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Published: August 28th 2006
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Suraj before surgery in NDH, Panipokhari, NepalTuesday afternoon Pema, Shanti, Anjali & I visited the department store/supermarket for a spot of retail therapy. It also doubled as a bit of an educational excursion as I explained to the girls the functions of microwave ovens, hosty toasty machines & conventional ovens.
The big news though is one of the young children Suraj, was hit by a Tempo (a 3 wheeled taxi, more commonly known as a Tuk Tuk), whilst crossing the road coming home from school today. He was attended at the scene by a passing doctor, who put him on the back of a motorcycle & took him to the nearest hospital. They x-rayed him, found a fractured chin & cheek & transferred him to the National Dental Hospital across the road from Mukti. The doctor assessed him late Tuesday night & wants him to rest for a couple of days before he performs the surgery, so we are taking it in turns sitting with him so he is never alone.
Last night (Tuesday) Shanti, Pema & Gyanu stayed at the hospital with Suraj. I suspect Pema's underlying motive was really to watch the cable television shows, as we only have two Nepali stations
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Nurse in NDH, Panipokhari, Nepal at Mukti & the reception is notoriously unreliable. I visited for a few hours yesterday & then again today, but there's not a lot anybody can do for Suraj, we just have to wait until his little body is well enough for surgery. He has been awake for much of today, is sipping juice as well as being on a drip for liquids & is in good spirits. He is a cheerful, cheeky boy by nature & has managed to crack a few trademark smiles, which is great. I think he will be fine after the surgery, but wont be able to eat solid food for at least three weeks & will require lots of time to recouperate. It's good timing in a way (if there is such a thing), as the children are on school holidays & can entertain him for the mostpart. Also, he hopefully wont miss too much school either, although I am sure between the adults at Mukti we can run a makeshift class for him & one of the other children who has yet to start school.
After trying for the past few weeks, I managed to meet with Dr Sapna Malla, the
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NDH patient & mother, Panipokhari, Nepal Executive Director of the National Dental Hospital. We discussed the various services offered by the NDH, where they derive funding, how the unstable political climate has halted foreign volunteers from assisting with programs & other issues relevant to the running of the hospital. I gave her contact information for Australian organizations & took away much information to forward to people back home that may be able to assist in providing donations to the hospital. Dad informed me our main supplier A-dec Australia may be interested in putting together a story on the NDH, as an Australian dentist donated some of his secondhand A-dec chairs to their Orthodontic department a few years back. I explained to Sapna that it would be difficult for me to personally arrange donations in the near future due to my travelling, but hopefully by sharing information with people back home, somebody else may take the initiative to assist in the meantime.
Thursday saw Suraj's condition improve further & we are hoping his operation will be performed tomorrow. Goma, Kabita & I visited the New Road shopping district, where I purchased a new fridge for Mukti. The variety of colours available here is fantastic &
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NDH patient & mother, Panipokhari, Nepal they don't cost more than a standard white one like back home. We picked out a 230L sparkly maroon Life's Good fridge with built in freezer & standard door lock. Yes, it seems here people can't be trusted not to peek into others fridges & so each one comes with a door lock. I think it's more likely that most people don't own fridges, only restaurants and the like & perhaps they want to keep a close eye on their stock levels; although Nepali are generally very honest people from what I've seen, so I am still a bit perplexed on that feature. We haggled price with the sales guy for a while, then he dropped the price a few hundred rupee more when Goma explained the fridge was a gift for an orphanage. It's surprising how many places will do that here; there's a real generosity of spirit for those less fortunate, which shows in daily life. We watched the delivery guy box up our purchase as the paperwork was being completed & he joked about how carefully he would have to ride his push bike up the hill to Panipokhari, the suburb where Mukti is located. We all
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NDH patient's father, Panipokhari, Nepal had a bit of a laugh, but I think he was actually serious! I'm just glad I wasn't there to watch & panic when it was delivered, but you can bet I inspected every inch for dents & scratches. He did a great job, the fridge made it to Mukti in perfect condition & was up & running before we arrived home later that afternoon. Now you wouldn't get that kind of service back home, even if you paid for it!
After purchasing the fridge Goma, Kabita & I visited the fruit & vegetable markets so there would be some food to put in it. Well, that was another experience let me tell you; just a little different from the amazing Central Markets in Adelaide. The vegetable market was located on a raised concrete platform, designed for ease of loading & unlading the trucks; quite like a large shed with no walls. The first thing that struck me was the horrible stench. It seems any unsaleable produce is thrown off the side of the concrete slab & left there for God only knows how long, to be picked at by animals until it rots a bit, stinks up the
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Goma & Suraj before surgery at NDH, Panipokhari, Nepal place & is finally scooped onto a larger pile down the road. You must weave your way along a makeshift path, through this rotting mass to stairs that take you into the market. Juices & smaller pieces of rotting matter float around in puddles on this path when it rains, like it did when we were visiting (especially for me I think). So the whole time was spent avoiding the edges, because Murphy's Law says if anybody is going to fall into that mess, it will be me. It was definitely an experience though & made me appreciate the relative cleanliness of the fruit & vegetable markets back home.
