fantastic to see.

During our stay in Pokhara we also visited Pokhara University where we donated another 3 scholarships to the deserving students also in first, second and third year if their studies. This program was also wonderful and full of dancing and singing and games.

Our final program was at Fishtail hospital on our last day in Pokhara. Dr Pradeep had begun with education regarding tuberculosis and then followed through with our short farewell program that included a discussion about what we had learnt while on placement at Fishtail and then we were blessed and given beautiful tokens of love and certificates.

We all had a wonderful time in Pokhara and at Fishtail hospital and we are all very sad to say goodby to this beautiful city but also very excited about our last few days traveling Nepal. We would all love to say thank you to the Fishtail hospital staff and also our fearless leaders who have done a fantastic job facilitating our learning while abroad.

The pictures below are the donations we have made to the Pokhara university, nunnery and HIV clinic as well as giving an education session on manual handling at the university.

A visit to Children of Nepal for Central Queensland University

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Central Queensland University Nursing Group

Friday 29th November, 2013 we were blessed to be able to visit the Children of Nepal organisation. Children of Nepal allows uneducated women to be given the chance to work and earn a small amount of money by sewing arts and crafts for purchase. This organisation also provides assistance in educating the poorer children as they cannot afford to attend school, so they come to is program and receive basic education every day. As nursing students, we were asked to prepare a few small education sessions prior to coming overseas so that we could provide extra necessary health care education.

The women were given teachings on sexual and reproductive health and the children were spoken to about hand hygiene and how to stay hydrated to promote best health. Overall, I think these education topics were received well by the targeted audiences which gave the nursing students involved a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that we have helped assist in their education on topics not typically talked about in Nepal.

Friday afternoon we all travelled 30 minutes in a jeep up into the mountains and then walked another 2km uphill to reach our overnight Himalayan Deruali Resort. We had decided to stay here overnight so we could experience seeing the perfect sunset and sunrise over the Anurpura ranges. This resort was beautiful and secluded however still provided wifi in the restaurant which made everyone happy that we could still contact our friends and families at home. Sonam had organised to have a camp fire set up for us so we sat around this getting warm at night under the beautiful stars because it was extremely cold up here.

Our three course meal was fantastic starting with chicken noodle soup followed by an open buffet for main course and then we were surprised with a beautiful banana and chocolate crepe. the service, food and atmosphere at this resort was fabulous and I will be recommending it on trip advisor. The next morning we woke up early and headed outside to see the beautiful sunrise hitting the icy mountains turning them a wonderful orange/pink colour. This was just spectacular and it's a shame the photographs we took don't do these beautiful mountains justice. After the sunrise we had breakfast and then headed off on a long 3.5 hour hike up to Sarangkot where four very brave students decided to paraglide back to pokhara. This little trek was amazing as we got to see so many little towns on the way and meet some beautiful children as well.

It was definitely a relieve to reach Sarangkot and here the group split and we, those too scared to para-glide, took a bus back to Pokhara to have a free day. This little trip was so worth while!!!

We had the most amazing time this weekend!

CQU Nursing students set up remote village health camps

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Central Queensland University Nursing Group

Today was an amazing, eventful and inspirational day for both group A and B as we travelled 5 hours uphill squished together in four jeeps travelling a distance of 45kms to a little Nepali village named Gilung for the weekend. Travelling this road was like experiencing an extreme sport as it was treacherous. Luckily everybody in the groups travelled very lightly this weekend I don't think we could have possibly fitted anything more into these jeeps!

On arrival to Gilung, we were greeting, along with the Nepal Lions Club, by the locals with beautiful handcrafted flower garlands and song. The villages were so welcoming everybody came from near and far, even a man who was unable to use his legs had crawled over miles of rock, dirt and rubble to greet us. We then trekked a small uphill distance to the village Monestary kitchen which we donated money so it could be sufficiently rebuilt. The village elder ladies greeted us again with beautiful garlands and a rice mixture that was placed on our foreheads as a holy blessing into their community. We were then welcomed and Professor Kerry Reid-Searl and Penny Heidke were asked to open the kitchen for the very first time during this ceremony. We were then fed a fantastic snack made from the Monestary which was fantastic!

Following this ceremony, we were finally allocated to our host families, this was so exciting. For the next two nights we were going to sleep, eat and live the village life of a Nepali. The host family houses ranged greatly from small traditional clay houses to much larger clay houses, many were filled with cows, goats and chickens. This experience was already off to a fantastic start and it was only going to get better! The first night we were invited to a welcome song and dance festival where the community celebrated our arrival in traditional dance and we sang a few Aussie songs without any hassle. This was fabulous fun!

