Chandra Maya

Posted on December 2, 2013
by Volunteering Nepal

The 13 year old girl, Chandra Maya suffered from ectopic bladder, which is a condition where the bladder exists outside of the body. This condition as you can probably guess, made the girl feel handicapped and depressed, as she could not go anywhere without leaking urine. She was studying in the second grade and her father was out of the country doing labour work, as many others from Nepal do as well. Despite that her mother was still not able to support the girl.
Two volunteers Nicole Schouwenaar and Tom Konert, both from the Netherlands got interested in helping the girl, get the operation she needed. She was brought to the hospital were urology surgeon Dr. Mahesh Adhikari estimated that it would cost around 12-1500 USD for the girl’s operation. The two volunteers then collected 164.840 NPRs for the girl’s operation.
She was hospitalized five days prior to the operation, for examinations and so on. But she finally got the operation, which lasted for four hours, afterwards she went to post-op to make sure there were no further complications, and spent in total 13 days in the hospital.
Other than Dr. Laxmi her family (mother and uncle) were there to look after her.
On one of the visits Dr. Laxmi found that the lower portion of the wound was opened and was not healed, she was then brought back to the hospital to get new stitches, which she was told to remove after seven days, and after that, there have been no further complications.
Now the girl has attached a plastic bag and a pipe, which leads the urine into the bag. This bag needs to be changed every seven days, otherwise the girl is able to live a normal life, without leaking urine.
This lifechanging operation would not have been done unless it had been for the two volunteers Tom Konert and Nicole Schouwenaar who raised the money, for Dr. Laxmi on behalf of VIN getting a discount on 40.000 NPRs on the operation, Dr. Mahesh’s donation on 15.000 NPRs and the hospital’s contribution of 25.000 NPRs.
The operation cost ran up to: 119.360 NPRs the remainder of the money will be spent on supporting the girl continuously, to make sure she takes good care of the plastic bag and pipe, and that the family does not need to worry about that.
It seems as though that this girl’s life has changed for the better. Here is what her mother said:
“I am very much happy to see my child in this condition. I never think that it could be corrected. I was always worried about her. She was leaking urine all the time. I had to wash bed sheet and her dress every day. It was bad odor in room and seems unhygienic. She couldn’t go to school and play with friends. Now it is different. It is new life for her and us. I hope she will go to school and play with friends. I have no words to say even thanks to people who have supported this poor child. God bless them.” Goma Khatri (Chandra Maya Mom)

Written by Isabella Jakobsen Danish intern for the health programme at VIN

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Paper Wings

04:47 11 Apr 24

Monique Daulton

08:07 02 Apr 24

Just had the most incredible 2 weeks volunteering with VIN in Okhaldunga. I worked with the women empowerment - life skills programme teaching the women about self confidence & self esteem. I feel very humbled & enriched by all the incredible women I met & the VIN staff & organisation who give so much to empower marginalised communities in Nepal

Sandy Storey

12:02 25 Mar 24

Namaste! I am pleased to have volunteered with VIN in Nepal as a teacher trainer. I carried out general teacher training in Okhaldhunga with teachers from nearby areas as well as more specific English language training for one month in both Nishanke and Bhaudare. VIN staff provided me with support before, during and after. I also made new friends with volunteers from all over the world. VIN seeks to empower marginalized communities in a holistic fashion. It is a noble cause, and I am happy to have made a contribution. Dhanyabad :)

Cherine wong

13:33 19 Mar 24

I undertook a management and administrative internship at VIN in their head office. It was eye inspiring, eye opening and enriching - it's the people who make an organisation so special, and Buphi and the team are the heart of it.I very much enjoyed my time at VIN, the work I got to do, learning more about this not for profit and the incredibly profound sustainable projects and programs they run. They're a beacon of light for Nepal and I'm glad I got to make a small contribution to their work.

