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.