Reality checks are both valuable and rare. We chug along in our daily lives, oblivious to what’s happening elsewhere. So my annual volunteer stint in this Himalayan country is an illuminating reminder of what we take for granted at home.
The United States has a stable government, and police, military and civil service officials who are usually honest, reliable, protective. We have clean water that we can drink from the tap, and dependable garbage pickup. We have abundance — even over-abundance. Our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, are friends, not threatening. We live by the Rule of Law. We are the Land of Dreams for millions about the world.
Nepal, by contrast, is a beleaguered country, with an unsettled government and seven political parties. The Maoists were given a place in Parliament last year, but they seem to be obstructionist more than productive. Newspapers boast a constant litany of Maoist misdeeds, of takeovers of land and homes, as well as abductions, extortions and killings. More than half the population is between the ages of 15 and 54. The U.S. State Department cites Nepal as one of the countries to which its staff should not bring dependents.
Still, Westerners throng to Nepal, one of the poorest nations in the world, to climb mountains, search for spiritual peace and wisdom through Buddhist teachings. This year’s tourism is double last year’s.
It is an awesome country, with some of the world’s most spectacular mountains, and people — Nepali and those of Tibetan heritage, Hindu and Buddhist — who win hearts. But the chaos and turmoil in government persists.
I stayed in Bouddha, at a monastery guesthouse, and saw the country against a backdrop of chanting and bells, horns and drums. It was my fourth year volunteering a month with Himalayan Dental Relief Project (www.himalayandental.com), founded in 2000 by Denverites Dr. Andrew Holecek and Laurie Mathews. Volunteer dentists and hygienists and non-medical volunteers treat impoverished children from schools and orphanages. It is a joyous, rewarding experience. Since its founding, HDRP has expanded to Ladakah, India, Vietnam and Guatemala, and has treated 24,000 children with $4.4 million of donated dental care.
It’s the kids who keep bringing volunteers back. Bright, lively, laughing or shy and wary, they are an irresistible lure. This year my attention was caught by the volunteers. With one school, three young Italian men were working, two of them brothers who study at the university in Florence.
Some of the volunteers were asked why they came, what they hoped to accomplish. There is a long pause, a thoughtful gaze into space.
Their answer was universal.
They came because they wanted to do something useful, to help those for whom help otherwise was unavailable. They wanted to get to know people in other countries. They wanted to travel, not be a tourist.
They wanted in some small way to make the world better. To help people. They all believe that what they do will make a difference.
That’s a rare belief. Would that we all would have such a goal, to make that commitment. To dream, commit, accomplish. Such dreams and actions make our lives rich and meaningful, and give hope for the world.
Joanne Ditmer’s column on environmental and urban issues for The Post began in 1962 and now appears once a month.
