After a long day, honestly speaking it was not a great sleeping night, at least for me and for Karl with whom I had the honor to share our super double “king” bad. At the same time I heard other friends from the team saying that they had an amazing sleep (then maybe it was just karl’s fault…).
We were there to assess the housing needs of more than 20 persons living with disabilities, all friends who are facing tough time because they lost their houses.
Anyway I pretended to sleep till the last minute and then quickly I got ready. I even had the courage to have a quick shower in our attached bathroom that was not particularly clean!!!
We had a very big day ahead. After breakfast and at least two cups of coffee, we moved on to meet our first beneficiaries for the house’ assessment.
Very close to our hotel in Khadichaur we met three people with disabilities, all in need of support. Few of them lived right on the bank of the local river and we discussed the risks of building the temporary shelters in the same exact location where their destroyed houses were located. We felt it was too risky. We agreed to find another venue far from the river banks.
More friends are anxiously waiting for us. We jump on the micro heading towards Pangretar VDC where we meet a young seven years girl named Salina who, totally paralyzed, spends her entire days laying on the ground, incapable of doing anything. At least this is our impression. Who knows what Salina can rally think. Maybe we are totally wrong. Our stupid assumptions are simply what they are: stupid and wrong. Maybe Salina, despite her immobility, has an amazing use of her imagination and surely understands everything around her.
It is a very sad moment despite the fact that Salina is smiling at us. It is hard, I guess impossible to think about spending your entire life in that way. We try to understand what happened to her, which condition is holding her back in that way. We have a long conversation with the family members, the father and the mother who lost their house during the quakes. Unfortunately we could not understand much. Apparently Salina was born healthy in a well renowned community hospital not too far and everything was all right till her 8th month of life. Then suddenly the parents realized that Salina was not moving like other babies. There was something wrong, extremely wrong.
After almost an hour of discussions, after screening Salina’s medical records that unfortunately were not of much help, we leave with the promise to do something for Salina. Still we had no clue about her conditions. Maybe celebral palsi or maybe Salina suffered of some forms of viral fevers. Who really knows…
We need to move. On the way to our next destination, our micro bus got hit by a relief aid truck hired by a major donor agency. It was a bit of scare moment also taking into account that truck did not stop. Maybe the driver did not realize what had happened or he simply pretended not to see it.
We could not let it go that way. We decided to run after that truck. Fortunately after less than a kilometer the same truck, part of a larger aid “convey” had stopped. It seems that they were waiting for us.
Few people of our team accompanied our driver trying to negotiate a “settlement”. At the beginning there was a bit of tensions but then common sense prevailed. After more than hour of discussions and arguments, a deal was reached and our driver got a fair compensation. I personally got a new buddy, Mr Thakur, one of the driver part of the convey who had played a very positive role in the negotiations. A good guy, Mr Thakur, no doubts.
It was hot, extremely hot thanks to an amazing sun. It was awesome, at least for me but probably not for my mates.
All tired we were ready to reach the last destination before our return to Kathmandu: Thulo Pakhar VDC, a lovely place, seriously damaged by the quakes.
More than 8 persons and other community members were waiting for us. We meet in the center of the village. On our back, some Buddhist shrines heavily damaged. We should not forget the areas we are visiting are inhabited by Tamang, one of the biggest indigenous groups living in Nepal. The team started with the survey, trying to get the full picture of persons living with disabilities of the area.
Meanwhile, I had the chance to walk to the remains of a local school. It is in shambles, the main building is totally collapsed but what struck me most was that school’s records, textbooks, examination papers, students’ notebooks were still on the ground amid the debris.
I am still thinking why this can happen. It is true the school was still officially closed. It is true that all teachers and school administrators went through the same shocks like anyone else but why not starting again by collecting and using all readable official documentation? I also noticed the remaining of an health corner within one of the classroom. There were all the medical records of the students, the first aid box, some basic medicines as per official provisions, health posters and graphics. My heart was crying as I had worked very hard to promote the school health nutrition approach in all public schools of the country. I am pretty sure that the school there was a role model in the approach. Now what?
It is time to go. It was a two amazing full days. The team worked extremely hard to better understand the situation of our new friends who lost their houses. Now we have to plan the construction of the temporary shelters.
We have already started screening and reviewing all the data collected. Planning is already going on to start with the construction of the temporary shelters. We will keep you posted/
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