Suvi-Tuuli Vehviläinen

11:28 01 Mar 24

I’m Suvi, I’m 26 years old and I’m from Finland.I was doing the Youth Empowerment; Youth Club and Life Skills project here at VIN in Okhaldhunga.We formed 3 new Youth Clubs in the area, Taluwa, Thulaccap and Bhadaure. We trained the Board Members of these youth clubs and gave them skills to manage the Clubs by themselves, for examples how to manage budgeting and how to arrange meetings and events for the youth.I think the youth clubs really do make a difference in the area, because they give a voice to young people and give them possibilities to influence and change the communities here in Nepal.In addition to forming and training the Youth Clubs, we also did general Youth training, which included learning Life skills such as creative thinking, building self-confidence, goal setting, computer class and learning English through fun games and conversations.I learned a lot from this experience. I learned about a new culture and a new way of life. People here are extremely friendly and warm-hearted and young people are so eager to learn new skills. I learned a lot about the youth club formation also, because it was new to me - I mean different than in my country. I look forward to hearing from the Youth Clubs in the future.The most memorable thing of my experience was giving support to young people and getting the smiles and laughs from them when they completed the tasks or did very well when talking in English. I really had the best time telling them “Good job, well done!”The youth empowerment project in total made me really understand the phrase “youth are the future”. It really hit me that they actually are the generation that will decide how things will go from now on and they are the ones who can have an impact on their community and later on the whole country. That made me feel I’m doing an important job with every single supportive feedback I’m giving.I had the best team, I love how everybody was supporting me through my whole journey. And everyone was so chill. I was having a hard time at some point doubting whether I’m doing a good job, afraid that I’m not giving a good performance, that should I be able to do more, but with support I came to conclusion that it is the little things that matter. Just meeting the youth and chatting with them is a lot, it doesn’t have to be a circus.I would definitely recommend this project to other people, for the same reasons I mentioned earlier. It is a great opportunity to build a future together with the local youth, hear what ideas they have and make things happen. The project is a great way to practice English also. My English is not perfect and neither is theirs or most of the volunteers here, so it’s a good chance to learn together.In total I’ve enjoyed my stay here very much. I actually ended up extending my stay a little, cause I just couldn’t leave. I’m very grateful for my experience and the work I got to do, to make a change here in Nepal.

Pramila Maharjan

06:44 24 Dec 23

My experience at VIN was amazing.I choose VIN for different role within community. I had very good time in Jitpur fedi.We made the beautiful connection with community people's. I love to work together within the international volunteers and local volunteers. Thank you for giving me this great opportunity to deed into the community.

PRAJWOL POUDEL

14:35 20 Dec 23

Volunteering with VIN has given me lots of new experiences and memories. Working with international volunteers, community people, and VIN staff was wonderful. I did meet some amazing people and made new friends and this volunteering has made me feel like I can make a change to the community of Nepal. I do wish to join back with VIN at some point again..:)

justine Squire

05:09 11 Dec 23

I’ve had an amazing experience with VIN. From the first emails to prepare to commit to this program, my arrival and induction, the support and check -ins during the volunteering and of course the exit and farewell, all of which I received excellent support and communication.VIN is a wonderful NGO organisation which has been in existence for 18 years and was founded by a local person who grew up in an isolated village in the far east of Nepal, hence, he is really in touch with the needs of his people.I was involved in the Women’s Empowerment Program.I developed a presentation for women in small villages. With a beautiful local girl (my translator), I trekked 20mins - 2 hrs to various villages. We taught leadership and self -care through the use of posters, music, dancing and games.I was also asked to run a more in-depth program with women that were leaders in their communities. We spent 2 days with these women, working on communication, public speaking skills, roles of committee members and meeting protocols. The women in this program noticeably improved in their confidence over the 2 days!As well as being able to contribute to Women and their empowerment, I was enriched personally through being involved in the rich culture of the Nepali people. The other volunteers and I were welcomed into Tihar celebrations - an experience we will never forget.I highly recommend being involved in this program.

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