Tihar Celebrations

High season is now upon us and we have been frantically busy with both clinics hitting record numbers in October. This is particularly good, considering that both Dashain and Tihar (Deepwali) fell in that month so we had the usual festival-related disruptions with staff and students heading home to celebrate with their families. Fortunately we managed to keep both clinics open for all but a couple of days. Pictured is the Kathmandu clinic adorned with candles and a mandala for Laxmi Puja, a special festival day in Deepwali when people light their homes to tempt in Laxmi (the Hindu goddess of wealth) and bring them prosperity for the coming year. The mandala was made by Sneha who is pictured with her handiwork and we lit it later in the evening, at the same time marking our first year's anniversary for the new clinic in Kathmandu.