Our trip to MMRS in the village of Lalu was not as smooth as we had planned. Unexpected heavy rains caused mudslides leading to road closures and unsafe driving conditions.

After buying the supplies needed for school and along with Prakash Bista, the founder of the school, we left the city of Nepalgunj on the 12th of September at 0530. Our plan was to reach Lalu by the end of the day. It was supposed to be a 10- 12-hour drive dependent on road condition and needed stops. At about eight am we stopped for breakfast and chai in a small village along the highway.  The food was delicious and the chai, sweet and flavorful.

With our bellies full we continued onward. Rain remained our constant companion as we made our way toward Kalikot district. The rain, causing most of Karnali Hwy to be muddy, slippery, and some sections to be heavily flooded, made the drive nerve-racking at times.   The driving skills of Nepali drivers is an art to be respected. The calmness and expertise with which they meet this road is amazing. They seem to have an intimate relationship, a deep connection with this road that has the reputation for being one of the world’s most dangerous highways. This is my third time on this road, and I feel like I too am developing a deep connection with it. I remain calm. Nickie Saysamphan, my nursing partner for this part of the trip, sits calmly next to me. Her serene and pleasant demeanor, her sense of adventure, and willingness to trust me and come on this journey, is making this trip a fun and exciting experience instead of a frightening one. Both of us are very much out of our comfort zones!  Fortunately, Nepal is a beautiful country and instead of the road conditions, we turn our focus toward the breathtaking scenery.

At about 1230 we stopped for a bathroom break, a cup of chai, and freshly cooked food. This I believe is our second stop. We have been on the road for about seven hours now. With supplies safely secured in the back of the truck, covered with tarps to prevent it from getting wet, we get back on the road remaining hopeful that we will reach the school today. Shortly after we resume the drive, our driver informs us that there is a road closure further up the road due to mudslides and it is being cleared. Rain, which had slowed down a bit, picked up again. At about four pm we reached the area blocked by mudslide. Trucks, cars, motorcycles, all standing still. A line of stopped vehicles greeted us. We realized that the road is not yet open. Our driver is a bit concerned and suggests we turn around and go back about an hour to the village of Rakam Karnali, which has accommodation. We of course would like to see if we can continue. Per Prakash, the school is about three hours from this point.

The driver’s concern is that he may get stuck the next day on his way back and he is not sure about continuing the drive. So now, not only are we stuck, but it appears that we may be without a driver as well. As we wait in the car deciding what would be our best option, I recognize Deepak, the driver who had taken us up this road on my first trip to Lalu in 2019. He was walking by our truck and just happened to look in. He informed us that the road will not be cleared tonight, the best option is to leave the next day. We turn around and go back about an hour and half to Rakam Karnali.  

We were fortunate to have found lodging and fresh food. While booking rooms for all of us, our driver told us that he will not be driving us tomorrow. Instead, he refused to even spend the night and chose to drive back to Nepalgunj. We contacted Deepak and he agreed to drive us in the morning as soon as the road clears.  At this point having run into Deepak is starting to feel like a divine intervention. We are physically and emotionally a bit exhausted, yet Nickie and I are also excited about what adventures await us on this incredible highway which is nothing short of a fantastic mess!

Having eaten and having secured a driver, we go to bed, but sleep does not come easy.

We woke up to the sweet and at the same time a bit of a disheartening sound of rain! It’s about eight am and we do not have any update on the road yet. We walk over to the small kitchen next to our sleeping quarters to eat breakfast and get coffee. While sitting in the small kitchen sipping on instant coffee made deliciously with Buffalo milk, we watched a crowd gather across the street. It appears that someone has a high fever and is waiting for a ride to take her to a hospital in Surkhet.  I am told Surkhet is a five-hour drive from Rakam. Fortunately, they were able to secure a driver and left with the patient. Nickie and I talked about how we often take our easy access to healthcare for granted.

