Compilation of the last three days

I just returned from a three day trip to the Chitwan area of Nepal. This is the area that the hospital is being built. What an amazing trip. As I lay here on my bed with the fireworks going off outside the hotel (long story that I will attempt to explain later) I find myself almost confounded as to how to write a detailed narrative of the last three days. In the end I think I will refrain from trying to write chronologically and instead write about events that occurred and how the relate to other events that occurred. I hope it makes sense to you as you read it.

The bus ride: I was told that the best buses leave for Chitwan at 7:00 am. Tourists typically take these buses, and so the newer, more comfortable buses are used at that time. However, because I had only found out about the trip late in the evening the night before and since I didn’t bring a back-pack along with me (I had just planned to buy one here since you can buy a 70L North Face for $20.00), I decided I would just take a bus that left at 10:00am instead. This would give me time to buy a back-pack, make some last minute trekking arrangements for the Choice group which will be arriving next week, and to get my laundry back from the cleaners. I was able to get everything accomplished and I was on time to meet Kiran at the bus station at 9:45am. He helped me find the right bus and negotiated my fare which was a whopping 120 rupees ($2.00 US). I walked onto the bus and was delighted to find that there were only five of us total. This allowed for me to have the seat of my choice, and to keep my newly purchased back pack off the top of the bus. So I threw my bag on the back seat and sat in a bulk head seat where I was afforded a little extra leg room (which was none really to speak of). Kiran asked the bus drive if they expected many other passengers and how long the trip would take. The answers were “no” and “5 hours” respectively. Kiran then excused himself as he had to get home to work on the expedition. (Have I mentioned that Kiran is the in-country director for Choice Humanitarian? If I have not, that is who he is and he has gone above and beyond in helping me during my time here. He is a great man!) As I sat on the bus waiting for the 10:00 hour to arrive so we could get on the road I had time to observe the four other passengers. First and foremost was"smiley”....this guy was sitting directly across from me and every time our eyes met(which was often since sitting sideways in the seat was the only way my legs would fit) he got the hugest ear to ear grin on his face. I said hello and proceeded to ask a few questions in English to ascertain his speaking abilities, but quickly realized that "hello" and "no" were about the extent of his vocabulary. I could not help but smile every time he smiled at me. I was happy to be sitting next to him. Especially in light of the fact that the only other adult passenger was a man who picked his nose for the entire time we sat there waiting for the bus to depart. I will say no more. The other two passengers were a young brother and sister pair that were obviously headed to their home village for the festival (correlates with the aforementioned fireworks). They were cute kids that kept peering up over the seat to catch a glimpse at the big American sitting behind them. Awe, this was going to be a good bus trip….well as long Mr. Nosepicker would run out of things to pick! But alas, true to form, I jinxed myself once again. I always do that. The bus finally left the station at around 10:45am but we didn't get out of Kathmandu until 1:00pm. The bus must have stopped 50 times and four passengers quickly turned into about 50, and 10 or so had to stand as the seats were spent. Thus I understood why it is recommended that tourist take the earlier bus. Because I was in the bulkhead, there was a horizontal railing by the doors attempting to push my knees up to my nose. This horizontal bar was an obvious spot for a standing passenger to lean against. It didn't take long for me to end up with a guy essentially on my lap. He started out just leaning against the bar and before you knew it he realized that my knees were far more comfortable. As if his butt on me wasn’t enough, another Nepali man decided my shoulder was a good resting place for his tail bone. All I could think about was 5 hours; just 5 hours…Yep I did it again. No such luck with the 5 hours…it ended up being 7 hours. By the time I got to Bharatpur where I was to get off the bus, I was covered in sweat, most of which was not mine, along with quite a bit of dust…..and I was tired and a little bit irritable. As I was preparing to step off the bus a Nepali man asked me at which hotel I would be staying. I responded that none, I was there to meet a gentleman by the name of Dr. Harish and all I had was the name of a hospital where I would find him. The man smiled and said “ Dr. Harish is a good friend of mine and I will take you to him”……ah my faith in humanity was restored. He walked across the street, grabbed his motorcycle and away we went to the hospital…(yes Landon I did get on the back of a motorcycle with a perfect stranger.) Within 5 minutes I was face to face with the famed and illusive Dr. Harish. What a trip!!! Here is an aside to the above story. I was in Bharatpur with Bishnu Adikari who is also a Choice employee. He decided that we should fly back to Kathmandu instead of taking the bus. I agreed. I paid about 4,800 rupees ($75.00 US) for my plane ticket. We boarded the plane at 3:46pm and arrived in Kathmandu at 4:11pm. A little quick math tells you that the trip which took me 7 hours in a bus took me just 15 minutes in a plane. I will be returning to Bharatpur in about 2 weeks and I think I will take the same bus again.

