Monday, March 25, 2013

Nepal

What an interesting journey this has been so far!  Nepal is a very different culture than I have ever been in before.  The Hindu have over 30 million gods - I can't even imagine what all is a god!  Their beliefs permeate everything they do and all of the daily life.  It's been hard to not know how to greet people, to not know the language, and feel like I know nothing about what is culturally appropriate.
I'm finally starting to feel a little more adjusted to the time difference and feeling more normal instead of exhausted all day long. 

The first couple days in Kathmandu were interesting because it allowed me to see a little bit of Nepali culture.  I did take Nepali lessons for 1.5 hours, but not sure how much that really helped =)
The rest of my time allowed for me to get to know some of the missionaries here, shop for some food items to bring with me, and attend a conference for rural healthcare workers.  The day that I was there they were learning things like suturing, ortho casting, neonatal resuscutation, eye emergencies, etc . . ., it was fun to see over 100 Nepali rural healthcare workers getting this training!!!
temple in Kathmandu


Nepali healthcare workers practicing neonatal resuscitation
The trip from Kathmandu to Dadeldhura involved flying 2 hours to a small airport and then 4 people and 3 suitcases cramming into a tiny car and driving 4 hours up and down windy mountain roads.  There were amazing views of the mountains as we drove, but sadly I was car sick after about an hour which continued to get worse for the next 2 hours.  We finally stopped to give me a break from the constant swirving feeling.  That helped for the next 30 min and we stopped again for a short break to eat rice pudding and then another 30 min. and we made it to Dadeldhura!  I was so excited to step out of the car and not have to get back in!!! 

I've met some great people and right now at the hospital there is a fun group of people to work with!
Church here meets on Saturdays, so my work week is really Sunday - Friday.  That will take some getting use to!  I'll be spending time in the hospital as well as doing some community work.  I don't really know what each day will hold, but I'm excited for how God will orchastrate all those details!!!  Later this week we'll be heading to some villages - more about that later!
Here is a little glimpse of the scenery:
This is the view from outside my house!
I've been in the hospital two days and it has been interesting, I saw a lady who was attacked by a wild boar, a child with severe malnutrition, a delivery of twin B (twin A born at home), assisted with casting many broken arms, and an assortment of other things.  We discovered that one little baby had pyloric stenosis (results in the baby throwing up everything they eat and can be fixed with a simple surgery), but that surgery cannot be done at this hospital.  My heart dropped when I realized that the only option is for the family to make the long journey to Kathmandu (for them a 24 hour bus ride) or for the baby to go home and die.  Not all families would be able to make the journey to the capital city, mostly because of a lack of money.  Thankfully, this particular mother told us that they would leave for the capital that day.  But what about the families that can't make that journey . . . those are the hard things that I'll never be able to get use to.   
Nurse Melanie preparing a cast for this broken arm
Twin B is in blue
Little guy with pyloric stenosis

Thankfully internet has been working good since I've been here, allowing for me to blog and post photos =)

Thanks for your prayers!!! I appreciate continued prayers for knowing how to best spend my time while here and how to best serve others.