Stepping into the world of the unknown… Nepal

Last year, Caritas Australia's fundraising officer, Elizabeth Pappalardo, travelled to Nepal to visit our projects and partners in Nepal. This was Elizabeth's first trip outside of Australia. Over the next week join Elizabeth as she takes us on her personal journey witnessing extreme poverty first-hand and seeing what a difference sustainable development can make.

Part One  — Stepping into the world of the unknown… Nepal
As someone who has supported the work of Caritas Australia throughout my years at school, I am now privileged enough to be working for this life-changing organisation.

A huge part of my role is to assist with our annual Lenten Appeal, Project Compassion. Nepal was chosen as the lead story for this year’s campaign and I was given the unique opportunity to travel with my fellow colleagues to meet Kaluram so we could share his story with the rest of Australia.

I had never been overseas and I was nervous to be travelling to the other side of the world. Despite this I was eager to experience the work of Caritas first hand and to develop a better understanding of daily life in a developing country.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in South Asia, with 10 million people living in poverty. Arriving in Kathmandu, I was overwhelmed by the obvious challenges that people face and I realised that until I was immersed in the country, I had struggled to comprehend in my mind the reality of the daily adversities faced by communities.
With 28 million people living in Nepal (and less than half the size of NSW), the streets were crowded with people walking on foot, riding their bicycles and those travelling in the occasional car all competing for limited space. Repetitive sounds of horns and bells filled the air as everyone wanted to be heard as they squeezed their way through the traffic.

The sky was covered by a thick permanent haze due to the dry season weather making the mountains (Nepal is the home of Mt Everest!) which surround Kathmandu to almost invisible. Rubbish accumulated along the streets and the poor infrastructure caused constant night blackouts.

I was surprised to see people queuing to collect water in the city centre of Patan, something I thought only happened in remote areas, but I soon realised it is all a daily way of life for the people in Nepal.

Read Elizabeth's next blog, Out of the Flickering Lights of Kathmandu »»