Thursday 25th April 2013,
I never thought I'd be a blogger but this volunteering trip to Nepal with the Global Midwifery Twinning Project(GMTP) has got me into all kinds of new adventures and I haven't even left yet.
I've been mulling over a title for my blog and this evening had a proverbial 'eureka moment' while lying on my back on the hill behind my house watching the drifting clouds and sounding out random names to the passing sheep who eyed me warily while their new born lambs frantically suckled, their wee tails waggling. I suppose I was thinking of the new lives I've witnessed as a midwife, arriving in this world and my imminent departure to the other side of the world to witness the same miracle happening in much the same way...new heartbeats sounding the world over from Scotland to Nepal and the high Himalayas.... then it came to me....Himalayan Heartbeats. There was my title!
And now, where to begin....
Twenty -seven years ago, I went on a year long trip to India, Nepal , Tibet and Thailand .This opened my eyes to the world and there began my deep connection with and interest in Eastern philosophy and culture. I'd always hoped to return one day to work there, doing 'something useful' and this was a motivating factor in my decision to study nursing and midwifery.
Then children came along and the joys and challenges of motherhood and now all these years on I'm finally realizing my dream!
I've spent the last year looking into volunteering with various NGO's and began with rather grandiose plans which ,I soon realized were perhaps a little too ambitious for a novice volunteer such as I!
I've spent many a happy hour flying with google earth over the remote region of Dolpo in north western Nepal which borders on Tibet, working out which route I'd take over the high passes to the remote villages and wondering how easy it would be to hire a yak to carry all my gear. I imagined myself trudging along the winding mountain paths with stick in hand, my midwife's pack securely lashed to my beasts back, midwife gone native.
However my romantic notions were soon dispelled when I started to investigate and speak with volunteers who have lived and worked in this remote, harsh, beautiful and uncompromising landscape where the maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity rates is one of the highest in the world. This was no place for the fainthearted or well intentioned but inexperienced volunteer such as I.
Then the GMTP came along... and I jumped at this most excellent opportunity!
I never thought I'd be a blogger but this volunteering trip to Nepal with the Global Midwifery Twinning Project(GMTP) has got me into all kinds of new adventures and I haven't even left yet.
I've been mulling over a title for my blog and this evening had a proverbial 'eureka moment' while lying on my back on the hill behind my house watching the drifting clouds and sounding out random names to the passing sheep who eyed me warily while their new born lambs frantically suckled, their wee tails waggling. I suppose I was thinking of the new lives I've witnessed as a midwife, arriving in this world and my imminent departure to the other side of the world to witness the same miracle happening in much the same way...new heartbeats sounding the world over from Scotland to Nepal and the high Himalayas.... then it came to me....Himalayan Heartbeats. There was my title!
And now, where to begin....
Twenty -seven years ago, I went on a year long trip to India, Nepal , Tibet and Thailand .This opened my eyes to the world and there began my deep connection with and interest in Eastern philosophy and culture. I'd always hoped to return one day to work there, doing 'something useful' and this was a motivating factor in my decision to study nursing and midwifery.
Then children came along and the joys and challenges of motherhood and now all these years on I'm finally realizing my dream!
I've spent the last year looking into volunteering with various NGO's and began with rather grandiose plans which ,I soon realized were perhaps a little too ambitious for a novice volunteer such as I!
I've spent many a happy hour flying with google earth over the remote region of Dolpo in north western Nepal which borders on Tibet, working out which route I'd take over the high passes to the remote villages and wondering how easy it would be to hire a yak to carry all my gear. I imagined myself trudging along the winding mountain paths with stick in hand, my midwife's pack securely lashed to my beasts back, midwife gone native.
However my romantic notions were soon dispelled when I started to investigate and speak with volunteers who have lived and worked in this remote, harsh, beautiful and uncompromising landscape where the maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity rates is one of the highest in the world. This was no place for the fainthearted or well intentioned but inexperienced volunteer such as I.
Then the GMTP came along... and I jumped at this most excellent opportunity!
