ARTICLE: MY FIRST VOLUNTEERING EXPERIENCE
By: Olga van Middelkoop from NETHERLAND
After two weeks of volunteering in the Public Health And Medical Care Project I can definitely say that is already an unforgettable experience. I learn a lot about the differences between my home country and Nepal. Sometimes that can be shocking but it’s all part of the country, culture and the whole experience.
During the week I sleep in a host family which is truly great and a very good way to get in touch with the real Nepali culture and lifestyle. It is nice to return to the host family for the week when you just spend the weekend in the busy city or traveling. It really feels like coming home (already after such a short period!) in a very peaceful environment.
I work one day in the week in the Health Clinic in Kavresthali, near Kathmandu. When we [volunteers] work in the clinic we help the doctor with taking blood pressure, plus other helpful medical information, and we help with questioning the patient. This is really instructive because first we get to make our own idea of what the cause of the medical problem could be and afterwards the doctor will say his thoughts and explain it to us.
The other days I work in the community together with other international and local volunteers. When we work in the community we visit households and take their blood pressure, blood sugar, length and weight. We do this because the Public Health And Medical Care Project just started in this community. With the information we get from the inhabitants of Kavresthali we try to get the major health problems so that we can focus on awareness and preventing these health problems in the future.
Working in the community is also a nice way to get to know the Nepali culture. We visit a lot of houses during the day and then you get an idea of what the life of a Nepali looks like. The people here are very grateful for our help and hospitable. We always get some tea or sweets offered. Even when they don’t have much to give.
These two activities we do in the week is a really nice combination. In the clinics we try to help suffering patients and in the community we are trying to convince people who are sick or have a high risk factors to go to the clinic.
Besides the activities in clinic and community it is also very instructive and eye-opening how relatively much you can do with not a lot of materials. As long as you just keep doing good with the little things you have it is always appreciated and worth it. But you have to keep in mind that your options are limited and still try to make the most of it. The situation here is very different than in my home country and it taught me that there is always a way to solve things, also when it’s not in the way you would prefer in the first place. Flexibility is an important part of the Nepali lifestyle and it is something I will bring back to the Netherlands. With only one more week to go I already feel sad to leave this beautiful country and the sweet people. I will definitely come back one day.
