A Trip to Mt. Everest

Nepal has been great so far! The travel and time zones and everything have been catching up with me – and most of our group – but we’re still having a good time.

On Monday, we went to the Association for the Welfare of the Mentally Retarded (AWMR). They explained an overview of current disability issues in Nepal. AWMR was started in 1984 and currently serves 13 out of 75 districts through 21 units, totaling around 5000 children. We spoke with the president, whose own son has MR, and he was told that nothing would ever be done to help him. Now, as an adult, he can walk, talk, and can remember things. He is also married and has children. It is very interesting here in Nepal because it is among the norm for men with MR to be set up in an arranged marriage. It is important in the religious beliefs here for the men to carry on the family name, so it is a priority for them to get married. Additionally, a marriage partner serves as a type of “social security” to help the man as he ages. However, it is very uncommon for women with MR to be set up in a marriage, and they often remain with the parents and ultimately a sibling.

After visiting AWMR, we went to AutismCare Nepal. Founded on April 2, 2008 by parents of children with autism, AutismCare is the only active autism organization in Nepal. We spoke with a couple involved with AutismCare whose 3 ½ year old son has autism. They have strong ambitions to expand the center into a day care and ultimately a specialized school, hire interdisciplinary professionals, and advocate for inclusion in legislation. They also want to establish a home for children with autism. It reminded me very much of Autism Delaware, a nonprofit organization where I worked for two summers, before they were established to the point where they are today.

Then, we visited with Dr. Basu Dev Kafle, who gave us a more extensive overview of the current situation in Nepal. He explained that policies have been written to transform the curriculum in Nepalese schools since 1996, but none of them have been implemented. The goal was to have all children enrolled in primary school by 2000, but it has yet to happen. The approaches that Dr. Kafle referred to were very similar to special education in the United States. For example, he spoke of using resource rooms, integrating a small number of students with disabilities in regular education schools, using special schools for students with disabilities, and having fully inclusive schools. However, teachers in Nepal do not receive appropriate training for students with disabilities and do not feel comfortable with these students in their classrooms. Many myths in Nepalese culture affect the inclusion of students with disabilities.

Today, we all woke up very early to fly to Mt. Everest. Our tour guide in Nepal got all of us tickets on a very small plane (our group was split in two) through the mountains. It was really cool to see a landscape completely different than the United States and to fly right past Mt. Everest! We were back to our hotel in time for breakfast & then we went out on a site visit.

We visited the Technical & Skill Development Centre for Blind & Disabled (TSDCBD). This was one of my favorite visits on our whole trip. One of my best friends at UD has a recent visual impairment, and I have learned so much from her in terms of what it means to have a visual disability, when before I had focused mainly on developmental disabilities. Additionally, one of my cousins has visual impairments (he has cataracts & glaucoma), so it has been interesting to see the contrast between an acquired visual impairment and one from birth. Using my personal experience, I think this was the most interesting visit for me. TSDCBD was started in 1991 with only 3 students, and in 2008 was up to 606. They serve not only individuals with visual impairment, but also the disabled, deaf, “slow learners”, and disadvantaged. They provide training skills in areas such as computer training, office management & English language, art & clay work, chalk & candlemaking, knitting, tailoring, mobile repair, and weaving. They also have an early intervention program and health & physiotherapy. In addition, they have an internship occupational rehabilitation program that looked remarkably similar to the Swank Employment Initiative that I work with at the Center for Disabilities Studies! They train students in job areas, provide certification, find them an internship/job, and then help the student sustain themselves past the program. It was really interesting to see the same concepts applied halfway across the world and it was really the first place we have visited that focused on vocational issues.

Once we got back from TSDCBD, a few of us hit the Thamel District (where we are staying) to do lots of shopping! There are so many cool things for sale around here & everything is so much cheaper than it is in America. I purchased a few more pashminas (none of us can exercise self restraint when it comes to the pashminas!) and a new bedspread. I also got a new North Face jacket (very popular at UD) for much less than it would have cost at home. All in all, Nepal is completely different than the other two locations we have visited. Although Dubai was very Western, it is interesting that television channels here are what we are used to at home, and in Dubai we didn’t have any channels that I knew. Also, wireless internet is much more present in Nepal. However, the poverty level and street vendors make it feel very similar to Ghana. It will be interesting to see how Thailand will be even different, and as I see more of the world, this trip is just making me want to travel to even more locations!