Saturday we walked 10 minutes to the high school where the remote village health camp was held. Nepali doctors also visited to donate their time and expertise to the villagers for 8 hours. Us students were able to perform vital signs on the villagers before they saw the doctors to help with the docotr's patient assessments. We were also granted the opportunity to observe some clinics such as surgical, gynaecological, medical, optometry and many more that we're available. This health camp allowed us all to really appreciate the Australian health care system much more as this health camp in Gilung was the only medical attention these lovely villagers will get for another year. The children were given knitted gifts in forms of beanies and scarves that were made from the grandmothers of our Australian nursing students which was a fantastic donation! CQU also donated a number of exercise books for the students along with other medical and school supplies required to enhance their program's in Gilung.

The following day we were far welled by our families and given more excitingly garlands and blessings with red powder and then we hopped in the jeeps for another 5hour bumpy ride back to Pokhara.

The overall experience in Gilung was exceptional! The general outlook of this program was that we felt there was immense responsibility and pressure that was placed on us nursing students due to the desperate need of basic medical resources however the demonstration of community, togetherness, family and strength was inspirational as it is clear that determination overpowers illness in these remote villagers and hard work is the only option to survive. This sense of love and motivation was moving and something all of the students would like to add to their lives and take back and practice in Australia. This weekend has really enforced how lucky we are to be living in such a fantastic and free country.

CQU Nursing students [Team A] embrace their second week in Nepal

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Tracie Attard, Central Queensland University

Sunday 17th November we spent the morning at Fishtail private hospital again working with various doctors in different wards. During our group discussions we have all agreed that even though the hospitals have a lack of resources the staff do the very best with what they have. Once finished at Fishtail we travelled to the local public hospital where everything from the running of the wards to the decor was a whole lot different to the private hospital. Wards were overcrowded with patients and family members. In Nepal it is quite common for numerous family members to stay all day with their sick loved one. As we walked through the maternity ward we handed assorted gifts to each mother for their newborn. These gifts consisted of the knitted woollen beanies and dolls the team had bought over from Australia that were made by family members, friends and some wonderful knitting groups. We ventured outside and walked across the grounds towards the methadone clinic, dodging a few grazing cows along the way. We spoke to the manager of the clinic about drug use in Nepal and spoke to some of the clients – it was so interesting to compare the differences to Australia.

Monday 18th we again worked at Fishtail Hospital in the morning. But the highlight of our day was visiting a Buddhist Nunnery. This place stole our hearts. There are 31 young girls from the ages of approx. 14months old to teens who are all in training to become Buddhist nuns. These girls come from different backgrounds, some were orphaned, some had parents who just cannot afford to raise them while others have been willingly handed over to the nuns because it is an honour to have a religious identity in the family. The children shared two rooms and slept only on mattresses on the floor but they were so happy. We learnt that the children were not only educated in Buddhism beliefs but also general subjects such as maths and English. We decided to donate a sum of money to this organization to assist with the raising of these children. We also met an Australian girl who was volunteering here who had travelled to Nepal with Antips two years ago.


Tuesday 19th - Election day. Due to the unrest in the country concerning these elections we were advised not to leave our hotel until 5pm so the majority of us took the opportunity to catch up on much needed sleep.

Wednesday 20th - Another morning at Fishtail then we went to Naulo Ghumti Nepal, this is a HIV / drug rehabilitation clinic. Clients check-in by choice and stay onsite to be involved in a 3 month rehabilitation program. We attended a lecture about the drug problems in Pokhara and then had the pleasure of meeting with approx 30 brave clients. We were free to ask questions which clients and staff openly and honestly answered. The youngest client was only 10 years old and the oldest was 69 years old. We donated to this organization a huge rice cooker and two urns. As a group we were so affected by our visit to the aged care facility last week that we returned and donated 15, 000 rupees to them. The founder was so appreciative and announced that this money would be enough for a new building. We also had the pleasure of meeting the oldest resident, a beautiful lady who is 105 years old. This day also saw the arrival to Pokhara of the second group of our peers – CQU Nursing Team B.

Thursday 21st - After our morning at the hospital we went next door to interact with students of Cosmos College. This college followed the curriculum of Cambridge University in the UK and the students came from families that were of wealth. Most of these students wish to graduate and move abroad to continue their education. They loved asking us questions about Australia and were happy to answer our questions about the Nepalese culture. The afternoon was dedicated to organising and packing for our weekend in the mountains.

Friday 22nd – We were up early ready for our trip to Gilung in preparation for the free health camp. We crammed into four 4wds and made a 5-hour trip up the mountain range, above the clouds to the most beautiful village. We were greeted by the villagers and adorned with flowered leis they had made from themselves. We walked up to a ridge where we were formally welcomed to Gilung and shown a small building that had been built with some of the funds this years students had raised. This building contained a kitchen that the whole community can use.

