Banepa: Week 1

The view from my rooftop in Banepa. Sunset :)

The view from my walk up to the hospital.

The path I took everyday to get to the hospital.

Two more views from my FABulous rooftop!

Hey Everyone! I have TOTALLY been missing you all! Being in Banepa has been quite the shock to my system. The hostel I am staying in is managed by a Nepali man (Damo) and his wife (Sumi). Damo works at the Rehabilitation Hospital that I have been volunteering (if you can call it that) all week. I came to Banepa with visions of grandeur, that I would step in and be really involved (whatever that means). All I can say is that DEFINITELY didn't happen. So lets start at the beginning.

I arrived in Banepa on Saturday morning, expecting to start volunteering on Sunday, because the Nepali work week is Sunday to Friday. But! At the hospital volunteers only go there Monday through Friday, so I was ALL weekend in a new place ALL by myself. I also had expected that other volunteers would be staying at Damo's hostel, that also was not the case. Essentially I moped around most of the weekend, went and bought toilet paper, because HELLO! You can only go native so long :) By the way, to go native....yes it means to use your hand, trust me I ALWAYS washed them afterward. Don't judge! I am here for the experience and going native is one of them.

When Monday morning came I was so EXCITED to get started, you know because I was going to change lives this week, ha! Monday was a TOTAL letdown all I did was observe and I just felt like I was in EVERYone's way. To say the least I was bummed on Monday, but Emma was coming to visit me so that kept my spirits up. True to Nepal, Emma was over an hour late to come and see me, but she did call and I really didn't care because I was going to get to see a familiar face. Emma and her boyfriend came and brought me my pillow YAY! But her visit was all to short because they had to get back to Dhulikhel (a neighboring village) in time for dinner.

Tuesday was ANOTHER challenge! I arrived at the hospital, evidently too early, and met the head of physiotherapy. She was not happy that I was there and said she was going to take me to administration to pay some fee....but then she never did. Huh? There's Nepal for you! The good thing that happened Tuesday was the UK physiotherapist warmed up to me. Thank Goodness! I need an English speaking friend....or warm body for that matter!

Wednesday was a TON better. Got to the hospital at the right time and I actually got to help! YAY! At the hospital, almost all of the children have congenital disorders, and half of those (or more) are club foot. The physiotherapists (after surgery) use 6 casts of Ponseti plaster to correct the club foot. On Wednesday, I got to assist a physiotherapist in applying the case, which essentially means I held a child's foot and leg while they scream and cry....and the physiotherapist applies the plaster. Wednesday was a good day!

Thursday was even better. Mainly because I got to leave the hospital! Muna, a physiotherapy student, invited me to the graduation of her friends at the medical hospital in the nearby town of Dhulikhel. That morning Muna and I went on ward rounds, which would be really interesting if the doctors and nurses didn't speak in this weird combination of Nepali and English. Then it was on the bus and off to graduation. The actual ceremony was kind of boring, especially the parts that were spoken in Nepali. So, Muna took me on alittle tour of Dhulikhel. The tour was just of some shrines of different Hindu gods and godesses. The best part of that day was once back at the graduation, the dancing had commenced. It was so cool! The music here is TOTALLY different and as you would expect so is the dancing. I got some great video, so next week I am going to post it on my blog. Can you see the days of Banepa getting better? :)

Friday, was just a relaxed day. I helped Lara (the physiotherapist from the UK) with Ponseti plaster. Then in the afternoon was the best EVER! There is a patient at the hospital who has spinal TB (which I guess is a quite common form of TB in Nepal). Due to the TB, the patient has paralysis from the stomach down and a result is a TON of high tone in their legs. Here comes the exciting part, we put them on a tilt table and they stood up! For the first time in probably six months they stood up on their own two feet! Lara and I were so happy and so was the patient. You just see how proud the patient was. Friday was a GREAT day! In addition to being helpful, Lara showed me a great cyber cafe that has back-up, which means when the power goes out the internet keeps going because they use a generator. YAY! That is actually where I am blogging from right now! Ha!

I am really glad I am only blogging weekly on placement, because I hope it shows the transition of first getting somewhere and then how I settle in. Although, I had planned to stay in Banepa for a month I am only staying two weeks because I have no medical certification I can only observe. I will be back in the Volunteer House in a week. Which I am quite happy about it, but I am still trying to enjoy my time in Banepa. As for the rest of the weekend I am hopefully doing some laundry, which I hate doing in the states BUT! Here I have to do it by hand...so you can imagine how much I LOVE it here ;) I better wrap this up, because this blog is getting quite lengthly. Until next time!