Nepal – Day 19

Now I may have got some of yesterdays blog entry and this one today a bit muddled up. This is due to the fact that I am doing this about three days after the fact, having spent two days out of the office. But I’m sure you get the general idea of where things are at…

This morning Andrew, Heather & I headed into Sister’s due to a couple of meetings that had been prearranged there over the past couple of weeks. The first one Andrew, Heather & I had a meeting with Child Nepal re. our partnership with them over Temporary Learning Centre’s (TLC’s) and Stationary supplies that we had assisted them with in the past couple of months and to help cover a shortfall in funding due to student movement from schools due to the upheaval caused by the earthquakes.

After this meeting I had had a meeting scheduled with someone from Handicap International. (However, I didn’t know the name of the person I was supposedly meeting and I hadn’t got any contact numbers.) Needless to say they were a no show.

Now this is where I think yesterdays shopping expedition and this one got just a tad mixed up and the dinner with the C.O’s & Monopoly game should have been noted as today rather than yesterday but hey!

In the afternoon Andrew, Sanga & I went shopping for essential supplies. We seem to be doing a bit of shopping of late – some personal, some work – but that’s the way it goes, we still need certain supplies. We need to get some additional furniture so that we had enough work space to lay things out on tables etc. While we were out we also invested in a TV and Sat. Box (which is a personal expense from Andrew & I which we will be giving / donating to the C.O’s upon our departure).

This is so that we are prepared for the upcoming Rugby World Cup TV Coverage. After all there is a South African, Australian and Kiwi all living in the same house, and the banter has begun! Go the All Blacks! To be fair it started not long after Heather arrived, but we won’t go into that, hehehe.

Later in the afternoon, after some stable Internet connectivity it was really great to catch-up with family back home. I am obviously missing them like mad! – I worked out the other day that this is the longest stretch of time that I have been away from Annette since we have been together (over 20 years), and she is also finding it hard being mum & dad as well as holding the fort for everything else. God is good though and she is drawing strength from him and those that we have in our church community, so thanks guys keep it up!

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Nepal – Day 18

This morning while Heather, Shahzad & MJ headed back to do the distribution at Liwali Camp, that couldn’t be done yesterday due to the rain, I headed to Sister’s to sort some of the paperwork. However, it wasn’t long before I was packing everything up that I could take back to the house, so that I could ensure the painters & cleaner were doing what they needed to do. The painters though never showed up which didn’t impress the owners very much who came for a visit mid morning.

In the afternoon Heather, Andrew & I went shopping for extra supplies as we were having a special meal at the house with the C.O’s and their family.

The tables were set and we had a beautiful home made meal, MJ had meticulously prepared a salad, while Heather helped with the Rice & Andrew prepared the Chicken Curry. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all and afterwards we introduced the girls to monopoly.

The night before Heather had got me to start her game off for her as she was on a phone call back home. But unfortunately by the time she got back to the table to play I hadn’t left her with much to go on after spending much of the game in prison.

Tonight was pretty much the same, in fact it was worse – she had a phone call again but by the time she came to the table I was already bankrupt and out of the game.

The girls were funny to watch as they tried to out do each other, buying properties and getting the hang of the game.

Towards the end of the game the intensity was raised and the bantering was at times hilarious especially as they survived a few rounds towards the death with barely any money to rub together, each having a dig at the other about who was going to be out of the game first.

It was an awesome opportunity for us as a team to show our appreciation and gratitude to Sanga & Manun who have gone out of their way to ensure that the International Emergency Services Team have had everything that they need to do what it is that we do. Thanks guys you are truly a blessing!

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Nepal – Day 17

This morning Shahzad, MJ & I headed to Liwali to do a distribution of Hygiene Kits on the way though it rained so heavily that when we got there we decided along with Ratna to postpone it until tomorrow. The courtyard area was so slippery due to the mud that we didn’t want for anyone to get hurt or have an unnecessary woopsey…

We also had to cancel the Medical Camp @ Kwopa until further notice as it was scheduled to be outside as well.

So we decided that we would head back to the house and accompany Heather to church @ the Local Corps, as Majors Sanga and Manun had asked the night before if she could share a few words with the congregation in the morning.

It was a fantastic meeting and I was so impressed with the passion shown by the people as they worshiped the Lord in Nepalese. I was taken aback by what they have, or should I say don’t have, it brought a tear to my eye as I thought of all that we have in New Zealand in comparison and that from time to time we think that we need this and that to worship the Lord more effectively. I joined in worship by just soaking in their enthusiasm for the Lord which was a beautiful thing to behold.

Heather shared an awesome message about prayer and how we can use the fingers on our hand to be more effective in that area, which was much appreciated through the translation of Sanga & Manun’s youngest daughter Amelia.

To think that in the past few months I have had the opportunity to worship the Lord in four different settings, the UK, Hong Kong, New Zealand and now Nepal and in each and every occasion the Lord has worked mightily in the people who call on his name. We truly have a God who is above all and yet so intimately interested in us!

In the afternoon Heather, MJ, Shahzad & I headed to the tourist shopping area, Thamel. This was a fascinating experience as the place was crowded with little stores and stalls everywhere and signs hung from anywhere they could attach them, while cars, motorbikes and people jostled for space along the thin streets. We spent a couple of hours looking for gifts for people back home and grabbed a bite to eat while we were there.

The trip home was another experience altogether – At first we hailed a taxi & Shahzad explained where we wanted to go, only to be taken on a bit of a tiki-tour. This culminated in us getting kicked out, (well sort of we got out) of the taxi without paying anything, because the driver had taken us to a completely different place. We ended up at one of the temples across the other side of the city.

When we finally got into a taxi, where the driver knew where he was to take us, we had a few more excursions. As on the main road home we came across a mass of police in riot gear, who had blocked off the main road due to a protest. This meant that the taxi driver had to do a bit of a detour along the back roads. However we came across a traffic jam due to the amount of cars being diverted, so we made yet another detour this time finally making it home after about an hour and a quarter.

Now let me just state here that the taxi’s around Kathmandu are small, fitting four adults and a driver into a little Suzuki is a bit of a tight squeeze, there is not much room for movement. So when we got back to the house we were a bit relieved and gave the taxi driver a good tip due to the renegotiation’s he had had to make along the way.

But the fun didn’t end there as when we returned home we found the house in darkness as tradesmen were still trying to get the invertor sorted for the power. So we had had quite an eventful day! Maybe tomorrow will be a bit quieter and easier… Maybe!

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