Birthday in Buddha's Birth Land

Today is my birthday! A great big shout out to my mother for giving birth to me today! Thank you mom for all that you went through to bring me into the world! Super grateful for you!

This year's birthday is super special, because I get the chance to be able to spend it in Buddha's birth land. What an amazing opportunity! I feel so blessed that I am able to be here!

I woke up today with a giant smile on my face! It was going to be another super meaningful and fulfilled day! I started my day by going to the National Health Cluster to give a presentation on what Tzu Chi has done every since the earthquake and to invite everyone to please come to our August 1st large scale Free Clinic and Hygiene Education. I presented our ideas and had opened the floor for any advice and suggestions. All the INGO/NGOs were very impressed with what Tzu Chi has done so far in Nepal and continues to do. I was very grateful that Dr. Salvador (Health Cluster Coordinator) was kind enough to give me some time to give a presentation. I was very happy to see so many different organizations interested in coming to see how Tzu Chi conducts a free clinic and hygiene education, also super grateful to MSF for helping us collect on-site diagnosis data.

The biggest concern for the Health Cluster members are Waterborne Diseases. At the moment, it is the Monsoon season, so flash floods are common. With so many IDP camps around Nepal after the Earthquake, any outbreak is a huge concern. That is why the number one symptom that is under surveillance at the moment is watery/bloody diarrhea. With the number one disease concern being Cholera! Everyone that is working in IDP camps or large communities has the responsibility to help the surveillance efforts, so that we can help keep Nepal healthy through these difficult times. I am so thankful that being the Medical Coordinator I can help make a difference in these trying times. Part of Tzu Chi's Medical Mission efforts is focusing on Health Education of the masses and also conducting Free Clinics where it is needed. Health Education is very important, because it is always better to teach people how to prevent the illness/diseases from happening in the first place. The classes are frequent and it is really great to see first hand the medical knowledge being absorbed and actions that are learned for their everyday living. A difference is being made and I am so grateful to be apart of all of this change! 

After the Health Cluster meeting, we quickly headed over to Chuchepati camp to start setting up the different lanes for tomorrow's free clinic and hygiene education. We called upon the local volunteers to help us pull the lines using ropes and bamboo sticks. I am so thankful for my Chuchepati boys! They are always there to help out, especially with hard labor tasks! They are super at it! Look at those muscles hard at work! 

One of the local volunteers leading the way in showing everyone the best method in planting the bamboo sticks firmly and deeply into the ground. 

My boy Karma and his father hard at work with the entrance line up!

The volunteers were very thoughtful and resourceful, as well. We noticed that the cut bamboo sticks were very rough at the ends and was hazardous to the touch, so the volunteers gathered many plastic bottle tops to cover them with. It is reusing the bottles and it can protect everyone from harm. Awesome team work!

A big shout out to Uncle Danny for finding me a birthday cake! They surprised me with a birthday cake tonight! I am very grateful for everyone's kindness! There is a huge story behind this cake: according to Uncle Danny, there were two cakes, one with the Happy Birthday chocolate sign on it and one with Get Well. Uncle Danny likes chocolate cake, but the Happy Birthday sign was on the vanilla cake. So he had asked the bakery shop owner to please switch the signs on the cake, so we can get the Happy Birthday sign on the chocolate cake. Haha and apparently one cherry was missing, so they had to find another cherry to make the cake complete. Oh man, gotta hand it to Uncle Danny! He is the man for any task! Thank you Uncle Danny for making this birthday that much funnier!

Making three wishes, two secret ones, and the last one: no more disasters in the world!

So many people with only one cake! What to do? I remembered what my little auntie taught me in cake cutting. You first cut a circle in the middle and then cut the outside slices. This creates both big and small slices for every person's need! It worked out super well! Thank you auntie!

After the cake eating was finished, back to regular business! Dr. Nirdesh and I made creative art posters for tomorrow's Free Clinic and Hygiene Education! Look at how great the results are! What a big artist Dr. Nirdesh is! HIDDEN TALENT DISCOVERED! 

