Communication Reinvented!

Trip to Zoo

Last week we took a group of thirteen of our TRIFC.org sponsored kids with deafness to the Kathmandu zoo. Along for the ride was our project coordinator and sign-language interpreter Balram Dongol. We were also fortunate to have along nine Rotaractors- five from the Dillibazar Club and four from the Patan Rotaract Club to help keep track of everyone.

I had purchased a hula-hoop, a basketball, a plastic golf game and a small soft soccer ball at the Bhatbettini departmental store and supermarket. You can get most everything at this store. In the grocery section it has more selection than many stores in the US!

Many of these children have been sponsored by TRIFC.org since our formal inception in 2006 and all were so excited to see me and our volunteers! We gathered all of the children in a hired bus and headed to the zoo- about a 20 minute drive… if we were lucky with the traffic.

As we started off I ‘broke the ice’ with a little game of back and forth catch with the soft ball. That started the communication ball rolling, so to speak as both the boys and girls joined in, with laughter and giggles augmenting the traffic hongs, horns and bleats! Unfortunately, I only know a few signs in Nepali Sign-Language, but I do know how to play with kids, so that was what I did!

After arriving at the zoo (or the Joo as people here pronounce it- “Z’s” are pronounced “J” here) we too a quick head-count and determined that we had a total of forty, including the Rotaractors and a few parents and siblings. For all of us to get admission, it was only a total of about $30 – not bad, huh? What a busy, noisy place the Kathmandu zoo is on a Saturday, as that is the only day most people have off from their work. It was sunny and bright as we gathered just inside the entry to make introductions and get a brief sign-language primer from Balram.

After everyone introduced themselves (with sign-language interpretation), we partnered up one or two kids with each Rotaractor (some of the older boys quickly snapped-up the pretty Rotaract girls!) and we began our journey through the zoo (or joo). I was amazed at how quickly friendships were forged as we went from enclosure to enclosure, and how swiftly communication developed through ways other than speaking.

After about an hour of roaming around the zoo we came to what I thought was a statue of an elephant with a bunch of kids surrounding it- until I saw the tail swing back and forth! I did a double-take! All of our kids and Rotaractors gathered to see this giant up-close and personal. Having the Rotaractors spending one-on-one time with these kids was priceless, they loved the attention and I could tell that they enjoyed the challenge of communicating with someone who knew little or no sign-language. The kids were gentle, patient and facially very expressive as they worked to explain whatever point they wanted to make and the Rotaractors were equally patient and kind.

We decided to order noodle-soup for everyone at the little café in the zoo. I think they may have been a bit overwhelmed by the order for forty bowls of soup and forty juice boxes, but they went to work on it! In the meantime, we played an old Nepali game as a group activity. Here’s how it goes- everyone kneels down in big circle and then one person with a hankie slowly walks behind everyone and very deceptively drops the hankie at the rear-end of the unsuspecting individual and then the hankie-dropper takes off running like crazy and they hankie-droppee takes off after the dropper and tries to catch him/her before they get back to their original spot. Not complicated, but a lot of fun!

After my knees tired from the kneeling, I checked on the soup and we motioned to everyone to head to the tables in the café. Guess what the first thing I passed out was- Hand Sanitizer! I’m Mr. Excitement, aren’t I? I don’t think the kids have/use that here, so it was a bit of a novelty. I’m sure we had the most sanitized group there that day!

As the soup arrived and we began to partake, I noted that whether you can hear or not, noodle ramen-type soup is meant to be slurped. My table of girls was very cute trying to be petite and polite, but there’s no way to do that with noodle soup (check out the photos). You know, after you are with these kids for a while you stop noticing that they have any disability….you just play with them like you would play with any kid.

After lunch we had more games of badmitton, soccer, basketball and mini-golf on the dusty zoo grounds with all of the Rotarators joining in. We had a hula-hoop competition and some of the kids were very adept at keeping the hoop “hula’ing” quite well!

It was a very special afternoon for all of us. I had rave reviews from all of the Rotaractors as we dropped our friends off to be picked up by their families. They hadn’t ever had this kind of volunteer opportunity before and they were totally energized by it. One of the them- Mina had just joined the Rotaract Club of Dillibazar that day and it appeared that she would become a member for life after her experiences with those wonderful kids!

Communication isn’t really all that difficult, if you work together and care about the other person. In this particular case, actions were more important and powerful than words. Kindness, patience and understanding provide the medium for true feelings to be shared between new friends.

-Rob.