Aaack! What happened to the last 2 months? Chalk it up to a bit of procrastination and a heavy workload. I have rarely felt like I could string 2 coherent sentences together in the evenings lately, and when I have energy in the mornings, Toby and Noa demand a lot of it. They wake up soon after 5a.m., and now that they are sleeping in a regular bed, they climb out of it (as long as they don't get their feet caught in the mosquito net) and come into my room. And so our day begins. We make a banana milkshake (Toby is a creature of habit; his day isn't complete without one!), feed Kusi, read stories, do some colouring, water the basil, parsley and mint, help Pradeep tidy the garden, talk to Grandma and Grandpa on Skype, have breakfast, get dressed... By the time I get to work after 8:30, it feels like I have done enough for half a day already.
Work is pretty busy right now. Actually, since I started my new position in January, I think there has been 1 week during which I have been able to focus on long term ideas. Otherwise, it has been a string of field visits supporting the surgery project, field visit to show colleagues from HI Afghanistan our physical rehabilitation project (this was a treat for me as Jawid, my project assistant from Herat came), recruiting for various positions, supporting our advocacy project manager start up the new project, and reviewing proposals and reports for technical and English quality control.
As we head into summer, staff changes will be demanding more of my time. We are losing a project manager for mainstreaming disability into disaster preparedness and haven't hired a new one yet, so I will be looking after that one for a month, plus our new inclusion project manager had to return to Afghanistan to finish his job there before joining us permanently, so I am now acting manager for that one. We have a consultant in mine victim assistance coming for 6 weeks and as I was responsible for recruiting him, I will also be his focal point while he is here.
One big drain on my time is finishing this week. I have been coordinating a visit for a study team from the International Society for Prosthetists and Orthotists, who wanted to assess the outcomes of a certificate course for P and O technicians. I planned visits to 4 different P and O workshops between Monday and Thursday. We started in Kathmandu on Monday and of course there was a bandh. Ajay and I cycled to the team's hotel, then he walked with 4 of them while I escorted the other 2 in rickshaws to the rehab centre about 3km away. Usually in a bandh, bicycles are OK but any form of motorised vehicle is stopped. I left at about 12 and it took me twice as long to go back to the office because I had to walk my bike at every intersection and everywhere there was a gathering of people waving the Maoist flag and carrying sticks. I was lucky- Kavita and Ram, our surgery project staff, were returning from the field and had to walk the 8km from the airport to the office.
Tuesday and Wednesday were relatively uneventful but I was anticipating a few wrinkles for Thursday. The plan was to fly to Biratnagar, in the south east of the country. I knew that an indefinite bandh had been called for the Terai (south) and started on Tuesday, but I wasn't sure how strong it would be on Thursday. Fortunately for us, there was some confusion that morning and we were able to hire a couple of minivans to take us from the airport to the centre but by late morning it had tightened up and clients were having trouble reaching the centre. We managed to return to the airport in the afternoon thanks to the centre's president lending us her car and driver, who knew all the back roads- he saved us a 40 minute rickshaw ride!
The best part of Thursday? On the flight to Biratnagar we saw Mount Everest! One of Toby's favourite movies is the Imax one called Everest, which we have on DVD. He calls it the Mountain movie (as opposed to Monsters or Nemo or Lion King), and he can now say 'Mount Everest.' But Noa seems to be the climber of the two:
She is starting to talk more, but still refers to herself as 'Nanu' or 'Nanu me.' And she calls Toby 'Boby.' In a familiar place she is an independent little soul, traipsing off outside in the mornings as soon as she has had her vitamin and a drink, to greet Pradeep and play with Kusi. She can play happily by herself for 10 minutes, colouring or cooking or just putting things in and then taking them out.
Toby prefers to stay close and be read to, but at 5 a.m. I have managed the odd time to tell him to read by himself while I keep my eyes closed for a few more precious minutes. In a book called Dear Zoo (thanks, Rachel!) he turns the pages, saying which animals he 'sent back' to the zoo.
They are enjoying the warm weather, looking for any opportunity to take off their clothes and run around the garden.
We are all looking forward to coming to Vancouver in August. Hopefully I will manage a couple more posts before then!Love
C T N
