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!