Going to the Field with RHEST

It was quite difficult to wake up in the morning after all of the partying the night before, but I grabbed some coffee at the European Bakery down my street on the way to work. It was amazing, as usual, and at around fifty cents an awesome price. I had to miss my language class because I was going out into the field with RHEST, and we were leaving at nine, which was a bummer.

The ride was quite beautiful. We were going to an area of the valley where most people subsist at least partly off of agriculture. The road was ridiculously bumpy, but I enjoyed listening to the Nepali music on the way.

The school

After we got there we went to one of the schools that RHEST works with and distributed the materials. Each of the students on the scholarship program receieved an umbrella, a backpack, books, and school fees. The school was depressing enough with the lack of facilities, but there also only seemed to be one teacher who rotated through the classes, so most of the time the students are studying by themselves.

RHEST teaching the children and women about trafficking

I was there when one of the RHEST employees was conducting interviews for new participants in the program, and he told me some (shocking to me) stories. Apparently it’s not uncommon for children to live with their grandparents or an aunt and uncle because their parents will get divorced and both marry other people. Instead of the children going with one parent or the other they’re just abandoned unless a relative takes them in.

It’s also not uncommon for a family to have six girls and one boy because the parents just kept having children until they got a boy. This is why providing scholarships to girls in rural areas is so important; because they’re valued so much lower than the boys in the family. It was a good trip, and I feel more inspired to work for RHEST now, but it’s also difficult to think about the hardship these children face.

After being stuck on the road due to a truck that had sunk in the mud(hooray for monsoon season), we made our way back. The most frightening part of the drive was when we had to go down the road backwards because there was no place to turn around. The road was pretty narrow and there were a few large drops, but everything went fine. I was dying of hunger by the time we got back to Kathmandu, as I hadn’t eaten in nine hours and had only had a cheese croissant for breakfast. I was hungry enough to try the ‘American’ Sour Cream and Onion chips from a convenience stall, which were shockingly different to the American ones.

 
After I got home Hayley called me and invited me out to dinner with the group from the night before. I had had an awesome time hanging out with them, so I readily said yes. I was super tired from the trip and the fact I hadn’t gotten any sleep, but I’m glad I went. The food was amazing, and they had some crazy stories. Growing up in a national park will do that, I guess. The people you meet have had so many amazing experiences, hopefully I’ll come back with some great stories of my own.