Nepal – Day 20

This morning MJ needed to go to a meeting on one side of town, while Heather & I needed to catch up with Shahzad (who had left earlier) @ a distribution in Thaiba Community. The only issue was that we only had one car, and Bhim (our normal driver) had got his brother to take over for him for the day.

So we set off to Sisters to get some last minute supplies before heading one way with the intention of dropping MJ off first and then we would head across town… The best laid plans of mice and men, or something like that… The driver didn’t appear that confident finding the place where we needed to be and at least 3 times phoned the Volunteers Initiative Nepal (VIN) office up to get directions. This was beginning to wind Heather & MJ up as the time was ticking by… We finally got to our destination about 20mins late in part due to a traffic build up, in part because of the drivers uncertainty.

No sooner had we turned the car around the driver went back into VIN for a pit stop and when he came out a lady got in the car – which was like what the??? Heather by this time was getting just a tad brassed off because Shahzad had called a couple of times wanting to know where we were at – as had Andrew the Team Leader. We ended up dropping off the lady en route and headed down the main road. Only for the car to start showing signs of not wanting to go much further.

Eventually we came to a stand still in the middle of the road as the clutch just would not engage. After a few frantic phone calls from the driver to Bhim (we think!) we got out and headed towards one of the taxi’s close at hand. The first taxi driver didn’t really give us the time of day and wanted to charge us an exuberant price to take us to Thaiba. So we went with another driver parked right beside him and told him that we were only prepared to pay a fixed price. After a bit of haggling in broken English we were on our way. By this time we were about 3/4’s of a hour late.

We finally got to Thaiba (1 hour late) and Shahzad had started the distribution, but because of our arrival they stopped everything gave us the official welcome and after Heather shared a few words recommenced with the giving of food for the villagers.

While there I had the opportunity to see the amount of work that the community had done over the past couple of months clearing rubble from the streets.

Most of which they had had to do by hand.

Ralph in an earlier assistance package had organised for bulldozers to help clear a fair bit of the streets, but looking around the narrow streets I could see that they still had a lot of work to do.

It’s hard to believe that in almost all of the places I have seen while here, people are still literally living in homes that are partially or in this case completely destroyed as they have nowhere else to go.

Again as I walked around seeing the devastation I was struck by the resilience of the people, especially the children who were playing in the streets. Some were playing ball, while others were riding their bikes up and over many an obstruction in the road. These two where having such a blast and they were really adorable, they even wanted me to join in.

In New Zealand the local council and central government would have moved these people on and forced them to live in shelters or camps while there homes & streets were completely cleared of rubble before allowing people back into the area.

Here life goes on and the people have to cope with what they have left. No water, no electricity, no roofs and doors and in some cases a wall missing here or there.

After the distribution was complete Heather, Shahzad & I got in the back of the truck and headed home. This was a huge novelty for Heather and she had such a blast taking photo’s and videos on our trip back…

In the afternoon I headed to the markets with Shahzad to get some clothes for loved ones back home. The market was located next to the Fun Park, and was filled with stalls with traders trying to entice us with their wares. It was quite close and Shahzad was able to barter really well with the locals to bring the price down quite a bit.

By the time we had finished we had quite a few bags between us of stuff. Girls I hope you like your presents when I get back! You might just need to check out YouTube or Google though to work out how to wear them 🙂

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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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Nepal – Day 16

Today Heather, Shahzad & I headed to Sangachok to distribute the remainder of the quilts from the hub to those affected in the surrounding area. We stopped on route at the start of the road that leads to China for a break and it was interesting to note that they had an Anti Trafficking check point. Apparently after the earthquakes they have seen quite a spike in the amount of women and children being trafficked.

We arrived at the School with three trucks in tow after having to travel along a dirt track for a while, but it was no where near as bad as yesterdays adventure. The local officials (of sorts) started to organise the group of people who had gathered into some sort of order, and then we started to distribute the quilts from the back of the trucks as the people came forward.

At points in the organisation of people it sounded quite tense, as voices were raised and a few waves of the hand were seen. Some of the people who approached us without their cards ticks and/or were trying to jump the line, were quickly ushered back to the larger crowd to go through due process. As we were unloading the quilts people were heading back up the hill to their homes while others were heading down to pick up their quota.

The officials finally got some semblance of a system going and we got through the amount of quilts that we needed to distribute reasonably quickly.

Shahzad was funny moving people along using a combination of English, Hindi and Nepalese, thanking everyone as he handed quilts to them. Bhim (our driver) also got stuck in helping out. Heather had an absolute blast as we were constantly heckling each other and the truck driver assistants with the quilts which seemed to lighten the mood for the villagers as well. She also got to hang out with some of the children from the school as well who had great delight playing with bubbles.

What struck me again (as has been the case in most of the distributions to date) is the fact that the people appeared to be very appreciative of our assistance. Although we had the odd person trying to request additional supplies that we didn’t have to give and couldn’t supply as we start the shift from initial response to recovery mode.

It was extremely hot and therefore quite draining and we all appreciated the breeze as we drove home. However, as we started approaching Kathmandu the temperature dropped and it got quite muggy, and it wasn’t long before the heavens opened and it poured down with rain.

By the time we got back to Sister’s it was about 3pm so we grabbed a late lunch and sorted out some of the paperwork before heading home to do a spot of tidying up and sorting out of the house as the owners had moved out that morning.

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Nepal – Day 15

Today Andrew & I headed out to Dhola in Dhading to do a distribution of quilts and to see the work to date which has been done at the two camps up in the hills.

This time we traveled in a 4WD due to the hassles we had the other day trying to get to the village which is only accessible via a dirt track.

The camps have been home to a group of people who had trekked approx. three days from higher up in the hills to this location after the earthquakes had devastated their homes, carrying with them everything that they could salvage.

After negotiations with the landowner they were able to buy a portion of land in which to develop their new village. Over the next few months we are going to be monitoring the progress of the building of 30 homes in the lower camp.

The truck that had the 110 quilts we were going to distribute to the villagers could only go as far as the next settlement that Shahzad & I had not quite gotten to just a couple of days earlier. So another truck that was a 4WD was being organised.

On the way up to the camps our 4WD came across a truck that had got stuck in one section of the road, so we had to wait until the guys had put enough rocks underneath the tyres so that the truck could get out of the rut that it had made for itself.

Once past the truck we finally headed up to the lower camp and looked over the progress to date of this settlement. The tents, which were donated by the Pakistan Territory, have been badly affected by the monsoon rains, and will be replaced by the homes that the villagers themselves will be helping to build. Over the past month construction has started on the ablution blocks in both camps so that they have suitable toilets and washing facilities.

As we had to wait for the quilts to arrive we also went for a look around the upper camp which is a further 5min drive up the hill towards the Primary School.

Again much of the work has been carried out by the villagers themselves and as can be seen in this photo they have had to use rudimentary tools compared to the tools that many tradesmen use back home.

By the time we had headed back to the lower camp for lunch and the start of the distribution, many of the locals had gone down to the truck to pick up the quilts and bring them back for distribution.

This was due to the truck that had previously got stuck had ended up getting stuck up the hill by the upper camp and Primary School, talk about calamity after calamity. But the villagers saw the funny side of it and just got on with it…

So finally Andrew & I did the distribution and the families were very appreciative as the winter season is fast approaching, so the quilts will come in handy.

It ended up being a full on day and we didn’t get back to the house ’til after 7pm due to the long drive home – but it was quite memorable.

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