My first week in Nepal was primarily concerned with getting settled into the city, learning my way around, finding the places to buy groceries, eat food, and avoid suspicious characters, and meeting the other staff of the Joy Foundation. But it wasn't all running errands and setting up the office. Rachel and I had a little bit of fun too.
DAY ONE: 3rd September
We’re finally here! The last 36 hours has definitely been an adventure and a lesson in the miscommunications that can come from email correspondence.
We arrived in Kathmandu yesterday afternoon at about midday. Going through immigrations was easy enough. It was important that we said we were in the country to trek and travel, not to study or to volunteer. This was key advice that we received from Deb and the other NAFA members in the preparation for our trip. While it’s common for people to come to Nepal and volunteer, apparently it’s illegal. And since we’re coming in on holiday visa’s, not work or student visa’s, we couldn’t write down our real purpose.
We finally got through immigration etc. and headed out of the building to find Petra. It turns out it wasn’t too difficult. We found her quickly and then we were on our way. She welcomed us with the white scarves. It was good to finally meet her in person and put a face to the name and emails. Petra grabbed a taxi and we managed to squeeze the three of us, plus our luggage, and the two big bags of jumpers into the tiny taxi.
The ride to Thamel was just as I remembered. The noises, smells, and sights of Nepal have remained the same.
We arrived at the Holy Lodge and this was when our troubles began. It turns out the manager wasn’t there and the rest of the staff didn’t have the bookings noted anywhere. And they weren’t prepared to give us the price we had already negotiated. So after checking out the rooms and talking it over we decided to spend one night there, then move somewhere else.
We got changed and headed out to find a new place to stay. Petra suggested the Tasi Dhargey so we went to check it out. The place was clean, convenient, and the rooms were nice. More than that, the manager was ok with US$10 per night (working out to about AUD$890 for the whole 3 months).
Once we had our accommodation sorted we headed off to check out the Joy Office to meet the other staff. The office wasn’t what I was expecting. It was massive compared to what I had thought. And very organized and neat. It’s also the POS for some bath products and health items, the proceeds of which go to projects that Joy runs.
We met those staff that were in (Ramita and Pradiep) before heading over to Pumpernickel’s for coffee. It was just like I remembered.
We spent a little time talking about Petra’s expectations for our placement, and some discussion about theory and culture that we should expect to bump into on placement.
Petra seems like someone with very similar values and ideas about community development work and social work in general. She has a lot of different experiences in practice and I’m looking forward to learning a lot from her.
After coffee we headed back to the Joy office to meet Chandra. He was very friendly and most helpful. We talked about his role in the organization and how he helps out. He helped us get phones and sim cards sorted, then walked us back to the hotel.
After a quick dinner at the Organic Café we headed back to the hotel for an early night.
DAY TWO: 4th September
Today has been pretty awesome. We settled into our new accommodation (I love the room and the location), and grabbed necessities (toilet paper, water, etc.). We’ve also discovered the “Border’s” of Nepal. It’s called Pilgrims and they have so many interesting books! I’ve already picked up a few on Nepali culture that should be really helpful in the work that we’ll do.
One of the books that we picked up today was a small Rs72 book on the Tamang people. Looking at the lists of kids at VSN and Seabird who are involved in the workshops and program evaluations, it is hopefully going to be really helpful. We shall see.
I think the rest of today will just be about chilling and resting. And getting started on assignments. It’s going to be really important to manage my time well so that I can fulfill all of the required tasks for prac as well as getting the assessments for 4100 done.
P.S. I DON’T WANT TO BUY ANY HASH OR TIGER BALM!
DAY THREE: 5th September
Well, here it is. Already it’s our third day in Nepal. Last night we decided to spoil ourselves and went to the Roadhouse Café for pizza. SO GOOD! And since we shared it worked out to Rs275 each, which is about $4.17 each. And that’s an expensive night out. I’m starting to realize how organized I was in preparing for the trip. I budgeted for $10 for each meal so $30 a day. It’s going to be a lot cheaper than that.
We had an early night, both of us appreciating the time to ourselves. I definitely think that our addressing the need for honesty and space has set us up for this trip.
As for today, we went to Swayambhunath. It’s a collection of stupas/monasteries/pagodas about an hour’s walk outside of Thamel. And it took us 2. We got a little lost but it worked out in the end. We actually passed the Benchen Monastery which had a list of 10 things to help the environment. I think those are going to really help with my personal reflections, particularly the one about developing an understanding if environmental issues and how they affect you and your community. In Brisbane I tend to drive everywhere, though it would be pretty easy for me to walk to places like Garden City or work.
When we reached the top of the walk, it was incredible. Like Mt Coot-tha in Brisbane, you can see the whole city. It actually made me think about the research that we did for the database and the statistics of how many head per square mile. When you see so many buildings packed into such a small geographical space, it’s understandable that Nepal’s proportion is so high.
