For the past five years Krebsallianz has sponsored the DVG’s Christmas Trip to Chitwan, where a group of children living with cancer and their parents are taken for a few days holiday. Chitwan is a region west of Kathmandu and its famous for its national parks and beautiful wildlife. This year twenty-seven participants were invited to a three day stay at the beautiful Sapana Village Lodge, where guests can sit outside and watch elephants taking a bath in the river and get together in the evening to sit around the camp fire, singing songs and dancing.
As usual, the trip took place in late December just before the Christmas holidays. The group set off early to make the most of the day, and the drive from Kathmandu is long. By the time the group made it to the lodge by the children were energized to spend the afternoon outside visiting the elephant centre. At the centre, they were given a history of elephants in the region and were able to see larger elephants tied up and baby elephants running around. A famous feature of the centre is the enormous elephant’s skull.
On the next morning the group were up early to head out for the safari, the excitement began as soon as they’d got into their jeeps and left the lodge, because on their way to the national park they came across a rhino sleeping in a field nearby. As they headed further into the jungle they spotted porcupine, barking deer, and many different types of beautiful birds. Their tour took them to Twenty Thousand Lake, inside Chitwan National Park, a stunning spot to see more wildlife and relax by the water. There, they took many photos and climbed up a watch tower to get a better view of the stunning surroundings.
The afternoon was spent in Devghat, a famous cultural and religious town, where visitors can walk over a suspension bridge and see where the two rivers Kaligandaki and Trishuli meet. The group was planning to eat their locally-bought oranges on the way but they were met by a group of monkeys who followed them, looking for food. Luckily, they did no harm, but some of the children were scared. The children were a lot happier down by the water and played there.
That evening the group were invited to watch a local Tharu dance performance in Sauraha Tharu Village. The dancers performed a stick dance and a fire dance, and as has become tradition, they invited the parents and children to join in the final dance. After the day’s excitement, it was time for the group to wind down, so they enjoyed a delicious meal back at Sapana Village Lodge before sitting and chatting around the campfire. Some parents and children that still had a bit of energy left sang songs and danced together.
The group headed back the next morning and stopped off for lunch in Malekhu, they kept their spirits up by singing songs in the bus and chatting. Again, the Christmas trip has been a success in bringing children suffering with cancer together with their families and giving them an opportunity to connect, to be in community with others and to have some time off from their everyday lives. Samir, the director of DVG believes it is essential to provide the children living with cancer and their families an opportunity to relax and reduce stress. One important way of doing so, is spending time outside of the city, discovering wildlife and experiencing nature.
A message of thanks from the group:
We would to express our gratitude towards all our well-wishers and sponsors for your kind support and prayer. Special thanks to our donor Krebsallianz. We would like to thank to Sapana Village Lodge, Suman Chapagain, Kamal Khanal and Puneeta Chaudhary for support. We hope for your continuous support, prayer and help in our upcoming programs.
