August

Right, August is now finished and I am now in the second half of my stay in NepaI. We are still in the Monsoon.

Thinking of coming back to Europe scares me a bit. I’m not looking forward going back to work in the dark winter while here I walk every morning surrounded by a stunning landscape.

On things I realize now:
Opening a tap and having drinkable water flowing through is actually a real luxury…
People get bad diahorrea after heavy rainfalls. And it’s harsh job to carry water everyday. I often about stories in Africa when girls have to walk long hours to the nearest well: now I totally understand how difficult this life is.

On donations:

The Nepali organisation I belong to sends volunteers and donations to the health centre nearby. It is a private health centre which receive funds from many different charities.
Compare to a public health centre, I heard it is cleaner and much faster.
There is also an orphanage in Techo, a village nearby, which receives help from VSSN. A former Australian volunteer has done a wonderful job. He’s a carpenter and he made benches, tables… for the nursery, as well as paintings on the walls. It looks so nice, (I will post the photos later). His family members and friends sponsor several kids.
Over there I met a girl who has an unknown condition. The doctor prescribed an MRI but the family is too poor to pay for it.
So I decided to pay for it (it shouldn’t be expensive), and we will go very soon to the teaching hospital in Kathmandu (there is one MRI in Nepal, in this hospital).

She’s bright! If anyone is interested to sponsor her education, please let me know.

On my students:
They still don’t know what is discipline but it’s not a big deal…They are full of energy and we love playing games. It’s actually how they learn the best. I really like them.

The vice-principal of my school is now trying to find funds for the students’ materials. He asked me help for finding sponsorships and I am “knocking on the doors” of French charities.

What he explained is that most of the students are “Dahlits”, the lowest caste, the equivalents of the “Untouchables” in India, or from indigenous ethnic groups.
They live under the poverty line and some of them go to school on an empty stomach and sleep during the lessons.
The principal and the vice-principal are both Brahmans (from the highest caste); they are very dedicated to help the kids.

Still the kids of my school are the lucky ones who can go to school. Every day I see children staying in the backyard of their house, not going to school, never…

I am a celebrity!!!
And it’s difficult ; )
There are many festivals in Nepal (and related holidays…). The Tij festival celebrates the women. They wear red, they dance , they sing and they go to the temple.
So during the Tij festival, I got a red Sari and I went to the temple with the girls.
What an arrival, all the eyes were on me.
I didn’t feel very confident but I tried to enjoy it.
Well, when I will be back in Europe and lonely, I will remember these moments of stardom in Nepal.

Then I am very often invited for tea or dinner and people say they like me… but I don’t know for how long. One day they may be upset when I will not be able to fulfill all the invitations : ) …

Rafting:
Recently I went rafting with the staff of Health Centre. It was fantastic! I really wanted to do it again but I’m questioning myself… Well I swallowed water from the river by accident, when jumping into the river, like most of the mates. I was sick for a good couple of days after : (

Then I got an allergy to Dahl baat… the meal they serve twice a day, every day… I was in big trouble but my host family is nice, they cook me Roti (bread) instead.

On other volunteers:

There are other volunteers coming and going in the area, except in July where I was the only foreigner in the neighborhood. In the House we are two, volunteering in two different schools.
They seem to have all kind of motivations for being here.
To be honest, I don’t know myself what is my main motivation.
A couple of volunteers are 19/20 years old English.
There was also an Italian volunteer of my age who’s got a big tattoo and trendy shades. He didn’t enjoy the fact that there was no toilet paper in the house…
For the moment, I “share” the house/host family with a student from Austria who’s missing his girlfriend. It’s Ok, he’s only one month away and she hasn’t forgotten him yet, good luck! He had a big cultural shock at the beginning. I think he has recovered now.
The previous volunteer in the house was in a gap year before starting university. He was shocked by the inequality between women and men. Women cook, stay aside at dinner to serve us, then they do the dishes and clean… the usual stuff.. His mum works and that’s equality. Nice guy but he had the strange habit to drink and leave his cups of tea in MY room (it’s a big comfortable room). Of course I was certainly supposed to clean them… : )

32 !

I celebrated my birthday the best I can…. No disco party, there is no disco around.
One thing I know is that I will remain mute on my age.
I got the same question quite a few times: “Are you married?” “When do you get married?”
I really don’t mind what people think in Europe but here it’s a bit more …challenging. It’s a traditional society, so I won’t start giving lessons on the happiness to be yourself with yourself… I will just start to lie… : )

At the end, I still enjoy being here, a lot !

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