Living in the community

“Leave thinking to the one who gave intelligence. In Silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving, and watch how the pattern improves.” -Rumi

Community Health Diagnosis didn’t just thrill me for new adventures but also to grow personally and professionally that might follow. Be vulnerable to any new thing and embrace it wholeheartedly is the recommendation I would share. I  hereby shall be sharing few of them.

New experiences :  Though it was a month-long break from monotonous life, I was quite sure that everything might not go as per expectation. We already knew that our community shall be the most remote, largest and difficult place to conduct a household survey, without reservation I was open to new experience in strange land. ‘’Say Yes to everything through the journey’’, was my only motive and this prepared mindset helped me a lot in each change.

People : The people in the community were cooperative and simple however it depends on the approach and understanding level of people. Language barrier is one of the major problem on majorly inhabited ethnic community. Coming up with an educational activity among people with a mediocre lifestyle to ensure hand to mouth responsibility and low educational status is quite challenging. 

Descry : The way people in the community view outsiders is different that makes the situation quite non-interactive as well making it difficult for them to completely understand the approach or our intention to the community itself. They feel like we are foreign tourists ready to spend whatsoever amount, or a group of people going for vacation, or some people running certain projects from NGOs and INGOs on the basis of the income they are being paid.

 Authority level : Since many people even at an authoritarian level don’t have much knowledge about our motive which was quite normal as a person from a non-public health background it made us difficult to communicate and convince about a lot of activities being planned. It makes it difficult to find an eligible person for the proper communication and contacts. A staff and a helper are only mostly visible in the ward office otherwise other staffs are mostly seen living in the capital itself. The problem with a lot of people leaving their original place even being a member of authority is that they don’t much care about progress of the community except in case of election because they should not be victim of a lot of adversities.

Community participation :  Growing high expectations to receive active participation from the community is not a case every time. Village is the place where you see that all the people from not so strong backgrounds are head in politics, I don’t mean to underestimate but I feel a lot of efficiency is lost while building strong experience. I feel an expected outcome is lost to make them understand about the way things work and they are stubborn enough not to listen to any educated people. Even at the authoritarian level, many officers are unaware about a lot of official work and its conduction. 

Weather:  Being situated in high altitude with a sparse cluster of population and windy environment, it contributes to extreme cold weather. The view is awesome but when you have to live for work on a daily basis it doesn’t interest you after a few days. Initially, waking up with the chirping of birds, a golden Himalayan range, greenery, such peace, such calmness is breathtakingly beautiful. Particularly, the mountains and snow capped mountains look like “ a diamond is being reflected with a gold”. The weather demands either a hot coffee or a lukewarm water because all you want to do is sit there and just relax your eyes. A perfect detoxification away from social media and stress of life.

COVID threat : I remember carrying three packets of masks , two bottles of sanitizers and hand wash to stay safe as an individual as well as a public health student. However, the situation wasn’t what we expected it to be. We didn’t find a single case of Covid among all the households. The locals believed that their Gods would forbid the virus from getting infected as the Himalayan range would act as a strong barrier for its entrance.

Stereotypes: Every culture has its own richness in tradition and belief so respecting belief is a must. There was a strange stereotype around Thana Bhanjyang area that cultivating and cooking garlic would displeasure the god of Gadhi made by Prithvi Narayan Shah, so it was strictly prohibited around the community. Similarly, giving birth inside the home was prohibited in houses even though it was a home delivery because they believed their Gods would consider it as a sin.