Nepal – Day 14

Today was a day pretty much spent in the office organising paperwork, as we had no meetings, no distributions scheduled and no visits to monitor progress on activities at the camps or any of the locations that we are currently following up.

Our internet connection is very intermittent as of late, which has made it near on impossible to get information about upcoming cluster meetings and other communications sorted. However, it did give me the opportunity to sort some more of the filing. But no sooner did I clear my pile of papers that I had sourced from around the room, Andrew gifted me a whole lot more as he also started clearing out some of the baskets.

We are almost there now which is good – so not only can Andrew close off some of the projects, but I can start going through the information we have on file to confirm distribution lists to the distribution schedule that have been done. Also it will give Heather an idea of the projects that have been done to date as she will be taking over as team leader when Andrew heads back to Australia in a few more weeks.

Things are starting to take shape at the house, well at least we are getting some of the household items delivered and by the end of the week when the owners have moved out we will be able to sort out where things go.

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Nepal – Day 13

As I mentioned in my previous post I was not feeling the best yesterday evening and this culminated in quite a bit of time awake during the night, staring at the marble floor.

Fortunately though for me today was a relatively easy day as I didn’t have any scheduled meetings and the distributions consisted of dropping supplies off at a couple of different locations that MJ could do with the truck driver Nirmal.

Although I couldn’t turn down the offer of a Sizzling Walnut Brownie for lunch, if you are ever in Sanepa, Kathmandu you will have to try one of these for yourselves as they are to die for. Maybe that is a bit extreme, but they are very tasty and they are inexpensive @ US $1.35. Check out their Facebook page or their website for more information.

Much of the afternoon was spent sorting the remainder of the paperwork at the office. I think we are finally getting on top of it. However, I still reckon we have a day or two of sorting before we are done. What we are finding though is that quite a bit of information is not readily available, it must be stored in the memory banks of those that have gone before us or on their individual computers. But we will get there as best we can…

I also spent about an hour catching up with family on Facebook video messaging, which was really kool. The joys of technology today eh! Homes can be totally destroyed, clothes and household goods gone, but mobile phones and internet connections are an absolute necessity. Pretty much every one here has connectivity even if they only have the clothes that they have on.

Much has been happening at home for Annette and I know that she struggles while I am away – so your thoughts, prayers and continued support for her is very much appreciated.

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Nepal – Day 12

Check out our new digs… At the moment the owner is living on the first floor until the painters have finished which should be by this weekend.

This morning we welcomed Heather to the team who had flown in from South Africa. Due to Shahzad & I having such a long day yesterday we only got a very brief introduction before we crashed for the night.

The rest of the morning was pretty much spent concentrating on sorting some more of the paperwork, so that we could file everything based on locations in which we have worked. This should make it easier to find things as we are expecting a visit from an auditor to look over our operation, including our finances. Also it may help fill in some of the blanks as far as the tarp reconciliation.

In the afternoon Heather accompanied MJ, Shahzad & I to Sana Byasi to distribute 85 quilts. For a change we were able to assist with moving the stock from the back of the truck to where it is being stored prior to handing out to the people in the camp.

After this we headed to Liwali to make a payment to one of the locals who has paid for all the materials purchased so far for the temporary shelter in the camp.

MJ headed off to see the store owner who had supplied the materials for the camp, leaving the rest of us sitting on the floor.

Later that evening I didn’t feel that well so I headed to bed for an early night, as did the other guys leaving MJ & Heather to get more acquainted.

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Nepal – Day 11

This morning Shahzad & I headed off first thing to the Humanitarian Staging Area to oversight the pick up of two containers that have been donated to us to assist with the response. This took some time as we were waiting for a crane to arrive to lift them on to two flat-deck trucks. It then took the guys quite some time to ensure that the containers were well secured, before heading off to Dhola in the Dhading district, which is almost three hours away.

We stopped off for lunch at the same place we did the other day when we were in Dhakre. Then we met up with Dinesh to make sure he had a suitable place for the containers to go.

