A few people have been asking what the heck I'm doing with my life these days.
Fear not inquisitors, I shall explain.
I have been in Pokhara for about three weeks now, and will remain in this corner of the Earth for another two months, working with an organization called Nepal House.
Nepal House is a Canadian-Nepali NGO (we recieved 'charity' status in Canada quite recently actually. Pretty exciting), with two branches to it. Here in Pokhara, Nepal House Kaski is the branch which provides psychological counselling services to children who have been victims of trauma, abuse, neglect, poverty, etc. etc.
Seeing as there was a civil war here in the last 10 years which killed over 17 000 people, there's a fair few traumatized children in need of these services.
Nepal House Kaski is staffed by four Nepalese men and women who have been trained in play and art counselling/therapy.
At home in Vancouver, Nepal House Society is the branch of the organization dedicated to providing funding and education opportunities to the Nepalese people working at NHK.
NHS' primary goal is to 'create capacity in Nepal'. Basically, the idea is to try and avoid a band-aid approach to support; instead of bombing in from Canada and helping out for a few months then leaving again, we come here to train the people who work directly with the children. Counsellors, caregivers, orphanage managers and health care professionals from about 15 different orphanages and children's homes in the Pokhara valley recieve support from NHK/NHS on a regular basis.
As a speech-pathologist, I am here providing the Nepali people with some information on child language development and the process of learning. We are running a series of five-day workshops, centered on various topics of relevance to the caregivers and the work they do out here.
It's amazing, and incredibly challenging. The barriers these children (and their caregivers) face on a daily basis are so far removed from the challenges we face at home. The environments they live in are so different from the child care centers I am used to working with, there are concerns about landslides, lack of electricity, road blocks and strikes which take precedence over concerns like cleanliness of toys (where toys are present) or a child who can't say their 's' sound.
Despite this, the people are all so welcoming and so eager to learn that you are left with no other desire than to hunker down and try to come up ways to teach them new skills within the context of their lives, a million miles removed from the comforts and conveniences of home.
Anybody who is interested, NHS' website is http://www.nepalhousesociety.org/
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
A heart of gold, a fistful of pennies
The Nepalese people are often described as the most kind and generous people you will meet.
With good reason.
I am constantly baffled by the ability of people here to give and give and give, despite having next to nothing for themselves.
Last night was my co-worker and good friend Michelle's final evening in Pokhara. She's been here for two months, providing support to the counsellors at Nepal House - teaching them about report writing, confidentiality and a plethora of other therapy-related skills.
In order to celebrate the end of her time here, our family at the coffee house where we go pretty much every day decided to have us all over for dinner. Imagine the world's smallest coffee house (there's four tables in total - max of 10 customers at a time), with the smallest kitchen. At the back of the kitchen are the two tiny rooms that the family lives in - the one bedroom is piled high with clothes, baby paraphenelia, jewellery, blankets , towels and all the other necessities of daily life.
When I arrived, the 22-year-old daughter Sabina gave me a big smile and informed me that I was to borrow one of her saris to wear for the evening. It was gorgeous. There is no piece of clothing more flattering than a sari, I am convinced.
After decking myself and Michelle out in her clothing, bangles and hair clips (Sabina and her sister even had to dress us - you try figuring out how to wrap yourself up in that piece of cloth), we had a photo shoot and sat down to the most incredible vegetarian meal ever. All eight of us.
Between the food, the colourful clothing and the fantastic company you might have thought we were in a five star hotel. Until you looked around and remembered how little these people have.
And yet they give and give, with an open-heartedness and ease which puts our Western concepts of generosity to shame.
That dinner was not the first act of kindness I have experienced here, and I'm sure it will not be the last. And every time I've tried to reject the Nepali kindness for fear of decimating their meager wealth, they smile and say
"you are family here. If I am in Canada, you would do the same for me."
....would we?
With good reason.
I am constantly baffled by the ability of people here to give and give and give, despite having next to nothing for themselves.
Last night was my co-worker and good friend Michelle's final evening in Pokhara. She's been here for two months, providing support to the counsellors at Nepal House - teaching them about report writing, confidentiality and a plethora of other therapy-related skills.
