Week 7

Havent got too much to report so thought Id just post some more photos of the children .
This week there was some interesting news though ... the smallest child is a two year old physically handicapped boy named Eli. He was abandoned in the jungle by his mother -perhaps due to the fact he cannot move much and his mother was an alcoholic - and contracted pneumonia which led to blindness ( at least that's what Im told ) . Due to the less than acceptable living conditions here and the neglect ( he is mostly left on the middle bunk the entire day) he started having seizures and contracted pneumonia again. He has been in critical condition in the ICU this week but finally got moved to the normal ward yesterday.
Due to this and of course to the living conditions of the other children , myself and another volunteer went to make a formal complaint about this orphans home to the CCWB - the Central Child Welfare Board. Im not sure what this will bring as they seemed to have no real interest because there is no actual abuse going on ( neglect yes , abuse no) , but fingers crossed something positive will come out it ....
Other than that one of the oldest kids had his year end exams this week and Ive been busy buying the kids who don't go to school some new school shoes and bags for when the new year begins in April. Aim is to get everyone into school before I leave here.

Prakash being his usual wee cheeky self

Safar and Saugat at breakfast - Dhal Bhat = Rice and Lentils normally with curried veggies

Simon beside my intro to European food - Pasta . I cook once a week so they get something that's not rice.

Anupa and Simon

 

You wouldn't believe the excitement over cleaning fluid ...we scrubbed the walls and put up laminated photos of the kids

One of my favourites Sauvaga with his big "brother" John 

The older lads

Play fighting

 

 

Curry without Worry and Durbar Square

Curry without worry is a charity that cooks for and feeds 350 homeless people in Durbar Square , Kathmandu.  It was started by a Nepali man to feed the homeless in San Francisco and with its success he decided to come back to his home country and begin the project here .
Every Tuesday the food is donated and the volunteers come and chop veggies and make bread . The whole process takes around 5 hrs . I was lucky enough to be on tomato chopping duty and avoid the onions .
The sad thing is that a fair number of the people lining up for food are children . The street kids (obviously not all ) are known to be addicted to glue and well meaning tourists who donate cash to those begging are actually feeding their habit .

Durbar Square
Durbar square is the generic name for the plazas and areas opposite the old royal palaces . There are three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu valley so you need to be specific when you talk about visiting one.
The Kathmandu Durbar square houses the palaces of the Malla and Shah Kings ( don't ask me who those folks are though ..)and contains many temples ( pagoda style) and water fountains and little court yards .
It also contains the Kumari Palace of the Living Goddess .  The Kumari worship a young virgin girl who they say is the living incarnation of the Hindi goddess Taleju . The girl is selected from a particular caste/clan and she is kept in the palace until she gets her period, in which case she reverts to common status . She passes by a particular window every day at 4pm and depending on her reaction to the waiting crowd it signifies the future of the person she looks at . Its believed that it brings good fortune if she just stands and gazes down at you , other reactions like crying signify illness , rubbing of the eyes means death, trembling means imprisonment ...etc .
On this occasion she was at the window for probably less than a minute and she didn't have any strange reaction to the bunch of mainly tourists below . Thankfully.

Holi - The festival of Colour

Today - 16th of March is Holi . This is a Hindu celebration and a National Holiday in Nepal.  I think it signifies then end of winter and a joy of the colours of spring .
Basically the concept is to cover people in coloured powder and chuck water balloons at each other.
There was full on warfare between our orphanage and the next door neighbours . Everyone chucking balloons from their roofs , you don't want to have to be wandering the streets this day.
I was soaked through before I even reached the orphans home . After about an hour the balloons and plastic bags were used up so then it was just dumping buckets and basins of water ! And really manky , dirty water too ...
It was all really good natured thankfully . In between the four hours I was there , we managed a recon mission to the ice cream shop too. Some of the kids had finished their cones but there was left overs so they were licking it straight off their dirty wee hands . Glad they have good immune systems .
May not ever get the colour/dye out of my clothes ...

 

Kopan Monastery

To mark my one month anniversary in Kathmandu I decided to take Sunday off and go visit the Kopan Monastery . Its a Buddhist Monastery in the Tibetan style and it has been built on a hill side ( a 20min taxi ride from me ) over looking the Kathmandu Valley. It has approx. 360 monks and you can go on various lengths of retreat there .
I must say that after the chaos and bustle and dirt of Kathmandu city and having 20 small kids use you as a climbing tree for the past month , it was a welcome two hours of peace and quiet. You could even feel the serenity as you walked through the big entrance gates .
As soon as it warms up I will be taking my book here and spending the entire day lying on the grass!

