Saying "Yes," or, Heading to the Terai!

One great piece of advice that I received before leaving was from my friend, Maggie.  She told me to say yes to things as much as possible - accept people's offers, take that side trip, etc.  So when my boss, Hera, of 4 hours invited me to visit her maternal village in the Terai tomorrow, I tried "yes" on for size (after getting permission from Volunteer Nepal, of course.)

So tomorrow at 6:30am, I will leave for the southern forests of Nepal.  The Terai is vast and beautiful, and it is home to more Nepalis than any other region.  I will be out of Internet contact through Monday, though maybe earlier if I come back before Hera.

Day one of volunteering was wonderful and worthy of note, as well.  I will be teaching computer lessons and English to the young residents of CAP Nepal.  They were very excited during their first computer lesson today, and that makes me excited to teach them.  They speak very little English, so I think they were pretty confused at my apologetic face as I explained to them that most word processors are called Microsoft Word - not openoffice.org.  Language, culture, age - and now the shareware barrier?  Ah, well.  English and computer skills will hopefully aid them in having a healthy vocational future.

I will also assist in school educational programs about son preference, merely by telling Nepali teens what it is like growing up as a girl in the United States.  Though the Western world is far from having true gender equality, there is no legacy of son preference like there is in Asia.  In Nepali culture, son preference is mostly rooted in the Hindu tradition that only a son can perform the funeral rites for his parent.  Even though it is known that women are not biologically responsible for the gender of their children, it is the mother that takes the brunt of the abuse if she does not bear a son.  CAP Nepal aims to educate and counsel about son preference, and shelter those that are enter lives of exploitation due to it.