First of all Happy Mother's Day!!!!
Taapali kasto cha?
Today was the first day of our placement. We ate another awesome breakfast and had a bit of language class with Puran (the one coordinator at the house. The people in my group (Cara, Beth, Sam, and Melanie), Ricardo and myself headed to the placement at 11. It took about an hour to arrive there, once again driving through the crazy traffic of Kathmandu. While driving (the hospital sent a van for us), we passed the American club at the outskirts of Thamel. Yes, I said club not embassy (and only for Americans). And the thing is huge! I think the part that bothered me the most about it that you could tell that it was green and lucious and big inside, equipped with tennis courts, etc. But half a block down the street was a dirt field that the local children are to play soccer on.
While driving, it was easy to notice once you entered Bhaktapur and left Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is the city next to Kathmandu. The crazy city began to fade away, as the fields merged into the urban landscape. The pollution and garbage was still noticable everywhere however, especially being located within the rivers in the area. It is also interesting to watch the farmers, which seem to be from the past.
When we arrived at the hospital, you were able to first notice the beautiful courtyards that came out from the red brick building. It consists of a few separate sections, instead of being a solid massing of structure. We first went up to the administration building and met the president of the hospital, Shymar. We all introduced ourselves, and then he proceeded to discuss the Nepali ways and reasoning for his development of the hospital.
In 1993, Shymar's son Siddhi (age 4), was killed in a car accident. The hospital available to help Siddhi was located in Katmandu, and with the insane traffic that exists here, he died on route to the hospital. Shymar explained to us the importance of having a son. He said how the family usually invests their money for education, etc into the son, as he will be the one continuing on the family name, and roots. Shymar and his wife only had two daughters and the one son, causing the tragic accident to take away that importance of the family. Shymar mentoined how without a son, you can have everything but still be an imcomplete family. His son provided his family that completeness, which was then stripped away from them in an instance.
Often, the westernized world may judge cultures that separate the girls and boys and don't see them as equals. However, listening to Shymar helped to provide insight into such an important part of the Nepali culture and made complete sense in the ways at which their culture works.
After our talk with Shymar, another really nice man, took us on a tour of the hospital. He was a jolly guy, and said how he used to be a lawyer before he began his work with the hospital. He first showed us the rest of the administration building, and then continued towards showing us the rest of the hospital. The area at which people wait to see a doctor, was concrete walls and a bench. He told us the ideas they had for the room and the different development plans at which they had. We then went to the out patient department, which had the childrens rooms, obgyn, and dental in the same area. They took us to the lab and some of the girls noticed that gloves were not being used when taking blood from the patients. We also went down to the x-ray room, which one of the other girls mentoined had equipment in it that was older then her initial training (and she has been an x-ray technologist for 25 years). Now just because the resources may be lacking or their equipment isn't as updated as it could be, these people had done the best they can with what they have, and have the passion, drive and technique that people in Canada lack.
After our tour we discussed the possibilities for what to do at the hospital and planned to start with the conference room. When then headed back to Kathmandu, again through the crazy traffic.
Today is the first day I started to feel a bit annoyed and homesick. Hopefully it will pass soon and miss you all at home.
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