A small group of tertiary students from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Queensland, Australia recently swapped their summer holidays for a trip to Nepal to help families of children with muscular dystrophy.
The group is called SWAP (Students With A Purpose) and was led by 42-year-old Rei Joseph, who is studying a Bachelor of Social Science in Community Work at USC.
Last November and December, Rei and four other USC students – supported by an interpreter, a secondary school teacher, a cabinet maker and a carpenter's apprentice – spent five weeks in Banepa, a township about an hour's drive south-west of Kathmandu, providing knowledge, wheelchairs and other materials like handrails to improve the quality of life for children with muscular dystrophy.
"We went over [to Nepal] basically as a bit of a research trip," explained Rei, "but we had a few goals in mind and those goals ended up being construction and finances for whatever these families needed, and also raising awareness of muscular dystrophy within the community.
"We opened an office…and then we went out and saw the 10 families that they had over there [with children with muscular dystrophy]. We allocated money to each family and asked them what they wanted, and some wanted handrails, some wanted a bed, but they all wanted physiotherapy. So now twice a week they have access to physiotherapy, which SWAP pays for."
Shayne Ryan, another student at the University of the Sunshine Coast studying a Bachelor of Regional and Urban Planning, also made the trip. She explained that the office set up in Banepa is basically a connection point for them. The people running the office get in contact with the hospital, the families out at the villages and the SWAP students.
"They are also behind creating community awareness, so if there are other families in the area that have children with these disabilities, they are also an information source for those families and communities as well."
Rei says that the intention was always to make the office and the project self-sufficient. "It is not about us just continually supporting them and they are obviously aware of that as well."
Shayne, who ended up staying in Nepal for four months, became very close with the families who had obviously benefited from the interaction with the group. She said: "We are not trying to push in and overtake [them] with our ideologies or ways. We are going in there, seeing their culture, mingling with their culture and seeing how we can help them…and the love that we offered them was kind of an example, basically, because then instead of seeing their children as a burden, they were treating them with love and respect."
Rei explained that the whole concept of SWAP is really a two-fold mission. "It is not only good for those people who we go over and see, but it is also good for us. It has affected us a lot."
"We could go to Mooloolaba and swim at the beach all the time or we could go to Nepal and climb mountains, and make a difference."
Shayne believes that it's a good opportunity "to pull yourself out of your comfort zone".
"I cannot explain how life-changing it was," said Shayne. "You realise a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know before when you are put into different situations…and not only that, but I have come back here and I appreciate everything so much – being able to turn on a light switch and there is power!
"But not only that, your respect for people, basically. Because the culture over there is so open and respecting and loving…basically, things like materialistic stuff over there is the last thing on anyone's mind. Whereas you come here, we have such a blessed society that we don't have to worry about little things like electricity and water…We have to worry about what we are going to wear during the day and things like that, so that was a big life-changing thing for me …was being more comfortable with myself."
The SWAP programme is open to all Australian university and TAFE students. SWAP is planning a second trip in November this year with a group of about 10 students and other members of the Sunshine Coast community to help establish a community hospital in Banepa.
For further information, contact Rei Joseph at rlj003@student.usc.edu.au or mobile 0400 299 063.
SWAP would like to acknowledge Narayan Thapa of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Nepal (MDAN) and Himal of the Bhaktapor Muscular Dystrophy Centre.
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