Stichting Veldwerk at Nepal

Secretariaat: Stichting Veldwerk Postbus 163 1850 AD Heiloo The Netherlands

Tel:+31 (0)72-5339585 veldwerk@wlink.com.np IBAN nr. NL51ABNA0543703266 Attn. Stichting Veldwerk, p/a Egmond binnen Bank: ABN-Amro 543703266

Sadness

In Nepal, October is the month of the festivals and festivities. All these festivals are similar to western festivities but in a somewhat different order. For instance Sint Maarten, children come to the door in small groups, singing and trying to get money for the festival. At the same time however, families join together and the sky is lit up by fireworks. So it could be Christmas and New Year in our country.
The first festival of the season is Dashain.


During the Dashain festival, people return to their birthplace to celebrate with their own families. So what do we do with the children? Do we sent the children home to their families or not? Some children are complete orphans and have no family what so ever. They stay home for sure and celebrate with us. Gifts, nice food, a Thika from Mummy and our partner CCSD joins us for the festivities.
Other children however do have a family somewhere and I encourage them to celebrate the festival with them. Two reasons: first of all I think it's good for them to meet their family again or what's left of it. They will be confronted with the poor circumstances they too come from and as a result appreciate their new surroundings, good care and study possibilities even more.


But, more important, after the festival when the children get back to our home, we ask them all sorts of questions to find out about their home situation. Who was there (father, brother, grandfather or grandmother, others) and of course if it was fun to be home. How many cows they have, do they own land, would they rather be with their families, etc.
This way we try do find out if the family would possibly be able to take care of the child themselves. Family reunion is something we highly recommend. Besides that, when a child is placed back with the family, we can create a new spot for another child in need. The waiting list is too long!
At this moment I think 3 children might go back to their families, however we must guarantee and pay their costs for education (about 200 euro each year). Because, next to safety, education is priority number 1!


Anyway, the children arrived home and they were happy to see us, except for Samichha. She didn't want to come back and when she first got to our home 5 months ago, she cried for 3 weeks. Her mother is still alive but a severe psychological patient and she can not take care of her little girl. I arrived at the children home that night and heard someone crying. I asked Didi: “who is crying so loud?”. “Samichha sir, she wants to go home, ha ha ha”, said Didi with a somewhat cynical tone in her voice. “That's not funny at all”, I replied and I went to look for Samichha. I took her on my lap and tried to comfort her but I didn't succeed. She cried non stop and the only thing she kept on saying was “I want my mother!” She was so sad. The Didi came and smiled a bit until she saw the tears in my eyes. What she didn't know was that I myself lost my mother when I was just 11 years old and I really felt this little girl's pain and sadness, just terrible! Samichha fell asleep on my lap after one hour. For 3 nights she cried for her mother, now she is okay and the happiest girl ever, luckily!


Tihar.
Two weeks after the Dashain festival, when everything is back to normal, the Tihar or Dipawali festival starts, feast of light.
On the first day the birds are worshipped. People put food in the windows or on the roof. The second day the dogs are worshipped. Normally they're kicked around, but on that day they get flowers around their necks and a thika on their foreheads. The third day is for the holy cows. At night people make an alter in front of their house and a trail of coloured paint straight into the house. That's the Laxmi puja, because Laxmi is the goddess of wealth. The alter in front of the door (with food, fruit, incense and a candle) is an invitation for the goddess to come in and bless their money and income. That night all the houses are lit up. Richer people have electric lights in different colours, poor people have candles everywhere. It looks beautiful, romantic and idyllic.


The day after it is time for Bhai thika. The sister gives her brother (Bhai) a Thika on his forehead and she gets a present in return. Mostly a beautiful new sari, that's a typical Nepali or Indian dress. After a big meal the party is over and everything turns to normal for a while. I spent that time in Pokhara with Thijs and Roos, two of our volunteers and our webmaster Jos Storken and his wife Nelle. We too got a Thika from our Nepali family, the sponsors from Hotel The Mountainhouse. That was a new and beautiful experience.


Our cook-didi!
She was in bed during the Tihar festival with a bad headache and as it seemed later on, pain in her armpit and a lump in her breast. Alarm....breast cancer?? The civilian hospital in the city is a big mess, they don't have proper equipment and the number of people waiting for treatment is enormous. So I phoned a friend of mine. A more expensive doctor but he works at a good hospital. We could come immediately and they made a mammography. The lump was localised and they advised us to get it removed as quickly as possible and sent it to the laboratory to have it examined.

06.30 AM the next day the operation took place. After two hours and a very expensive bill (they don't have health insurance in Nepal) she was allowed to go to the children home with me. The next couple of days a good rest in our sickbay. Two weeks after that we went for the results, no cancer, false alarm luckily. Again some tears to dry, this time because we were so happy.
Happy Dipawali Didi and a long live…!