 

Kathmandu Fun Park

I was persuaded by the sad puppy dog eyes of a number of poor , dirty , deprived orphans ( how could you resist?) to take them to the  Fun Park or in other words: The fairground . The orphanage is always pleading utter poverty and most of the kids have never been more than a few streets away let alone to a fun park. So that was it . Hire a bus and take them all out for the day!
You should have seen the excitement ...the day before they were all out washing their best clothes ( they only have about three sets of clothes ...one set for one week, one set for the next whilst set one is being washed and set three for fancy occasions ...oh and they don't have undies or belts or any such excessive accessories ?) ) . The best clothes for a fair number consisted of a tracksuit which they had been donated from some sport place . They have to wash them because they are stored in a pile  ( or plastic bag if they are lucky) in a damp disgusting area off the kitchen ...not sure what else lives in there ...maybe a frog or two... Their shoes are also ill fitting ..again donations ...lucky the weather was fairly warm and we have a barbed wire fence which makes a good alternative to a clothes horse .
We piled 6 adults ( the woman that "runs" the place and her sister dolled up to the nines , the Nepali volunteer , two young guys volunteering for this one week from Germany and Holland , myself)  and 22 kids into a van or so called "micro bus" for the trip to the fun park. Binita - the "founder" managed to blag the kids in for free by doing the puppy eye , poor orphan thing ..although on this occasion I was happy with that because it meant more money towards rides .
The rides for kids were 50% hand operated ...ie a guy pushing them in circles and the adult rides looked like they hadn't been serviced in 30 years. Everything looked like it was rusting to death and needed some oil ...but the kids didn't notice a thing !
Lots of fun was had by all , we had ice cream and only two kids puked in the bus on the way home ( and we hadnt brought any plastic bags either ...well we know for next time !)

Nagarkot and the Hotel at the end of the Universe

The Internet has been painfully slow, if up and running at all ...it agitates me ...so I gave up trying but its been a while now and I did actually have the weekend off to do something , so have actually something to update you with!

Myself and three other volunteers finished slightly earlier on Friday and took a taxi to Nagarkot. Its only 20miles but with the insane traffic and the dodgy roads and death defying hairpin bends on the hills , it took us about 2 hrs to get there . This place is famous for its views of the Himalayas close by the vicinity of the Kathmandu valley .

We planned to see sun set and sunrise and booked ourselves into the "Hotel at the end of the Universe" , mainly due to its reviews in the Lonely Planet but also because of its ridiculous name . Have to say though that this hotel was brilliant . It had mattresses for a start ( a big improvement on my wooden board) and windows on three sides of the room with stunning views. The staff were so helpful and friendly too - well worth a visit if you find yourself round here . Couldn't actually see the views at sunset due to the haze  though ...had a nice dinner and played cards with the waiters to pass the time.


Up at 5.30 for a 6 start to see the sunset . Im glad to say the others are as lazy as me and we split a taxi to the view point rather than get up earlier for the 1hr hike. I have to admit I wasn't expecting too much but it was pretty amazing when we got there . Practically mountains in all directions ...You could just see the peaks of some of them in the glint of the sun . Well then the sun came up right on time at 6.21 ...It was a surprise to me just how fast it rose ...pity that it then became too hazy to see the mountains and a damn shame my photos don't justify the sight at all . An hour later the visibility was slightly better so hope you can see in the photos the mountains in the background . Cant wait to do the trek !

The Hotel at the end of the Universe

 

 

Crocs

Carrie , this one is for you;-)

So Ive always been of the opinion that "Crocs" are the most hideous shoe ...well actually maybe coming in second behind Ugg boots. I could never understand why people wanted to be seen in public wearing bright orange plastic clogs ?!?! That is until now ...
Im now admitting to the fact I bought a pair of fake crocs - otherwise known as "Froggys" for a massive 2 euros ( compare that to the 40 bucks they were asking back home) . As a shoe for wearing round the house they are actually really practical ...especially for the following reasons:

1) Our toilet bowl leaks over the floor
2) The "Bathroom" at the orphanage is actually just one big pee puddle
3)We found 5 cockroaches in the kitchen this morning

All of which have now convinced me that wearing my inch thick plastic shoes is the way to go here !