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# Tom is sick

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Kathmandu, Nepal
Monday, December 6, 2010

Thursday was a bad day. By lunchtime Tom was still back and forth to the toilet about every twenty minutes and neither of us had eaten anything since breakfast except for a few biscuits and some tea. Host families are paid to provide us with breakfast and dinner only. We get lunch at our placements. So there I was unable to feed Tom so much as a piece of toast and my mood deteriorated as my frustration grew.
At 2pm I decided enough was enough and I decided to pack up and go back to the hotel in Thamel where we could at least have a cup of tea when we wanted and would be warm. Neville arrived home about 3 agreed that this was a good idea and we all packed up and went. They only had a half day at their school the next day and it doesn’t seem to matter whether or not they turn up anyway and I got a text later that evening saying CBR would be closed the next day, so it didn’t matter that we were leaving early.
What a relief to get back to hot showers, soft mattresses and warmth.
I was not prepared for how emotionally draining the work at CBR would be. The children are all so desperate for your attention and affection and you spend the day trying to give them all what they need with only the equipment you provide yourself and little encouragement or support, mainly because of the language barrier. We know the staff does appreciate our efforts but it’s hard not being able to talk to them properly about what you’re doing. The day is actually quite short as the children don’t arrive until about 11 and most of them leave at 3, but those four hours are enough. So when my own children get sick or are finding things difficult as Dan was in the first week it’s hard to find the energy to support them.
So by last night I was completely exhausted and a bit of a mess and when I feel like that I want to kill every stupid horn-honking driver and punch out every one of those guys trying to sell me stuff I don’t want. Thankfully we could come here for a rest and tomorrow, for the first time, we will get out of Kathmandu’s noise and dust and head into the mountains to "The Last Resort" up on the Tibetan border.

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