New Tent Camp: Nilbarahi Bode / Bhaktapur

Today we went to visit a new tent camp. It is a super tent camp. The tents were donated by the Chinese government. During the first month of the earthquake, the Chinese government also donated rice, potatoes, dale (dozens of varieties of dried split peas, beans, lentils) oil, and salt. There have been many different INGOs that came to help out this camp, because these people came directly from the highest earthquake death toll zone, Sindhupalchowk. There are hundreds of villages nestled in the mountainous terrain of this district, which is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet. It was estimated that about 3,000 people had lost their lives in this district alone and over 90% of the houses have been fully destroyed. The earthquake caused a lot of collapsed buildings and structures, but the second deadliest thing were mudslides from the mountains. Before the earthquake, Sindhupalchowk was already the least developed district in Nepal, and now it has completely lost its infrastructure. Due to the harsh terrain, it was very difficult for relief teams to get to these villages. The residents here told us that they were saved by relief teams through helicopter transport! Most of these people were farmers, so not only were their homes destroyed, but also their land for agriculture. Tzu Chi is very happy that they can help out in anyway possible for these residents, because they have seriously gone through a lot in the past two months. Even though these people have had a lot of help from different INGOs, they are still very grateful for any organization's help and they, themselves, help out others when they can. It is this cycle of great love that makes Nepal such a blissful place.

A 22 day old baby that we came into contact with in the tent visits! She is just the most adorable thing! Her mother had just finished wiping her down with oil, in order for her to go sun bathing. In Nepal, it is a traditional practice and strong belief that it is a good practice to wipe the babies down with oil and sun bath, in order for them to receive a good amount of vitamin D from the sun. 

 I was performing the sign language to "One Family" for this family of three and this little guy was staring at me with such focus the whole entire time. I saw Little Precious' (a little girl from Haiti who passed away from Cholera) look in his eyes! It was a very emotional moment for me! The whole 5 minutes of performance, his eyes did not leave my eyes! An 1 1/2 year old little boy, that has got to be super positive affinity between the two of us. Thank you little guy! Your gift is precious! 

A family of 20 sleeping in the same tent! Very crammed space! 

 A row of dangling fire extinguishers! What a sight! 

This is the Child Care Space donated by SOS Children's Villages. The children at the tent camp can always come here during the day time. They have a full time teacher that will do interactions and educational activities with them. Many of the children are all malnourished and due to a lack of hygiene control, head lice is also quite a problem here. 

I love these children! They are all so loving! We totally fell over in a pile for taking a photo! So happy in this shared moment!

"Everyone Yay!!!" (2 fingers, 3 fingers, fist!)

This Aji (grandmother) was so cute! She was so happy to receive Master Cheng Yen's blessing gift, she quickly found a red necklace and connected it onto it. It totally looks like it was made like that all along. She wears it proudly and says that she is so happy that she can have a "lucky charm" with her at all times now! Isn't she just the most beautiful thing?

It really brings a smile to my face just how happy a child is when they are living the simple life. When people look at tent camps, the majority of reactions are negative or they feel sad for them. But for me personally, I don't feel that way at all. I see all the positive things and all the beauty that lies in each small detail. Like in this scene, I see two children sitting on sand bags and happily playing with a scarf. They don't have any other toys, but just a scarf, but they are so happy. This scarf has more functions than just a simple toy, it creates so many different learning opportunities for the children. For example, when the wind blows, the scarf moves in different directions, this teaches the children about movements and gravity. When they cover themselves with the scarf, it teaches them about darkness vs. light. The different colors and patterns on the scarf teaches them about different shapes, shades and hues. The texture of the scarf teaches them about different fabrics and how they feel to the touch. A simple object has so much meaning behind it, that is the greater meaning in life. Just like how mother nature offers us so much, but we can only truly appreciate it all if we are mindful enough. 

So when I look at tent camps, I see unity, I see positive affinities, and most of all, I see resilience in the Nepalese people!