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| DNC Chitwan Visit - Part 3 |
5:25 am…The jungle hummed with activity, it literally ‘buzzed’ with life-energy. I couldn't count the number of animals, birds and bugs who were making their presence known. I wondered what they were saying? Maybe it was something simple like, “I am here, are you there?”. If that is what they were saying, then I fully agree. I am here… at this place…in this moment…with this wonderful group of volunteers and kids. I slowly take a breath in, hold it for few seconds, then slowly exhale. I am completely in the moment…
Our wakeup call came at 5:30am as one of the lodge workers gently knocked on our cabin door and quietly called out. True, it was early, but we had a day full of events planned and the middle-afternoon time was reserved for rest due to the intense heat of the day.
After tea/coffee and biscuits it was time to split into our groups. With the Naturalists provided by the lodge, one group went bird-watching and the other took a nature walk. I went with the bird-group (I later told some of the older boys that ‘bird-watching’ was what they call ‘girl-watching’ in England….they liked that!). The nice thing about bird-watching for our kids was that we didn’t need to travel far to see some amazing birds. We just wandered down a jungle path just past the cabin-area for about 5 minutes and then, looking up you could see so many birds of all shapes, sizes and colors flitting from branch-to-branch, tree-to-tree. Our Naturalist had binoculars and a bird-identification book so he could point out what we were seeing. The kids looked up in amazement to see parakeets, birds of paradise and so many other species getting their morning exercise. As we sat on several benches in a clearing, Bimala found that her prosthetic feet and sandals had collected so much dirt and dust during our short walk it made them difficult to use. We found some bottled water and she carefully rinsed them off, strapped her sandals back on and felt much better.
In some of the photographs, you can see the elephants working in the background. I took one shot where I tried to put an elephant on Sunil’s head…check it out. Sunil is such a nice young man who also has a special interest in photography, like me! We always talk about composition, lighting and other photographic techniques. I think he’d like to do photography for his livelihood and he shows a definite talent with posing and engaging his subjects. Another interesting fact about Sunil is that he hasn’t seen his mother or father in a long time….so long he can’t remember when he saw them last, he can only guess 10-12 years. Since he’s only 16 years old, that would be so long ago. My heart breaks for him….We provide funds through TRIFC.org to send kids home to visit their families, or to bring family members to DNC to visit, but if a parent chooses not to visit…
Today, I gave Muna a special nickname that I chose for her- “Little Mosquito”, as she is always buzzing around everywhere, for which she quickly came back with my nickname- “Big Frog”, for which you can draw your own conclusions! She is so cute, talkative and sharp. Such a contrast to some of the other kids, such as Naina. Naina is a quiet kid whose feet sharply turn outward to the sides. I asked him if he will have surgery for this and he said when he is older, they would do that. Walking is a challenge for him and he works very hard at it, steadily getting where he needs to go. Sometimes he got picked up by a volunteer, but really it is better for him to get that exercise and build strength in his legs for the future. Naina does not demand attention and will just sit-back and watch others be cute or talkative as they get the attention.
My goal was to spend quality time with each of the DNC children on this trip and I was so happy to do that with Naina. He loves it if you give him a hug, which I did often and we chatted about this and that. He is a very kind kid and well spoken. His English is excellent and I know that he is a very bright student. We held hands as we walked around the lodge, surveying the jungle and talking about life…these are priceless moments that happened so often to each and every one of the volunteers and the DNC children during our three days in Chitwan.
After our bird-watching excursion we had another delicious meal, courtesy of Island Jungle Resort! Breakfast was a buffet affair and again the children ate amazing amounts of food. After breakfast we divided into our Crocodile, Rhino and Tiger groups (of kids!) and some went to take a jungle ride on the elephants, others went boating on the river in canoes. This would be the order of business throughout the rest of the morning as we wanted to make absolutely sure that each kid got to do all of the activities.
Most of the children were a little hesitant to climb up the set of stairs leading up to their first elephant jungle ride. Particularly the ones with leg issues and I can understand their trepidation. The stairs lead to a platform that seems to go nowhere, until a friendly elephant backs up for you to clamber onto…beep, beep, beep (I’m still reminded of the UPS truck analogy!). However, the Rotaract volunteers really stepped up (literally) and carried everyone who needed help up the stairs and onto their respective elephant. If you look at the photo of Rajeeb being carried up the stairs, you can feel the excitement written into his expression. Watching the faces of each child as they got on-board to take the ride of their life was such a highlight for me. My eyes moistened (not the first time this happened on the trip, nor the last!) as I thought about the life-challenges each one of these children had been through during their short lives and the opportunity we have to improve their lives through our efforts.
As each elephant filled with kids, it moved off, but stayed close, waiting for the next elephant to fill up, etc. Next, the elephants lined up then trundled off down the path, over and around tree stumps and downed logs, through the brush…
Stay tuned for canoe rides and bathing with the elephants!!!
Warmly, Rob.
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