I am very aware that there hasn't been a blog post now for two weeks, but don't worry, I haven't died.
We've been in community now for almost three weeks and the volunteers are well underway with their projects. I've had days with lots to do and days with little to do, but I'll blame that on the amazing efficiency of the volunteers. The group I am working with are really great, and I'm not just saying that in case they're reading this. Everyone has come up with so many good ideas and have overcome the numerous issues we've had to deal with that are out of our control. I'm feeling ever so proud already.
The work we are doing is focussed on two areas: sexual and reproductive health and livelihoods. Most of the work has focussed on the former although many of the volunteers are now looking at agricultural projects too. Unfortunately the schools we are supposed to work in are shut for at least half of the time we have been placed here, so the volunteers have had to look for alternative projects to work on. They've done well though and have found a number of new communities that former volunteers hadn't identified. I'm hoping that after the next two weeks we'll be able to get into the schools.
Last weekend one of the counterpart pairs organised a litter picking day for one of their Community Action Days (CADs) which was really successful and the whole community were really keen to get involved. I was genuinely surprised by this because the local people don't seem to worry too much about litter, it just gets thrown into the street or burnt. Some of the other groups have also been leading sessions about menstruation and puberty to school children who would not usually get these kinds of lessons. In Nepal, girls don't get any education about menstruation despite the fact it is in their textbooks as it is a taboo subject. All of the volunteers in my group will therefore be going into schools to teach girls about these important lessons. (I have suggested they design a leaflet called "It's Not the End of the World: A Guide to Your First Period". Genius, I know).
Although I am not directly involved in the work of the volunteers, I get to see a lot of them in action and I'm excited to see what they're going to come up with next. A lot of them are in planning stage soon but some of the things they'll be doing include:
- painting schools and redecorating toilets with hygiene advice
- homemade footcare remedies (the feet of Nepali women are not a pretty sight)
- sessions in schools about stress, mental health, gender equality, contraception, STIs and hygiene
- pap smear testing camp
- general healthcare camp: checking blood pressure etc
There's plenty more but you get the gist! Each group has to do a minimum of 3 CADs but I know that many of my group plan on doing more. In their pairs they each have to complete one Active Citizenship Day (ACD) too, which involves leading a workshop on a global issue to the rest of the team. We have the first one tomorrow and I'm excited to see it.
When I'm not helping the volunteers with planning, myself and my counterpart Rahul go out to visit the volunteers in their host homes or in their work placements. We also have to deal with a lot of financial paperwork which makes my brain ache and I end up asking a lot of questions like "isn't there an easier way?!". The answer is always no and I've come to realise that in Nepal there is never a straightforward solution or answer. It's something I'm gradually coming to terms with though.
I had to leave community for a few days to go up to Kathmandu and it hit me then that I actually missed being in my community. Despite a few days where I've been feeling totally negative, on the whole I am enjoying it here. My host family are very sweet and although I can only communicate with the little sister (who rather kindly gave me a French manicure tonight, HELLO!), they seem to be very nice and they always give me lots of cups of tea which makes them good people in my book.
I've got one week left in community before I go on a few days leave and immediately after that it's our Mid Phase Review (MPR), with just five weeks in community after that. Although some days it seems like everything moves very slowly, the time is in fact going very quickly and I know from experience that once MPR is done, time moves even quicker. It's going to be nice for the volunteers to take some time out and reflect on their experience so far, but it does make it hit home that half the programme is over already.
This week I'll be doing more host home visits and going to see some of the volunteers carry out their CADs. More on that, plus my time off next time!
Lizzie x
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