In order to celebrate the end of her time here, our family at the coffee house where we go pretty much every day decided to have us all over for dinner. Imagine the world's smallest coffee house (there's four tables in total - max of 10 customers at a time), with the smallest kitchen. At the back of the kitchen are the two tiny rooms that the family lives in - the one bedroom is piled high with clothes, baby paraphenelia, jewellery, blankets , towels and all the other necessities of daily life.
When I arrived, the 22-year-old daughter Sabina gave me a big smile and informed me that I was to borrow one of her saris to wear for the evening. It was gorgeous. There is no piece of clothing more flattering than a sari, I am convinced.
After decking myself and Michelle out in her clothing, bangles and hair clips (Sabina and her sister even had to dress us - you try figuring out how to wrap yourself up in that piece of cloth), we had a photo shoot and sat down to the most incredible vegetarian meal ever. All eight of us.
Between the food, the colourful clothing and the fantastic company you might have thought we were in a five star hotel. Until you looked around and remembered how little these people have.
And yet they give and give, with an open-heartedness and ease which puts our Western concepts of generosity to shame.
That dinner was not the first act of kindness I have experienced here, and I'm sure it will not be the last. And every time I've tried to reject the Nepali kindness for fear of decimating their meager wealth, they smile and say
"you are family here. If I am in Canada, you would do the same for me."
....would we?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
mo ali ali Nepali balshu
Allow me to tell you all a little story...
So today, being that it was beautiful and sunny and I found myself with an afternoon off, I decided to take my bike (her name is MeanJean and she is fabulous) and head off in search of the fruit and vegetable market.
My Nepali sister Sonu had already taken me there twice, so I figured I could find my way.
True to form, however, I immediately got lost. For a long time...
Determined not to go home empty handed (particularly because I had promised Sonu I would bring her back a papaya), I finally veered off to a roadside fruit stand to see if I could purchase some goods.
After a good ten minutes of miming and garbling my way through my Nepali vocabulary, a kind gentleman who spoke a bit of English took pity on me and came over to translate. With his assistance, I purchased 4 kilos of bananas, apples and mangos (amph) for 210 rupees. That's about 3.50 Canadian.
Bolstered by these successful purchases, and happy to have found myself a personal fruit guide, I asked my new friend if he could inquire about the possibility of procuring some papaya.
"Yes yes, i asking for you".
Sadly, the response was in the negative. No papayas at this fruit stand.
"You no worry, I am seeing some papaya, you come with me" and he walked off, motioning over his shoulder for me to follow him.
5 steps later, we were on the sidewalk, staring at what was very clearly someone's garden wall.
"You see? papayas!" he cried, pointing upwards.
And there, hanging from a tree in all its yellow-green glory, was a papaya.
"Oh yeah, but I think those belong to someone" I laughed, not thinking he was serious. Was he really about to go ask some random family to sell me two papayas off the tree in their backyard?
"No, no! No worry, I am asking them" he exclaimed, and walked off to talk to a group of elderly gentlemen who were sitting curbside enjoying a cup of chia.
15 minutes and 10 new Nepali friends later, a nice young gentleman walked out of the house, shimmed up the tree and cut down my prize. Coming out onto the sidewalk where I stood, he held out not one but two glorious papayas (meowa).
The price? 75 cents.
You don't get service like this in Canada.
So today, being that it was beautiful and sunny and I found myself with an afternoon off, I decided to take my bike (her name is MeanJean and she is fabulous) and head off in search of the fruit and vegetable market.
My Nepali sister Sonu had already taken me there twice, so I figured I could find my way.
True to form, however, I immediately got lost. For a long time...
Determined not to go home empty handed (particularly because I had promised Sonu I would bring her back a papaya), I finally veered off to a roadside fruit stand to see if I could purchase some goods.
After a good ten minutes of miming and garbling my way through my Nepali vocabulary, a kind gentleman who spoke a bit of English took pity on me and came over to translate. With his assistance, I purchased 4 kilos of bananas, apples and mangos (amph) for 210 rupees. That's about 3.50 Canadian.
Bolstered by these successful purchases, and happy to have found myself a personal fruit guide, I asked my new friend if he could inquire about the possibility of procuring some papaya.
