My Placement

The volunteers are shown a few places around Kathmandu where they can work , its either that or you can head out to the more rural areas to teach English . We went to two pretty depressing orphanages : "Bal Mandir" which is a government run orphanage where one of our volunteers Sam was actually adopted from when he was two months old and "Our Childrens Protection Foundation" which is just down the street here .
Everybody seems to just get a feeling of where they want to volunteer and Amy and Katie, the two London girls have opted for Bal Mandir . I on the other hand couldn't get over the severe squalor of the Our Childrens and decided to spend my six -8 weeks there.
Its a 4 roomed house about 10mins walk from the volunteer house. One room has 2 sets of bunk beds which house 11 boys . 6 beds for 11 boys aged between 6 and 14. One room is the so called "play room" although when there are no toys I don't see how you can actually play there ...this is otherwise known as the school room and the girls bedroom - a rug is thrown on the floor at night for 10 girls to sleep on . Aged 1.5yrs to 12 .  The third room is the office/owners room . This room contains a desk , a large wardrobe in which the "toys" and "school things" are locked , a bed for the owner and her two year old daughter and a mattress for the 16yr old sister. It seems the husband is away in Qatar working. The fourth room is the kitchen off of which is a damp , dark smelly "cupboard" where are the childrens belongings are kept . There is a "bathroom" although it consists of a hole in the floor toilet , a sink and a tap on the wall with a plastic bucket underneath . This is the shower/ bath/ washing machine.

As you can see in the second photo there is nothing in their playroom. No seats, desks, toys ....
Of the 21 kids that live here only 10 go to school, or are supposed to go to school . Every day there are various numbers of kids who stay at home . In Nepal the school and school lunch is not free , so the orphanage relies on donations to get the kids into school ( or the childrens family members to sponsor them). The NOH has donated school uniforms around one year ago and I assume that these were the 12 kids who were here originally and who attend school. The newer arrivals are waiting ....
Some of the kids are not orphans but kids who have been abandoned or whose parents are either single and cannot cope or are plain old alcoholics or glue addicts. One child has downs syndrome - he is 19. One child is 7 but has some form of growth deficiency or dwarfism and is the size and it seems mental capacity of a two year old. Another child ( my little favourite) is a twelve year old with cerebral palsy . Although he clearly has physical difficulties he is bright and is sooo willing to learn . I don't think he has ever been in school because he cannot write Nepali and has troubles holding a pencil , but this kid has a heart of gold and looks after the smaller children . He always has a big smile ! Another one of my cool kids is a 13 yr old who has been at school in the past and he acts as my little translator . Thank God for my Nepali Phrasebook which has a small dictionary !
The standards here are clearly awful !! Gifts and toys which are donated seem to go astray ...we think they are sold on ...and its not clear if the money goes to the owner or if its spent on food ...Its difficult to be trusting when things like that happen .
On one hand being here seems like a better alternative to being forced to live on the street and beg for your alcoholic parent ....and the other hand this orphanage is like something from Oliver Twist ...and obviously a far cry from the standard of the NOH (Nepal Orphans Homes) . I cant decipher yet if this place is good or bad ...its definitely in need of a hell of a lot of help though ...will keep you updated !

Pashupatinath Temple and Cremations

Pashupatinath is Nepals most sacred Hindu Temple . Pashupati is another name for the Hindu Lord Shiva . The Temple is built on the river Bagmati and devotees bathe there daily - although due to the increasing population and the rivers usage , it looks to me to be little more than a dirty stream. Only Hindus are allowed to enter the temple so Ive only a photo of it from the outside - its built in a typical Nepal Pagoda style with a golden roof.

Pashupatinath is the site for Hindu cremations. As far as I could tell the body is lain out on a board close to the river and covered in a white sheet. The feet and head are then washed with water from the river . The body is then carried slightly to the side where it is wrapped in various orange cloths and covered with flowers, I think this is done with the pallbearers and the male part of the family . The female part of the family has been sitting on the left side and at this point it seemed they were invited to come pay their last respects. It was kind of awful to watch because they were wailing and one woman who I can only guess was the mother or wife was screaming so loudly and hysterically that she eventually collapsed . Would have been too weird to take photos at this point ....it was even weird just to be an onlooker but you can see from the photo that there are actually many people (not just tourists) who come to watch. I think the body is then carried across to the other side where its lain on a previously arranged pyre of wood and set alight. A few hours later the ashes are then collected and carried out to the middle of the river ( I think that was what was being done in one photo where you can see some men and a cart in the river?) where they are scattered and will flow down stream to eventually meet up with the holy Ganges

The place is overrun with Monkeys . I was told not to look them in the eye ...no fear of that , they are quite ugly wee things . One guy next to me was eating a bag of crisps and he was "attacked" by two monkeys who ran up him, grabbed the bag and ran off fighting over it . They can apparently carry rabies so I steered well clear !

