The students and the clinic and a bit of a hike

Another day ... another update. So much has been happening.....

We started working with the students yesterday after being oriented to the clinic and the qualified therapists the day before. We had a blast! We both taught theory to the students in the morning together - working on the cardio-vascular system. Not only are they learning in English, but because they are blind we cannot use pictures or diagrams to help teach them - imagine learning the cardio-vascular system in a foreign language without the use of diagrams!!! It's tricky!! How does one explain what bi-concave is? (red blood cell). The students are all very nice and happy to have some teachers it seems - after we leave they will have no more massage therapy schooling until July. Of course, the sooner they qualify, the sooner they can start earning money - so it is a very important thing to them.

In the afternoon, Evan is teaching practical massage therapy techniques with the students, and Andy is working indivdually with a more advanced student on his theory (lymphatic system ... ohhh!) and also working on developing better English skills. (The student, not Andy ... though there are some out there that would argue differently).

The clinic is just off the main drag around the lake in Pokhara - there are three treatment rooms - one is used by the students and the other two by the three qualified therapists. We are also starting to look into ways that we can help them with marketing and advertising.

There are many needs here, so the dontations that people gave to us are being used to fill some of these gaps - such as to make raised models of biological systems to help with learning, some basic stationery supplies (like a file folder/binder that closes!) and such.

Today there was a bus strike and so unfortunately the students could not get to the clinic - so we are working with them on Saturday instead so as they don't miss out. Alderwood Park and Chrysalis Spa take note ... a 7 day work week!!! But don't get any ideas ......

So today because of the stike, we went on a hike to the World Peace Pagoda built by Buddhist monks. In true Andy and Evan style we somehow wandered off the path, and got quite lost but eventually made it - very hard work because of the altitiude. But the reward was a cold coke out of the bottle sitting under Tibetan prayer flags looking up at the temple! Nice!!! We headed back another way, meeting women with large baskets of wood and leaves strapped to their foreheads, and then a brief meeting with two boys who wanted to know our names ... after which as we headed down the mountain we heard the echo of "Evanandyevanandy ha ha ha" as we went on!!!! THIS is the life!

At the bottom of this path we got a boat across the lake - it was a bit choppy so Evan had to help the boatman row! His 'Man Against Nature' routine practiced with Nick in Monterey came in handy! (It wasn't that bad!...) - but a nice trip across the lake past a little temple dedicated to Vishnu (in his boar incarnation) on an island in the middle of the lake. There are gods everywhere. And cows freely roam the streets and nose into garbage bins or sleep in the road quite happily. They are very respected (might be an incarnation of a god so you have to be careful) - if you kill a cow (say with your car, which would be very easy to do actually) you go to prision!!! But we digress ...

In short - loving it - LOVING IT! - what a great place and people - and the clinic is a wonderful place to be helping. More information is at http://www.seeinghandsnepal.org/.

More later ....

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"I wept because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet." (Persian proverb)