I may have made mention before that one thing that has been great about coming to Nepal is how many great people that we have met. Not only have we met really wonderful Nepali people, but many other fabulous Canadian volunteers working with CECI. When Jenn and I arrived we were among a dozen volunteers that were mostly based in Kathmandu like ourselves. Since then, the numbers have diminished steadily.
A lot of our good friends are now back in Canada re-integrating, finding jobs and moving on to the next phase in their lives. With the departure of Gary, Craig and Kristin back in June, we were down to Paul, El Nasser (Moose), Myself, Jenn and Anne (who has finished her mandate but spending some extra personal time in Nepal).
So, now, Paul, our good friend and neighbour upstairs from us is leaving to take a position with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sudan! He will be leaving in a few weeks. It’s a great career opportunity for him, so I am glad for him, but a little sad for us…
Moose is leaving us now for a month to head back to the US for his brother’s wedding, so basically for the time being it’s pretty much just Jenn and I. How did this happen??? It’s really not very long before it will be our turn to head home, but I wonder about the next batch of volunteers.
I know that Jenn and I benefited greatly by having a group of volunteers to help us integrate into life in Kathmandu. It’s not that easy a task to figure out how things work, where things are, etc. We were glad to have a group of people to show us where to shop, what prices to negotiate, where to look for an apartment, good places to eat. Given that Jenn and I may be the last of the existing volunteers to leave, we may not have a chance to pass on this knowledge before a new crop of long term volunteers arrive… The new volunteers may have to learn the ropes on their own…
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