Cemetery ?
Around the temple are many of these little crypts ...Ive no idea what they are and Wikipedia who normally tells me all facts couldn't come up with anything . In front of each is a water buffalo which Im supposing is some form of protector ...

The Sadhus and the festival of Shivaratri:

A Sadhu is a holy man ( or woman) in the Hindu religion. He is supposed to dedicate his life to meditation and contemplation . They live solitary lives away from all material things in caves and some as per this photo live half naked around this temple. The word Sadhu is apparently the name for someone who has renounced a normal life and lives alone to achieve spiritual greatness.
The Sadhus smoke marijuana as part of their religion as the Lord Shiva apparently had an adoration for the leaves ..

The festival of Shivaratri took place on the 27th of Feb . Its a huge festival and people from all over Nepal and India converge on Pashupati temple for a day of celebration. I read in the paper there should have been 750,000 people there . Its a mental day and we were warned not to try to go near it as there would be tons of traffic but more because the Sadhus and some other religious followers get completely off their face stoned and wander round naked ...

Nepal Orphans Home

Nepal Orphans Home (NOH) and its affiliate Volunteer Nepal is /are the charity I am here volunteering for .
The charity began in 2005 when a volunteer decided to take over an orphanage and provide a better environment for the kids there . Its founder Michael Hess (Papa) and the charity now support over 140 children in 5 different Orphanages/Homes . Four for girls and one for boys . The children get there either because they are orphaned or trafficked and some do have family members but those people cannot support the child.
The aim of course is to provide a safe environment for the kids to grow up . They are provided food and clothing and an education at the "Skylark English school" .
Its only been a week but I can see how happy the kids are ! They are all very smiley , love the camera and speak good English !
This charity is definitely one in which I can attest that your donations are well spent . Its all going to the kids ....but there are always things that the children will need ...food, clothes , books ..etc ....so if you are feeling charitable please go ahead and donate at the following website .  

Attached are some photos of the children : So very cute !

Their school and their lunch - that was a half portion . They might be wee but they can shovel away a ton of food !

The Neighbourhood

I have to say I am pleasantly surprised ....I had thought I was going to mud huts or something ..but Kathmandu at least is fairly well built up. On saying that it is clearly on the poverty line and you can see that some folks really don't have much .
The roads have massive pot holes and there are no pavements . The side of the road is mainly just dirt or in our case since its been raining a lot , its thick mud. There are virtually no private cars but there are plenty of taxis ..these tiny wee Suzuki things . You feel like it has no suspension whatsoever in these things and we were in one taxi where every time we went over a hole the interior light would switch on and off and the driver kept opening various doors whilst driving to see if that was the problem . I was just hoping we wouldn't stall on one of the hills on the way home cos Im not sure the thing had brakes ...
There is also the microbus to get around in . Its like a wee bus with seats for around 11 but they squeeze about 30 in ! You have folk sitting on your knee , folk falling on your feet , squashing various body parts as they try to get on the bus . Kind of reminded me of the commuter train in Tokyo where they have one guy physically pushing people into a not existent space.
The traffic is Mental !! Cars , buses , people , cows , beggars ....everyone jostling for room on a single track road . You just kind of have to shut your eyes and not pay attention to the cars one inch from your window . There is a ton of smog and a lot of people have taken to wearing a face mask .
There are many weird and wonderful smells . The best one being when you walk by a spice shop ...the worst being the sewage ...Havent seen any raw sewage but the pipes must be pretty close to the road surface !
There are the occasional cows wandering around munching on the many bags of rubbish chucked to the side of the road . There are plenty of stray dogs around but they seem to be too lazy to move . Thankfully I haven't seen a cat yet - it seems they are evil omens or at least bad news in this culture . That suits me just fine !  Have only seen one rat so far and no beasties ...am hoping it stays that way but might just be because its so cold just now.
The electricity wiring is a sight to behold ....just see the photo . No words for that other than dangerous!

The Volunteer House

The Volunteer House is situated in a "posh" area of Kathmandu called Dhapasi Heights . Its a 25min taxi ride (400 rupees = 4 dollars) from Thamel which is the tourist area . I think in total it can sleep 18 . When I arrived there were 12 volunteers but its dwindled to just 5 at the moment.

