Day 1 and our team have finally met!!
After hanging about Kathmandu for a day and a half, I can honestly say I am well and truly ready to get started.
Our team is amazing! 5 Paramedics, 1 Paediatrician, 1 Nepali General Physician, 1 NGO volunteer and two in house guides. A fab range of skills and experience between us and if dinner is anything to go on, a great mix of personalities.
Tomorrow we sort the kit and medication stock and will be hitting SASANE, a local group which helps vulnerable women. For Rs 1000, we get a tasty lunch, a bit of education into their project and learn how to make momos. Yum.
Sadly, it was originally the day we were to spend with MCAF (Mother and Children Art Foundation) at a school where we were planning on running some health checks and first aid sessions. The Paediatrician in me is sad.
It is currently the festival of Deshain, one of the biggest festivals in the Nepalese Calender and as a result our Kathmandu time has turned a little topsy turvy.
I can’t wait for Thursday, where we will be making our way to a village called Dodin, in the Helambu region (badly hit by the earthquake) and constructing the first medical camp there for The Wild Medic Project. There will be an estimated 300 patients arriving over a 6 hour period, so tomorrow evening’s logistics meeting will cover how on earth we plan to get through our caseload in a timely and efficient manner.
But there is a part of me that is so excited and itching to get going.
Let’s hope tomorrow’s planning day goes smoothly.
But for now, bed. After a lovely first meal with the rest of Team Ashwin at OR2K, the snazzy UV lit restaurant in Thamel where A+P celebrated their wedding anniversary many moons ago.
Tiny