We ended up trying to go to the village which is located ‘over the hill and far away’, through forests and along a dirt track. But the track ended up being impassable in the vehicle we were in due to it not being a four wheel drive. We ended up stopping for tea along the way which was really sweet and refreshing.

Some of the homes in this area have not been affected by the earthquake, while others have damage ranging from severe to what I would call medium.

However, most are constructed using rocks and mud and the little place where we stopped for the cuppa tea was made out of a combination of timber cut direct from the forest and rocks, it also incorporated the canopy of one of the trees as the seating area.

We waited for the trucks to arrive and were waiting for a couple more hours for the crane to arrive which was the same one that loaded the trucks in the first place. By the time we got to 6 o’clock the light started to disappear, so we called it a day and left the truck drivers with Dinesh and his party waiting, waiting waiting. But the location is very picturesque, nestled among the hills and with the river in the valley floor.

On the road about 30-40 mins back into town we passed the crane so it was approx. an hour away. That is going to be fun unloading and positing them in the dark. But I guess it has been done elsewhere plenty of times. By the time we got back to Kathmandu for something to eat it was just after 9 and we tried a couple of places that were just closing so we were not welcome. Then we located a place that was just a tad seedy and Shahzad made sure that all we wanted was something to eat.

By the time we got back to our new digs it was 10 o’clock and we had been out for about 14 hours and hadn’t really accomplished a great deal except how to wait, Nepalese time is not much fun for someone who likes to get stuff done reasonably quickly – another learning curve me thinks! Thanks God I think I got that one…

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Nepal – Day 10

Most of this morning was spent working through distribution reports trying to finalise the reconciliations for the tarpaulins that we have distributed to date. This has proved to be a bigger task than initially thought, as we have a number of different databases that have been set up during the duration of this emergency response. Also the reporting framework has apparently changed a couple of times while the different rotations have been here. Although I have reconciled some of the information I still have a long way to go!

In the afternoon we starting packing up our personal effects as we are bunking down in what will be the permanent teams accommodation once they arrive.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be getting enough household supplies including a fridge, washing machine, beds etc. so that we can provide some separation between where we are sleeping and working from. So Sister’s upstairs room looks a bit different now than it did before when the other teams were here, because all the mattresses and our personal effects have been relocated.

The new building is located across town and I will endeavour to get some photo’s uploaded at some stage soon. It is quite a large house in one of the Government areas, so is quite tidy, although it needs a good clean when the owners move out. They are currently living downstairs for another week to ensure that all the repainting is done.

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Daily Devotions – Philippians 2

This morning as I was doing my daily devotions on my Bible App, You Version (which you can download for free here) I was rereading Philippians 2.

I have been sitting in Philippians now for the past couple of months, gleaning pearls of wisdom from Paul, on the way in which we should live as Christians.

In Philippians 2:3 he says;

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

As I sit here in Kathmandu, Nepal contemplating this verse I wonder how much we value others above ourselves.

Drivers slow down for dogs, cows & other animals that cross the road but have no time for follow human beings, blaring their horns & shaking their hands @ passers-by who look as if they are to busy to give anyone the time of day. Forcing their way past people on their motorbikes and in their cars, giving people a nudge to get out of the way…

Going into restaurants & cafe’s people are more interested in there online presence, or the person on the other end of the phone than they are in communicating with the person in front of them.

Admittedly some would argue that they are communicating, but not necessarily to the people that they are with in person.

In the Western world or even in New Zealand are we any different?

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

I think that if we are to truly value others, then in the first instance we need to acknowledge them – so the question for today and the remainder of this week is, who are you going to recognize? Who are you going to value by holding a conversation with them (even if you don’t understand a single word they are saying, you can still nod and show that you are at least trying to listen and understand.)

As Christians we need to “act in such a manner that you are living proof of a loving God.”

You never know, you may just brighten the day of that someone who you took the time to value by acknowledging them or you may even get the opportunity to have a faith conversation!

Nameste

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