Awesome birthday spent with awesome people in an awesome country! Couldn't have asked for more this year! I am super blessed! All ready for tomorrow's event! Wish us luck!

Aftershocks

Aftershocks are not something that I've talked about in my daily blogs, because to tell you the truth, they are very frequent, so frequent that at times, it just comes and goes. I think for people that have stayed in Taiwan or any other country that is frequently hit by earthquakes on a regular basis, our bodies and minds are already immune to the idea of small earthquakes. But here in Nepal, earthquake was not a common thing, not a thing at all before April 25th, 2015 came around. Ever since this faithful day, the aftershocks have not stopped. The aftershocks are smaller now, almost three months after the disaster, but they are still there, always lingering on the surface. Every time there is a slight shake or rumble, the people are instantly thrown into a giant panic. Some aftershocks are very slight, but some, like today, are felt deeply and unnervingly. It has almost been two months that I have set foot in Nepal and in this short amount of time, there has already been over 9 big enough aftershocks that can be felt in the Kathmandu area. Daily aftershocks are still going on in the outer regions, which landslides are an immediate consequences of these small and repetitive aftershocks.

Every time an after shock happens, my heart immediately aches for the people of Nepal. It aches for them because I know just how scared they must all be and that unwanted memories of those two big earthquakes come haunting back in their minds, clear as on that day! Every shake, every rumble, continues to chip away their fragile existence. It is a reminder all too well of the people that they've lost in their lives and the possessions, the homes, the schools that went down that day! I keep praying for a safer Nepal, for the Nepalese people to continue to keep their heads up, with strength and courage in facing each new dawn! They are one of the most humble and kind people that I have ever met, that is something so special. It is true that each one of us has the Buddha nature in us, and it is shining bright here in Nepal! I am so grateful to be able to have the chance to be here in Nepal to spend every single breathing moment helping those in need!

Nepal, my heart is with you, through the thick and thin! I feel what you feel! 

Let's all join hands in helping free Nepal of all disasters and may there be no more sufferings! 

Namaste!

Midnight Emergency Watch!

Today the medical team went back to Chuchepati camp to talk with the housewives! We wanted to let them know what we had planned for August 1st! We wanted them to be the active volunteers in the hygiene education part! They were all very receptive to the idea of learning more medical skills in keeping their families healthy and in turn, keeping the whole community healthy! 

I had also came to ask for their help in writing the number cards for the August 1st Free Clinic. The number cards will help us keep track how many patient we have seen and also make it easier for the pharmacy area to call out numbers when getting each of their medicines. The numbers needed to be in both English and Nepali! Our goal was to see 1,000 patients for the large scaled free clinic, but we needed to prepare more than that! So I had already precut 2,000 + pieces of recyclable paper for them to write on! After the initial instructions were given, it was time to write!!!! Here we go!!!

Making sure everyone knew which number sets they were writing: 1-100, 101-200, 201-300, 301-400 and so on. 

After about 15 minutes into the writing session, more and more people came to help. Even the school children all came to help write the numbers! It was a great exercise for them to practice writing their numbers, both in English and Nepali. It was really a great teamwork between the housewives and the community children. What a great sight to see!!! So touching!

Even the driver jumped in and helped me out with the division of cards! Thank you Prakash! 

Look how great they are doing!! How organized and systematic they are writing each card! What amazes me is the fact that most of the housewives that we have been interacting with are in fact illiterate, so this is a really hard task for them to participate in. Not only did they not shy away, but was open to the idea that I had suggested of teaming up in groups, where the ones who are not writing can help sort the numbers. Which I had shared, is just equally important as writing the numbers. This gave me a great opportunity to share with them that each task is only successful if all actors within it does their part. So everyone had to put in some effort in order for today's number card activity to be a big success! I am so happy that they were all on board! 

Uh oh!!!! We got off track with some numbers!!! haha...no worries....everyone came together to find the numbers that were needed and put it back in order again! It was actually quite fun to be looking for the numbers! It felt like a giant family game night! Lots of shouting, lots of laughter, and tons of fun! I am so grateful for each and everyone of them! 

