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Well we finally reached RDU on the morning of the 18th after traveling for over 30 hours! I think we all had a great experience, it was extremely eye-opening. We all now appreciate home for the little things we tend to forget about or take for granted like clean running water, continuous electricity, and indoor bathrooms.

In our last couple days in Kathmandu we had the opportunity to visit Nepal's first dental college, established in 1997. There we met lots of faculty, interns, and students and had the opportunity to learn what dental school is like in Nepal and tour their facilities. Hopefully we will be able to continue our contacts with this school for the future. They also have a program where their students are required to spend time in rural areas providing care and dental education to local people so hopefully in the future we might be able to tie our programs together!

Meghauli

On the 12th we headed from Pokhara to Meghauli, located within Chitwan National Park. It was about a 5 hour drive from Pokhara and probably the most rural location we had experienced yet.

We were working at a clinic in the jungle set up by a local man with help from foreign volunteers, it was called Clinic Nepal. Part of the group worked all day Friday in the clinic where we provided extractions to the general public while the other part of the group went to a nearby school and saw over 200 children providing restorations and simple extractions. On Saturday we worked for half a day in the clinic providing extractions and restorations to the general public. It was impossible to walk through the clinic lobby or hallway without bumping into people and as soon as you finished one extraction or filling there was another patient sitting in the seat before you'd even had a chance to clear the instruments and get new ones. It was great to see all the people we were helping and that the news of our camp had reached so many people, however it was unbearably hot in Meghauli. It had to be around 100 degrees in the clinic each day and with spotty power we rarely had the little relief of fans. By saturday we were all ready to leave, though we would have liked to stay longer we were all bordering on heat exhaustion.

Pokhara

Just a preface: the next few posts are an update of what we've accomplished in the past couple weeks...a lack of internet access mixed with illness have kept me away from the blog for a while

So everyone met up again in Kathmandu on August 6th. On the 8th we left by van for Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city.

We stayed in Pokhara for 4 days and each day we traveled almost an hour to a school where we provided dental education and treatment for all the children, over 200 total. On the 3rd day of the camp we had an open day for the general public and we were overwhelmed by the number of people trying to fit into the classroom. We worked well into the evening that day to provide care for everyone. It was really encouraging for us to be able to provide restorative care to these people, especially the students because there were so many children who already had cavities on permanent teeth and without a restoration they would have had no choice but to eventually have the tooth extracted.

Also one day while we were there part of our group hiked down about 30 minutes to an elementary school where our partner organization was starting a brushing program in the school. The way the program works is the organization provides toothbrushes and toothpaste to everyone and the teachers make sure the students brush atleast once every day. It was great to see the teachers working with the students on brushing and everyone out in the school's courtyard brushing their teeth. We almost took a back seat and just observed while the teachers led their students in proper brushing technique, which was great because we won't be there every day to watch them.

What to do Kathmandu

While the rest of our group continued on their trek in the Everest region, those of us in KTM have had the opportunity to go to a couple schools and orphanages. We visited a school for underprivileged children on the outskirts of KTM where we saw 200+ kids ranging from 6 to 16. We went to each classroom and did a short oral hygiene presentation then distributed toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss to each child and teacher. Perfecting our oral hygiene presentation had a bit of a learning curve, while alot of people speak english some of our questions or the fine details got lost in translation. We particularly had trouble with the why you should brush your teeth concept. Alot of people are not familiar with the word cavities or the concept that bacteria in your mouth cause tooth decay. So we finally ended up relating things in reference to pain and that brushing was important to keep your mouth free of pain and keep your teeth strong and white.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go visit an orphanage where about 20 kids live with this woman and her sister. They all live in a very modest 2 room building and share about 7 beds between all of them, so obviously some have to sleep on the floor. The headmistress often shares her bed with one or two other children. Here we did our now perfected oral hygiene presentation while the children had breakfast before they headed to school. We also did oral health screenings on all the kids and identified a few children in pain or who needed dental work but for the most part the children had very good oral health all circumstances considered. We found out from the headmistress that she tries to limit the childrens sweets, which was obvious, and works with them on brushing though they don't always have toothpaste or their own brushes. She also expressed her annoyance with foreign visitors who tend to bring chocolates and candies when they come, saying its only detrimental for the children in the long run since they often cannot afford toothpaste or brushes. I thought this was very interesting because she was obviously aware of the role of sugar in tooth decay and the importance of oral health as well. Though she doesn't have access to all the ideal supplies all the time she does the best she can and it's very obvious in the general health of her kids. I'm glad we were able to find this group and give them all toothbrushes and toothpaste, hopefully it will help continue to encourage good oral hygiene habits (and counteract foreign visitors well wishing gifts of candy and sweets). And again another instance of foreigners thinking they're being so generous with chocolate/candy but really it being possibly more detrimental than its worth.

