London Tourist

 Tourists, the people who photograph London and it’s people the most. In this portrait series I turn the camera back on them, taking their portraits on my iPhone just as they clutch their smartphones, pointing them in the direction of their friend and big ben. 

All these photographs were taken and processed on my iPhone. 

A Portrait of Chris Porsz.

Chris Porsz is a street photographer in Peterborough, and back in April I had the pleasure of taking Chris's portrait. His work focusses on the City of peterborough over the past 40 years. Some of his most fascinating photographs are his recreations of photographs he took 30/40 years ago by searching for the people he photographed then and capturing a modern day version of that photo. 

http://www.chrisporsz.com/

Day 9 in Nepal - Market Day, Patan Clinic, A Tiny Room, and A Long Bridge.

I am sitting here in the dark with the flickering light from a candle and the glow of my laptop accompanying me. Powercuts in Nepal are common, they happen constantly throughout the day and the power tends to cut off during the night. Although all the power is gone, somehow the wifi is still working though… hence you receiving this blog post.

We started the morning at 4:30am, as the team and I were booked into an early morning flight over the himalayas… but as we sat on the plane anticipating take off the crew informed us that the flight was cancelled as there would be no visibility. So with time to kill in Kathmandu, I headed off to the market in Patan to grab some breakfast. I love markets in England, but in Nepal they are even more glorious, full of smells, colours and vibrant people. I was drawn towards the shops and immersed myself into Nepalese culture by haggling away and getting good deals for the items I purchased.  

At 9:30am the Patan Leprosy Clinic opened, so we headed away from the bustle of the market and went to the hospital where the clinic was held. The Patan Clinic happens every wednesday morning, they treat leprosy patients, diagnose people with suspected leprosy and offer scholarships to certain children of leprosy-affected parents. It was great seeing this clinic in action, the doctors and staff working hard so they can see all the patients who have turned up.  

After the clinic we headed off to the village of Danchai outside Kathmandu to visit the Barsha Self Help group that was set up by the lepsosy mission. This is a group was given 20,000rupees seed money to start, this money has been invested in cattle and now the group has grown to 11 members, all of whom are investing into the fund so that they can improve their own economic status, see their children educated, and eventually get out of the conditions that make them so susceptible to diseases such as leprosy. While visiting the group I was invited inside the small 80 year old house owned by the group’s secretary and his wife. The house was small, without electricity, and full of flies… upstairs there were two small rooms and a tiny storage space, the room pictured is where all their children sleep.

After the long and hot journey back to Anandaban hospital, I ventured out for a walk around the surrounding countryside, we found a narrow bridge that reached from one side of the valley to the other, I love the symmetry that can be found in bridges and structures such as this. 

I’m off trekking tomorrow morning until saturday, so internet is very unlikely. You’ll get a big blog post on Saturday!

Day 8 in Nepal - Filming Stories, Building, and a walk through the Leprosarium.

I ventured up to the women’s ward at Anandaban hospital this morning as I had heard two stories that I wanted to film, both from leprosy patients in their 20’s. Rebecca, one of the girls I travelled with, sat with the women and shared their translated stories with the camera and myself. I look forward to being able to share the films with you. 

I currently have that clean feeling, the one you get when you have just put fresh clothes on and have that soapy smell, the one that you get when you have cleaned yourself from a large amount of dirt. Today we were back at the building site, moving bricks and stones from the road, down a little mud path, and into the house’s foundation. I feel like my arm muscles have grown over the past two days of this work! The house site where we were building has such a beautiful view over the village, fields, and reaching into the mountains. I am so happy to know the people we are building for will be able to enjoy this view daily soon.

Halfway during the work day I went on a walk into the Leprosarium where we were building, meeting many different leprosy-affected people along the way. The people in the town where the leprosarium is do not mix with the leprosy-affected people, as there is a lot of stigma and superstitions about leprosy in Nepal and especially in the smaller towns and villages. Even though there is a great community feeling at the leprosarium, I feel quite sad that all these people have been set aside from the rest of the world and given this small area to live together. 

I look forward to a day when leprosy is not subjected to stigma and superstition, and when people with the disease are seen as equal. But above that I look forward to the day when leprosy is eradicated. 

Day 7 in Nepal - New Year, Building, Lovely Ladies, and Sari Origami.

Happy Nepali New Year!!! As I’m sitting in our accommodation at Anandaban I can hear bells and cheering from the local village as they celebrate the New Year.