After the formalities we were divided into groups of two and introduced to our host families. We all found the language barrier quite challenging however we managed. Saturday after breakfast we made our way to the local school, it was quite a walk up and down, along rocky paths and dirt tracks to conduct the health camp. We were joined by 6 doctors (please check that number) and throughout the day assessed over 250 people. The smiles and laughter of these children and the families was worth the bumps ride and lack of sleep we had. It was fantastic to see the looks on individual faces when we gave them beanies, scarves and toothbrushes. These people have next to nothing yet they opened their homes and their hearts to us, it was a very humbling experience. After the health camp finished we made our way back to our host-families in time for dinner. Our families fed us well however it was interesting that as we were their guests they would not accept any help from us and they did not eat until we had finished our meals. This evening we were treated to a cultural show and official farewell. Sunday morning we farewelled our beautiful families and made our way back to Pokhara. This completes our second week

Gilung Village Rural Health Camp though the eyes of Central Queensland University nursing students

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Central Queensland University Nursing Group

As nursing students due to conduct a health clinic on 22nd November 2013 in the rural village of Gilung, we were aware of the brief to continue the positive work the CQU team had achieved in Gilung in 2012.

Getting to Gilung was no easy matter, and a convoy of jeeps negotiated the rough terrain for nearly 5 hours to transport our team to Gilung village where we were billeted in pairs with homestay families for 2 nights.

Our team consisted of Lion’s club representatives including Mr. Sonam Sangpo, and Dr. Pradeep Ghimire together with several doctors from Fishtail hospital and a cohort of CQUni nursing students and their lecturers. We arrived to a warm welcome from villagers who generously provided local foods prepared in the newly built monastery kitchen and cultural dances and other entertainment for our enjoyment. In this regard, CQU nursing students had worked extensively in their own communities to fundraise monies donated towards the
extension of the monastery.


Against the backdrop of the magnificent Annapurna Himalayan ranges, the students made their way to the Gilung School armed with their stethoscopes and thermometers, but uncertain of the challenges that lay ahead.

The biggest challenge previously identified by the students in providing care to the villagers was the language barrier, however we soon found that a bit of creativity combined with a sense of humor became the recipe for effective communication resulting in about 380 locals receiving a thorough health assessment and consequently provided with health education, referrals and medications as required.

The gratitude expressed by the villagers left us feeling somewhat overwhelmed, but at the same time privileged to have had the opportunity to practice our nursing skills benefitting all involved.

Immersing ourselves in the Nepalese culture has helped us to appreciate our differences, but more importantly our similarities. This cultural awareness is the foundation to continue building trusting relationships between Australia and Nepal.

As nursing students, we recognize the need for the provision of primary health care particularly in isolated communities such as Gilung village and we look forward to preparing the 2014 contingent of nursing students for their return to Nepal.

Second CQU team arrive in Pokhara

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Geena Lawn, Central Queensland University

Wow! Words cannot explain how wonderful it feels to finally be in Nepal.

It has been a fantastic start to our trip starting by meeting everybody at the Brisbane airport where we unpacked and re-packed 200kgs of donated items together. It was lovely to meet everybody, there was an immediate sense of being one together.

Thai airways were fabulous! We had a fantastic trip from Brisbane to Bangkok where we stayed overnight in a amazing hotel. Thai airways continued to be our air transport until we reached Kathmandu. The service on Thai airways was impeccable with lovely smiling faces, regular refreshments and amazing food! On board entertainment was also great to keep us occupied for the long long trips. When we finally reached Kathmandu the group was on such a high, full of excitement as our final destination was only moments away. The domestic flight to Pokhara was frightful as the plane was so tiny but once we hit ground in Pokhara we were so relieved!

Our first night in pokhara was very interesting. Our hotel is amazing with fantastic bed and bathroom services. Sonam was so lovely to take us out to dinner at Moondance which delivered fantastic food and great service. We also experienced the night life of Pokhara which was an eye opener :) chocolates were found and bought have to keep up our sugar levels.

This trip can only get better.

Central Queensland University nursing students depart for Pokhara, Nepal

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.

CQU students learn alongside Nepali nurses

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Central Queensland University

It's strange that when you’re volunteering in a foreign environment that the important things from home become less important and the less important things are the ones you crave and miss the most! Hot water, electricity and clean clothes were all a concern when arriving however now we seem to just take it all in our stride and utilize it when we can. I am pretty desperate for a sausage roll and sauce though, go figure!!

The volunteers have been very busy whilst in our first week in Pokhara. We have been spoilt in regards to experiencing cultural and clinical practices of the Nepali people.


