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JEROEN DECONINCK – Belgium Describing 3 months in 3 minutes…
Coming to Nepal is one, staying here for three
months is two and don't want to leave anymore is
three. When I signed up with INFO to come and do some volunteering in a health post, I could never think that I would get so much appreciation from the village people in Ganganagar for my work on the one hand, and lots of responsibility from the medical staff where I was placed on the other hand. What was supposed to be working in a health post as a nurse (I'm an nurse in Belgium working in the emergency department) from 10am to 5pm, turned into being busy all day and some moments in the night. It all started when I got my reputation in the village and my volunteer post. The medical staff from the health post treated me as a doctor (although sometimes they are hard learning). Some time after, the village people followed this idea, after curing a seriously ill woman in the village next-door (Sitamai) at a 10 pm emergency (and they spread the news around). The result a couple of days later was that many village people came to my house - before or after my shift in the health post - to be checked by the Belgian doctor. So instead of one, I suddenly had two jobs. And then I haven't mentioned the 'night time emergencies' yet that I had. In no time I got famous. I can tell hundreds of stories about my volunteering. The work I did, the village people and my family (I'm really going to miss them so much), the Belgian parties I organized in the village, trekking and parasailing, the many places I visited and the many volunteer friends I made (guys, spending my time with you was fantastic). Thanks INFO for this unforgettable experience
It's the 24th September and on the 29th it’s Samjhana’s birthday. Since my placement in the orphanage in Balaju doesn’t start until later I have time to spoil Samjhana for her birthday and I take her to Thamel. I was going to take her for a little trekking together with Theresa, a German volunteer but she caught my cold and wants to take it easy, clever girl! A couple of weeks before, I had taken Sanjita into town and Samjhana was summing up the things I had done with her. She wanted the same treatment I think. That’s just what I wanted to do, spoil her……. I let her choose a new dress for her birthday and when she saw a blue dress in a fixed price shop her decision was made. A real lady, she fancied the most expensive dress we had seen all day!!! She also received a package from her sponsors Leah and Adam from Australia. Namrata and Asim were just as excited and helped her to open the package….in fact Samjhana was somewhat overwhelmed with her new t-shirt, a puzzle and chocolates and sat there with her hands in her lap. She took it to her room and put everything in her box. We had to ask her to put her t-shirt on. It seems when people get a present they hide it because it is so special. On the 29th I was meeting a Belgian friend at the airport and we were both invited to dal bhat in the evening. After a quick introduction as to how to eat dal bhat Freek tucked into it and enjoyed it. It was a ‘meat’ version so indeed very tasty. Before dinner (yes) we had the birthday cake, a nice chocolate one. It tasted nicer than mine on the 1st September, I must ask Asim where he bought it! Mmmmmmmm
I had a short spell in an orphanage in Nepaltar, Balaju. The family consisted of KP and Hari Maya, their 3 children and 12 ‘adopted’ children. 3 years ago, on the day KP lost his mum, an accident happened….. The army dropped a bomb in the West of Nepal on what they thought were Maoists but they were just people constructing an airport. 12 of these people were the fathers of the kids staying in the orphanage. KP left his well-paid job to look after the children and came to Kathmandu. They live off donations and I can imagine it is very tough at times. During my stay several people came to visit the orphanage and each time the kids had to sit down and KP explained the situation. It didn’t make me feel happy seeing how he had to like beg for money but what to do…………. His wife is a member of a microfinance programme for women and makes incense to sell and make some money. Asim gave me 2 mattresses to put on the kids’ beds but the mattresses he had given last time hadn’t been used. I made sure he unrolled them and I hope the kids sleep in separate beds rather than 3 of them in each bed now. |
