(A few of the boys from the orphanage dressed in their school uniforms.)
by Utsha Khatri '09
Namaste! My name is Utsha Khatri. I am a rising senior. I am spending my summer in Nepal. My parents moved from Nepal to the US a long time ago. Though I was born and raised in the US for most of my life, I have also considered Nepal my second home. I lived in Nepal for a few years as a young child. I also spent a couple summers in Nepal with my mother and younger sister during grade school. This summer, I am returning after 8 years.
Both the country and I have changed a great deal in the last 8 years. Nepal has experienced a lot of political instability following a civil war leaving many people killed, displaced and jobless and many children orphaned. My first two weeks in Nepal I observed at a hospital. I went on rounds with a surgery unit, visited ill patients, observed HIV counseling sessions and observed during operations. It was very interesting to observe how the hospital system functions, what types of health problems Nepalis face, and learn about how HIV/AIDS affected the country.
For the last ten days (and the next 3 weeks) I am living and working at an orphanage. The orphanage, Papa's House, was founded and is run by Michael Hess, whose brother, Dr. Peter Hess, is an economic professor at Davidson. The children have been rescued from life-threatening situations and many have had their lives turned up-side down by violence inflicted by Maoists. At the orphanage, I help tutor children before and after school, play with the children and take them to and from school. I also teach English at a nearby, underfunded school during the mornings. My time in Nepal so far has been amazing. I have really enjoyed being integrated in Nepali society, even if only for a couple months.
Comments (1)
It was very interesting to read Utsha's note on her recent visit to Nepal. Utsha chose to go there to do volunteer job despite the fact that it was not safe for her to go to a country so impoverished, unsafe and with desperately inadequate law and order situation. A decade long Maoist insurgency changed the whole dynamics of the country with thousands killed, maimed, orphaned and made homeless.
Utsha could have gone to any other country in the world for volunteerism. However, the main reason in her choosing Nepal was to see Nepal first hand and acquaint herself with her parents relatives and folks of the country of her origin. She had a strong desire to do some thing for the poor children of Nepal as well.
During the period of two months this summer, she not only surprised her grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins etc by presenting herself as a grown woman. At the same time she also endured all kinds of hardships. She missed things in the U.S. like good food, safe drinking water and above all transportation system. When life in Kathmandu was totally paralyzed by strikes and demonstrations, she had to walk miles to and from the orphanage in the blazing sun where she volunteered. Last time she visited Nepal was several years ago when she was a child. To our amazement however, she seems completely satisfied and happy in what she did in helping the poor and disadvantaged children of Nepal. She expressed her strong desire to go back again in the near future.
You may have guessed, we are the proud parents of Utsha.
Posted by Uttam B. & Usha Khatri | August 17, 2008 1:13 PM
Posted on August 17, 2008 13:13