We have been volunteering out of Fishtail Hospital, a private hospital in Pokhara. On first arrival we were in shock as to how different practices and systems are compared to those at home. However, after spending more time there and interacting with both the staff and patients it is evident that it is the possible care available for the patient given the facilities and equipment which would be the same expectation and outcome at home.

Also this week the international volunteers were able to visit an organization called Children of Nepal. The work they do is amazing, they provide services to ensure that the youth of the community are guided and provided for with projects such as job creation for the women of the community, and after school activities for the children. We presented educational workshops to the children and women with topics such as hygiene, dental care, drugs and alcohol and family planning. It was great to know that we could make a small but influential difference to the community through this education.

A highlight for me was our visit to Pokhara University to interact with fellow nursing students, who are also international volunteers. It was eye-opening to see the amount of work and clinical hours these students complete! Whilst at the university we presented three students with scholarships funded from donations raised from home. The gratitude from these girls and their peers was overwhelming. It is a huge commitment and financial strain for the students and also the families to send their children to tertiary education and it really reinforced how lucky we are in Australia to have so many opportunities available to us.

Without a doubt the best part of the trip so far has been our two day health camp to Gilung. The volunteers travelled over 6 hours each way in two jeeps that were literally packed to the rafters with our own supplies and also gifts and donations for the local schools! It was a very harrowing experience driving up the mountain sides, we got bogged three times and only lost one bag, which we were lucky enough to spot falling off the roof (and then we also nearly lost one person trying to recover the bag off the side of the mountain!!!) but we survived the trip and it was more than worth it. The welcome we received from the villagers will be something I will never forget! Flowers, singing, dancing, a musical procession, made the whole experience very surreal!

The camp itself was a huge success, we had over 700 patients attend, some of them WALKING over 5 hours just to be seen! We shadowed the doctors in general medicine, gynecology, ear nose and throat, optometety, and cardiac. We took observations, assisted with equipment and provided any and all services that we could!

We were treated to cultural shows of dance and were billeted with villagers in their homes to experience a traditional way of nepali village life! It was wonderful to see how these people live and that are content and happy with the simple life!



Namaste

Danielle

800 villages attend CQU health checks in rural Nepal

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Nursing
WRITTEN BY: Central Queensland University

On Friday the 23rd of November, a group of 12 volunteer members from CQ University travelled with Sonam and Mr Galypo via 4WD for a very bumpy six hours to the remote village of Gilung. The welcome by the village was amazing. We were showered with marigold garlands, blessed with a tikka, and we were piped up to the primary school by the village band. Upon reaching the top of the village, the volunteers were in awe of the amazing views of the Annapurna Ranges. We were greeted by the elder of the village, together with the primary students and teachers. Following a welcoming ceremony by the Lions Club members, school principal and village elder, we were treated to Nepalese bread and chicken. The volunteer group then presented the school with educational supplies, sporting and craft goods.

After the presentation, the volunteers then viewed the refurbishments made to the school building and classroom furniture. We were impressed by the improvements made to the classroom utilizing money donated by CQU and we appreciated the acknowledgement of the CQU branding on the school desks which will be an ever-lasting reminder of the donations from the most esteemed CQU students and staff.

We were introduced to our host families and all of the volunteers settled into their traditional Nepali accommodation. We were most impressed by the hospitality shown to all of us and that evening we enjoyed a cultural show and got to sample the traditional Nepali millet wine.

After a delicious breakfast of boiled eggs and roti, we trekked through the fields of millet to the health camp, which was held at the secondary higher school. The day was a great success with just under 800 villagers came to the camp for health checks, with some walking up to 5 hours to get there. Health checks included gynaecology, ENT, ECG, Ultrasound, general medicine and eye clinic.

There was also a pharmacy that supplied the necessary medication free of charge. Volunteering nursing students were divided between each area providing invaluable assistance to doctors and performing health assessment for patients prior to seeing the doctors. 27 villagers were diagnosed with cataracts out of 250 eye checks. One of these elderly patients (84 years of age) arrived having been carried in a basket by one of her family members, over rough hilly terrain to get there. We appreciated the assistance of the Lions members as translators when we communicated with the local villagers. At the completion of the health camp, CQU students gifted donations to the principal of the secondary school.

Following the health camp, the youth and women’s groups treated the volunteers to another evening of cultural dance. Dances were also performed by CQU and Lions Club members, special mention must go to the Most Respected President of the Lions Club for his nimbleness on the dancefloor.

The next morning began with a very early start in which our host families bid us farewell with beautiful garlands and flowers and accompanied us to the bus. As we travelled down the mountain to return to Pokhara we reflected on our experiences, the people we met and new friends we made.