Random Thoughts

Every year, over 12,000 Nepalese girls are sold into the brothels of Calcutta for as little as 800 rupees. That's about AU $12.

Nepalese villagers living in remote parts of the country are selling their kidneys to India in the hope their children can eat and go to school. They are promised 800,000 rupees but are paid only 80,000. There is an NGO working to assist those who are dying as a result of the operation.

Having soap available in households will reduce diseases like diarrhoea and respiratory infections by 50%. There are campaigns to help educate Nepalese about the importance of washing their hands with soap.

On 1 June 2008, the Nepal Communist Party was elected after 10 years of Maoist rule. Western trekkers are no longer held up on the mountains by the armed Maoist insurgents demanding money and there is relative peace. On the flip side, people are still starving and living well below the poverty line. There is no infrastructure, rubbish lines the streets and power outs are a daily occurrence in Kathmandu. 2011 is 'Come Visit Nepal Year', so let's hope that with the encouragement of tourism, Nepal's people are also taken care of.

When you know nothing, a little bit of information is a lot. If one girl now understands what HIV is and how she can avoid contracting it, our trip has been worth it.

If one mother teaches her family how to prevent the spread of tuberculosis as a result of our public health clinics, I am happy.

If one young person now has the confidence to apply for a job that requires basic English, we've achieved something worthwhile.

If a teenage girl has learnt how to knit a hat which she can sell at the market for 200 rupees, then we have helped one family start to generate an income.

Destitute is a word that sounds like the end of the road. If we have helped nine children at the Centre for Destitute Children find the start of a new road because every day they see their 'Mural of Hope', we have helped dreams seem closer.

If this trip is reinvigorated someone's passion for the humanitarian side of Rotary, then only more good can follow.

If even one person on this trip feels inspired to contribute in a greater way to the lives of those who do not have food, water, shelter or security, then an objective has been achieved.

Yesterday, Damien, Sue and I were walking up the stairs of the Tharlam Guest House to our rooms to start the laborious task of packing. We met a Chinese girl on the stairs who was carrying a tiny, starving puppy in a cardboard box. She'd rescued it from the garbage along the roadside and was pleading with the manager of the Guest House to take care of the puppy as she was returning to China. He said no. Somehow the box ended up in our hands when we realised the puppy desperately needed water and some food. Sue had seen a litter of puppies about the same size so off we went trying to find the mother of this bag of bones. Nope, not the same litter of pups. The mother snarled and growled. As we stood on the street wondering what to do next, a Norwegian guy walked past. Damien jokingly asked if he wanted a puppy. He said "no, but I will take you down to the Stupa where a volunteer vet checks over stray dogs". Bag of bones was wormed and checked, but still no home. We asked Andrea, another European volunteer, what to do. She told us to plea with the monks at the monastry that adjoined our accommodation. Sue emptied her wallet of rupees in exchange for reassurance that 'Lucky' would be taken care of by the monastry. The head monk agreed and Lucky met her new family of Bhudhist monks. She howled all night but seemed ok in the morning. From my window I could see the young monks take it in turns to give her pats and food as they practiced saying her name, 'Lucky, Lucky'. On the day when Nepali stray dogs are given marigold garlands and worshipped as part of a cultural festival, Lucky serendipitously started her new life in the care of Bhuddist monks.

Lena