Advertisement
Published: February 24th 2008
In line for vaccinations
Very excited for the needle!12-18-FEB-2008
MONTHLY HEALTH CHECKS, FUN DAYS, AND VACCINATIONS As a result of the diesel shortage, the jeep is unavailable for health activities. M.B. (VSN's transportation officer) takes matters into his own hands and borrows a friend's taxi to facilitiate the fourth round of vaccinations and the Shining Stars health check and fun day. We pile the vaccination, health check/fun day supplies into the undersized boot and head off on our way. We pick up the nurse with a random white girl (her apparent assistant) and head to four of the six VSN sponsored homes to inject meningitis vaccines and follow ups from the previous months. There is a definite shortage of follow up vaccs at Charity because the vaccination reports and spreadsheets I used to plan the number were completely out-of-date and inaccurate, though they are dated only a month before my arrival. It seems as though all efforts to get all 54 Charity kids completely vaccinated are futile because there are so many of them, and there are constantly kids coming and going from the home. This makes things extremely difficult to manage. Meanwhile, Katie takes care of the Shining Stars health check documentation and handles the fun day
single handedly with 28 children- impressive!
We also have a health fun day at GPPM. Divendra is so skilled at holding the boys' attention for over a half an hour, explaining the importance of health/hygiene. Katie and I take over as per the routine and have the boys color in their healthy/unhealthy people and nametags for their personal water bottles. All went extremely smoothly!
CHARITY I try to track down the other volunteer recently placed at my children's home (Charity) in order to retrieve the health box, but once again she is MIA. This is very frustrating, as attempting to incorporate her into health activities is interfering with my ability to get things done. In addition, she fails to show up for the two health fun days and health check. And my time is winding down, so I am trying to get as much done as possible before my inevitable departure.
Apparently my pharmacy has changed hands and the guy behind the counter knows absolutely nothing about common medicines or where they are located behind the counter- it might as well be anyone off the street. So this renders me unable to get ahold of Prakash's anti-siezure
Vaccination Day 4!
Budhiram (Charity) medication although I know that it is back there. Again, frustrating. Perhaps I should switch pharmacies.
At Charity, I gather info on Pawanraj's medicine because the other volunteer failed to inform me of the verdict from his hospital visit.
Many ear infections! Amp/cloxicillin hopefully will do the trick since they are unresponsive to amoxicillin.
Shelkar (16) desperately needs an appointment at the opthamologist since she lost her glasses and has been experiencing headaches ever since. I head to the Teaching hospital to make her an appointment. En route, a greedy woman steals the seat next to me though it's obvious she doesn't need to hunch over if standing up. I think that the seats should be reserved for the tall people, because they're the most uncomfortable when forced to 'stand up' in the aisle. I successfully take care of business and meet my goal of riding in a Tuk-Tuk by catching one into Thamel! Those things are absolutely hilarious, I had a blast! Meanwhile, I have to act like riding in the thing is a perfectly normal and uneventful occurence, sitting there with 11 other people in the back completely straight-faced when it's all I can do
to keep from giggling. I will be riding in Tuk-Tuks as often as possible! I am the only woman and white person back there after this large Nepali woman hopped out shortly after I boarded. So it's me and 10 Nepali men.
The next day for her appointment, I wake up bright and early in order to leave the house by 7am, get to Charity by 730am, and to the eye doctor by 9am. She's very sleepy and attepts to sleep on my shoulder amidst the bumpiness. We luck out bigtime on the second bus and score the front seat, keeping warm on the exceptionally frigid morning beneath my shawl. My hands are FREEZING! I fight the crowd to check in and again waiting for the preliminary eye exam. It is a total free for all at this place. The day proceeds with 4 or 5 more check-ups in various numbered rooms. It wouldn't have been so painful if the place wasn't a big concrete refrigerator. After a few hours, we finally obtain an eyeglass prescription, choose a suitable pair, and head back. My bones are cold so I crawl under my covers in an attempt to warm myself
but inevitably fall asleep for three hours. I wake up nice and toasty to a glass of millk tea with the family.
OFFICE My schedule in the office completely revolves around the power cuts. I put the vaccination numbers together for the month (including meningitis) and do my best to update the endless 54 Charity children's health profiles over the last 5 months for as long as the electricity holds out. The load celling is now up to 11h a day, which makes working with anything having a plug all but impossible. Oh I remember way back when it was just 9 hours a week, or better yet none at all when I first got here in late September. Nepal is now cold and dark.
One day when the power is out I decide to make myself useful and rearrange the volunteer room that needed it oh so badly. The room is now much more sunny, and with as cold as that place is, we can use as much sun as we can get.
I give my last health chat on my favorite subject- worms. The new lot of volunteers seems a lot more interactive and at
least I know they are paying some attention (the disgusted facial expressions are a dead giveaway).
I love khaaja at the office! Since I've been spending much more time there recently, I've been treated to the mid-afternoon snack with increased frequency. It is always so tasty- it seems like all Nepalis are amazing cooks with, of course, the exception of my first host family. I want to learn how to make all of these tasty dishes! One of my favorite consited of beaten rice, curried potatoes, spicy peanuts and a delicate garlic peppered roti- yum!
FAMILY The morning after my infamous 24hr illness, a crowd forms around me at 730am to assess my situation, staring at me beneath my blankets. It is very strange having 4 people looking at you just lying there, talking amongst themselves. I almost feel as if I'm expected to jump up and break out into song while all the attention is focused on me. I am feeling so much better and am grateful that it was just a 24h bug. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise for my incessant eating!
My family has begun giving me small gifts every few days
Aama and Baa
My lovely parents including many pairs of earrings and a multicolor necklace- they are the sweetest people.
I've been trying to stay up later recently and waiting until baa comes home before turning it because I want to be able to spend as much time with my family as possible before leaving. We unanimously agreed that there will probably be a big cry-fest when I go. I might not be able to help it.
I LOVE DAAL BHAAT (especially the saag!)! I was treated to fried rice khaaja at home two days in a row- I cannot figure out how they make it so good!
One day when I find myself with a bit of spare time, I read and lay up on the roof of the house in an attempt to warm up a bit. It is sunny, but the breeze is rather chilly. Here I am served tea and khaaja up on my hideout! I am getting so used to being served here, it will certainly take a bit of adjustment once I get back home.
PERSONAL During one of my visits with my woolen goods people, I am treated to chiyaa (tea) and a flaky pastry
in which I discover a small but very hard piece of wood. At first I thought it was a nail, but upon closer inspection nope, just a hunk of wood. I discard it inconspicously by sneakily dropping it onto the floor next to me.
I do a bit more research on what exactly I'll be getting myself into on this trek. Even though I will be staying in teahouses, I just may freeze to death. I need to find out if I need waterproof snow boots- hopefully not! I already need a pair of action pants. I hope to get a good deal on these because I truly cannot imagine having major use for them afterwards.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 5; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0486s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
