Sparta teen Trevor Morrow volunteers in Nepal

EDITOR’S NOTE: Eighteen-year-old Trevor Morrow of Sparta enjoys helping others. He was active in his hometown community and is volunteering in third world countries, including Nepal and Africa. His father provided this account of his son’s experiences in Nepal to The Sparta Independent.
By Lance Morrow
SPARTA - Let me begin by saying that Trevor thanks each and every person who came and supported his effort to raise funds for this volunteer program, as well as all the Sparta businesses that donated generous door prizes. Many people stop and ask how he is and where he is. So I thought I would up-date this information.
The communication with Trevor, currently in Nepal, has not been as advertised. The village he is in is called Budhanilkantha, in the Kathmandu Valley. It is about 6 miles north of the main city. It lies at the base of a mountain approximately 8,000 feet. Once you get outside the city of Kathmandu, it is very, very, rural. There is some Internet access but the hours of the shop vary and both that and phone service can be a hit or miss. In addition, he’s almost always busy and has little free time.
The volunteers spend a lot of extra time with the orphans, over and above what is asked of them. The three e-mails and two calls received were during his time in orientation and once while back in Kathmandu for supplies or taking kids to the doctors. I guess I should be fortunate as one parent I ran into said they hadn’t heard from their son since dropping him off at school. (By the way, although everyone says “Kat-mandu, there is a pronounced “H’ in there.)
Trevor arrived in Nepal one day early to adjust to the time and made mends with some other volunteers at his first nights lodging. They had a chance to tour the city, visit shrines, historic sites and temples, including the famous “monkey temples”, where, you guessed, monkeys rule and one had better be careful. The next two days were spent in training and orientation, learning some of the culture and a few simple phrases, although he had been working on this prior to his departure. From there, they went to an orphanage on the fringe of the city for three days for observation and hands-on training.
The children love it when new volunteers arrive. Nepal is filled with thousands of orphans. Many of them had one or both parents killed in the rebel fighting that have taken place over the past 10 years. In some cases, a father, working as a Sherpa, may have been killed while on expedition. The mother has to go off to work, can’t take care of the children and they end up in an orphanage. Some have just been abandoned.
One tends not to hear much in the American press about Nepal but you will if you travel to Europe, Australia and Asian countries. Over the past 8 to 10 years, Maoist rebels have fought to oust the king’s rule and to have free elections, with a government “of the people.” Does this sound familiar to anyone? It’s a little more complicated than that but that’s basically what is going on politically.
While the killings and fighting have pretty much stopped, an estimated 12,000 people have been killed in this tiny country on both the rebel and government sides. Nepal remains on the U.S. State Department warning list for Americans to avoid. However, the Kathmandu Valley, where Trevor’s village is, is deemed “safe’ but to use caution. There are still kidnappings, but the news account I read on line claim they are brief, with a small ransom being paid to the rebels. Last week, five relief workers, building a water supply were abducted.
Out of 200 countries, Nepal ranks near the bottom in per capita income. The night prior to Trevor and his group leaving for his posting, the Maoist rebels blocked all roads in and out of the city. Vehicles attempting to leave were stoned and some fires were set. There were thousands of people marching in the streets. The director kept the volunteers in the city and by morning it was over. With a very short notice, they left for their village.
Trevor said he just “brushed it off as every day life in Nepal and wasn’t worried.”
During the first five days in Nepal, he reports you couldn’t see much beyond the city limits, due to smog and fog rain, as this is the tail end of the monsoon season. The air quality in the city is said to be some of the dirtiest in an Asian country. The next day, however, he awoke to a clear, sunny day. He looked outside to the north, east and west and could see the Himalayan Mountains. He said it was “beyond beautiful.”
The orphanage where Trevor is working has over 40 children, from 5 and 6 years old to young teenagers. They are as interested in where the volunteers are from and what there lives are like, as the volunteers are about them. Trevor drew a map of North America and is teaching them some geography. The kids are interested about other parts of the world. Trevor also bought along his own ABC flash cards and the younger children love them and enjoy learning the alphabet.
Of the volunteer’s here, Trevor is one of two 18 year olds, with most being between 21 and 23. They have come from the USA, Canada, England and Australia.
In addition to teaching, much of what the volunteers do pertains to the health of the children. Each day they have to put a mustard oil into the ear canal for infection and treat minor injuries. They spend time on health issues and have to take many of the children to the clinic for various medical problems. That entails several over crowded buses and waiting a long time to be seen. Things don’t move quickly there.
Trevor’s Nepali and host family have “adopted” him. He now has a new “brother” and his new “mother” says Trevor is her new “son” and she loves him very much. His “brother” translated it that way. That’s as if we say, “I love you like one of my own family.” They are interested in the things he brought with him, including a small movie camera, shoes, clothing etc. They want to know how much things cost and how they work. Sometimes they go into his room just to look at things, touch them and then move them around but never taking anything, because of their honesty, values and respect for others.
Despite the political problems in the country, he finds the Nepali people polite, respectful, grateful and kind. They also like to laugh. As far as food goes, if you have a freshman complaining about the food on campus, when they come home for Thanksgiving, whip them up some Daal Bhatt. What’s that you ask? It can vary a little but it’s pretty much lentil beans, rice and maybe some vegetables. And paste like. You eat using a scooping motion with your fingers. No utensils. Now, eat it for six days in a row for breakfast and dinner. Sometimes, you get a little meat or chicken once during the week or some noodles as an added bonus. Midday, you might get a biscuit, “light meal” and tea. Trevor is not complaining or bragging. That is “just life in Nepal” and he knew this in advance.
His home for the fIrst three days in training was a mud and stick hut. The toilet is a trench, outside, away from the house and his “roommates” include an assortment of lizards and spiders. Again, he knew all this when he signed on, so he just goes along with the program. I used to tell Trevor and Grant, “Be flexible and you won’t get bent out of shape” and that’s exactly what he is doing.
In closing, Trevor wanted me to say hello to all his friends and apologize for his inability to e-mail you. His time in town, where there is some access, is brief and expensive in the Internet cafe’s.
Trevor will transfer to Africa this month to do similar work.
If anyone is interested in reading his or some of the other volunteer’s journals, which range from funny to sad to heart wrenching, visit http://www.volunteer.org.nz Go to the “Nepal” site and scroll down to “Journals’. Many of the volunteers continue to write after they return home. Most of them seem to come back with a greater appreciation for what they have and end up with life altering experiences. One has to wonder, if the volunteers get more out of their work or if the orphans do. It’s probably a draw. One volunteer writes that she left, sadly knowing, when she graduates college, she can live and work virtually anywhere in the world. The orphans she helped during her stay will mostly remain in their small villages or perhaps take a job in one of the few bigger cities, if they finish their schooling and are very lucky.
If anyone would still like donate to this self-funded project, you can make a check payable to “Trevor Morrow” and mail it to, P.O.Box 308, Sparta, NJ 07871. If he is over-funded, supplies will be purchased at the Bic Company, below cost, and sent to the orphanages.