Page 23 - link magazine

LocalLives 23
Freshbrook
Family support in Nepal Evangelical
Church
Two years ago Janet Asherson left her job as a health visitorbased in West Swindon to train Worsley Road
nurses in Nepal on a Voluntary Services Overseas posting. In early March she starts a long Will give YOU
UNITED NATIONS touring trip back to Britain. Before packing her bags she put pen to paper to describe her
INTERNATIONAL work in Nepal and give some impressions exclusively for The Link In this first of two a warm welcome
YEAR OF THE FAMILY
1994 Sunday lOam Family Praise with
articles, Janet puts 'shortage of resources in the NHS' into perspective.
children's Covenanter Movement
& creche
It seems to me that the rise from 88- snow, ice-capped Himalayan the Raj' kind of English that is taught
94F are six of the most uncomfort- ranges. From the Indo-Nepalese here. When, for example, was the 6.30pm Evening Worship and
able degrees to be experienced here. peoples (Newars and Tharus) to the last time you took 'tiffin'? Communion
The heat per se is tolerable, but Tibeto-Nepalese (Taniangs, Rais, In the hospital situation, the use For details of mid-week meetings,
something odd happens to the ac- Limbhus, Gurungs, Sherpas), peo- of this antiquated style makes for house groups and other
companying humidity which ple struggle with the varied com- painful, protracted communication. activities, telephone the
renders this particular shift in tem- plexities and hardships of so-called, Should the doctor - a most vener- Church Office, Tel: 873050
perature unbearable. Unless time is simple, primitive lives in medieval able person, invariably male - need
spent motionless in the direct air villages. to be contacted about a patient's
path of several electric fans, life be- In contrast, the town where I live deteriorating condition, the absence Parish of West Swindon
comes something to be endured canappeara veritable cosmopolitan of telephones make a hand-written & The Lydiards
rather than enjoyed. metropolis. But such judgements note, sent via a runner, essential. Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, URC
One such message may read 'Dear
Most Honourable Doctor. Please All Saints, L. Millicent (1O.3Oam)
come this minute to bed 9. Patient is (for the village) &
at gasping stage". Holy Trinity, Shaw (10.30am)
Rev. Andrew Hetherington 770568
When I first came across this, to-
gether with an entire department St. Mary's, L.Tregoze (1 0.30am)
(for Freshbrook & Grange Park)
stocked with one thermometer, one
Rev. Rob Buries 870244
suction machine that didn't suck, a
coronary care unit with only a drip Toothiii Church (10.45am)
Rev. George Gibson 692620
stand, a hospital with no incinerator
(also free church minister for parish)
and an intermittent electricity sup-
ply,I found the whole experience an Westlea Church (lOam)
Rev. Peter Walker 872932
assault to my every sense. My exas-
peration and frustration were looked Evening & other services as announced,
full range of children's & other groups
upon by my Nepali colleagues with
quizzical amusement. Their ap-
proach (their survival, I have since MOBILE
Basic outdoor anti-natal care for expectant mothers in a Nepalese village learnt) is to greet such situations
with a shrug of the shoulders, a 'ke
Thermometer watching is an ob- become irrelevant when made garre'- 'whattodo?'andtocarryon MECHANIC
session. It can climb to 120F, but against the backdrop of a country regardless.
apart from the quantities of water that is internationally recognised as Two years down the line, I look at WE COME TO YOU
needed to be consumed, the rise is one of the poorest in the world: things differently. Yes, death rates • Non-Starts • Servicing • Tuning
academic It's at 94 when I begin to where the GDP per capita is only are higher, complications severe. • M.O.T. Work ' Breakdowns
feel I'm cooking on a hob in hell. $180 (125). The reality is, that for Yes, standards are different, condi- • Electrical Faults
Climate is just one thing I've had the vast majority, no matter where tions poor, treatments few and ba- • Clutches fitted
to adjust to since moving to this area their location, there is precious little sic, but still the success stories are
known as The Terni in southern Ne- access to health, education,economic possible. 'Limited resources' - two
pal. Once a malaria-infested jungle or communications systems. In the words I heard a great deal of in
which proved too hazardous for main, life for the individual is one connection with the NationalHealth
man, it was home for tigers, el- where traditions of ethnicity and Service have taken on a different No Garage Prices or Waiting
ephants and other wildlife as popu- family are all important and where meaning for me here.
larised in Kipling's Jungle Book. livelihood is sustained by subsist- The second half of Janet's article will Please Telephone
Nowadays, the jungle has been ence farming. Scope for change is appear next month. 876211 ANYTIME
cleared, malaria is controlled, the minimal.
majority of wild animals have died For some though, life is altering.
out and these fertile plains, although The student nurses Iamteachingfor
comprising only 17% of the total instance, are some of the most edu- HILLIER
area of the country, contains over cated women in Nepal - only 50% of
50% of the population. The subse- the population are literate, after all. FUNERAL
quent rapid industrialisation has When there are few textbooks, few
resulted in burgeoning population, teachers, no equipment, classes of SERVICE LTD.
urban poverty and all the social and 80 or more pupils, success comes 170 Victoria Road
health hazards that go hand in hand only to those who are genuinely Swindon
with such 'development'. bright, or those who can buy their Tel: 522797
Tel: 522145
So it was, to this setting I arrived way onto a professional training.
two years ago. How unlike the Since all professional text books PRIVATE CHAPELS OF
REST
mystical and fabled shangri-la for are in English, students have the 252 Whitworth Road
which this Hindu Kingdom is more burden of trying to understand nurs- Swi
commonly known. For just within ing concepts in, what is to them, a 24 hour personal service throughout the year
240kms north from here lies a dra- foreign language. My life is easieras A FAMILY BUSINESS OFFERING HELP
matically diverse geography. From a result, but for them, this double AND ADVICE WHEN MOST NEEDED
the magnificence of the terraced hurdle is hard to jump. More so
sloped in the cool middle hills, to the when I consider the quaint 'days of