Jai Nepal

As soon as I heard the news on Saturday at 9 am in London, I frantically browsed through emails, facebook, and news to see what had happened to my home, Nepal. I received a text saying “is your family okay?” I didn’t know what my friend meant for a bit but then my mind knew to instantly google “earthquake Nepal”.

Bhaktapur

First of all, I am so grateful that all my family and friends are safe, alive and together with a community during this heart breaking and painful crisis. It makes me so sad to not be with my mom and the rest of my family in Nepal. However, I am at peace knowing that she is with a very warm, loving and caring community who will look after each other.

After finally getting through to my uncle’s cell phone, I was able to talk to my mom briefly. I was relieved that she was safe and sitting outside with the neighbours. Part of me thought she would be fine because I do have one hell of a resilient mother and I just hope I can be like her when I’m a mother too. She was married off when she was 19, had two kids by 24 and she was 40 when my dad passed away of lung cancer. She has been standing strong with her own hopes and dreams and living by herself ever since and still being an amazing mother to my brother and I. I know this devastating earthquake will only make her stronger.

Later on Saturday, I chatted with my aunt on facebook and she told me the Teku community, where my mom lives, is staying in a big one-story hall where they used to store cement in the past. I remember learning how to bike in front of that hall in the open area as a kid. This area sure will be holding lots of memories for us. Later on that day, my cousin who is studying in China informed that all our families were safe and this made me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

Amidst all the news, I have to admit part of my mind instantly rushed to a million thoughts in this time of uncertainty –mostly thoughts that left more tremors in my mind.  Thoughts like “This is going to take forever”, “electricity will probably take months to get back up”, “all the landmarks I grew up seeing are gone,” “how are they going to clean up all that mess?” My rushed mind even thinks “I need to go back and help in anyway I can.” I felt useless and agitated by my 120mph moving negative thoughts. My mind and body were in completely different places…

I read a post from middle school LS teacher and friend, Mati, and she wrote “"Not knowing" is horrible, but, the up side really is that the people of Nepal have (tragically) heaps of experience with road blockages, electricity cuts, phone outages, fuel shortages, food rationing due to not knowing when the roads will be open again --- and, they look after each other and the strangers in their midst. I have been in different sorts of crisis situations there, and -- if I had to pick a people with whom to be in a crisis -- Nepalis rank high on my top picks (waves of love and appreciation wafting through my heart due to memories of kindness and generosity from people there) --- I can literally say that there have been times when Nepalis saved my life, in very gentle, unassuming ways, as naturally as breathing (because looking out for others is indeed as natural as breathing, especially in places where survival in general is tough).” 

After I read this, I realized, you know what, it’s true. Nepal is stronger that I think it is in my mind. Yes, rebuilding will take time but we are so adaptable and I know the communities in Nepal will take care of each other. I have no doubt about this.

Yes, it’s devastating, horrifying, heart-breaking and painful to watch this as a Nepali (and I can’t fathom what it’s like to be there) but what I can say is that all the love, support, sharing will heal and rebuild Nepal in time.

I’ve been reading a book called Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and came across this story which is relevant during this rough time. Here it goes:

One night, two frogs left the safety of their swamp and ventured into a nearby farm to explore.  They soon found themselves in a dairy.  Hopping and jumping around, they jumped into a milk pail half full of cream.

At first, they were both thrilled.  They had never tasted anything so delicious!  They drank and drank.  Soon they were both full-bellied and getting just a bit sleepy.  “Time to get out of here and head back to the swamp for some shut-eye.” burped the first frog.

But there was a problem.  They’d had no trouble hopping in… but how to hop out?  The inside of the pail was too slippery to climb, and there was nothing on which they could place their feet for traction to get up a good hopping distance… or any hopping distance at all. 

The awful reality dawned on them: They were trapped.

Frantic, they began to trash about, their little frog feet scrabbling for a foothold on the elusive, slippery curve of the pail’s edge.

Finally, the second frog cried out, “It’s no use! We’re doomed, my brother! Let us save what dignity we have left and die here like frogs with our eyes facing our homeland!”

