After a long period of self-restraint due to the coronavirus, we were finally able to resume health support activities in Nepal in the summer of 2023. When I go to Nepal from the convenient modern society of Japan, I always switch modes. Even if an unexpected situation occurs, I will be conscious of using my five senses so that I can deal with it without panic. When I went to Nepal at the end of the year, it was in the middle of the dry season, with no rain for a month and a half, and the capital, Kathmandu, which is a basin, was completely covered in thin clouds of smog, and the famous Himalayas were barely visible. It was the situation. In order to get to the local activity site, we drove for hours through mountainous roads, more than half of which were unpaved due to road construction. This is an activity that requires physical strength.
Nepal has long been under pressure from being sandwiched between the major powers of China and India, and has faced complex political and economic problems, making it difficult for its people to receive the comprehensive health services available in Japan. Although life in urban areas has become as convenient as in developed countries, there are still people in rural areas who are still living the same way as before, and there are large disparities in terms of living. However, compared to 20 years ago when I was working in Nepal as a medical coordinator for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the number of people receiving school education has increased dramatically, and the number of people actively trying to improve their lives has increased dramatically. I became more conscious. The medical professionals and students I work with initially planned to move abroad and live a stable life, but through these activities they came to better understand the current situation in their own country. , the number of members working to improve medical services in Nepal has increased. Recently, Nepali members have been more active in their activities, and I have been encouraged by them as I am traveling from Japan.
By actually going to a place, interacting with people, and putting yourself in that environment, you will be able to understand the social background and people's lives and thoughts through your mind and body, which you cannot understand from online articles or information in books. I'll come. Even if you don't understand it specifically at first, as you continue, you will gradually be able to understand it in your own words. Traveling abroad has become very convenient now. Let's go to different countries, meet different people, put ourselves in different places, understand each aspect of the world with our own minds and bodies, and expand our world.
