NEPAL

Jakob Fraisse | Report | April 2012 Dortmund, May 22th

 “Let‘s go, Nepal against Germany!“ says Nisan, and kicks the ball. The match is set at the local airpot in Meghauli, Chitwan, Nepal. It’s late in the afternoon, and the sun is already setting. About 15 kids are playing soccer on the green grass, 15 kids and me.

I‘m Jakob, 20 years old, normally organizing jazz concerts and studying event management at a vocational school in Germany. Since as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in Asia. I have done karate for many years, I have written an essay on Confucianism and when I was 17 I traveled to India. So naturally it was only a question of time as to when I would get here, Nepal, the world‘s rooftop and one of the most fascinating countries in the world.
The reason I‘m able to be here is because I got to know Christa Schwens, a professor at Essen University in Germany, two years ago. She spoke with me about the possibility of visiting the country and getting to know Clinic Nepal. Two years later, I met Hari and Suman in Germany, and I immediately bought a ticket without any further plans. The only idea I had was to get to know the country, its culture and its people, and of course Clinic Nepal. And what seemed a bit foolish in the first place – visiting a country without any plans, and knowing only two people – turned out to be the best plan ever.

Now I‘m here. And I‘m overwhelmed. Leave alone the astonishing landscape, I‘m able to live with Hari‘s family and spend time with them. It‘s the perfect way of getting to know a culture. It‘s the perfect way of getting to know a country‘s people. I learn a lot about social graces, values and standards, including facial expressions, gestures, music and clothing. I spend a lot of time with Sunil, Suman and Anjana, people around my age who show me their world. The most impressive aspect is the charitable network Hari and his friends have formed during the last 17 years. It consists of the Friendship Clinic in Meghauli, three kindergartens and a children’s hostel. In addition to that, there are several traveling health camps and other side projects, including a youth scout group.
During my stay, I visited one of these health camps located inside a school. Although it is morning, the sun already burns like hell, but there is still a big queue. People are waiting to see Andreas Lorenz, a German doctor, or Singh, a Nepali doctor. Anjana helps Andreas through translating, and Suman organizes the order of the patients. Lots of the people work as farmers and have pain in their backs and hips. They work on the fields until they‘re very old. Andreas prescribes physiotherapy and painkillers. He is one of the volunteers who comes here during their holidays to help the local people of rural Nepal.
The small contribution I can make myself is to give a music class to the local scouts group which meets in the kindergarten. I carry my guitar so I give a little talk about its terms, do some body percussion and sing with the kids. Two times the 25 students gather to clap their hands and stomp their feet in the same rhythm. In the end, every one of them can strum the guitar, while I‘m doing the chords.

 Altogether, my small contribution amounts to about four hours. Four hours may not seem like much, but it‘s something good for the children. It’s four hours of learning something new, four hours of doing something that they normally would not be able to do, four hours of joy. I think it‘s as simple as that: If everyone gives some of what she or he has to offer, the world would be a lot better. And if everyone who reads this thinks about Hari and Clinic Nepal, and about what contribution she or he can make, it would be even better. And more, if this leads to an offer of help, a donation, or volunteer work, it would be even better.

The sun is now long gone from Meghauli‘s airport. It‘s dark again and the game is over. Nepal won. At least this game.

 Jakob Fraisse jakob.fraisse@gmx.net Dortmund, Germany