The first frog cried out to stop him.  “No! We should never give up! When we were tadpoles, which of us would ever have dreamed that some day we would emerge from the water and hop about on land?  Swim on, and pray for a miracle!”

The second frog eyed his brother sadly and said, “There are no miracles in the life of a frog, brother. Farewell.” and so saying, he turned his face in the direction of the swamp, gave a sigh, and slowly sank out of sight.

But the first frog refused to give up.

He continued to swim.  He swam and he swam in ridiculous, pointless, useless, futile circles, hoping against hope for a miracle. Fired by adrenaline, he paddled mightily… yet his brother’s dying words clutched at his thoughts, even more insidious than the growing fatigue that tugged at his weakening muscles.  Was my brother right?, he thought desperately.  Am I a fool?  Are there no miracles in the life of a frog?

Finally, he could swim no more… and with a great cry of anguish, he stopped paddling and let go, ready at last to face his fate like a frog.

But something odd then happened…. or rather, DIDN”T happen.  He didn’t sink.  He just sat exactly where he was. Ever so tentatively, he stretched out a foot…. and felt it touch something solid. 

He heaved a big sigh, both sad and grateful, said a silent farewell to his drowned brother, then scrambled up on top of the big lump of butter he had just finished churning…

…. and hopped out of the pail and off to the swamp, alone, but alive.”

Jeff Olson says “having faith in the process of simple, positive action repeated over time will make all the difference. They may not look dramatic right now and there isn’t an easy solution. We just need to believe that miracles do happen, if you know when to trust the process and keep churning the cream”.

Small things done consistently over a period of time will yield great results. I know that we will slowly rebuild Nepal even more beautifully if people keep doing what they are doing right now. It’s so easy to lose our thoughts in “what will happen to Nepal” but as Nepalese not living in Nepal/ international community, we need to do whatever we can to help. We can still be abroad and provide emotional support and financial help to our brothers and sisters. Those of us abroad shouldn’t feel guilty and dampen our emotional well-being but instead we should stand strong and figure out where the help is needed.

If you can, please donate to earthquake victims of Nepal! Please support any organizations that have experience with emergency settings for now and ties to local communities. We need your support and every bit helps!  

Please pray for this amazing country to get through this obstacle and return smiles on every face in the country.

Jai Nepal!

SOME SUGGESTIONS of ORGANISATIONS YOU CAN DONATE TO:

Red Cross

http://www.redcross.org.uk/nepalearthquake

Save the Children
https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.9274575/k.FD90/Nepal_Earthquake_Childrens_Relief_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp

World Food Program

https://give.wfp.org/5279/?step=country&lead_source=2015-wfp-nepal-emergency&form_tag=2015-wfp-nepal-emergency

UNICEF

http://www.unicef.org.uk/landing-pages/Donate-Nepal-Earthquake/?gclid=CKexm5Lmk8UCFQjKtAodKTQACg&sissr=1

I love this song by Ani Choying....This really helps me calm down. I hope you will all listen to her beautiful soothing voice. 

Post-Rwanda

I can still hear "sawa sawa" and "bella bella" ringing in my head and miss hearing this on Friday nights in Kigali and at St. Joseph's while sipping on my orange fanta. I have been back in Vancouver for over a month now and readjusting to the life-style and culture here. Actually, let me rephrase that. My mom is visiting me as well so I'm trying to dive back into the Canadian and Nepali culture.

Mom and I before my graduation :)

I thought I should share some of the moments right after I got back to Vancouver: 

1) The first thing I wanted to do when I saw babies in Vancouver was hug and hold them but right, that's not Canadian culture. The mother would probably freak out and wonder why a stranger is touching her baby. After being surrounded by babies for couple months in Rwanda and being able to hold, hug, take pictures, it seemed rather odd to me why mothers are so selfish and all protective with their babies! Rwandan mothers loved it when we held their babies and took picture of them. 

