Krystle and Erin’s Nepal visit - by Krystle
During April, my friend Erin and I went to Nepal for the first time. The reason behind the trip was to visit Megs Children’s Home, which we had heard about through a friend who knew Trish. After meeting with some of the Megs committee members, and preparing ourselves as much as we could, we headed off to Kathmandu on the 4th April, for 2 weeks.
As soon as we stepped off the plane, the culture shock was evident, but we were quickly made to feel at home by the friendliness and generosity of the locals.
Bikash came to meet us at the airport, and took us to Meg’s, where we stayed for the first week.
It was very quickly evident how happy and healthy all the children were. We settled into life at Megs very quickly, and were made to feel part of their big family.
The children were on school holidays while we were there, so we busied ourselves with running holiday activities such as, painting, card making, and games.
I am a teacher, so I had brought over some letters that the grade 5/6 students in my class had written for the kids at Meg’s. The kids all eagerly wrote responses, so I am hoping that some lasting pen pals have been made!
Erin also spent some time interviewing the kids for a documentary on Meg’s Children’s Home.
Throughout our stay, we were able to have a good look around the village, and went into the school with the kids, when they were getting the results from their exams. Due to the generosity of our friends and family we were able to help pay some of the kid’s school fees, with donations we had brought with us from Australia.
We threw the kids a party on our last night, as a thankyou, and played games such as, pass the parcel, pin the tail on the elephant, egg and spoon races and three legged races!! A great time was had by all!
All too soon, it was time for us to leave. It was very hard to say goodbye, as we had formed such strong bonds with the kids, Bikash and the house mums, even in such a short period of time.
Before flying home we had a couple of spare days, which allowed us to see more of Nepal, which is such a beautiful country. We just enough time to visit to Chitwan National Park, where we got to see wild Rhinos, and bath elephants in crocodile infested waters.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I feel very privileged to have met so many wonderful and inspiring people. I think about Nepal and the Children’s home on a daily basis, and have just booked flights to go back later in the year.
***See Erin’s report below
