Reflection

As my time in Nepal comes to a close I have mixed feelings. It wasn’t always easy being here, but I have no regrets. I am so thankful for the opportunity I was given to come participate in the Leave for Change program. Things are so different here than they are in Canada I see the construction workers working on widening the road, this is done manually there isn’t machinery around. . For me everything they do seems to take so much more effort. I saw young children begging for food, broke my heart not something you want to see. One day I saw this little boy playing with a clipboard and a hackey sack. He was sitting on a ledge by the sidewalk with his mom and siblings and having fun playing with his brother. I saw two boys playing badminton and using a sign as there net, got to be creative. There really isn’t anywhere for the children to play. Saw a few soccer fields but those are few and far between.  I have seen pollution and poverty like I have never witnessed before. Seeing all the stray dogs is something I will not forget. When I was in Pokhara one of the dogs came up to me and just looked me in the eye as if to say please give me something to eat. I was watching a family washing their clothes and having a bath in the lake. The reality is you can’t imagine what it is like unless you have witnessed it for yourself. The Nepali people are happy people and always quick to smile. They do not need my pity and I don’t want to feel sorry for them. This is their life who am I to say mine is any better just because I have more money and the luxuries that affords me. I don’t want to feel guilty for what I have either but do feel that it is so off balance between the two worlds.

Namaste