Mission in Nepal

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Mission in Nepal

• By Caleb Gillis

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Table of Contents

• 1- Our Mission
• 2- Our Co-workers
• 3- Kathmandu
• 4- Their Culture/Way of Life
• 5- The Clinic
• 6- The Children of Nepal
• 7- The Khumbu Valley
• 8- Personal Thought
• 9- Conclusion

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1- Our Mission
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• We had volunteered to be part of a traveling
  dental project that was located in Nepal
  (population is 28,000,000)

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• This groups mission is to treat and clean
  teeth for mostly school age children in Kathmandu

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• My father Dr. Robert Gillis decided to bring
  me along for this experience

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• My Father also brought his assistant Melody
  Robertson to help out as well

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• It was a 19 day long trip from May 6th to
  the 24th. We took an early flight from Toronto to
  London (England), to Bahrain (Bahrain), to
  Kathmandu (Nepal)

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2- Our Co-workers
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• These were all the people who were involved
  with the operating clinic in Kathmandu

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• These were the Dentists that worked on the
  patients

You know him
Tom Grams
Cynthia Gomez
Gareth Harper
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• These two were the hygienists that also
• worked on patients, and are local to the city

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• These two did the records and paperwork of
  the patients

Amy Simper
Zanthi Avila
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• She was in charge of the sterilization of the
  equipment

Lisa Maher
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• He kept the flow of the patients coming in
  and out

Michael Maher
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• These two were our fearless leaders

Garth Schaefer
Mark Lisagor
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• These were students of the school we worked
  at, and were volunteers in the clinic

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• Of course I was part of it too, and my job
  was to keep the kids occupied and under control
  while waiting to be called

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• Overall, We had treated over 900 patients
  children

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3- The Clinic
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• Our base of operations was located at an
  English Buddhist Boarding school in one of the
  empty rooms

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• It is a big room with newly installed fans,
  and has a balcony

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• We had six dental seats, shelves of supplies
  and equipment, some tables and seats, and
  curtains prepared for us once we got to work

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• This was the waiting area for the patients

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• Out of all the patients that we did,
  approximately ninety-five percent of the
  patients we did were children

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• Some of the other patients we did were
  Buddhist monks

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• Us on the job

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4- Kathmandu
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• As you know, the location of our clinic was
  located in the city Kathmandu

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• This massive city is also the Capital of Nepal

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• The city is a collage of buildings and small
  huts built pretty close together

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• There is also palaces and temples which were
  built centuries ago

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• However now, they are used for museums,
  tourist sights, and even schools

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• The population is over 700,000, along with
  many stray dogs, cows, and even monkeys

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• Inside this labyrinth of buildings, are
  several Buddhist shrines called the Stupa. The
  hotel we stayed at was next to one

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• Covering this city is a huge bubble of
  polluted smog, and dust

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• Most days the mountains surrounding the city
  are hardly visible, except for after it rains

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• Roads in the city are a mess. Potholes,
  garbage, and other sorts of stuff

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• After it rains, so much gunk goes in the
  drains, that it needs to be shoveled out by those
  who live nearby

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5- Their culture/ Way of Life
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• The people here in Kathmandu live in a very
  repetitive life

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• Most families will have a small business, or
  shop set up, and it passes on for the next family
  generation, and the generation after that

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• They will either sell their products from the
  shop, or will go sell it on the streets

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• These traveling vendors are very persistent,
  and will follow you for miles to get you to buy
  their products

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• My father wasnt very good at avoiding them

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• Some families will have their children run
  their shop, and try to get people to buy the
  products

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• Some people however dont have a shop or
  business and will try trading their valuables, or
  just beg for money

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• The most popular religion that exists in
  Nepal, is Buddhism

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• Shrines, monasteries, and stupas have been
  built in Kathmandu and all over Nepal in the name
  of Buddhism

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• The way it works with Buddhism in Nepal is by
  earning merits. You must do certain rituals to
  keep up your merits, or else youll get bad karma

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• For example, when seeing a stupa shrine, you
  must walk clockwise around it, while at the same
  time, spin the wheels that are on the shrine. Not
  doing so will get you bad luck

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• Some homes of wealthy people will have prayer
  rooms like this

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• There are also several idols of Lord Buddha

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• Some families will have their children leave
  their home and be raised as a monk, and they must
  shave their head

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• There is another popular religion in Nepal
  which is Hinduism, however I didnt learn much
  about them on this trip

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• During a tour we had in Kathmandu, we visited
  a cremation sight, where they burn the dead

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• Families from both religions will come to
  burn their loved ones, for they are not allowed
  to be buried

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• Once fully burned, the ashes will then be
  dumped into the river, as well as everything else
  used, so that another body can be burned

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• One more thing, there are not many toilets
  like ours at home, instead they have holes, and
  must supply their own toilet paper

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• Life in Kathmandu is very difficult for them,
  but its all that bad. There are some places like
  this which is very relaxing

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6- The Children of Nepal
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• In the clinic about 95 of the patients we
  did, were children

