Notes on Nepal #4
Talk about saving the 'best' till last....
I have been in my orphanage for nearly a week now. There is no running water, all the water is drawn from a well (it's not a pretty well with a top on so get that picture out of your head) using a leaky bucket. We have electricity but it goes off some evenings as there is not enough to service the whole of Kathmandu. Despite being less than 5 km from Thamel, the major tourist area I have not seen a white face.
The orphanage is on the ground floor of a typical concrete house. It's very basic. It has squat toilets which of course do not flush. The children sleep 2 to a bed, which are home made bunk type things. The kitchen has a gas cooker and of course, there is no sink or anything, all the washing is done out by the well.
There are 2 women who work at the orphanage, one is the cook and the other the 'chairman' as the children call her. Yesterday I forgot my western politeness and just asked about the women (they don't speak English). The cook is 26, her 4yo daughter lives with her in the orphanage. She is a victim of domestic violence, apparently her husband drinks a lot and hits her so she came to live and work in the orphanage. The other woman no one is sure about.
The kids are lovely. They are quite needy, demanding and rough, I guess because they are always together mucking around. The young ones have limited English, the oldest is 15 and he is doing most of the translating for me which is good.
I was really ill (for the first time) the night before last which is not good when you only have a squat toilet and you have to get your water from the well. All better now, thank goodness!
This time next week I will be home in Dubai. Feels quite strange!
I have been in my orphanage for nearly a week now. There is no running water, all the water is drawn from a well (it's not a pretty well with a top on so get that picture out of your head) using a leaky bucket. We have electricity but it goes off some evenings as there is not enough to service the whole of Kathmandu. Despite being less than 5 km from Thamel, the major tourist area I have not seen a white face.
The orphanage is on the ground floor of a typical concrete house. It's very basic. It has squat toilets which of course do not flush. The children sleep 2 to a bed, which are home made bunk type things. The kitchen has a gas cooker and of course, there is no sink or anything, all the washing is done out by the well.
There are 2 women who work at the orphanage, one is the cook and the other the 'chairman' as the children call her. Yesterday I forgot my western politeness and just asked about the women (they don't speak English). The cook is 26, her 4yo daughter lives with her in the orphanage. She is a victim of domestic violence, apparently her husband drinks a lot and hits her so she came to live and work in the orphanage. The other woman no one is sure about.
The kids are lovely. They are quite needy, demanding and rough, I guess because they are always together mucking around. The young ones have limited English, the oldest is 15 and he is doing most of the translating for me which is good.
I was really ill (for the first time) the night before last which is not good when you only have a squat toilet and you have to get your water from the well. All better now, thank goodness!
This time next week I will be home in Dubai. Feels quite strange!
Labels: Nepal
posted by Wendy at Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Comments:
Sounds interesting Wend.Keep up the good work.Dad.
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