a closing note, with gratitude

I fly back to Canada tonight and as always I have mixed feelings as I leave.

I return to my friends and family who I love, and my work (Student Affairs #bestjobever), but I leave behind my dear friends in Kathmandu, close colleagues at PAHS and of course the PAHS students (Batches 1 through 5).  With the internet it is easier to stay in touch so that makes it a bit easier but nothing beats being able to sit eyeball to eyeball and have a real conversation.  I am grateful I have had a chance to see so many of my very close friends this trip.

Until the next time we meet...

I would like to extend my gratitude to Academics Without Borders for their generous support.
(http://www.awb-usf.org)

Full Stop Full Circle

Well I almost made it though my trip without picking up a bug…  Yesterday I woke up with low grade nausea, fatigue and a chest infection which pretty much brought me to a standstill… more like a lie still.   A day off food seems to have cleared up the nausea/fatigue but sadly the chest infection has remained and today my nose is running… 

Not ideal for being about to board my long series of flights home…

Oh well.

On a much brighter note I was able to connect with a bunch of students from the FIRST Batch of PAHS.  These are students from the pioneer class who are now in their final year as “Interns” and will graduate this September and start their rural placements.  I couldn’t be more proud.  

Bibiana Cujec,  Jason Waechter, and I had the pleasure of being their professors in the inaugural Cardio Block along with the CV Block director Mili Joshi.   

To see them now, almost finished and ready to bring health care to rural parts of the country was an emotional moment for me.

Batch 1 Interns

Batch 1 with CA ma'am

Batch 1 Selfie (by Neeti)

And the winners are...

Today we had an emotional reveal of the two Honourable Mentions and Top Three Submissions for Mero Mutu Mero Kala (My heart my art) contest.

Accepting for Honourable Mention were:

Rajani Singh “My Queen of Hearts”

Ink and watercolour

and

Suban Amatya “Heart Beats”

Pencil sketch

3^rd Prize overall (Taking home an ALPK2 Stethoscope)

Pragua Kumari  “The Heart”

Newspaper sculpture on wood

2^nd  Prize overall (Taking home an ALPK2 Stethoscope)

Monima Maharjan "The heart that beats"

Straw mosaic

And finally

1^st Prize overall (Taking home a Littman Stethoscope)

Ramesh Shrestha “ Save the heart”

 

Clay heart with paint

A Warm Congratulations to all artists who submitted this year.

And on a final note …

Batch 5 presented me with an incredible parting gift.  Tragically they lost a class mate very early on in first year.  His name was Anil and he died suddenly of a cardiac abnormality during one of their “Sports Days” .   In honour of his passing they designed a lovely shirt that was a tribute to Anil an includes the names of all his class mates forming the number “5”.  His name is highlighted in the centre.  Their gift to me was one of these shirts.  I couldn’t be more honoured and will wear it proudly.

PAHS faculty pose with all 14 artists who submitted to this years Mero Mutu Mero Kala.

Mero Mutu Mero Kala (Cardiac Art) 2016

After a one year hiatus Mero Mutu Mero Kala,  "My heart My Art" has returned to PAHS.  This is an annual Cardiac Art contest that was started here coinciding with the very first Batch of PAHS students (in 2011).  Carmina Sthrestha (from Batch 2) created the title and the lovely logo (two caring hands holding aloft a heart with the Nepali flag)  in 2012.

This year time was tight and thus the students only had (barely) two weeks to create their works of art.  Despite a punishing time crunch Batch 5 did not disappoint.  Five judges reviewed and scored all submissions earlier this morning.  

Judges were blinded to the identity of the student artists.   Art that received the 5 highest cumulative scores were awarded Honourable Mention, 3^rd place 2^nd place and 1^st place respectively.

In todays post I will present you with “all 14 entries”.  We announce the prize winners on Thursday.  They will be taking home diagnostic quality Stethoscopes!

There was Art submitted in three different categories:  Poetry/Stories, Paintings/Sketches and “Other Media”

Enjoy.

Poetry/Stories

Rashmi  Jha " With its own Art"

Aastha Ghimire "Words from the Heart"

Paintings and Sketches

Ambika Kumari Singh  "Cardiac Pathology"

(Pencil, Ink and Coloured Pencil)

Apurva Shrestha

(Coloured Pencil and Ink)

Bulbul Pradham  "Nurture of Heart"

(Pencil Sketch)

Kriti Shrestha "I see through my heart"

(Pencil Sketch)

Rajani Singh  "My Queen of hearts"

(Pen and Ink with Water Colour)

Ramesh Shrestha "HeART"

(Watercolour Painting)

Suban Amatya "Heart Beats"

(pencil sketch)

Upama Shrestha  "Heart Connected to Earth"

(coloured pencil)

"Other Media"

Durga Royaka & Nishant  Joshi "Circulation of Life"

(hand stitched with thread and wool)

Monima Maharan  "The Heart that Beats"

(mosaic made with bamboo pieces)

Pragya Kumari  "The Heart"

(Papier Mache plus paint)

Ramesh Shrestha  "Save This Heart"

(Papier Mache plus paint)