(Picture - the girls and Cha Cha at the project sight)
Hi everyone, so here's the next blog entry - a lot has happened in the past 6 days!!
On Friday after work and tiffin a few of us went for an interaction session with the teachers of Sirutar private school where we discussed the education systems of Nepal and the UK. When we arrived at the school a few of the students gave us some flowers each and the teachers applauded us as we entered the classroom which was a bit embarassing as we weren't expecting that at all, but lovely nonetheless. They talked for a while, teachers gave a quick intro about themselves (they all looked very young!) and then the headteacher asked us to each say a few things about ourselves which I found kind of scary! We then interacted with teachers, they asked us lots of questions! We were suprised to find out that the school fee is 300 rupees initial fee and then 500 rupees a term (123 rupees = 1 pound). We were also shocked to realised that attending school is not compulsory to anyone of any age in Nepal. I found this quite shocking; I've noticed that some children just come and watch us at the work site alot but just assumed that they were too young for school or had been to school already but it's just because they don't want to go to school because their family don't see the point when they will just stay in the village for the rest of their lives.
We are all aware that in Nepal there is a lot of discrimination against women and this became quite evident during the session as the male teachers sat at the front of the class and asked lots of questions whilst the females sat at the back and didn't ask one question. So yep, we all learnt alot about the education system and wrote alot down!
On Saturday we all met at the project office at 10 to walk to the orphanage. When we arrived we were greeted by Sunita the orphanage's supervisor (who we later learnt used to live at the orphanage herself) who told us the history of the orphanage. We were then taken on a tour of the orphanage - we saw their canteen, their rooms, etc. The children are 6 years and older and have to do their own washing, are given chores, to make them become independent. After the tour we went to the playground area and met all the children who were all absolutely lovely! Some of the volunteers and the older orphans had a game of basketball too. I sat and talked to these two young sisters who were so sweet, when we had to leave I was a bit teary and they asked me for my email address :( When we left two of the girls took us to the orphanage's organic farm which they use to generate money for the orphanage which was great! The two girls took me off and let me hold the cutest tiniest bunny rabbit! And Harriet and I tasted the yummiest tomatoes ever! Oh how I miss BLT's and Chicken salad sandwiches!
That night I went to bed pretty early because I wasn't feeling very well and that night I had the worst nights sleep since I arrived in Nepal :( I woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold, but my head was boiling. I ended up calling my Nan in the UK because I was feeling so terrible. The next day I decided not to go to work and stay at home and sleep it off but that didn't work. That afternoon Bharat had to take me to the local hospital as my temperature was 100C and I still wasn't well. My didi's and dai were getting very worried about me. The hospital was very small and the doctors all wear jeans and sandals - casual! They took my temp again, blood pressure, urine sample and blood sample. 45 mins later I was told I had gastroenticitis and a blood infection and got given lots of medication. I have to take 5 tablets after every meal, not nice! And I am just feeling pretty lousy at the mo! and useless really because I can't work for 5/6 days.
Yesterday we went to Maiti Nepal! However as the bus wasn't big enough for us all to fit into we had to go in groups. When we arrived we had to wait for an hour for the others to arrive so we went to Pashpati temple and there was a cremation taking place. They take place outside and you can see the body being prepared for cremation, and then the cremation itself. We were all very shocked to say the least and couldn't tell whether we wanted to look, take pictures, run away, or anything. I don't even know what else to write about it now just thinking back about it.
Maiti Nepal wasn't as good as I hoped it was going to be. We got there, had a quick talk about trafficking in Nepal and then were shown very quickly around the grounds and taken to the shop were the women sell the jewellery they make. I was quite disappointed :( But it was nice to see the work the organisation are doing to try and reduce traffiking in Nepal.
And today was back to work again! The wall is looking great now. Hope you're all well, looking forward to seeing you all in approx 5 weeks time! :)
Al xxxx
