Village experience near Pokhara, Nepal
The Annapurna range has several of the world’s highest mountains. Despite the challenges of living in a village only accessible by foot, hundreds of Nepalese continue to live in rural communities on the slopes. It is an incredibly difficult life, and for many the reason for the advanced state of their symptoms, but it offers the simple, spiritual way of life that has existed for thousands of years – no longer easy to achieve in the tourist friendly cities.
Working alongside a local health assistant you will trek out to a small health post where you will live amongst a village community for the week. Delivering primary healthcare to this isolated community, whilst getting involved with village life, provides an amazing opportunity to see a very different Nepal.
Get to know the locals
To help you make the most of your stay, we provide a guide who is local to the community. Leaving the Work the World house on Sunday, you will travel together on local transport to the start of the trek. We have two different villages that we visit, both can only be reached by foot. The trek is an amazing part of the experience and will give you lots of time to chat to your guide, meet locals on the path and ask any questions you may have about mountain life. This area of Nepal is also spectacularly beautiful and as you climb higher the view stretches for miles.
You will work most mornings with a Health Assistant, but in your free time your guide will help you learn the art of traditional cooking, take you to nearby temples, introduce you to a local healer and involve you in farming and the general upkeep of the village. Please note activities may be subject to change depending on the season, availability and weather conditions.
Read more about life in the village here.
Accommodation and food
Your time in the village will be spent with a local host family who will provide you with simple living quarters and food for the duration of your stay. Although you will be living as traditionally as possible, students will be provided with a room to share, clean sheets and fresh, purified water.
Meals will often consist of a traditional dal bhat, the staple of Nepalese life. Recipes vary by season and locality, but usually it is based on steamed rice and lentil soup (dal), curried vegetables, meat, yoghurt, roti and pickle. It is delicious!
Placement with a healthcare practitioner
You will spend each morning working with a local health assistant in a small clinic dealing with anything from general medicine to more unusual walk in cases. Attitudes to healthcare are very different in the mountains, and although similar illnesses and diseases are prevalent, resources are minimal and treatment limited. It feels a world away from Pokhara and provides a fantastic contrast to your hospital placement.
The Village Healthcare Experience tends to be scheduled at the end of your placement period, giving you the chance to familiarise yourself with common diseases prevalent in Nepal, as well as learn a little of the language.
Benefits
A maximum of two people can go on each village experience. With limited numbers you can fully integrate yourself into the community and enjoy a very personal experience, which is great for those keen to get away from the tourists and see what it is like to live in the real Nepal.
Working in a clinic, dispensary or hospital within a rural village is also a unique opportunity to broaden your appreciation of the delivery of community healthcare in your chosen country. It will help you understand the importance of traditional medicine alongside modern treatment, the development of clinical pathologies in environments where obtaining treatment is difficult and also how practitioners deal with such wide ranging cases using minimal resources.
The Village Healthcare Experience is an invaluable experience, both professionally and personally, and will really stand out on your C.V.
