Nepal, Unity in Diversity

Being a volunteer with IVHQ was a very great experience for me, especially in Nepal, which is one of the poorest country in the world. I was taking a break from my concert photography job, and using this volunteer trip as my getaway. As a person who really loves children, my childcare placement was perfect for me. It's very delightful and grateful to meet and play with children in the orphan house, because I learn about how to communicate with them in English, which is not our first language (I'm from Indonesia, so I speak bahasa Indonesia as my first language). They taught me how to speak Nepali, and I taught them bahasa Indonesia little bit. Not only the language, but also about our culture and religion. It was very awkward moment when I had to do meditation before dinner, I'm a Muslim so I don't do meditation. I told them why I don't do meditation and they understood, then we share knowledge about our religion between Hindu and Islam. Diversity is most welcome in Nepal. I was worried about the communication because I don't speak Nepali, turns out most of Nepali people speak very good English. I didn't finished my program because the Ministry of Foreign Affair of Republic Indonesia flew all Indonesian back to Indonesia after the earthquake. Yes, I'm still disappointed but humans can't control a natural disaster. So I went back to Indonesia 2 weeks earlier. It was good and terrifying experience at the same time. But I promise myself to go back to Nepal to meet the children because my departure was so sudden. I miss Nepal already.