"Learning from the Slums" - an interesting article from Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/03/01/learning_from_slums/

Pictures from the Vitamin A Campaign

This pictures are from my Vitamin A distribution adventures. This first picture is from a pooja performed by married women in Patan. A team of us from NTAG happened upon it as we were meeting with FCHVs prior to the National Vitamin A campaign. The other two pictures are from the "slums" of Kathmandu taken during the campaign. The river is in the background of the second picture. Yet, it is stagnant and moves only when the waste water from septic systems flow in from large tubes along the banks of the river. These blackened still waters of the Bagmati are filled with sewage, industrial byproducts, and trash, mostly plastic. The living conditions here are overcrowded.

Many people who have come to these slums are from villages throughout Nepal. The cost of living in Kathmandu is high and renting property is nearly impossible for these families. They move to the only available land in the city, along the river banks. From the original tent homes made from plastic tarps, they have developed over time to more permanent structures made of brick and cement. I have come to learn that it is difficult to distribute vitamin A capsules to new encampments due to the high number of migrants coming through them and the lack of permanent FCHVs. There is a team that is mobilized to service these areas.

Vitamin A Distribution - Nepal

I finally got a green tote! The green tote is sported by Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) during the bi-annual distribution of vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets to children from 6 months of age to 5 years. This last weekend I worked with NTAG (Nepali Technical Assistance Group) while they supervised this national campaign.

Although I was not able to make it to the far western region of Nepal for the Vitamin A Distribution, I did get to further explore the Kathmandu valley. On my first day I went to Lalipur which is located in the southern region of the valley. On my second day, I stayed within Kathmandu and visited many slum areas along the Bagmati river banks.

A night out

Tonight John and I watched "Fast and Furious, part 4" at the movie theater. Occasionally there are films from America that trickle down to Nepal. Although I am not one for action movies, this one was better than most action movies I've seen. It was entertaining, suspenseful, and without too much blood. It put me in the mood to drive fast. Since we don't own a car here in Nepal, I opted to walk fast instead! I was zipping through the crowds, nearly avoiding head on collisions, and doing maneuvers only thought to be done by professional stunt devils.

In the midst of suffering from indigestion having eaten a deep fried chicken burger at the theater and zooming up and down the street in my new high speed walk, I looked toward the street scene in front of me and felt nostalgic for this place. It made want to scream out, "I'm really in Nepal!" and hug myself. At the same time, I felt sad to know that in two months I will be leaving this place. Tonight, as we walked home I remembered the way I had first seen the beauty and strangeness of this city. Maybe it was the smell of dinner having just been made wafting from the open kitchen doorways or the way the stringed lights hung from windowsill to windowsill giving a warm glow to the street below that made feel this way. I smiled the entire way home.

Ganesh

Ganesh is the Hindu god of prosperity and wisdom. I drew him last night during one of our power outages, or "load shedding".