Leprocy & TB in the air but that won't get us down.

Hailey went to the Leprosy hospital today. Leprosy is completely curable if it is caught and treated early. Unfortunately most of the people in Nepal cannot afford to go to a doctor. Out of all of the cases of lepr0cy all over the world, 60% of the cases originate in India.

TB has been the other major topic in the volunteer house “In the mountain kingdom of Nepal -- one of the poorest countries in the world -- almost half of the over 20 million population are infected with TB. Of these, up to 90 000 people have active TB and there are 44 000 new cases of the disease every year.” Scary!

Cost of Living:

I know I’ve mentioned the bus and the taxi’s I have been taking while I’m here but I haven’t really talked about the cost. We pay 15Nrs (Nepali Rupee’s) to take the bus, this is equivalent to about 17 cents Canadian. We pay 250Nrs to take a taxi most places of course this varies depending on how far we are going, what time of day/night and how good our haggling skills are but this is equivalent to about $3Cdn.

My friend down here from Perth asked me why I’m not just taking a cab everywhere because it is so cheap and I would be spared being squished onto a bus like a sardine. To say that I enjoy the bus would be a lie but I can say that I came to Nepal to experience Nepal. I didn’t come here to be a tourist. People don’t come to Nepal because the air is clean or the beaches are beautiful (there are no beaches). I can’t speak for everyone but I came to Nepal because in the face of everything these people are dealing with, the dirt, the poor living conditions, the overcrowded everything, the insane government, they are happy. They take care of each other and the people around them. If I tell the bus driver where I want to get off, he will go out of his way to find me on the bus and make sure I get off at my stop (OK with the exception of my first day but that was as much me not knowing where I was). One of the ladies in our house wrote on her fb “The smile on my face doesn't mean my life is perfect ..It's means I appreciate what I have and what god has blessed me with .“

Fun Facts:

-It is Fathers Day in Nepal tomorrow. Happy Fathers Day Dad!