When we returned from Swayambhunath I took my laptop from the office and set up the internet at the hotel. Then I called Dad to wish him a happy Father’s Day. It was really good to hear his voice. And Mum’s. And it made me realize how lucky I am to have such supportive parents. I wouldn’t be able to get through this prac, or even this degree, without their help.
So tonight and tomorrow are going to be chilling out and getting a start on my manifesto. I need to embrace my inner Marx. Maybe I should listen to some listen to some German folk music.
DAY FOUR: 6th September
So I’m supposed to be doing uni work today but I’m finding it incredibly difficult. There’s a construction site outside my window and of course there are the regular noises of Thamel. I guess I just have to suck it up and stop complaining. It could definitely be worse.
It’s been a very strange day today. I’ve felt a little spaced and I’m finding it hard to stay focused on uni work. I know that I need to get my learning units done but I’m getting distracted and now that I have my laptop back, I have TV shows to distract me. I need to use this experience to not only learn more about being a social worker, but also to improve my self-control and discipline.
Today we had lunch at Northfield and were given discount vouchers for the massage parlour. So we thought about it and decided it would be a good start for our Nepal placement if we were relaxed. It was a really great decision and I definitely think that I’ll be able to go into our first day of Nepal placement on the right foot. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.
DAY FIVE: 7th September
I feel like I’m repeating myself when I say that today was very interesting. It was the first day of “work,” a chance to set up our office, and a chance to meet Indira for the first time.
To say that I was intimidated would be a gross understatement. At first, she was very aloof. I suppose she was just sizing us up and deciding whether we are here to spy on her for NAFA or whether we are here to really learn more about social work in Nepal. I think once she realized that our goal is to learn and to add to the community, she seemed to respect that.
We talked a little about the things we had planned for PA Nepal, and asked when the best time would be to visit the kids. It looks like this work, and the program evals with Surendra, will clog up our Saturdays. But it should be fine, provided we set aside another day for uni work and self-care.
Then we spoke about organizing a trip to Palpa where PA Nepal has about 10 boys. By the sound of it they’re living in a more community village-style home rather than the city homes. So we’re probably/hopefully going there for 3 days to take a look.
We said goodbye to Indira before taking a look around the Naya Bazar home. In comparison to New Youth, it’s very neat and clean. And there’s no gross urine smell. Indira definitely runs a tight ship.
Then it was time to head back. We organized a few things before sitting with Ramita to go through the workshops and to talk about the interview schedules. She seemed to think that both would be fine in terms of their cultural appropriateness. This was really our biggest concern, that everything we’d put together would likely be received badly or might be unintentionally offensive.
DAY SIX: 8th September
Today we’re heading out to Sankhu to the PA Nepal home. It’s likely to be about 1 ½-2 hours by bus. We’re planning to spend a little time observing the kids, checking out the home, and figuring out when the best time would be to do the life story process. I’m definitely looking forward to getting out and seeing this home.
I think I have a new favourite place in the world! The PA Nepal home can be described in one word: immaculate. Considering the other homes I’ve seen, this one is clean, tidy, odourless, and in such a picturesque place. It would be great to spend some of Dasain there if we get the chance.
The house manager, Sagar, was very shy and quiet at first. And we really didn’t know what to say so it was a little awkward at first. He called on two of the “middle” girls to give us a tour of the grounds. K and S were great. They were friendly and talkative and I wouldn’t mind spending more time getting to know them a little better.
After our tour we met the house-mother, Sukumaya. She’ll be one of our alternate gatekeepers at Sankhu when Sagar isn’t there. Then it was time to head home.
DAY SEVEN: 9th September
It wasn’t really a massive day today. We spent most of it organizing for our meeting with Surendra tomorrow. And making sure that we have copies of everything we want to talk about. We sat with Petra and discussed some of the issues with running program evaluations (ethical dilemmas, confidentiality, anonymity, etc.) and brought Ramita in to talk a little more about culturally appropriate questions. I will write more tomorrow.
THINGS I’VE LEARNT IN MY FIRST WEEK:
1. Learning to work within this very different culture is going to take a lot of work, reflection, and making mistakes. But it will hopefully help me to develop skills that I will use in the future.
2. Time management is going to be so important.
3. Taking time for self-care is going be essential to stop my head from exploding.
4. Be flexible: you never know if you’ll be going out, staying in, or nothing at all. In community development work there is no such thing as just another day at the office.
5. Relationships with gatekeepers are essential: be sure to maintain these.
6. Be prepared for any situation. Contingency plans for presentations, workshops, group work, and just plain fun are needed. And alternatives need to be considered.
7. Be grateful for the resources and people you have to help. None of this work will be possible without Petra, Ramita, and Pradiep.
8. Don’t make assumptions based on first impressions. People will surprise you. (e.g. Sagar)
9. Be completely honest. The cliché “Honesty is the best policy” is cliché for a reason. It makes sense. In Nepal, people want the truth so don’t sugar-coat to avoid uncomfortable situations. In the end, people will appreciate your honesty.
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