Friday was a bit of a lazy day, consisting of some washing, stair walking (for fitness) & an outing with Goma & Kabita to visit Suresh at the Social Welfare Council. I had met Suresh when he came to Mukti the other day & it seems his job is to help oversee & assist the many thousands of Non Government Organizations (NGO's) operating in Nepal. Like many of our outings, my reason for attending wasn't explained to me prior, but I went in the hope of learning something new
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Goma, Suraj & Bijay before surgery at NDH, Panipokhari, Nepal about the way things work here. Fortunately, both Kabita & Suresh's English is good, so they tried to fill me in on what was being discussed & I think we were there to introduce Kabita & discuss writing proposals in order to access more funding for Mukti.
Once again Pradip & I visited the British Council Library on Saturday morning, where I was dismayed to learn I'd incurred a five rupee late fine (my first ever), for a book I had only borrowed last weekend. It seems children's books & novels are loaned out for two weeks, but you can only borrow non fiction titles for seven days, which I think is crazy; so eight days equals a one day late fee incursion. I tried reasoning with the librarian, arguing that the children are at school six days a week & Saturday's are the only day Pradip can visit, but she just gave me a blank look & explained that anybody can return books, it doesn't have to be the borrower - can't argue with that logic now can you…
Goma picked us up afterwards to attend a better parenting seminar Pradip's High School was hosting. The
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Nurse & Suraj before surgery at NDH, Panipokhari, Nepa alternate reason for us going was to make enquiries with some of the teachers about after school tutoring for some of the older children. Currently, an English lady named Eva is sending tuition money for Pradip & Anjali, however they are complaining it is too far away & I am concerned the process in which the money is being sent is too complicated. Eva is putting the money into Marianne's account (an English lady living in Nepal), who in turn gives this money as required to her neighbour Dhurba (a Nepali man). Goma told me Dhurba has indicated he should receive a cut of these funds for locating the tutors & arranging payment, which I think is totally unacceptable, as the money is intended solely for the children's tuition. So in trying to cut out the middle man, we are looking at after school or home tuition at Mukti & getting Eva to transfer the money directly into the relevant accounts when required. International money transfers attract extremely high fees from both the senders & receivers' end, so that's just another issue to consider when trying to obtain maximum benefit from donated funds.
After five days of resting,
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Durbar Square, Patan, Nepal Suraj finally had his operation on Sunday morning & by the time I visited in the early evening, he was alert & in good spirits, although still quite sore I am sure. Thankfully the antibiotics are in constant supply, but unfortunately the pain medication isn't handed out too readily here. Suraj is such a tough little bugger though, he plays & laughs with the visiting Mukti kids, doesn't whine or complain & I've never seen him cry.
I'd arranged previously to lunch with Camille, the French volunteer introduced by Isabelle a couple of weeks back. We met at the coffee shop next to her hotel & were joined by Sam, an English volunteer teaching English near Bhaktapur. Seems he stays in the village with a local family during the week & returns to Thamel for a bit of rest & relaxation on weekends - a good idea I think. The three of us (led confidently by Camille), caught a microbus to Patan, an area popular with visitors because of it’s many temples & historic buildings. The festivities we had gone to see must have taken place earlier in the day, as there was no sign of any celebrations when
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Women washing near Kumbeshwar Temple, Patan, Nepal we arrived. Camille fended off the so called ticket scout/guide with ease, explaining we were volunteers in Nepal, so didn't have to pay the tourist fee & we headed off to explore Durbar Square & the surrounding area. As it was a warm day (like every other), a cold beverage was in order & as I was starting to fade from lack of food by this time, ordered a BLT sandwich; my first meal with meat in Nepal - yummy. Afterwards we skipped the museum tour, avoided the stalls selling souvenirs & checked out some temples & other places of interest. All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon for me, certainly a nice change from the current routine. I am thrilled to have at last made some western friends to catch up with & have a normal conversation with when the need to escape Mukti arises.
Monday I visited again with Suraj, who has improved tremendously; then I walked the younger children to school. Since Suraj's accident, an adult must drop off & pick up the children to ensure they cross the road safely; even though the Tempo driver actually mounted the curb to run them down last
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Near Kumbeshwar Temple, Patan, Nepal week!
In the afternoon, I had long discussions with Goma & Kabita about sponsorship, donations & other ideas I have thought to improve Mukti. We talked over quite a lot & I am going to email them a list, so we can work on implementing the ideas whilst they're still fresh in our minds. There has been much talk since my arrival about visiting Pokhara & it seems Goma's friend Anil Phuyan from beautiful Balaju has a five day upcoming weekend, so we will be going then.
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