 
The house is large : On the ground floor there is the "boys room " which sleeps 4 , the dining /common room and the kitchen . The first floor has the "girls room" which sleeps 5 , two family rooms which sleep 3 each and the living room .  I have to say that the bed isn't much more than a piece of plywood attached to four legs , but after buying a foam mattress for camping and adding a blanket under the sleeping bag , Im kind of getting used to it . The aches every morning seem to be getting less and less. There is a bathroom shared amongst approx. 5 . The shower is just a tap at an awkward height but it gets ya clean so whatever..

The second floor sleeps the two guys who run the "Volunteer Nepal " and also Kalpana who is our "Didi" - the girl who cooks and cleans in the volunteer house . We get two meals a day . Breakfast which is mainly toast and eggs and dinner which switches between pasta and "Dhal Bhat" which is the Nepali staple diet of rice and lentils. Its great to be cooked for ! The kitchen consists of a couple of gas burners so at least you can always boil water .

 The electricity comes on irregularly ...mainly we eat dinner at 6 in the pitch dark except with candles and torches. I think the schedule for electricity changes week to week ...so certain areas get it for 6hrs in rotation ...this week its on from around 8am . We get hot water from the solar panels on the roof ( that's if its sunny ..which hasn't been too common in the last 10 days) , plus you need to hit the right time of the day to get a warm shower before all the other volunteers fight you for it . Might be nice to get a luke warm shower and be clean again but its rare that you can dry your hair afterwards due to the electricity black outs. The washing machine consists of a bucket , a stool and a cold water tap on the roof ...I did try but even if you can get the clothes clean you then leave them to dry on the line in the Kathmandu pollution ...so I gave up and will go into Thamel once a week and pay for my laundry to get done ! Also a perfect excuse to eat a pizza or some western food !
What you cant see in the photos is that its SOOOO cold !! It can reach around 16C during the day but at night its between 1 and 3C and when there is no heating its as cold inside as it is outside . Often you wake up or go to bed and you can see your breath . My worst nightmare ...big change from my 24C heated home. I had to buy a new sleeping bag because the piddly wee summer thing I brought wasn't much more than a sheet . So with that plus two blankets plus wearing all my ski thermals, pyjamas and a primaloft gilet plus my big yaks wool socks I can finally sleep at night . Sitting around the volunteer house consists of wearing the thermals , plus another 3 layers plus a blanket . Baltic !!! Bring on summer !

Week One

Week One is an introduction to Nepal/Kathmandu . There is a haphazard "training" which included a quick chat about the " Volunteer Nepal / Nepal Orphan Homes" , a 2 hr "Learn to speak Nepali " where I caught about two words , a visit to the 5 Orphan homes sponsored by this charity and a visit to one of the KTM historical sites - in this case it was "Boudha" . 
Seeing as that was the first thing I took photos of I will start there : Boudha , also known as Boudhanath .  Its a Buddhist Stupa ( Im assuming that's the name for a temple ?) , the second largest in Asia and was built on the ancient road from Tibet . Due to its significance , there has been a whole load of Tibetan refugees relocated here and there are approx. 50 monasteries in the vicinity. Who knows when this thing was built ...doesn't appear to be something the Nepali people worry about as this kind of fact doesn't appear in any touristy brochures . It became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1979. Its a daily ritual for the locals and religious folks to walk around the Stupa in a clockwise direction at least three times repeating a mantra (don't ask me which one). Spot the unprepared tourist wandering around in the wrong direction!
Somebody on FB asked about the Buddha eyes ...as I didn't have a clue I had to do an internet search and here is what they say :
On virtually every stupa (Buddhist shrine) in Nepal, there are giant pairs of eyes staring out from the four sides of the main tower. These are Buddha Eyes (also known as Wisdom Eyes), and they look out in the four directions to symbolize the omniscience (all-seeing) of a Buddha. The Buddha eyes are so prevalent throughout the country that they have become a symbol of Nepal itself. Between the Buddha's eyes where the nose would be is a curly symbol that looks like question mark. This is the Nepali character for the number 1, which symbolizes unity of all the things as well as the one way to reach enlightenment—through the Buddha's teachings. Above this is a third eye, symbolizing the all-seeing wisdom of the Buddha

Did my first spot of bargaining whilst buying a pair of big woolie socks ( its so damn cold here ...approx. 1C during the night ...and with no heating its absolutely baltic in the volunteer house) , in one of the many stalls which are set up around the Temple. Managed to save a whopping 50p! Honestly they are so cheap anyway Id wouldn't even have bothered with the old bartering thing ( which I am useless at ) but I didn't want to appear rude . After that I went all out and wangled a yaks wool blanket down to a huge 15 bucks. Everybody appears to have one here ...to sit on, wear as a shawl , wear as a hat or scarf ..anything to gain any sort of heat !