TY - JOUR T1 - Letter from Nepal JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 369 LP - 369 DO - 10.3399/bjgp16X685885 VL - 66 IS - 648 AU - Bridget Osborne Y1 - 2016/07/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/66/648/369.abstract N2 - ’Kay bayho?’ (What’s the problem?) I ask, smiling at the child before me, who has purple cheeks and mucus running down his upper lip. He looks back at me blankly: he is only 5 years old and, although I was using Nepali, his mother tongue is Gurung, one of 93 native languages spoken in Nepal.Home for this little boy is quite literally at the roof of the world in Upper Mustang, on the Sino-Nepalese border. For 6 months of the year it is too cold to study at over 4000 m and, with the rest of his school, he has made a 2-day journey by jeep and bus down to Pokhara at 825 m, where he is spending winter in a residential school.On the morning commute in Pokhara you see dozens of school-bound children. Pretty girls with their shiny black plaits tied in ribbons to match their spotless tights, boys in navy blazers and flannel trousers, and toddlers in brightly coloured jumpers with beanie hats. These are the children who greet you on the street with a polite ‘Namaste’ or, giggling shyly, try … ER -