A Different Type of Holiday Part 2

A Different Type of Holiday Part 2

We left Tibet and flew to Kathmandu, Nepal. Our plane took us directly past Mount Everest. The sun was shining and the snow and rock faces reflected its magnificence. Kathmandu was not what we expected. We had a vision of Shangri-La. Rather, the city of 3 million is congested, noisy, and, full of motorcyclists who do not follow any conventional rules of the road. On top of that, the city is not very clean. In fairness, Nepal has been undergoing significant political turmoil these last few years. Several years ago, the Royal Family was assassinated in the Royal Palace. That is, everyone except one brother who later became King. Many of the Nepalese are very suspicious of the new King and feel he had something to do with the murders and are pressing for him to step down. At the same time, the Maoist communists have been waging a guerrilla war against the government and many people on both sides have been killed and injured. Much of the money that should have gone into supporting and improving the country went instead into fighting the insurgents. While we were there, President Jimmy Carter was visiting Kathmandu as part of a United Nations delegation trying to bring peace to the country. We saw a Canadian UN plane at the airport and several UN vehicles on the streets. We were lucky though, everything was quiet during our stay, although we did walk into a Maoist political rally one afternoon in Bhaktapur City. We watched a bit and then quietly moved along.

We don't know how all the cars and motorcycles stayed on the road because Kathmandu was experiencing a huge gasoline shortage. Gasoline is supplied by a single company which buys its supplies from India. It seems they have not paid their bill in a long time and shipments of gasoline are few and far between. We saw many lines of more than a kilometer as both cars and motorcycles lined up for the few gas stations that were open.

We took a bus trip outside the city to the rural areas. This restored our sense of what Nepal was supposed to look like: terraced farms and beautiful vistas, often with the Himalayans in the background. One of our finest experiences in Nepal was a trip to Nagarkot, 2100 meters above sea level. We stayed one night at Niva Niwa Lodge, a fabulous retreat at the top of the mountain and watched the sun set and then rise on the Himalayan peaks. This was one of those once in a lifetime experiences. From our vantage point, the beauty, the majesty, the quiet and the overall peace made the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu seem so far away. On our way down the mountain we met a group of Rotarians from the Kathmandu area. They were visiting a remote hospital where they were setting up a kidney dialysis service. They told us almost everyone in the village had sold one of their kidneys in order to buy food. By the time I reached home they had already contacted me to see if I was interested in getting area Rotary Clubs involved in their project.

Back in Kathmandu we met with several local Rotarians and had a welcome garden party. We visited Rotarian supported schools and a small factory that made very simple water purification systems. One school we visited in a rural area had 200 children and no toilet. The local Rotary club had secured land near the school and was constructing latrines. We also took a special flight back over the Himalayans to take photographs. While on the plane, we met a young American women who was volunteering at an orphanage in Kathmandu. Before long, we talked her into inviting us to visit the place. It was great to see the children and their caregivers. We were welcomed as visiting dignitaries and by the time we left, our group had donated over $500 to support the children.

Well, it's time to take everyone back to Kolkata. We left Kathmandu airport, arrived in Kolkata and immediately took the train to Dhanbad. Our stay in Dhanbad and later in Kolkata was at the homes of host Rotarians. We visited a number of Rotary projects from schools to hospitals to orphanages. We must have taken in at least 6 or 7 Rotary meetings at different clubs throughout the two cities. While in Dhanbad we traveled to a coal mine where some of the group descended over 300 meters into the Digwadih Colliery which is owned by the Tata Company. We walked 500 meters beside the conveyor belts and ended up at a working face of the mine. At this point the humidity was nearly 100% and the temperature felt like 30 degrees Celsius. All the miners were in their shorts, sweaty and covered in coal dust.

But let's not forget that our main reason for the trip was the polio corrective surgery and the Limb Camp. The operating room consisted of 4 operating tables and 4 teams of surgeons, and doctors. It was a production line where each patient was prepped for surgery, given an anesthetic and carried into the operating room by arms and legs. The surgeon cut the Achilles tendon and straightened the foot, made an incision on the inside of the knee, used a hammer and chisel to sufficiently break the bone so that the leg could be physically straightened, and made another incision at the top inside of the leg, cutting another tendon so the leg could be further straightened. Once the surgery was complete, the patient was stitched and carried arms and legs to another room where a full leg cast was applied. From there the patient was moved to a recovery room and stayed with family for another three days. Food and bedding was free for the patient and the family for these three days. All in all, the entire operation from anesthetic to surgery to casting to recovery room took less than 30 minutes per person. At least 50 people went through the operation on the day we were there.

During the rest of our time in Dhanbad we visited the Limb Camp. And watched trained doctors and technicians design, build and install artificial legs and braces for amputees and polio victims. We saw a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant help to change the lives of almost 1000 people. And all this happened because two Rotary Clubs, one in Dhanbad, India and one in Ridgetown, Ontario had an idea to help those polio victims and amputees in the Dhanbad area. My club, the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise, was one of several other clubs in Ontario and Michigan that contributed to the Matching Grant.

As Rotarians, we pay our own way to these kinds of service projects. When you tie in a vacation, it becomes even easier to justify the personal expense to get there. This is now two years in a row that Barb and I vacationed alongside a Rotary project. I wonder where we will go next?

Ralph Montesanto is a member of The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise and will be District Governor in 2008 -2009 for Rotary District 7090 which includes 73 Rotary Clubs spread on both sides of Niagara Falls.