Giving Back to the Beautiful Nepal for Welcoming Us

 

 COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak - Kathmandu
PROJECT: Health projects
WRITTEN BY: Sylvia Qiu

BAS
BAS is a centre that provides services to economically disadvantaged people. It is run by a dedicated woman named Rita who had visited a hospital once and saw children with disabilities being locked in a dark room for entire days. Now she has opened this centre that provides for children with disabilities, cancer patients, patients who cannot afford hospital care and a level dedicated for women specifically. As volunteers we mainly focus on the children with disabilities.

I remember the first day walking into the room, the smell, the look of the children and the conditions they were in were shocking, but that was soon overlooked when we saw the widest smiles from the children after seeing us walk in. The children have cerebral palsy, autism, hydrocephalus and intellectual disabilities. We provide the basics such as cleaning, feeding and changing diapers and clothing. We play with them and it is the most rewarding experience especially from their smiles and their laughter. They are the most resilient children I have met and they are definitely the best kind of people.

Cerebral Palsy Centre
The centre is located in the rural area of Nepal. It is a centre dedicated to providing allied health services and rehabilitation services to people. They have numerous centres to assist people with cerbral palsy. The main area volunteers are focused at a school for children with disabilities. This involved feeding, changing, but like many of the children in Nepal they can always brighten your day with their smiles and their warmth towards everyone.

The physiotherapy side of the clinic came with challenges. It was great for volunteers to put their skills to practice however the local techniques and tools do differ from Australia. Not only did volunteers get to work with the children but also educating the parents for a better understanding of the condition and further providing the best possible care. Working in a different country has certainly brought about it's challenges but there is definitely so much to learn about their skills and their abilities to provide in such a beautiful country.

Sahara Hospital
Sahara hospital provide an acupuncture, occupational therapy and physiotherapy department. The manual area in the physiotherapy department has about 15 beds. There are a range of different patients that do visit the hospital.

Some challenges that have occurred include language barrier but that does improve with time, diagnoses and of course power outage. Physiotherapists volunteer at this placement and assist where possible. It is amazing some of the simple things such as walking a patient who had a stroke can make a world of difference, especially when listening to them and their stories.

There is definitely lots to learn from this placement, it is an experience that cannot be missed. The beautiful people and the culture that they bring really do bring us closer to the people and learning so much from them.