Today's number card activity = HUGE SUCCESS! THANKS TO EVERYONE'S DEDICATED EFFORTS!

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So after a long day of different activities and report writing, the night was coming to a close.....OH WAIT....JUST KIDDING! Someone got heat stroke!!!!! Not good.....not good at all. So we all hurried over to stabilize the patient......he needed to be cooled down immediately, since his core body temp was WAYYYY too high for comfort. He has been screaming of a splitting headache....yes...heat headache! Not fun. So with no real ice and no way of getting ice cubes in the middle of the night, the best bet was borrowing the hotel's cold beverage stock!!! Sprite??? Coke??? Fanta Anyone???

Best fast cooling areas: forehead, behind the neck, all neck regions, underneath the armpits, wrists and inner thighs. Essentially all pulse points are a good point for quick cooling. 

After about three hours of continuous bottles of cold sodas, instant combustible ice packs (the ones where you can just punch for the chemical reaction to take place and it instantly becomes an ice pack for a little bit, thanks to Kevin for finding those), and the little ice cube and ice water (that I put into the gloves for comfort), the patient's core body temperature was finally coming down. He was finally feeling much better and able to take in some meds and fluids. It is about 3 am now, time for the last round of ice water treatment! Let's hope he hangs on for a couple more hours before we can get an IV into him!

7am: Got the IV gear ready now....just waiting on the solutions.....any minute now! 

Hang on buddy, we are going to get you well again.........

Pharmacy Run!

This morning, Monic and I headed over to Chuchepati camp to talk with the local management team on what was going to happen on August 1st. We briefed them on the different sections of activities and also the manpower that we will be needing. It was a really productive meeting! Getting super excited about August 1st now!!! Almost there!!!!

Dr. Nirdesh talking to one of the pharmacy owners on the list of medicine that we need to get for our August 1st Chuchepati free clinic!

This is how you correctly display sodas!!! JUST WOW!

Ninja Gel anyone??? YES, PLEASE! 

One of my favorite times in Nepal = Tea time!

 The pharmacy owners LITERALLY invited us to sit IN THE MIDDLE of the pharmacy space! Literally in the middle people! hahaha! It was one of the most insane experiences ever! He went and bought us tea and had asked us to have tea with them in the middle of their small pharmacy area. We got tons of medicine from them, so he wanted to thank us! So, there we were, sitting on lawn chairs in the middle of the pharmacy and having sweet tea with the pharmacy owner. We talked about Tzu Chi, the upcoming free clinic, TIMA Nepal, and why I was there in Nepal, everything really!!!! He was so patient and loving in chatting with us! Tea time is something really special in Nepal! People would just sit down and have tea with total strangers just to get to know who they are as individuals and talk about life's greater meanings! How awesome is that??? So the next time someone asks you to have tea, please take the time and have a cup of tea with them and talk about something greater than us! You never know, it might change your life's perspective for the better! 

Room 103....this is our new meeting area! So cozy with everyone sitting on the floor in a circle!

Make-shift IV Stick Part II

The make-shift IV stick makes its grand appearance again today! Different day, different patient, same tasks! It is becoming a regular thing around here this IV business! Let's hope this time the patient recovers fast and that this IV stick can go back in its boxes for a while. Dr. Nirdesh is hard at work in the recovering process! Multivitamin pack doing its thing.....got two more courses to go!!! 

After a long morning of IVs, it is time to eat some yummy Nepali food! MoMos are a great hit here in Nepali, they are basically just dumplings! But you can get them in so many different varieties here all around: steamed, fried, different folded styles, and the latest C-MoMos (which means it is cooked in chili sauce)!!! It is all super yummy! Today we got some old fashioned steamed veggie momos with some equally yummy fried paneers (fresh Indian cheese, most often made from buffalo milk). Bon appétit! 

Dr. Nirdesh and I are hard at work in compiling all the resident information for Chuchepati Camp! We are getting ready for the August 1st large scale free clinic! Our target is for 1,000 people to show up for the free clinic! Much preparation is still ahead! Wish us good luck! 