"Yes yes, i asking for you".
Sadly, the response was in the negative. No papayas at this fruit stand.
"You no worry, I am seeing some papaya, you come with me" and he walked off, motioning over his shoulder for me to follow him.
5 steps later, we were on the sidewalk, staring at what was very clearly someone's garden wall.
"You see? papayas!" he cried, pointing upwards.
And there, hanging from a tree in all its yellow-green glory, was a papaya.
"Oh yeah, but I think those belong to someone" I laughed, not thinking he was serious. Was he really about to go ask some random family to sell me two papayas off the tree in their backyard?
"No, no! No worry, I am asking them" he exclaimed, and walked off to talk to a group of elderly gentlemen who were sitting curbside enjoying a cup of chia.
15 minutes and 10 new Nepali friends later, a nice young gentleman walked out of the house, shimmed up the tree and cut down my prize. Coming out onto the sidewalk where I stood, he held out not one but two glorious papayas (meowa).
The price? 75 cents.
You don't get service like this in Canada.
Friday, May 15, 2009
If it's for you in life, it will never pass you by
How does one begin to describe a place like Nepal?
I've been using words like amazing and majestic, in an attempt to convey something of the jaw-dropping, monumental intensity of this place.
But words aren't big enough for this country.
When you're surrounded by the endless sprawl of the Himalayas - and they really ARE endless - you somehow feel like a giant and a grain of sand, all at once....
This feels like a place where you can be something. Where you can help and be helped, where you can teach and learn, all in equal parts.
It feels like the place I've been searching for forever...only I never even realized I was
looking.
There are a thousand reasons to love a place like Nepal. And a thousand reasons why it will break your heart.
You love it for the colours. Look up, and you see blues, greys, golds and whites filling the skies. Look down and you see the dark greens and browns of the forest and earth. Look around, and you'll also see the reds, the purples and the pinks that gleam on the traditional dress of the Nepalis, the Tibetans, the Indians who all live here in a semblance of harmony. You see the oranges and yellows of the fishing boats, reflecting off the surface of Phewa lake. It's amazing.
You love it for the light. Light which can change in the span of a few minutes from the ominous darkness of a thunderstorm to the dazzling light of the sun as it bounces off the snow-capped peaks of the Annapurnas. Majestic. Jaw droppingly majestic.
I've been here a week. And every day, I have to stop at least 18 times just to LOOK. It takes my breath away.
This chapter's gonna be a good one kids.
I've been using words like amazing and majestic, in an attempt to convey something of the jaw-dropping, monumental intensity of this place.
But words aren't big enough for this country.
When you're surrounded by the endless sprawl of the Himalayas - and they really ARE endless - you somehow feel like a giant and a grain of sand, all at once....
This feels like a place where you can be something. Where you can help and be helped, where you can teach and learn, all in equal parts.
It feels like the place I've been searching for forever...only I never even realized I was
looking.
There are a thousand reasons to love a place like Nepal. And a thousand reasons why it will break your heart.
You love it for the colours. Look up, and you see blues, greys, golds and whites filling the skies. Look down and you see the dark greens and browns of the forest and earth. Look around, and you'll also see the reds, the purples and the pinks that gleam on the traditional dress of the Nepalis, the Tibetans, the Indians who all live here in a semblance of harmony. You see the oranges and yellows of the fishing boats, reflecting off the surface of Phewa lake. It's amazing.
You love it for the light. Light which can change in the span of a few minutes from the ominous darkness of a thunderstorm to the dazzling light of the sun as it bounces off the snow-capped peaks of the Annapurnas. Majestic. Jaw droppingly majestic.
I've been here a week. And every day, I have to stop at least 18 times just to LOOK. It takes my breath away.
This chapter's gonna be a good one kids.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Adios Vietnam, Namaste Nepal
Wow, I'm getting worse and worse and updating this puppy.
A quick recap of the last few weeks:
After quitting the backpacker guide job in Hanoi, I headed south to Saigon to see Brandon and Adam.
It was EPIC.
I landed in Ho Chi Minh City and as soon as I got off the plane the boys were waiting for me.
