Today we were able to sleep in, for once. I woke up around 6:45 checked over my packing from the previous night and met everyone for breakfast. Our check out time was 9:00am and we all sat in a circle overlooking Kathmandu and the beautiful “hills” as Geeta calls them, (they really look like mountains). Our van arrived and we tossed our luggage on the top and headed to the Psychiatric Ward in a more rural area. The roads were more narrow than in the city which I thought was impossible. They were not as well paved, making our trip quite bumpy.
We finally arrived where we were greeted by the staff and some of the patients. We filed into the dining hall where we were given a presentation. They covered a brief history of mental health treatments and how there is a really big need for mental health institutions. The statistic that stuck with me the most was the fact that there is only 1 child psychiatrist for 26 million people. 26 MILLION PEOPLE! Those poor children will go through life without any sort of early intervention treatment. This breaks my heart. After all the children I met yesterday at Little Angels College I can’t imagine those little faces going untreated.
After tea and cookies provided by the ward we all piled back on the bus and drove to a buddhist temple. This was breathtaking. It is enormous in size, dressed with prayer flags.
We did a little shopping where I bought a new back pack, some jewelry, and some awesome pants. We then ventured to Maiti Nepal. We learned about how they are advocating, educating, rehabilitating and raising awareness of the trafficking of women. This was some pretty heavy stuff. We were taken on a tour where we met about 6 orphan babies all with smiling faces and some were even able to place their palms together in the “Namaste” fashion.
I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Comparative Health Psychology PSY 460 