Second Attempt to Reach the School

Rain is slowing down now. Even the sun was starting to smile through the clouds. Prakash reached out to our new driver, Deepak, and he told us that the road was cleared. We quickly eat lunch, loaded up the vehicle and at about one thirty pm we headed back up the mountain.  We were able to pass the area previously blocked by rocks and mudslides but soon found ourselves in a massive traffic jam. It was explained to us that two trucks got stuck attempting to pass on this narrow road. The time now is approximately four thirty pm. We are stopped; no vehicles can move. We sit in the car as we weigh our options.  It started to get dark so Prakash suggested that we should start walking. We were only a forty-minute walk away from a motel. This lodging was at the base of the road leading up the mountain to the school. Not wanting to be stuck on the road and no clear idea of when the traffic will clear, we decided to walk.  It was the safer option. Nickie and I were totally up for whatever was to come.  So, we left our supplies with the driver in the vehicle, grabbed our backpacks and started to walk.  We had to cross a somewhat raging waterfall flowing across the road. We held hands to cross. I am glad we did that because I could feel my body getting pushed toward the edge due to the force of water.

Hungry, exhilarated and grateful, we reach our destination. It took us forty minutes to reach the lodging, and the last fifteen or so minutes in the dark. The sound of the raging river in the quiet of the night was deafening and the darkness added a sense of mystery and thrill to this already exciting adventure. I had left my flashlight in my back pack in the truck, but we had our trusty phone lights to guide the way! And again, we had fresh food, a clean room with a shower and beds, which at this point felt more comfortable than any other bed we have ever slept on! 😊

Our driver reached us safely at about ten pm.

After a much-needed rest, fresh food for breakfast, we leave for school, finally! The weather is nice but after the rains, the road to the school is not much better. It was rougher than Karnali Hwy due to too many exposed rocks. We bounce our way along this windy, rocky, muddy road, the truck hugging the edge precariously. After about an hour and a half of a bumpy road, we reached the school. A sigh of relief was audible😊.

The School and the “Clinic”

After leaving Nepalgunj on the twelfth, we arrived safely at the school on the morning of the 14th, two days later than planned. We are shown our accommodations. We are both impressed and grateful with the room and bathroom available to us out here in this rural part of Nepal. I was also very impressed with all the changes and improvements that were made since my last visit in 2019. The hard work of Prakash and Shomi and donors who make this possible, is greatly noticeable. After meeting the children who reside at school, passing out the snacks that were brought for them, we get to relax a bit in our room before being called to eat breakfast.

After unpacking the supplies and checking out the room in which we will be working for the next two weeks, we exploref our new surroundings and played with children.

September 15th, a cool, clear, morning. We watch the morning assembly, the children who attend the school from the nearby villages are also present. After the assembly, we started our assessment of the students. We started with kindergarten class first. We encountered many children with infected wounds, more than we had anticipated. I was very happy to see that the hostel children did not have any badly infected wounds. From the work that was done on our visit in 2019, Shomi, the school principal, was diligent in her efforts to educate and care for wounds thus preventing infections. We did vision tests, skin, lung assessments, hand washing, and mouth assessment. Per Shomi, dental care is lacking in the village. We bought toothpastes and toothbrushes for all the students. Wound and skin care took up a lot of time. We also treated lots of common colds. Stomach aches were a common complaint we encountered. This was not something I had come across my visit here in 2019. Because of the road that is now accessible by car, junk food has found its way into the village, and we concluded that this new processed food addition is the cause of stomach aches. When children with complaints of stomach aches were asked what was the last thing they ate, some variation of packaged processed junk food was the common answer. We educated the girls on menstrual health through video presentations we had found in Nepali along with education on basic hygiene. A few kindergarteners came in to have their healed scabs assessed and requested band aids. Nickie and I called this “soothing band aids” 😊. They returned to their classes smiling.

“SHIFT CHANGE”

VICTORIA AND CHRIS MAKE THE JOURNEY TO SCHOOL

Nickie’s two weeks went by fast and soon it was time for us to leave the village and drive down the mountain to pick up Chris and Victoria in Lumbini. The weather was better but remained questionable. Karnali Hwy was free of road closures however, on our way to Lumbini, we were stuck in traffic again due to mudslide but this time it was cleared quickly because this road is easily accessible. We picked up the machine that school needed for disposal of sanitary pads. Thanks to all of you who donated, we had the money to buy this machine and take it to the school.

