Nursing students turn teachers in Kathmandu

Next week, a group of 11 second- and third-year Cambrian College nursing students will board a plane to travel to Kathmandu, Nepal, where they plan to volunteer with a women's health organization for two weeks.

They'll be working with the Nepal Natural and Human Resources Development Association (NAHUDA), a national, non-profit organization which aims to provide quality reproductive health services.

“Basically, we'll be talking about stuff like self breast examinations, healthy pregnancy, safe contraceptive uses, and what's actually available to them, and basic first aid,” Andrea Mizuik, a second-year nursing student who is going on the trip, said.

Nepal is an “extremely poor country,” and in many cases, its citizens don't have access to health care, Natalie Taillefer, also a second-year nursing student going on the trip, added.

The students set up their trip through Base Camp International, an organization which co-ordinates short-duration volunteer work in foreign countries.

“This will be different than anywhere I've ever been,” Taillefer said. “I love learning about different cultures and seeing how other people in the world live.”

A few years ago, a different group of Cambrian nursing students volunteered with health organizations in India. The earlier trip was one of the inspirations for the group heading to Nepal, Mizuik and Taillefer said.

“We heard about that, and we wanted a chance to do something like that,” Taillefer said.

A nursing professor who set up the India trip has been quite helpful in teaching the students of what they should be aware when travelling to a foreign country, Mizuik said.

To help finance their trip, which costs $4,500 per person, the students have held a number of fundraisers.

Their last fundraiser takes place May 3 starting at 9 p.m. at the Towne House on Elgin Street. The band Crow & The Bone will be entertaining.

There will also be door prizes. The entry fee is $10.

“It's our last effort to raise money before we go,” Taillefer said. “Hopefully, we can spread the word and get a lot of people to go and have a good night.”

Those who don't wish to attend the Towne House event can still put money towards the students' trip by contacting Base Camp International at 1-866-646-4693.

Posted by Arron Pickard