Well as of this morning we are all back together in KTM! Congrats to the rest of our team who made it to EBC and Kalapathar. I'll be back to see it for myself one day, take that Nepal!

Updates

Well we made it to Kathmandu just fine but then the itinerary got foiled by the monsoon weather. We sat in KTM airport for 2 days waiting for a flight to Lukla but no flights went, they'd been cancelled for the past 5 days before we got there due to the weather as well. So after waiting for 2 days with little hope of the monsoons lifting we decided we would drive to a place called Jiri and hike to Lukla then trek to EBC as well so that we could still provide dental supplies to this area. This actually worked out well in some ways because the villages from Jiri to Lukla see even less outsiders since most people fly to Lukla then hike in the surrounding Solukhumbu region from there. So we were able to provide dental supplies and dental healthcare education to alot more people who have even less access to such things. Secondly, most people in this area speak very little english since they have so little contact with foreigners, however somehow almost every child we passed knew the word "sweets" or "chocolate". So clearly you can tell what handouts they generally get from the few foreigners they see. Despite feeling a bit like the neighborhood dentist who hands out toothbrushes on halloween, I think our handouts will be more beneficial for the people in the long run and all the children seemed just as happy and excited to get toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Unfortunately a couple of us (one being me) had to turn back from the trek early. With a history of knee issues, my idealistic goal of hiking a 7 day trek in 4-5 days and ascending around 9000meters (higher than even mt everest, it just includes going down several times as well) didn't exactly work out. Take that body...So while the rest of the group continues our mission in the Solukhumbu region those of us back in Kathmandu a little early are going to some schools in the area to hand out dental supplies, talk about dental healthcare/education, and do screenings. Thanks to our wonderful Nepali friends who are able to rework and reschedule anything at the last minute so there can be some benefit to our extra time in Kathmandu.

TTFN :)

See you in Nepal

Well the day is finally here! I can't believe it, less than a year ago this project was just one of the many distant idealistic plans I tend to make from day to day (they all tend to be related to the awesome things I'm going to do once dental school is no longer the dictator of my life). However, this one is really happening now, great success! Take that dental school!

So we've finally gotten our itinerary as cemented as it's going to get, after many changes and fine tunings I'm really excited and happy with it. We'll be staying within Nepal, but I think this is best since travel there can be so time consuming and unreliable, especially during monsoon season (which is in fact not like what I was led to believe by the movie Jumanji). Here is how it stands now:

Nepal Project 2010

Itinerary

July 18^th – Leave RDU

July 20^th – Arrive Kathmandu (KTM)

July 21^st – Leave for Lukla (domestic flight), dental camp at Lukla primary school day 1

July 22^nd – Dental camp day 2

July 23^rd – General dental camp Pasang Lhamu Hospital Lukla

July 24^th – Start trek to EBC

Aug 5^th – Arrive back to KTM

Aug 7^th – Dr. Ritter arrives KTM

Aug 8-9^th – Leave for Pokhara, dental camp at school in Dhikurpokhari

Aug 10^th – Dental camp day 2

Aug 11^th – Dental camp for general public

Aug 12^th – Travel to Meghauli

Aug 13^th – 14^th – Dental camp

Aug 15^th – return to KTM

Aug 17^th – Leave KTM

Aug 18^th - Arrive RDU

Ok that's it for now, time to get the last minute things together and go get on planes for the next 2 days! Talk to you from Nepal!

Disclaimer: Upon further review I'm just about the least articulate person, if you know me you are quite aware of this, so take this blog for what it is, which is basically thoughts as they come into my head. Ok that's all I'm saying about that...enjoy!

Less than a month to go!

While the summer semester is in full swing, excitement for our upcoming trip is growing! We're busy working out the final details, accumulating supplies, and thinking about what to pack for ourselves.

While at a team trip to REI to shop for personal supplies and clothing I was asked what it was about Nepal that drew me back despite an unstable political situation and less than desirable living conditions...I said it was a feeling I couldn't put into words. When asked all I think about is standing next to the world's most beautiful and commanding mountains, an ancient way of life simpler and so vastly different from my own yet in some ways so similar, and the desire to have others see and feel these things that I have so much appreciation for.

So, despite the run on sentences, I hope that gives a summary not of Nepal, because that could take up novels without really doing it justice, but of the effect it can have on one willing to give it the chance.

Check us out : UNC-Nepal Project