Dr. Harish’s family: Dr. Harish invited me to stay with he and his family while I was there. In all my visits to Nepal I have never really been a guest in a Nepali family’s home. I was a bit nervous about fitting in and being sensitive enough to their culture and beliefs. When I arrived I was introduced to Ayush his son, Abhinash a cousin, Amisha his daughter, Grandma, and an as sundry of other people that I was eventually able to understand how they fit into the picture. Ayush and Abhinash are cousins and best friends. They both speak really good English and we had a great time teaching each other words and sayings in each others respective languages. I was grateful for them, as they helped me understand what was going on around me. Amisha is just a cutie. She didn’t speak much English, at least not to me, but we laughed a lot together. She did a Nepali dance for me the first evening of my stay, but I didn’t have my camera at the time to record it. Ayush and Abhinash both like to sing, and they were excited to sing for me, especially when I pulled out the camera. I will try to post video of it. Late that first evening Dr. Harish, his wife, and Bishnu returned from meetings. I was able to be formally introduced and we sat in the living room talking. While they were talking in Nepali and I was off in my own world, I witnessed the most moving events ever. Around the corner into the living room came an elderly gentleman. I immediately figured out that it was the grandfather. He stopped in the middle of the floor and the young kids in the room jumped out of their seats and went over, bowed down in front of him and put their foreheads on his feet, then arose and went back to their seats. (In Nepal many show gratitude and respect for something by placing to their foreheads). I was so taken aback by this. I have yet to see such a powerful display of honor and respect as this, and its impact left me little other to think about the rest of that night as they spoke Nepali and I was lost in my thoughts. I know then that I was going to enjoy my stay with this amazing family.

Ground breaking ceremonies: We awoke early the next morning to go to the ground breaking ceremonies for the new hospital. This would be my first formal introduction to the hospital and to the people involved. The morning was overwhelming. I had no idea how significant of a project was going to be. Not only in size, but in impact it will have on the people of this and other areas of Nepal. It is a 700 bed hospital (very significant) and will be a teaching hospital. It will have a medical school and a nursing school associated with it. All in the entire project will cost in excess of $10 million US dollars, and a good portion of the funding is already in place. There must have been several hundred people there for the ceremony, including politicians, religious leaders, community leaders, medical providers etc. It was an amazing ceremony, and where I understood very little about what was going on, it was a privilege to be a part of it all.

Hours of discussions: Where I will not bore you with the minutia of our discussions and what my involvement and choice’s involvement will be, I will say that I was pleased to have the opportunity to participate in discussions with very intelligent and open minded individuals pertaining to future goals of the hospital as it relates to care for the extensive population of poor in Nepal. Additionally, it was gratifying to be able to provide a potential solution to the problem of the shortage of doctors in Nepal. Currently there is 1 doctor for about every 64,000 people…an atrocious figure. I was told that greater than 50% of doctors that are trained here in Nepal leave the country pursuing higher paying jobs in more developed countries resulting in this disastrous shortage of medical providers in this amazing country. I was able to present the idea of a mid-level provider to a group of individuals who were very open-minded and accepting of such a solution. The wheels for implementing such a program into their medical university have started in motion, howbeit very slowly. I would be happy to see such a program be started here in Nepal. There is such great potential with this hospital. I would not be telling the truth if I said that staying in Nepal to be more involved in this incredible project has not crossed my mind hundreds of times this past couple of days.

The Festival: There is a festival going on as I type this. It is called Tihar. I would be lying if I said I understood what it is all about. This is what I know…..Yesterday they paid tribute to dogs. Most of the stray dogs around town had flower lays around their necks and a tika on their brow. Today, they are to pay tribute to cows. In addition, there are Christmas type lights and strands of flowers up all over the place…..it is amazing to see. Children then go around singing in people’s doorways and they are given money for their songs (something similar to trick or treating maybe). There are firecrackers and what must be M80’s or quarter sticks of dynamite going off all over the place. The mood is definitely festive. People are partying in the streets and store owners have decorated their shops to the hilt. I have taken some pictures and will include them with this post.

In addition to all of this, part of the festival is that they construct these huge swings out of bamboo and rope. The kids decided this morning to take me to one such swing not far from their home. I sat and watched as they stood on the seat and got themselves going so amazingly high in the air. They were then doing these crazy tricks and showing off. Well it was my turn. Me thinking that I am 19 still….I jump onto the swing and start going. I am contemplating as to what kind of a crazy little trick I can do to outdo these young guys….so I decide that I will in mid-swing step off the swing seat, kick my feet out and slide down the ropes until I am in a sitting position on the swing seat, then perform a flying dismount like we did in elementary school. I think I must have left my good-judgment in the USA or at least in Kathmandu…..as this idea was certainly doomed from its inception. The stepping off the swing seat part went well. The sliding down the ropes with my bare hands is where things went terribly wrong. Before my hands had slid maybe 6 inches they were on fire. I don’t know what that rope was made of, but I had the worst rope burn going. I knew instantly there was no way I could ever keep holding on…..next thing I knew I was on my back in the dirt with hands that were on fire. I looked up to see the laughing faces of all the kids who had gathered to see the big, dumb American have a go at the swing. Trying to save what small portion of my pride which was left, I jumped up and laughed with the kids a little, then jumped onto the swing doing everything I could to hold onto the ropes with hands that were ablaze. Now, twelve hours later I can count 14 blisters on my fingers and 5 on my palms. Seriously, what was I thinking?