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Health Research and Social Development Forum (HERD) organized a training session on ‘Positive Thinking and Group Counselling’ on May 20 at Sap Falcha, Thapathali. 110 participants including HERD board members, staff as well as their family members attended the event.

Executive Director, Dr Sushil Chandra Baral said that the event was organised with the motive of sharing our pain and struggles and relieving ourselves from the mental stress caused by the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.

Facilitating the event, Nar Bahadur Karki, psychosocial counsellor and life skills coach rendered a message for new hope and meaning to life. His session helped the participants to see life in a different way, which was lost somewhere, amidst fear, anxiety and helplessness.

Stating that life is very simple and we ourselves are making it complex, Karki pointed that we should not see the disaster in a negative way. He said, "Let’s not brood over moments we have lost. Whatever happens, it happens for good." Thinking about something that happened and wasting all our abilities and energy in it won’t help cure the disease, “We need to activate new life energy to deal with the circumference” Karki added.

Karki said, “We should not let earthquake be the ‘trump card’ to find excuses for failure” hinting towards lack of effort put towards overcoming the disaster. He added, “Unless you disqualify your problems within yourself, you cannot move ahead".

The second session was sharing session where most of the participants shared their experiences and thoughts:

Kishore Dhungana

“Please do not humiliate those who are scared; earthquake has taught us to have our house small and have our hearts big.”

Pradip Thakali

"Let’s not be proud of our gigantic buildings; let’s be proud of our land; we should not forget our land, its grace, its importance; we should also respect those who live on the streets.”

Chetendra Raj Joshi – “I saw the tragedy in Sindhupalchowk. I have developed empathy over mankind.”

Anju Bhatta – “I have learnt to socialize more. Now, I even know the names of my neighbours’ pets.”

Amrita Ghimire – “Earthquake has taught me new meaning of life. Now I enjoy every moment to the fullest.”

What we gained

Like the two sides of a coin - everything has a good and a bad aspect. We generally focus on the latter. During this time of crisis, all we did was filled our minds with the negative thoughts and rarely took out time to be grateful to what we got. Since last three weeks, all of us lived with fear. At this point of time a lot of people have lost their loved ones and their homes. Most of the people have been injured and are on the hospital beds waiting for their wounds to be healed.

We didn’t give a second thought that we might be lucky than most of the people. Yes, we are scared but may be now focusing on the positive aspect will give a new meaning. In the counselling session when Mr. Karki started speaking, it was worth all our time and attention. Most of us didn’t take life that way. He showed a new light, and made us realise how lucky we are. Expressing your fear is definitely essential and most importantly learning to tackle it. Yes, we have become weak but we have become social, courageous and have started valuing our life. Now, we should be thankful that we have been able to celebrate each day as our birthday as each day we wake up with more hopes.

The session definitely inspired all of us in various ways and we are thankful to Mr. Karki for the opportunity.