Makwanpur Field Visit

Hello Everyone,

how is life back home and in the US? I must say I miss you a lot. There are so many things I am looking forward to that I cannot believe it is still two months until I can fly home. Of course I’ll also miss things here, especially the children, and I am glad I can spend this time here right now.

These split-feelings are very exemplary of my time here. There are always so many great and interesting things, and so many frustrating and annoying experiences. Last week I went to Makwanpur to conduct a case study in the small village Tistung, and I also experienced both sets of feelings there. As far as I was informed we were supposed to be there for 5 days in which we conduct interviews with locals to find out how Plan has changed and helped the community over the last 15 years. Fair enough I had done my preparation, called some people, read some studies, etc. to gain background knowledge. We left Monday morning for a three hour drive to the village.

Nepal's children are a joy :)

And that’s when the frustrating and challenging experiences started: First of all we left one hour late (as expected) I would not have been very upset with that, however they told me to GET READY immediately, so I did, and henceforth I waited the hour in the car, while they obviously did not get ready immediately J On the way we stopped three times so that the two Nepali could have some tee, pee, and eat their breakfast (on the way it is paid by Plan). By the way, the whole week we lost around 8 hours just waiting for our PREORDERED food to be ready - very efficient :)



Time for Tea?? ALWAYS :)

Once we reached our destination we waited for one hour on the guy who was supposed to meet us. Then it took us two hours to find a place to stay because no one had organized that in advance. Finally, at four o’clock, we sat down to talk about the project. However “we” talked about it in Nepali J I sat there the first 15 minutes not interrupting because I know it is impolite. Nevertheless I was curious because I heard them say “Plan” and “Tistung” and “Annika”, so I knew they were talking about some important stuff involving me. Finally I gave myself a push and I asked what they are talking about. So they summarized it by saying: we talked about the schedule of the next days. Tomorrow we will start with the school, the teachers, and students, and then we will go from there. “Is that ok for you?” I said yes of course it is, thinking that this was a little bit of a fuzzy plan, but “when in Nepal do as a Nepali does”. I did carefully ask them though, if it were possible for them to translate more for me. I was there to help them with their work, yet this would not be possible without translations.

Waiting.... probably the activity that we did most in Tistung

 Oh and had I told you that as soon as we left Kathmandu the 26° dropped to 10 degrees because it started raining in the hills? I had not taken a jacket and so I was freezing all day and night long. Sure enough I was sick the day after, with a headache, throat pain, and sinus problems (sicknesses for which I had not taken medicine with me!) You can imagine that my joy was enormous when I found out that we were to travel to the villagers 30 minutes by motorcycle every morning and back every evening. I did not mind the motorcycle however I do not like the fact that the by-passenger does not get to wear a helmet usually. Thinking of my friends and family at home, I managed to organize one from the neighbors, and all was good.

Mask and Helmet? CHECK

We started the day at the school, after waiting one hour for the teacher. They talked happily and excitedly for about half an hour before paying attention to me. In fact my Nepali co-workers had not translated anything of the conversation for me. So I politely asked them once again to please translate what they had said, and the answer was: “They just explained us about all the difficulties they are facing and all the things that have changed”. I said: “That’s interesting…” waiting for more. However they did not tell me anything more.

By day two I felt completely worthless, frustrated, disappointed and lonely. My begging for translations had not worked. I was not a part of the conversations. Of course they answered me all questions I asked them, but after they finished their short answers, they continued the Nepali. Even my co-workers talked strictly Nepali during lunch, breakfast, or dinner. I tried often to start a conversation about work, Nepal, Germany, families, etc. But like I said a few sentences as answer were enough for them and no one ever asked any questions back. They also never asked my opinion about the structure of the interviews or the document, or the schedule.  

I understand very much why Plan focuses on children and teenagers.
They have an open mind and are welcoming suggestions.

They ordered the food for me (rice twice a day) and one time even went to a meeting without me, just to tell me afterwards how great it was?!?! I felt very much excluded; I just sat there quietly and smiled at the children (who by the way loved me all). I took notes, while my Nepali co-workers did not, but I was only able to drop down their summaries and interpretations, not anything specific the people had said. I will work on the document now, but like I said we never really discussed structure or content so it is a little like free balling. And on Friday my co-worker from Kathmandu simply left to another place, and I was supposed to work by myself !

Enough of the frustrating work experiences, here are the great and interesting stories:

The landscape in Tistung is beautiful; I really fell in love with it. After learning how to grab on to the motorbike (not the man in front), I enjoyed the daily rides so much. One day we could even see Mount Machapuchare and Mount Annapurna from the “highway”. On Wednesday we took a 1.5hour motorbike ride through the hills and fields (no road) and I loved it. I felt reminded of mountain-biking in Kansas J

 The hotel was acceptable; I had a room for myself and something that was close to a bathroom. The greatest thing though: the town is nearby an electricity plant so there was no power cut. This allowed me to work on the document immediately after we returned from the field around 6 o’clock. Most nights I was up till 12 o’clock to edit pictures and write on the case study. The people were all really friendly and the children are so cute. I also gained a new friend. His name is Rajesh and he drove one of us to the village every morning. He was also the only one who really tried to talk to me, and we talked quite a bit considering the limits of his vocab. Believe it or not, I enjoyed dhal bhat every day, because it was so much better than the three fat-and-egg-soaked toasts we received for breakfast.

Rajesh and two female volunteers. If everyone were to volunteer so much
of his or her time like the Nepali youth does, we could change many things
for our children, disabled, or older people.

The villagers had so many touching stories to tell. Some of them were completely irrelevant to Plan’s work and the document, but they were still very much interesting to me personally. I realized how much good can be done if you do it right. The village has changed so much to the better in 15 years and everyone is grateful.

The children were so cute. Most of them really shy in the beginning, did not want to let go of me when I had to leave. They wanted to stroke my blond hair, touch my white skin and make me smile. Some of them ran away from the camera only to come back later to pose J

 I also learned a lot about my co-workers. I learned the way they work, the way they communicate, the way they eat (with hands), and the way they make plans… It was an eye-opening experience and I hope to be able to use that knowledge now.

All in all it was a good week. Of course I was glad to be back in the Kinderhouse where people talk to me and incorporate me. But I think that I had to learn my true role here. I thought I was here to help and to give suggestions and show them new things. As it turns out, being a young foreign female, the only thing I am here for is to listen and to learn. J

Alrighty, that’s it again. I know … long again… sorry. But I felt like it was a valuable experience that I wanted to share with you in every aspect (although this is maybe one third of the whole storyJ)

Have a great weekend!
Annika