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• My job was to keep them occupied while
  waiting to get their teeth fixed

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• I did lots of fun activities with them from
  which Ive learned from past experiences

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• I did puppets

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• Mime games

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• And other sorts of stuff

(above) I did that
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• These kids were very jolly people, and loved
  interacting with us

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• They certainly love having their picture
  taken, and taking a look how it turned out

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• They are not very timid, and will usually try
  to approach you for any reason

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• Or they will just smile and
  stare at you

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• On their free time they will just run around
  with their friends, since they dont have many
  toys

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• They do however love playing soccer in the
  school yards

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• However some families will use their child as
  a means to get free money such as getting their
  picture taken and the photographer having to pay
  for it

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• Some children will be dragged out of school to
  help out their family with the shop, its a
  regular thing to be absent occasionally from
  school

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• School in Nepal is one of the highlights of a
  childs life, and is one of the only ways to
  interact with others in the country

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• As far as I noticed, there is no daycare
  center, so kids are sent to school at very early
  ages, or sent to boarding schools

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• As I said before, some children will be sent
  away from home to grow up as a Buddhist monk

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• Kids in the mountains will behave the same
  way the kids down in the cities do, except, for
  school wise, some have to climb a mountain to get
  to school

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• Most of the kids that I met, were always
  happy and jumpy, and have a great sense of humor

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• There was one girl I met who tried to teach me
  some of their language, however I couldnt
  understand, and quickly got confused

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• When we finished with the clinic, the children
  in the school wanted to thank us by singing and
  performing dances for us

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• Having a first hand experience with these
  children was great, and I will always remember it

Can you find me?
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7- The Khumbu Valley
Where the top of the world rests
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• After we had finished with the clinic, a
  small part of our group including myself and my
  father, went on a six day trekking trip in the
  Khumbu valley towards Mt. Everest

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• We flew into Lukla Village, which is located
  at the entrance of the valley

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• The airstrip in Lukla is one of the shortest
  in the world, it is 0.5km long and has a
  elevation change of 200ft.

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• The only way these planes catch speed and
  slow down is because the runway is on a hill.
  Planes go uphill upon landing, and downhill upon
  taking off before flying off a cliff

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• Villages in the valley can only receive food
  and supplies from Lukla

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• All supplies are then carried and delivered
  by porters to the individual villages

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• These porters will carry from about 40-120kg
  of stuff for hours till they reach
  the villages

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• For those however who have more money, will
  have Yaks, or Zoes (short for a mix breed of a
  yak and a cow) to carry the luggage and supplies
  for them

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• Walking in this valley was an amazing
  experience, especially with everything that we
  saw

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• We had two guides for this trek, and both
  were great

(above) This is Lokba 1
(above) This Guy is a porter
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• This is Lokba 2

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• Our first stop was a village called Monju

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• 2nd day, we stayed in Namche village, which
  is the biggest in the valley

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• On the 3rd day we reached Tengbouche village,
  which has a view of Mt. Everest

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• Seeing Mt. Everest, was one of the most
  awesome sights I have ever seen

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• There was many other high mountain peaks
  surrounding us

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• After seeing the beautiful mountains, we
  headed in the other direction to Khumjung village

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• We saw a school there that was funded by Sir
  Edmund Hilary (the first man to climb Everest)

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• Children living in Namche, have to climb over
  this mountain between the village and Khumjung to
  get to school everyday

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• On the 5th day, we hiked to a settlement
  close to Lukla

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• The 6th and final day was when we had made it
  back to Lukla

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• I was very glad to have been given this great
  opportunity to see such an amazing sight in this
  trek

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8- Personal Thought
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• At first I was uneasy with going overseas to
  a whole different world for the first time

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• But after going and seeing all the things
  that are different from our world and theirs, I
  changed my mind

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• I learned many things about their culture and
  way of life

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• It was very shocking to me at first when
  entering Kathmandu, but I got used to it, sorda

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• I am however are now sick of car horns, and
  people spitting, after seeing and hearing it
  every single day

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• I had a great experience with the
  kids of Nepal

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• And I had a great time with my Father

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• While we were in the clinic we met this young
  teenage girl who is a very bright and nice
  person. Her name is Devika

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• We got to know more about her, and found out
  she used to go to an English boarding school, but
  was removed due to money issues

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• She has one sister and two brothers in school,
  but the father might have to take them out to
  help take care of their sick mother

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• We got to meet her family, and decided we
  wanted to help them stay in school, and get
  Devika back to the Boarding school

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• As we know now, she has gotten back into one,
  and we have high hopes for her to do well

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• I was very glad to have gone to Nepal
  otherwise I would never have met Devika

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• This experience has also made me much more
  thankful of the things that I have as compared to
  what people of Nepal have. My eyes have been
  opened

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• Thank you very much for taking the time to
  watch this presentation, and I hope you learned
  something out of it, as I have

Photos taken by Caleb Gillis, Bob Gillis, Melody
Robertson, and Michael Maher