After dropping Nickie off at the airport, Chris, Victoria, and I head back to Nepalgunj to buy more supplies then drive back up the mountain to the school. On this drive to school Prakash is not with us. He had school related errands to get done and us not wanting to end up on Karnali Hwy or the road leading up to the school in the dark, we left ahead of him in a separate vehicle. The road was wet due to rain the previous three days but luckily the day we left, it was a clear day.  We did have to go through sections of flooded road and encountered a flat tire which slowed us down a bit. This did worry us, but the driver was very quick with the tire change.  To avoid being caught on the road in the dark, we made quick stops for food and bathroom breaks at small roadside kitchens.

However, by the time we reached the road leading up to school, it started to get dark, dark enough to cause some worry. These roads hug the cliff, are narrow, rocky, and windy!  Victoria looked at me and said, “I don’t know why I let you talk me into this, Kay”. Then she took out her phone, took some pictures, talked about that when she returns, this drive will definitely be during daytime! 😊 Sometimes it felt like the car was sliding all over the road in the mud and having difficulty going up hill, Chris kept Victoria, and I calm by frequently explaining to us that the driver has to drive this way on this road.  After several frightening moments, we reached the school safely. Prakash, in the vehicle owned by the school, arrived about two hours after. Since this drive was made straight from Nepalgunj to school, it took about thirteen hours and we were very tired, so we ate, showered, said hello to children waiting to meet us, and we went to bed. We woke up to a beautiful cloudy morning, the students had already started their assembly.

The road to school

After the assembly we went straight to work. We started with reevaluation of wounds previously treated, treated new wounds, ear infections, and Chris and Victoria did the teeth brushing and again education and demonstration of proper hygiene.  Victoria went above and beyond and managed to bring an adult CPR mannequin and an infant one for BLS teaching. She also spent a lot of time gathering education materials on healthcare topics, including information on pregnancy. The information was thorough, it included signs and symptoms, prevention, and how to manage in case the illness arises.  This material, she then had it binded into a book!! This was a great help and very much appreciated by all the staff.

Your donations helped buy these much-needed items and get them to school. 

Victoria and Chris’s time at the school was cut short due to the early closure of schools in remote areas. Because of heavy rains, road closures became common and to ensure that people would be able to get home for the holidays, the government made the decision for early closure of schools. This was very disheartening for Chris and Victoria because now they had only six days at school. CPR classes were held for teachers. Because of the reduced days we had at school, we were unable to educate all the teachers.

We did the best we could with the time we had!

The children were wonderful, so very adorable, fun, and loving. A few were scared but still trusted us to provide them with care. One of the students we learned later from Shomi had told his father that he is going to drop out if he doesn’t pull him out of school. He said that all we do is stick him with needles. He is a kindergartener! He left out the part that we had given him chocolate after treating him😊. He had multiple wounds that were infected and on re-assessment we found the wounds to be healing nicely!

Time to say Goodbye, last day of School

Finally, the day to leave school arrived.  We achieved a lot and were sad for it to have ended. The staff were supportive, Shomi and Prakash fed us, housed us, and kept us safe. Lalu is a beautiful village and all of us did make some time after clinic hours to check out the village.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who donated because none of this would have been possible without your generous help. The school has extra supplies left for future use, education materials were placed in their library, and we know that Shomi’s dedication to keeping the children who attend the school healthy,  will continue to benefit from all your help. Even though the costs were higher than anticipated, we still have $1200 to spare. This money will be used toward the food program and vitamins for all the school children. Many children do not eat at home, their only morning meal is the one the school provides.

The work of Prakash and Shomi and all their donors who support this noble cause, is leading to a healthier and happier village, and making access to education easier.

Nickie, Victoria, Chris, and I are grateful to have played a small part in this incredible undertaking and again, this is all due to your support and trust in us!

Our journey back was equally exciting.

On behalf of Prakash, Shomi, all the students, villagers, the teachers, and the four of us nurses, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your help and support. It is because of you; we were able to make this incredible journey possible! We remain humbled and grateful!