My name is Christian, I am B.Sc. In Biomedical Engineering, and I traveled in a group to Nepal this summer to repair medical equipment in rural hospitals.

Group Visit

During this summer program 2017, a group of 28 Biomedical and Mechanical Engineers came to Nepal to join Volunteer Society Nepal through EWH (Engineering world health), Volunteer Society Nepal Nepal provided us an outstanding support to make our stay successful. Apart from offering placements, they run a number of initiatives that we experienced.

Project Visits

First, the group visited the women’s center, where home wives of all ages are learning English. They have classes everyday from 11:30 to 13:30, and I am really impressed in both their level of English, as well as their eagerness to learn more!

We also went to see a home for disabled children in the middle of Kathmandu. Again, this place was rather small, and needed more support. One of the children sat in a special chair with a pillow in front of him. We didn’t really find out why it was this way, but we later found out that he apparently bangs his forehead into everything all the time, making it really dangerous for him to walk around and play with each other. All the children had a fantastic energy, and it was really amazing to visit this place. They were all eager and happy, and did all kind of things all the time. It made as all extremely happy.

The home for disabled children is also run by VSN, and really in need of money. They guy that banged his head into everything is really in need of a helmet, costing 120 euros. If you want to donate, you can do so by contacting VSN.

Lastly, our group visited the school run by VSN, called “Career Building International Academy”, CBIA (all schools in Kathmandu have a names like this. No exception!). The school is apparently one of the more popular schools in the area, with over 800 pupils up to 10th grade. If you come from a poor family, the school is free. Otherwise you have to pay. About 150 pupils came from poor family, making it a school with many different kids.

A Friendly Football Match

VSN organized a friendly football match between their school and our group.We played a football-match against a team from the school. The game was played on the football-field in the middle pesicola, and it was really authentic. A lot of Nepali children came before the match and wanted to talk and play. In general, the kids here in Nepal does not seem to have as many “social barriers” as kids in Northern Europe, and hey would just come and talk to us, and ask us a lot of questions. They even didn’t want to leave the football field as we started playing!

Since the football field is in the middle of the area, the atmosphere is really cool! You could hear cars honking all the time, mixed with noise from the nearby airport as well as sounds from goes wandering around. Interested kids didn’t just watch, but also played themselves on the sides of the field and behind the goals, slowly moving not and more into the field. That was not optimal, but I guess it’s a part of the experience to tell Nepali kids in Nepali to move away from the field. Especially because no one expects you to speak Nepali.

I was the goalkeeper, and our group won the match 5-3!

I am so impressed of VSN and the projects that they do in here in Nepal. It really feels like they are doing their best to help the communities in the area in a sustainable way!