Making the Plans

We are going to volunteer in one of the world's poorest countries, where we have been accepted to work with INFO-Nepal (www.infonepal.org), which runs a variety of projects around the country. We plan to be near Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city, set on lake Phewa Tal reflecting the snow-covered Annapurna mountain range, described by more than one source as what Eden must have looked like, Heaven on earth.

I am so excited to see Naomi go to school with the local children as we teach or help at the local medical clinic. The daily grind of our daily commutes, never seeing each other (I go to university mornings, Michael works nights) and the general stress of First World living is wearing us thin and putting a strain on us all. We need this trip, to give back a little something to the planet, but more to find our way back to ourselves as a family again.

Unfortunately, even to volunteer, it costs a lot of money. It works out something like this:

Airfare for 3: $5,000
rooom and board in Nepal for 3 months: $3,500
immunizations $1,200 (estimate, may be worse, rabies shots for Naomi alone cost over $500!)

**UPDATE** I seriously underestimated this factor. Called my local pharmacy today with the list of suggested vaccinations: Hepatitis A and B for Naomi, TB for Naomi, flu shots, polio, typhoid, meningitis, rabies and Japanese Encephalitis for all of us. I thought the price of rabies was bad until I heard the cost of the Japanese Encephalitis shots: $1,200 for each of us! Hep A and B are going cheap at a mere $100 for three shots.

(And to make it sound like a Mastercard ad, "Trip of a Lifetime = Priceless!)

As you can see, this is no small undertaking, but we are committed to going, even if we have to remortgage our house! We have ordered our Nepali language tapes already and are anxiously awaiting their arrival (yes, all I need is something else to study while being in a full-time master's program, not to mention another language when I have studied 7 others already, and we all know the wide applicability of speaking Nepali outside of Nepal...), and I'm planning on preparing myself for celebrating my next birthday in the midst of monsoon season, which comes with leeches and mosquitoes.