Thursday, April 11, 2013

Nepal Day 4

About a 45 minute drive outside of Kathmandu, we found ourselves once again in a fairly remote area, and requiring a 15 minute trek to the project. No worries there. We walked single file exchanging hellos with the wonderful people of Nepal, passing stalls with fresh meat laying on tables that had been there for days, flies everywhere, vegetable stalls, small kiosks of different wares, and people just sitting in the street living life. A life that was simple yet hard. For all of that, they seemed pleased with who they were and with what they had which was nothing much, but to them it was everything and that is all they needed. We on the other hand see things differently. We saw people who were poor and living in places we wouldn't or couldn't even imagine living in. We saw people smiling when we would have been crying. We saw children playing with no shoes on, dirty, torn clothes, yet laughing and having fun no different than any child who would be in a developed country. And we wondered how and why all who we saw were at peace with who they were and with what they had. I think I figured it out. It's because they know nothing else, and are content with having just what they need and nothing more. I wish I could be like that. 

The project we went to was a school, a nice school with relatively new buildings, children in uniforms, teachers who were well versed in their roles, and a wonderful place to grow and learn. My assessment of the children: health – good; emotion – good; outlook on life – good; relationship with God – good; nutritional status – good. OCM's children are thriving here. A balanced meal every day, teachers who care, a focus on God and a school mission of teaching children to learn and embrace life. At the end of the day, they sang for us, clapped in thanks for us begin there and high fived us a s they passed us by on their way home. 

We had climbed up another few thousand feet on our trek to our summit of improved health care for the children and a summit for them to begin to able to look out over the world and say "yes this is mine and I am healthy enough, knowledgable enough, and spiritually filled to go out into this world and live a life that is full and not be hungry, dirty, and sick." 

In all things give thanks,
David