When I first entered the VIN office, I didn’t know what to expect exactly. The induction program was really informative but also a lot of fun! I learned a lot about Nepal and their culture, about the organization VIN and how they try to empower marginalized communities, about the Nepali language and what I am supposed to do during my program (public health).
After the induction program I was placed in my host family. I was excited and also a little bit nervous, but the family was really nice and made me feel at home immediately!
On my first working day I was with two English volunteers who were already there for one week. In consultation with doctor Laxmi they started a project to take womans blood pressure and make an inventarisation about their medical problems. Really interesting to get to know about the medical problems of the woman in the community, but also a bit frustrating because we can’t do something about their problems right away. On Thursdays I assisted doctor Laxmi in the health post in Tinpiple, we saw a lot of patients suffering from common cold and upper respiratory tract infections because of the dust polluting the air.
The work with Nepali people, seeing how health care is organized in a developing country, make a small contribution to improve public health in Nepal and the stay at my host family made this an incredible experience which I will never forget!
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