There are no words that can describe how wonderful it felt to see them again. Three years is a long time to go without seeing someone of monumental importance in your life.
Cool as.
They then proceeded to show me a side of Vietnam which I probably NEVER would have been able to access without them. I went to aerobics classes with Brandon's girlfriend Quyen (hilarious...picture about fifty teeny little Vietnamese ladies jumping around on a cement courtyard to some of the most aweful pop music you have ever heard. Soooo fun).
We went to a wedding (Vietnamese weddings last exactly one hour: you sit down, drink a bunch of beer, eat, then leave. You can tell who partied hardest based on the size of the trash pile under their table. Try not to kick over the thousands of empties as you leave).
We went to the Mekong delta and hung out with Quyen's family for the national holiday, then went to a seaside resort where Brandon and I were the only two white people. Sort of makes you feel like a rockstar when people stare at you that much.
I went to Vung Tau with Adam and his girlfriend where I got to experience karaoke. Real karaoke with a bunch of Vietnamese bar staff. I am not even going to begin to try to relate the hilarity of THAT experience.
Stories and experiences to last a lifetime.
I know you guys are going to read this so THANK YOU. Y'all killed it.
Quickly raced back to Bangkok after Saigon, where I was reunited with some folks from Vang Vieng for a night or two on Khao San Road.
And now...at long last...I am in NEPAL.
Two years of dreaming, and I'm finally here. I keep pinching myself. Kathmandu is everything I dreamed it would be and more. The smells, the colours, the people....this is going to be amazing.
I leave for Pokhara in the morning. Nepal House, here I come!
A quick recap of the last few weeks:
After quitting the backpacker guide job in Hanoi, I headed south to Saigon to see Brandon and Adam.
It was EPIC.
I landed in Ho Chi Minh City and as soon as I got off the plane the boys were waiting for me.
There are no words that can describe how wonderful it felt to see them again. Three years is a long time to go without seeing someone of monumental importance in your life.
Cool as.
They then proceeded to show me a side of Vietnam which I probably NEVER would have been able to access without them. I went to aerobics classes with Brandon's girlfriend Quyen (hilarious...picture about fifty teeny little Vietnamese ladies jumping around on a cement courtyard to some of the most aweful pop music you have ever heard. Soooo fun).
We went to a wedding (Vietnamese weddings last exactly one hour: you sit down, drink a bunch of beer, eat, then leave. You can tell who partied hardest based on the size of the trash pile under their table. Try not to kick over the thousands of empties as you leave).
We went to the Mekong delta and hung out with Quyen's family for the national holiday, then went to a seaside resort where Brandon and I were the only two white people. Sort of makes you feel like a rockstar when people stare at you that much.
I went to Vung Tau with Adam and his girlfriend where I got to experience karaoke. Real karaoke with a bunch of Vietnamese bar staff. I am not even going to begin to try to relate the hilarity of THAT experience.
Stories and experiences to last a lifetime.
I know you guys are going to read this so THANK YOU. Y'all killed it.
Quickly raced back to Bangkok after Saigon, where I was reunited with some folks from Vang Vieng for a night or two on Khao San Road.
And now...at long last...I am in NEPAL.
Two years of dreaming, and I'm finally here. I keep pinching myself. Kathmandu is everything I dreamed it would be and more. The smells, the colours, the people....this is going to be amazing.
I leave for Pokhara in the morning. Nepal House, here I come!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Just Another Day At The Office
For the past two weeks I've been working at a hostel in Hanoi running party tours out to Ha Long Bay.
And it has been incredible.
Not only have I been able to save money and party like a rockstar on a daily basis, but the people I have met here have been AMAZING.
The say a journey is to be measured in friends not miles, and it is true.
The tour I've been running consists of a night on a boat in Ha Long bay, followed by a night on Cat Ba Island. In both places I was lucky enough to work with some really incredible Vietnamese people who were so friendly and welcoming and immediately made me feel like a part of the team. I had heard a lot of negative things about the Vietnamese before coming here, but I can say in all honesty I have yet to meet a Vietnamese person I don't like.
And it really feels like you are their friend, not just some random foreigner who happens to work with them.
