Overseas with the Nepalese: Kids' hospital and Bangladeshi journalists

This a disability hospital for kids. All of them here are missing a limb or have broken one. Some have traveled here from small villages far away. They have about 80 beds and currently 60 of them are occupied. Rubita and I went there and distributed pens and notebooks for the kids to draw in because they spend all day in bed. Then we went and drew pictures with some of them for an hour. I taught a couple of them how to make origami boxes.

This hospital is supported by a different rotary guy. He is into prostheses and can manufacture them onsite, custom-made to each kid. They are pretty basic, but they cost about $10 USD.

It's interesting to think how different these kids' lives will be in a country that isn't conducive to handicaps. The prostheses definitely help, but I think it still must be hard going back to work or school. I was talking to Katie who is volunteering at the Spinal hospital. It seems REALLY hard to get used to a wheelchair. None of the streets or buildings here have ramps or elevators. Almost all the toilets are squatters. The family needs training on how to help their paralyzed family member. I guess it's hard back home too, but everyone just seems more unaware of paraplegics. I don't see many wheelchairs around.

Disability hospital

Prosthetics

prosthetic molds

Inside a ward

Inside the hospital

Finishing the box!

One day, my day didn't start til 5pm. Ashok whisked me off to a dinner with Bangladeshi journalists, Nepali journalists, and a couple rotarians. The Bangladeshi journalists were there for a few days doing research on Nepali healthcare. If possible, they seemed more unorganized than I'd expect a Nepali group to be. There was always someone missing for a photo or talking during a speech. Or, we were taking a bus to see the new eye clinic, and 2 of them hopped off to take pictures. They didn't wander back for 15 minutes and caused the bus to be really late.

Anyways, the rest of the night consisted of a Q&A session, a traditional Nepali dance performance, general dancing, and cake. At one point, their leader took the mike and invited people up to sing or make speeches. The Bangladeshi journalists spent a long time ~~singing~~ yelling into the microphone. It was funny the first time. The next 10 songs were painful. Some people made small speeches including a Shakespeare couplet. Then their leader asked for the American daughter to come up and make a speech. WHAT IS UP WITH THESE SPONTANEOUS SPEECHES. He told me to sing or make a speech. No. I protested but I was very stuck. Out of the blue, I recited the American pledge of allegiance in Spanish. It seemed to be enough. Only a couple of the journalists' daughters who were studying Spanish understood anything.

At the end of the night, I had a few business cards, a new facebook friend, an invitation to stay in Bangladesh for a week, an invite to visit a university in Banepa, and a full bladder from tea and coke and more tea.