I squeezed into one of the Hospital’s cars today, and the packed car bumped down the hill from Anandaban into Kathmandu, we drove through Kathmandu and back onto tiny dirt tracks till we got to the Leprosarium we were heading for. When we arrived we met Bikash, both his parents have suffered from Leprosy, and they received a grant around £1500 to build a house from The Leprosy Mission. So after the introductions we pulled on our gloves (or camera in my case, I helped out later though) and started carrying stones from a pile, along a small path and then placed them into the foundations of the house, it was a great way to be practical in serving these people in Nepal. 

After building (or rock carrying) we took a trip down the street to see the tailor shop owned by Bikash’s parents, they make products for the trekking tourists to buy, and also clothing for the locals, his father currently cannot work due to his illness though.

After the morning of building, once again we piled into the car and drove back up the bumpy trail towards Anandaban. I went up to the hospital this afternoon to capture life for the patients of the hospital, whilst walking around the grounds a group of female patients caught my attention and they chattered away to us as we took photos with them, sadly I couldn’t understand the Nepali they were saying to us, but I could see in their faces that their words were kind and joyful. I love the joy that can be found in the patients in Nepal, they look far beyond their situations and just enjoy the world they live in.

This evening I went with the girls I travelled with to get a lesson on how to put on a sari from one of the staff at the hospital. Putting on a sari is like origami, but with slippery chiffon fabric. It was a very fun evening, and we eventually got the hang of the wrapping, folding, and tucking that makes the sari look great.  

 

Day 6 in Nepal - More Elephants, The Village Cooperative, and Serving the Patients of Anandaban.

I feel like I have arrived back at home today, after 3 nights away I am back at Anandaban Hospital. This place is so beautiful, not just the scenery, but the people also.. everyone is so warm and they make you feel as if you are amongst family. Such a beautiful place.

Today started off with my one last moment of tourism in Chitwan. As we didn’t have to leave till 9:30am, I woke up early and headed off to see my new favourite animals, Elephants, at the Elephant Breading Centre. Here I met some very cute baby elephants, who curiously ran over to see the tourists, but then got shy and hid whenever the tourists came too close! 

I was quite glad to finish the touristy part of the trip and head over to the village of Bhandara where there is a cooperative self-help group set up by the Leprosy Mission. These groups are started when Leprosy patients want to start an enterprise after they leave the hospital and head back into their communities. This cooperative was given 20,000rupees after they gave a solid proposal about how they would use the funding, now they are a group of 25 people (mainly women), who purchase cattle to create revenue within the cooperative. Each member pays 120rupees a month to feed into the fund, they have now paid back their loan and have about 15,000rupees in the bank. This group now wants to learn how to make products that they can sell at the market, such as soap.

The visit was amazing, when we entered the village the women bought us flowers, more flowers, and even more flowers! They then invited us to sit on the porch of the meeting house while we asked them for their stories, the people were so lovely and hospitable, they even gave us breakfast at the end of our visit. I felt so honoured to be with these entrepreneurial people, and I feel inspired by seeing the women push beyond the stereotypes they can be given as they become successful business women. 

I then hopped on a plane and for the 15minute flight back to Kathmandu, and then waited for about 2 hours as the driver picking us up got stuck in the terrible traffic that can be found in Kathmandu… I think the road congestion is bad in the UK, but it really doesn’t compare!

Upon arrival at the lovely Anandaban hospital I ventured up the 365 steps (a harsh wake up to my legs after the past few days in the flat area) and met up with the rest of the Young Adult group who I left behind when I flew out to Butwal. I caught them just as they were heading off to serve dinner to the patients. This was a great opportunity for the team to serve the patients of the hospital in a very practical way. 

Day 5 in Nepal - Tourist land, Trekking, and Elephants.

I sit here, in my hotel room, yawning after a long day of being a tourist. As I had a spare day between the clinic in Butwal and the next clinic I was given the opportunity to go to Chitwan to tour Nepal’s national park. Entering Chitwan I soon realised that I was in tourist-land… I actually found it odd to see so many western people in Nepal! 

After the 5:50am start I headed down to the river, which is where we jumped in canoes and sat on hard wooden seats for 40minutes as we drifted down the river with our tour guide pointing out all the birds and crocodiles, as well as seeing the odd local down by the riverside.  

