Speak Out December 2019 V2 DIGITAL EDITION

SPs Abroad

Long term partnerships forged in Nepal

Athena (pictured centre) with colleagues conducting IDDSI testing at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu.

FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS ATHENA CHAN HAS BEEN VOLUNTEERING IN KATHMANDU NEPAL. SHE WRITES OF THE AWE INSPIRING BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE, AND HOW HER WORK WILL HELP TOWARDS DELIVERING AND IMPROVING PATIENT OUTCOMES .

For the past six months, I have been awed, inspired and humbled. Awed by the majesty of the Himalayas, inspired by the tenacity of the people and their ability in finding creative solutions, and humbled by their incredible generosity. Since March 2019, as a part of the Australian Volunteers Program, I have been volunteering as a speech pathologist at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) in Kathmandu, Nepal. My role here is to help establish a swallowing service and clinic, build the capacity of the local speech pathologists, raise awareness of speech pathology in the healthcare community, and contribute to enhancing service delivery and improving patient outcomes at TUTH. Speech pathology services in Nepal Speech pathology services in Nepal were founded by a dual trained audiologist and speech language pathologist in 1988 at TUTH. Over 30 years, Nepal’s audiology and speech language pathology profession grew from a single person working in a small room on hospital grounds to approximately 50 dual-trained clinicians working across the country. Clinicians here generally worked in both professions, with the majority being recent graduates from India. They have limited to no access to regular clinical supervision or support.

Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital is one of Nepal’s major tertiary teaching hospitals, providing both inpatient and outpatient services. Nepalis from all over the country come to TUTH, sometimes travelling over 14 hours to receive services. Working with limited resources and limited qualified personnel, there is also a lack of research normed to the local language and culture. Subsequently, clinicians are forced to improvise, often leaning on strategies developed from clinical experience. Volunteering as a speech pathologist in Nepal Volunteering has the power to touch the lives of people you meet, and to challenge and broaden your world view. For me, this is something that has interested me since high school. Whether it was because I wanted to experience living and working with people from culturally diverse backgrounds, or because I had the desire to share skills and knowledge to make a positive impact on the lives of others, these factors led me to both pursue speech pathology and ultimately to volunteer internationally. In adjusting to life in Kathmandu I have been through the usual peaks and troughs of living and working in a developing country. Not speaking the language makes it difficult to truly comprehend this intricate cultural web. Apart from being an outsider, some professional challenges have included:

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December 2019 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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