Welcome to life!

Today was our weekly meeting with all the WASH partners at Chuchepati Camp. We had many things to discussed, especially the topic of water. Specially speaking about drinking water vs. hand-washing water. 

Thanks to Water Missions International for making such great brochures to hand out to people! There are tons of information in this little brochure about safe drinking water and unsafe water usage. It also shows some good hygiene practices, such as the 6 steps of proper hand washing. There is also a huge section on what to do when having water diarrhea and when to seek medical attention. Everything is translated into Nepali language for easier understanding! Hope this goes to great use! 

We also had time to stop by Madhyapur Hospital, where we got to visit the Maternity Ward. There just so happened to be a brand new born baby (only one day old), whom was recovering with her mother. We learned today that in Nepali traditional, when there is a new born baby, for blessings and good wishes, one would tuck some folded money bills into the baby's bonnet! Normally right behind her ears. It was great to see mommy and baby doing so well! 

Welcome to life little girl! You are blessed! <3

Maheswori Camp Hygiene Kit Distribution + Free Clinic

Today is the big day for Maheswori hygiene kit distribution and free clinic! This is one of the big scale events done by TIMA Nepal! I am so proud of our local medical personnel and medical volunteers! They put in so much efforts in their daily lives for humanity already, and now their spare time in doing volunteer work with Tzu Chi. So much compassion and drive for helping others! The spirit of Great Love is well and alive here! Let's get to work shall we?

It poured down rain last night, so the first thing when we got to the camp is to tear down the broken community tent, so that we can set up the distribution area. The local volunteers were hard at work in finding out ways to tear it down safely!

7 volunteers with two bamboos and 30 minutes later....we have a fresh new distribution area for today's event! 

Unloading all the Hygiene Kits from the trucks! The total Hygiene Kits includes: Hygiene bucket with various hygiene products, Jerrycans, heavy blankets and plastic tarps. 

Thanks to all the local volunteers for helping unload and sort each of the items. Each event is always a success greatly due to their efforts!

Part of our Hygiene Kits distribution today includes hygiene education, as well. It is super important to have the free clinics to treat the patients who are suffering and even more important to promote preventive care in our health education program, where people can learn how to prevent the serious illnesses from happening in the first place. Thanks to Dr. Richita for her awesome hygiene education on the six steps of proper hand-washing methods! Our local volunteers were first trained and now today it is their big show to teach to all the residents that we are distributing to. So proud of each of them! Look at their hand-washing skills??? They are pros!!!

Everyone was listening very attentively to Dr. Richita and along with the actual demonstration by Dr. Nirdesh and all our trained local volunteers within each small group of residents! It worked out really well! People were really taking their hands out and doing all 6 steps with us! What a great sight to see! 

My Pineapple being interviewed after the hygiene education class. He is one of the dedicated Maheswori youth volunteers! He has been with us from the very beginning! He is one of the seeds here in Nepal! So proud of him and seeing how far he has come since day 1! Go Go Go Pineapple!

It is FREE CLINIC time! Our local medical volunteers hard at work at the BP/VITALS station! So proud to have them on our medical team! The free clinic would not be functional without their dedication and hard work each and every time! So grateful for all of you! This is Shreejana, she will be a full fledged health assistant in three months time!!! Can't wait to see her get her diploma! You go girl! So proud of you my dear!

Dr. Nirdesh seeing a patient! Thanks so much to our TIMA Nepal core members for making this free clinic happen! And a giant thank you to all our tzu chi volunteers, local volunteers, and local medical volunteers! It is so great to see everyone coming together for the betterment of others!

The children at Maheswori is always happy to see Tzu Chi coming in our vans! They have gotten used to the idea of having blue medical clinic tents there! They always love to play with the poles while the clinic is going on! The smiles on these children's face are just so precious! 

It really doesn't take much to be happy in life! For them, at that moment, was that tent pole; and for me, at the moment, was seeing their smiling faces! That was all it took! 

BE HAPPY WORLD! LIFE IS PRECIOUS!