After the canoe ride I embarked on a 2 hour trek through the rainforest back to Chitwan, It was a great trek where we saw loads of Monkeys, Elephants, Deer.. Rhino poop and Tiger Prints (the latter two were not so exciting!). The forest itself was very beautiful, not too dissimilar to the forests in the UK but with it’s own unique smells, insects, and plants. 

This afternoon I found myself diving back into the forest, but this time slightly higher up as I was on the back of an elephant. The ride started off with us riding parallel to some Buddhist monks, which wasn’t something I expected to see! And then we ambled through the forest, sometimes finding our own route away from the main heard of elephants, and then sometimes joining back up with them as we marched through the forest clearings.   

So the tourist side of my trip is now over, I thoroughly enjoyed it… but am very much looking forward to getting back into documenting the work of The Leprosy Mission, we are off to visit a self-help cooperative group tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Day 4 in Nepal - Butwal Clinic and Dipak's Story.

Today was clinic day! After yesterday’s impromptu journey I found myself waking up in Butwal, which is in the southern part of Nepal. The team and I ventured into the centre and eat breakfast in a small restaurant that was to be found on this slight mishmash of a street! Breakfast was the Nepalese favourite, Daal (rice with curried vegetables and sauce), they eat this at breakfast and tea, they would probably eat it at lunch if they had lunch!

After breakfast we headed to Butwal General Hospital, where the clinic was set up in this tiny hallway next to the toilets, they normally have a larger room to work in, but that was being used for training today. It’s frustrating to see how the hospital don’t see the leprosy clinic as a priority and see it ok to put them in a corner for the one morning they’re there in the month. 

About 200 people turned up for the clinic between 10:30am - 2:30pm, patients who are currently being treated for leprosy and also people who were concerned about having leprosy. The team worked like a well oiled machine; testing, consulting, dispensing medicine…. and continued non-stop for the whole clinic as the patients continued to pour in. 

The main reason why I came to the clinic was to meet a 16 year old boy named Dipak, he developed leprosy when he was younger and his hands became clawed, meaning that he couldn’t write or use everyday objects. Since then his leprosy has been treated and he has had surgery that has straightened his hands meaning he has regained full strength and can now do everything he couldn’t before. When Dipak came to the clinic we found out the rest of his story (as we only knew what had happened up until November last year), and then after the clinic we took him home and met his very lovely and welcoming family as I was asked to film him telling his story in his home environment with his family around him. When we arrived it seemed like the whole street had turned up to watch us as we filmed him!! 

Day 3 in Nepal - Self Care & Travels to the flat lands.

I am currently surrounded by mint green walls, with the jittering fan whirring as it casts lukewarm air my way, and the irregular hum of motorbikes as they pass on the road outside my hotel’s window. 

Today has been an odd day, I woke up expecting to spend the day at Anandaban hospital, capturing some more of the work they do there with the patients.. but after the morning devotions I was told that I would be flying out to the Terai area to film a case study and to capture the work at the monthly satellite clinics they set up in the area. 

As I wasn’t to leave till 2pm I still spent some time at the hospital, this morning I visited the self-care unit and was able to spend some time photographing and capturing the stories of some of the people there.

The self care unit is a nepalese style house, the patients live in the house after their treatment so that they can learn how to return to every-day living in their communities. One of the issues leprosy causes is permanent numbness, so the simple task of cooking over a traditional Nepalese oven can be dangerous as due to the loss of feeling in these people’s hands they can get too close to the fire and burn themselves.

  

Another issue is that some leprosy sufferers loose the ability to sweat, so at the self care centre they are taught how to re-hydrate their skin and care for their wounds so that their skin won’t start to ulcerate.

After the morning’s visit to the self-care unit I squashed all my equipment and living supplies into a couple of small bags and headed off to the airport, back along the bumpy and crowded roads into Kathmandu. The monkey-covered domestic airport terminal didn’t take us much time to get through, thankfully, as Kathmandu’s traffic ensnared us for quite a long amount of time. After a clattery bus ride from the terminal this 60 seater “Buddha Airways” plane greeted us. 

When coming in to land I realised how different the terrain was to the hilly region where Anandaban is set, the Terai region is very flat with many fields and the odd village scattered around. 

Tomorrow, if all the plans stay in place, I’m off to the clinic which I am quite looking forward to as this is a side of The Leprosy Mission Nepal that I haven’t yet seen.