Chapter 12: Day 2. Medical Camp & Village of Ale Gaun
Each day the team tramped down the steep hillside and back to our host village. Shortly after we gathered in a circle for debriefings each day. Sukey led a discussion asking members how they felt after the team’s first day of work. “Nothing horrible. Routine cases. Satisfied. Awesome. Questioned in a few days the answers didn’t change much. “Good. Cool. Happy. Fantastic. A new day. Calm. Organized. Nice. Interesting. Tired. Energetic. Neat. Hope tomorrow is the same.”
The Nepali political process was briefly discussed. Dr. Dinesh explained, “After the 10-year-run Maoist insurgency, they were brought to mainstream politics mostly by the mainstream political parties while overthrowing the Monarchy. The Secular Republic state then conducted an Election for the Constitutional Assembly in the year 2008 which sadly failed to promulgate a new Constitution in 4 years span. As the turmoil began to rise, major political parties now have made a consensus to form a Non-political Government led by the standing Chief Justice along with the retired civil employees to conduct fresh election. With the new economy going down-hill, as with other indicators, rising demands of having Ethnicity-based states have stirred a never-before known hype and unrest in the country along with some violence reported concerning this matter.”
However, in spite of the 125 languages spoken citizens were basically living in harmony. Thus the acronym Never-Ending-Peace-And-Love. NEPAL.
One of our host village families popped locally grown corn and fried soybeans. We were offered tea and told the spice cardamom, grown to the east, is often served in tea with honey.
Farmers from this village grow their own rice. We were offered a sample of roxi, roxie, raski - a fermented beverage; a version of millet or rice wine. Mike seemed to like it more than the rest of us. He said it made his feet want to dance.
Doctors Dinesh and Safal sang a Nepali duet while Mike playfully harmonized with an English version. Sadikshya charmed us with her graceful native dance.
The aama of each home prepared healthy meals from scratch. No cans or microwaveable foods here. These were hearty helpings of lentils and rice, tasty vegetables and bread-of-sorts made of rice. Dining by candlelight was not unusual. Electricity was unpredictable. Often lights did not come on until after ten, by which time most were fast asleep. It was hit-or-miss for those relying on a CPAP machine for sleep apnea.
Amrit reminds the team to watch out for leopards as we walk back in the dark to our respective rooms. “No. Not snow leopards. They live high in the Himalayas near Tibet. Living here is the tawny gold with black rosette variety.”
The Nepali political process was briefly discussed. Dr. Dinesh explained, “After the 10-year-run Maoist insurgency, they were brought to mainstream politics mostly by the mainstream political parties while overthrowing the Monarchy. The Secular Republic state then conducted an Election for the Constitutional Assembly in the year 2008 which sadly failed to promulgate a new Constitution in 4 years span. As the turmoil began to rise, major political parties now have made a consensus to form a Non-political Government led by the standing Chief Justice along with the retired civil employees to conduct fresh election. With the new economy going down-hill, as with other indicators, rising demands of having Ethnicity-based states have stirred a never-before known hype and unrest in the country along with some violence reported concerning this matter.”
However, in spite of the 125 languages spoken citizens were basically living in harmony. Thus the acronym Never-Ending-Peace-And-Love. NEPAL.
One of our host village families popped locally grown corn and fried soybeans. We were offered tea and told the spice cardamom, grown to the east, is often served in tea with honey.
Farmers from this village grow their own rice. We were offered a sample of roxi, roxie, raski - a fermented beverage; a version of millet or rice wine. Mike seemed to like it more than the rest of us. He said it made his feet want to dance.
Doctors Dinesh and Safal sang a Nepali duet while Mike playfully harmonized with an English version. Sadikshya charmed us with her graceful native dance.
The aama of each home prepared healthy meals from scratch. No cans or microwaveable foods here. These were hearty helpings of lentils and rice, tasty vegetables and bread-of-sorts made of rice. Dining by candlelight was not unusual. Electricity was unpredictable. Often lights did not come on until after ten, by which time most were fast asleep. It was hit-or-miss for those relying on a CPAP machine for sleep apnea.
Amrit reminds the team to watch out for leopards as we walk back in the dark to our respective rooms. “No. Not snow leopards. They live high in the Himalayas near Tibet. Living here is the tawny gold with black rosette variety.”