Example:
On the boat, there are 6 or 7 Vietnamese staff, including one girl. As a female, I tend to try and bond with the other females as much as possible (lends you more street cred if the girls like you), so it was really important to me that she like me.
On my third or fourth tour, I was sitting at a table in the boat restaurant and she walked up to me without saying a word and put a bracelet around my wrist.
It's not a particularly gorgeous or expensive bracelet, but to me it is one of the best gifts I have ever recieved. To me, that bracelet means I'm accepted and welcomed in a place where I am an ignorant intruding...and as a traveller, I don't think there's a better feeling than that.
I leave Hanoi tomorrow...I'm FINALLY going to meet up with Brandon and Adam in HCMC, then off to Nepal at the beginning of May.
Let the good times roll.
And it has been incredible.
Not only have I been able to save money and party like a rockstar on a daily basis, but the people I have met here have been AMAZING.
The say a journey is to be measured in friends not miles, and it is true.
The tour I've been running consists of a night on a boat in Ha Long bay, followed by a night on Cat Ba Island. In both places I was lucky enough to work with some really incredible Vietnamese people who were so friendly and welcoming and immediately made me feel like a part of the team. I had heard a lot of negative things about the Vietnamese before coming here, but I can say in all honesty I have yet to meet a Vietnamese person I don't like.
And it really feels like you are their friend, not just some random foreigner who happens to work with them.
Example:
On the boat, there are 6 or 7 Vietnamese staff, including one girl. As a female, I tend to try and bond with the other females as much as possible (lends you more street cred if the girls like you), so it was really important to me that she like me.
On my third or fourth tour, I was sitting at a table in the boat restaurant and she walked up to me without saying a word and put a bracelet around my wrist.
It's not a particularly gorgeous or expensive bracelet, but to me it is one of the best gifts I have ever recieved. To me, that bracelet means I'm accepted and welcomed in a place where I am an ignorant intruding...and as a traveller, I don't think there's a better feeling than that.
I leave Hanoi tomorrow...I'm FINALLY going to meet up with Brandon and Adam in HCMC, then off to Nepal at the beginning of May.
Let the good times roll.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Good Morning Vietnam!
Updates, updates, updates. Finally.
Three days ago I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam after having spent two and a half weeks (I think?.. time stands till when you travel) in Laos.
I'm going to try and describe some of the differences between the two countries, although I'm realizing more and more how hard it is to share my experiences with people at home. You sort of have to see these things to really understand them....I say this because I remember reading Brandon's blog on Vietnam when he first left, and the descriptions he gave of what he saw here never really registered until I arrived and saw all of these things for myself.
But I'll try my best to convey some bits and pieces.
Laos first.
Laos is GORGEOUS. Even though it is a landlocked country and we all know how much I love the ocean, I still say it's one of the most beautiful places I've been.....when the smog lifts.
For the first week I was there, everything was engulfed in thick clouds. You could vaguely make out the outline of hills, and imagine how beautiful the country might be if you could just SEE something.
The reason for the cloud cover is because in northern Thailand, Burma and Laos the farmers burn their fields in March. Apparently the ash is a powerful fertilizer. It's also a powerful pollutant, but nobody seems to care (eco-consciousness hasn't really hit south east asia yet).
However. Once I got to Vang Vieng it rained for a day, and then BAM. The Laos that everyone talks about appeared:
Rolling hills, mountain peaks, and limestone cliff formations surround Vang Vieng on all sides while the Nam Xong river flows along the western edge of the town. It's green and lush and the jungle is exactly how you would imagine a tropical forest. Spectacular.
Hence why I got stuck in Vang Vieng for two weeks. It was just too pretty to leave. And fun.
Ambience wise, I would compare VV to summer camp for big kids: everyone in town knows each other within three days of being there and there's tons of outdoor activities to do: tubing, rock climbing, biking, caving, hiking, swimming...PLUS you get all those things you wanted at summer camp but couldn't have cause you were little: co-ed rooms, bars and debauchery on a regular basis. Those who have been know what I'm talking about.
Good times had by all. And then I came to Hanoi.
Holy different city batman.
Hanoi is a city of four million people, with an estimated 2.5 million motorcycles. That's a lot of motorcycles in one place. Sort of a shocker after the relative calm and quiet of Laos.