Kristina and I holding twin babies. Kristina's baby: "Who are these mzungus?|

2) I had a few Rwandan coins left in my wallet and I've been told twice that it wasn't the currency that they use in Canada. (I swear, it looks like a tooney) 

3) One of the first things I did when i got back was I dumped all 30 kgs of clothes in the washer with tons (unnecessary) amount of detergent. I had been doing my laundry in Rwanda by myself almost every day and I can tell you that 1) it wasn't clean 2) it never smelled like fresh laundry.  I must say this is one of things I've learned to appreciate when I was in Rwanda.

4) It's so nice to have a home finally and not have to live in hotels that have mattresses that sink in the area you sleep on. More importantly, moving around every week and packing and unpacking every week got a bit tiring after 3.5 months. It was really difficult to do any work because I did not have that physical space where I enjoyed working. This is definitely something I need to keep in mind when I move on to my next adventures in a different country.

5) I am so happy that I don't have to eat out every day. I was really starting to get sick of eating out every day and not having a kitchen to cook in Rwanda.  Cooking and home-cooked meals feels so luxurious. My mom and I have been cooking for each other (she does most of the delicious cooking).

Delicious Nepali Dessert type dish called Yomaris (molasses and rice flour)

6) I met so many people from all over the world in Rwanda who were working in international organizations and everyone greets differently when you meet someone new. I may have given hugs to people I JUST met when I came back here only realized as I was giving the hug that this is not normal in Canada and felt like an idiot. I think I had to shake myself a few times and tell myself people don't touch each other on the arms or the back when they're talking here unless you know them really well. They keep hands to themselves. I've always been the touchy type of person and I blended right into the Rwandan culture but the issue is when I come back to Vancouver.  People seem to perceive being touchy as being flirty, a sign of interest or rather "creepy" in Vancouver. 

7) One of the things that I miss the most about Rwanda is how well the men and the women dance. They really know how to get their groove on. On top of that, you haven't partied in Rwanda until you've seen the sunrise and had breakfast and then finally head to bed. Not only that but going out was like a networking experience for me. You always meet people from all these different organizations and get a chance to talk about the work I'm doing and he/she is doing. It was also really interesting to get their point of views on travelling and living in Kigali + other countries. 

8) Rwanda was not just about the nutrition internship. It was a transformative experience and has really helped me decide where I want to go next with my career. Being in Rwanda has expanded the opportunities and I've decided that I would like to travel and work in various countries for the next 15-20 years. I was pretty set on going back to Nepal to work after graduation but I've realized that going out of my comfort zone makes me feel more accomplished and this is why this Rwanda trip has been so satisfying. Being able to interact and learn about another culture can be a frustrating process especially when you don't speak the primary language but once you do delve into it, it is fascinating to compare the various cultures you've been involved with. 

9) Some memorable pictures/people I miss from Rwanda :)

Inatek students

Deborah and I :)

Team Insanity! I <3 you girls and Rwanda wouldn't have been the same without  you !

Ernane, Diego, Douglas and Erivaldo is missing

                                       

"I don't have to think twice what to do...you got me hypnotized" <3

People that made Rwanda even more memorable :)

I will be posting a video on Rwanda very soon. Hope you enjoyed the post.

xoxo-CK

Communication in Rwanda

Please don't be alarmed if I say "I go" "you come" when I come back to Vancouver. It has been quite an experience trying to communicate in broken English. We are learning few words here and there but it would have definitely been helpful to have learned Kinyarawanda  and/or French. I have only lived in two countries (Nepal and Canada) and knew the languages fluently so I did not have any language barriers previously. Being in Rwanda has made me realize how important it is to learn the primary language of the country you are living in in order to fully understand the history, culture and really connect with the people. 

Learning some phrases and words has definitely been very useful especially when you're bargaining for moto prices because as soon as you say "nimeshi", they smile and sometimes decrease the price. More importantly, knowing some phrases and words has not only helped break the ice but also to let the people here know that I appreciate their culture and language. I feel that when you make that effort to speak or learn their language, the Rwandans appreciate the effort and usually smile or laugh (when we pronounce it wrong) to acknowledge it. 

