"I rinse my face in the cold mountain water and as the cold burns my skin I look up to the snow covered peaks. A light cloud wafts pasts, hanging around the cliffs as if they too want to be closer to it. The sun peirces through and illuminates the east side of the all three peaks.
I straighten my back and feel the tight muscles complain. I can't decide if it's from the last week of heavy labour or the hard wooden bed I slept on. A massage and some yoga would do wonders today, I thought to myself, neither of which was an option. And yet, as I stood massaging the small of my back, gazing across the valley at one of the most inspirational views I've ever seen, I felt strong. Strong enough to trek back up the hill, pick up my shovel and keep building the school."
As the experience of Nepal sinks in my feelings are starting to organise themselves. Tears no longer spring to my eyes when I think about it and the big glob of emotion that choked my throat has settled like a layer of caramel in my stomach.
So what do I feel now?
A big part of it is pride. I built a school in rural Nepal. The more I say that the more it sinks in. I actually went to Nepal and built a school for impoverished children to become educated and get that step closer to making their dreams come true. Wow! If little old me can do that, the possibilities of what we can do together are endless! We really can change the world.
But if I'm honest, most of the pride isn't from me building a school, it's because of the people I've met while doing so. The amazing Edge of Seven people and the fantastic volunteers who make the world a better place just by being the type of people that they are. They all make me feel better about the world just by existing.
But I am most proud to know people like Khadga, Don Kumar, Dawa, Ram, Karma, the teachers of Phuleli and all the inspirational women of that small village. These people whose stamina, strength and ability to carry on through hardships where most westerners would crumple and fail makes me unbelievably proud to know them and count them as friends. The men and women of Phuleli will forever be my Dai's and Didi's.
My life coach in London said she feels as though she should do some volunteering, that as a good person she should go build a school in Nepal too, not necessarily that she wants too. If you're sitting there thinking I should do some volunteering, don't think that you will be doing an amazing thing that no one else can do and receiving nothing in return. Anyone can go do it but only some very special people actually do. Those that make the effort will also receive in return a much bigger gift than a just a school.
Your eyes will be opened.
You don't need money, possessions, hot running water or to even be pain free to be happy. No words really describe the lesson learnt, you have to experience it for yourself. It will show you what is important in life - what really matters. And that alone is priceless.
"The plane took off from the little runway in Paplu as I struggled to breathe. I watched the wheels bump over the gravel until the ground give way to a steep cliff but that wasn't the trouble. I was leaving Solukhumbu. I didn't know if or when I would see my friends, the people of Phuleli, again. I tired to breath out but the big glob of emotion in my throat only allowed for a strangled cough. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with these people, to stay as part of the village, to live in the hills and harvest millet and raise a family here. I wanted to shout to stop the plane, to let me off, that I didn't care about my life back in Australia that I wanted to stay here, where life is simple, where hardship makes every smile richer and where I felt at home. I was dirty, exhausted, hungry and cold but this is where I wanted to be more than anything. Tears streamed out from beneath my sunglasses. My world had been turned upside down."
I straighten my back and feel the tight muscles complain. I can't decide if it's from the last week of heavy labour or the hard wooden bed I slept on. A massage and some yoga would do wonders today, I thought to myself, neither of which was an option. And yet, as I stood massaging the small of my back, gazing across the valley at one of the most inspirational views I've ever seen, I felt strong. Strong enough to trek back up the hill, pick up my shovel and keep building the school."
As the experience of Nepal sinks in my feelings are starting to organise themselves. Tears no longer spring to my eyes when I think about it and the big glob of emotion that choked my throat has settled like a layer of caramel in my stomach.
So what do I feel now?
A big part of it is pride. I built a school in rural Nepal. The more I say that the more it sinks in. I actually went to Nepal and built a school for impoverished children to become educated and get that step closer to making their dreams come true. Wow! If little old me can do that, the possibilities of what we can do together are endless! We really can change the world.
But if I'm honest, most of the pride isn't from me building a school, it's because of the people I've met while doing so. The amazing Edge of Seven people and the fantastic volunteers who make the world a better place just by being the type of people that they are. They all make me feel better about the world just by existing.
But I am most proud to know people like Khadga, Don Kumar, Dawa, Ram, Karma, the teachers of Phuleli and all the inspirational women of that small village. These people whose stamina, strength and ability to carry on through hardships where most westerners would crumple and fail makes me unbelievably proud to know them and count them as friends. The men and women of Phuleli will forever be my Dai's and Didi's.
My life coach in London said she feels as though she should do some volunteering, that as a good person she should go build a school in Nepal too, not necessarily that she wants too. If you're sitting there thinking I should do some volunteering, don't think that you will be doing an amazing thing that no one else can do and receiving nothing in return. Anyone can go do it but only some very special people actually do. Those that make the effort will also receive in return a much bigger gift than a just a school.
Your eyes will be opened.
You don't need money, possessions, hot running water or to even be pain free to be happy. No words really describe the lesson learnt, you have to experience it for yourself. It will show you what is important in life - what really matters. And that alone is priceless.
"The plane took off from the little runway in Paplu as I struggled to breathe. I watched the wheels bump over the gravel until the ground give way to a steep cliff but that wasn't the trouble. I was leaving Solukhumbu. I didn't know if or when I would see my friends, the people of Phuleli, again. I tired to breath out but the big glob of emotion in my throat only allowed for a strangled cough. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with these people, to stay as part of the village, to live in the hills and harvest millet and raise a family here. I wanted to shout to stop the plane, to let me off, that I didn't care about my life back in Australia that I wanted to stay here, where life is simple, where hardship makes every smile richer and where I felt at home. I was dirty, exhausted, hungry and cold but this is where I wanted to be more than anything. Tears streamed out from beneath my sunglasses. My world had been turned upside down."