The streets are narrow and filled with people, food stands, vendors, animals (not dogs and cats, ANIMALS: chickens and cows and turtles...); there are piles of bricks and dirt everywhere (things appear to be in a perpetual state of construction or destruction, I can't quite figure out which it is)...basically picture a city in Canada and then imagine everything being exactly the opposite of that. You'll start to get a bit of an idea of what Hanoi is like.
The poverty level is a bit hard to figure out, perhaps because of the socialism thing. You get the impression that people aren't as poor as in laos, but at the same time people here harass you a lot more...I don't know if it's because they need the money , or they've just figured out that tourist = rich.
Because even if I'm dirt poor by Canadian standards, I'm definitely still in the top 1% of the population here. Wierd.
-----
Ok that's all I've got for now folks. Hope this satisfies the cravings of those who are still reading the blog. Miss you all and hope everyone is having a happy easter.
My Easter Dinner was a medly of snake meat, intestines, ribs and snake blood. Delicious.
Enjoy the ham.
Three days ago I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam after having spent two and a half weeks (I think?.. time stands till when you travel) in Laos.
I'm going to try and describe some of the differences between the two countries, although I'm realizing more and more how hard it is to share my experiences with people at home. You sort of have to see these things to really understand them....I say this because I remember reading Brandon's blog on Vietnam when he first left, and the descriptions he gave of what he saw here never really registered until I arrived and saw all of these things for myself.
But I'll try my best to convey some bits and pieces.
Laos first.
Laos is GORGEOUS. Even though it is a landlocked country and we all know how much I love the ocean, I still say it's one of the most beautiful places I've been.....when the smog lifts.
For the first week I was there, everything was engulfed in thick clouds. You could vaguely make out the outline of hills, and imagine how beautiful the country might be if you could just SEE something.
The reason for the cloud cover is because in northern Thailand, Burma and Laos the farmers burn their fields in March. Apparently the ash is a powerful fertilizer. It's also a powerful pollutant, but nobody seems to care (eco-consciousness hasn't really hit south east asia yet).
However. Once I got to Vang Vieng it rained for a day, and then BAM. The Laos that everyone talks about appeared:
Rolling hills, mountain peaks, and limestone cliff formations surround Vang Vieng on all sides while the Nam Xong river flows along the western edge of the town. It's green and lush and the jungle is exactly how you would imagine a tropical forest. Spectacular.
Hence why I got stuck in Vang Vieng for two weeks. It was just too pretty to leave. And fun.
Ambience wise, I would compare VV to summer camp for big kids: everyone in town knows each other within three days of being there and there's tons of outdoor activities to do: tubing, rock climbing, biking, caving, hiking, swimming...PLUS you get all those things you wanted at summer camp but couldn't have cause you were little: co-ed rooms, bars and debauchery on a regular basis. Those who have been know what I'm talking about.
Good times had by all. And then I came to Hanoi.
Holy different city batman.
Hanoi is a city of four million people, with an estimated 2.5 million motorcycles. That's a lot of motorcycles in one place. Sort of a shocker after the relative calm and quiet of Laos.
The streets are narrow and filled with people, food stands, vendors, animals (not dogs and cats, ANIMALS: chickens and cows and turtles...); there are piles of bricks and dirt everywhere (things appear to be in a perpetual state of construction or destruction, I can't quite figure out which it is)...basically picture a city in Canada and then imagine everything being exactly the opposite of that. You'll start to get a bit of an idea of what Hanoi is like.
The poverty level is a bit hard to figure out, perhaps because of the socialism thing. You get the impression that people aren't as poor as in laos, but at the same time people here harass you a lot more...I don't know if it's because they need the money , or they've just figured out that tourist = rich.
Because even if I'm dirt poor by Canadian standards, I'm definitely still in the top 1% of the population here. Wierd.
-----
Ok that's all I've got for now folks. Hope this satisfies the cravings of those who are still reading the blog. Miss you all and hope everyone is having a happy easter.
My Easter Dinner was a medly of snake meat, intestines, ribs and snake blood. Delicious.
Enjoy the ham.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)