Learning more Kinyarawanda would have helped for field work as well since it would have been easier to communicate with the mothers and inquire more about what they said in the surveys. (Sometimes, not knowing the language works to our advantage when people ask for money or "amafaranga" because we just shrug our shoulders and say "sorry, we no undestand"). Usually we communicate with the local university students in English and then they talk to the mothers if we have any questions or comments. However,this experience has been very enriching so far since we are able to communicate with the local university students. 

I was trying to find cilantro at the market but didn't see any. I had to call my friend who spoke Kinyarawanda to talk with the market vendors. This is only half of the picture because while this was happening, I was also getting a whole crowd of people at the market around me. 

It's very funny and interesting because the way we speak in English has changed quite a bit in order to make sure the people we speak English with understand. If we speak in the tone we speak in Vancouver, people no understand us ;) Here is how we've altered the way we speak so people understand us. 

1) Use simple words. 

2) Drop all the prepositions ( is, are, etc). So if you want to say, "we will meet you at 5", you would say, "we meet you at 5" or "I go" (I am going). Speaking this way makes the language way more simple and I feel like people understand you so much better for some reason. 

3) Change the accent and tone.

4) Speak S-L-O-W-L-Y!

5) We've not only been exposed to speaking with Rwandese but we have some Brazilian friends and we are picking up quite a bit of "proper English" as well -very problem (yes that is one we've picked up). [some others: mucho problem? you want? You take? Sure? You understand?]

It's pretty funny because even when I speak with my colleagues, I'm still talking like that. Please be patient with me when I come back. This language barrier has been a very interesting, fun and at times, a frustrating experience. I have not only been speaking in English, but I've been speaking some French, Kinyarawanda and Spanish (yay! 3 years of learning Spanish in high school has finally come into use.)

SPRINKLES!

Part of phase 3 for the Sprinkles Project finally happened this week after many weeks of delays. It is so exciting to see everything taking place after anticipating it for many weeks. Before I let you know what I’m doing, let me tell you a bit about the project.

What is Sprinkles?

Sprinkles is an “in-home fortification” micronutrient powder (MNP) which is an alternative method used to fight micronutrient deficiencies in many part of the world including Nepal, Kenya, Ghana, Haiti, Bangladesh, Philippines and Mongolia. Sprinkles is known as an effective treatment in preventing anaemia in young children between 6 and 24 months. It is not a “stand-alone intervention” but it is part of the infant and young child feeding practices which is recommended by the WHO in regions where the prevalence of anaemia is high and iron-fortified foods are not affordable or available.

Sprinkles does not just contain iron, but it also contains 15 other vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C, folic acid, Vitamin A, Vitamin D Zinc and others. It is stored in a small sachet (similar to sugar) and mothers are supposed to sprinkle it to the semi-solid foods of the babies. The packaging and the name of sprinkles is catered to each country. In Rwanda, it is called Ongera Intungamubiri and we haven’t seen the packaging yet!

Why Sprinkles in Rwanda?

Rwanda is very committed to reducing malnutrition and there are national efforts to “eliminate” malnutrition (Vision 2020 and NSEM). The nutritional status still remains poor especially among infants. The sprinkles project is aimed at contributing to government initiatives, targeting children between 6 months and 11 months, in order to reduce malnutrition with a focus on nutritional anaemia. The funding organizations for this project are UNICEF, CONCERN & WORLD VISION. 

~The Missing Ingredient~

Phase 1 involved formative work and identified the current knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices around infant and young child feeding practices in two different districts. They explored these topics in order to find out if Sprinkles would be a feasible option and to find out what kind of naming and packaging would be the most suitable for the Rwandan context.

Phase 2 was a pre-test to evaluate the acceptability of In-Home Fortification with MNP in 60 households in two districts and use the results of the trial to finalize the procedures for phase 3. 

Phase 3, or the current phase, involves the distribution of the MNPs and to test the effectiveness in the 4 districts (Nyaruguru, Nyamagabe, Musanze and Burera). The children in Nyaruguru and Musanze will be receiving the Sprinkles while the participants in Nyamagabe and Burera are comparison districts (or not getting Sprinkles. There is a baseline questionnaire and then another questionnaire again in 6 months to test the effectiveness of Sprinkles. In addition to the questionnaires (regarding hygiene and sanitation, infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, mother's knowledge and attitude and household food security), anthropometric measurements (mid-upper-arm circumference, weight, length) and biochemical assessments (haemoglobin level) are also being taken. 

For measuring haemoglobin level 

Measuring the length of the baby...the toughest job when they're kicking and screaming. Sometimes you need 4 people to measure one baby!

MUAC measurement tapes

I just wanted to update you all. My internet usage has been fluctuating quite a bit because of field work and the internet is either too slow or non-existent. I'll have another blog post up soon about the work we're doing in the field. 

Rusumo Falls

Here are some pictures of our visit to Rusumo Falls :)

Americans from Texas are SO COOL with their  boots!

At the border of Rwanda and Tanzania 

So many banana trees!

Behind me is the lovely Rusumo falls 

- if you swim across, you're in Tanzania :)

Instagramed Photo

My top 4 songs in Rwanda

What is travelling without listening to some of the local songs?! Here are some songs I've really enjoyed listening and dancing to in Rwanda. 

BELLA by Dream Boyz - We hear this song in Kibungo at least 10 times a day because they have the same songs repeating :) I'm still not sick of it.

Nwa Baby (Sawa Sawa) -Flavour

We haven't just been listening to Rwandan music...Here are some of our favourites in Rwanda. 

Alors on danse

Ai Se Eu Te Pego -Michel Telo

The chemistry between the uncles -weddings in Rwanda

Bridesmaids, Bob and I (wearing imishanana)

My friend Bob invited me for his cousin’s wedding and I got the opportunity to attend a traditional Rwandan wedding which was very fascinating and different from the Nepali weddings I am familiar to. The first part, or the traditional part of the wedding takes place at the girl’s house and this is where the uncle of the girl decides whether he wants to give his niece to the man that she has chosen. In the traditional Rwandan wedding, parents don’t have significant roles, instead, it is the uncles of the couple that play a major role.

The banana tree plants outside on both sides of the road signifies that there is an important ceremony taking place –in this case, the wedding.  

The guests (groom's side) walking to the bride's house

I may not have gotten all the details of the wedding because it was in Kinyarwanda but my friend did the best to translate the important parts. It starts of by the groom’s uncle explaining why his nephew would be a perfect husband for the bride. The main goal of this traditional part is for the groom’s uncle to impress the bride’s uncle through gifts, witty words, and the qualifications and traits of his nephew. This ceremony does not guarantee marriage for the couple. The green signal is dependent on the chemistry of the uncles and whether the groom’s uncle impresses the bride’s uncle. Apparently, there have been times when the bride’s uncle has rejected the groom because the chemistry between the uncles was lackluster and the bride’s uncle was not impressed with the words of the groom’s uncle. This part of the traditional ceremony is just conversations between the uncles while the rest of the wedding party sit, listen and laugh. The wedding guests are segregated into two sides: the bride’s side is on one side while the groom’s side is on the opposite side.

Once the bride’s uncle agrees and before the bride comes out, many other women are sent out as a joke and to heighten the anticipation of the wedding guests until the real bride comes out. The groom side gives her dowry which is usually in the value of cows. It’s really interesting to see that weddings are all about satisfying the bride’s side of the family rather than the husband’s side. In Hindu weddings, it is usually the groom’s side you are trying to impress/please with the amount and kind of dowry you can provide. Also, the traditional wedding here involves a lot of speeches and conversation which is very personal and tailored to the bride and groom whereas Hindu weddings involve the same rituals that have carried on for years which is led by the priest.

  

The uncles talking it out and shaking hands :)

The gorgeous bride and the handsome groom

Once the bride walks out, the couple exchange rings and receive blessing from their parents while the naming of the cows (the ones given for dowry) take place. Finally, everyone heads to church after for the religious marriage ceremony and the reception.

Joseph (my awesome translator) and I at the wedding

The Bride and the groom with the bridesmaids and best men :)