Early this morning Dave & I headed to the airport so that we could catch a helicopter to Runchet, which is a remote village in the Gorkha District. The Salvation Army has organised for the delivery food and tarpaulins which are being transported into the remote village by 158 mules as it is inaccessible by truck.
We were met at the airport by Mark & Helen from Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), Mark is also involved with Helimission in Madagascar and Helen is involved in MAF in Norway and has family connections to Nepal. Helen interviewed predominately Dave to get an understanding of what The Salvation Army is doing in Nepal while we were waiting for confirmation that the flights were getting off of the ground due to the changeable weather. Upon getting clearance we set off over the city of Kathmandu and up one of the many valleys to Runchet for approximately 40 mins.
As we approached the village we could see the devastation caused not only by the earthquakes, but also the subsequent landslides. The school toilets we found out had ended up down the bottom of a cliff. Meanwhile at the bottom of the cliff a couple of homes had been destroyed and the remaining two homes standing were occupied.
The school had temporary toilets that were more like a hole in the ground covered by a small platform (no larger than a pallet) and were open on all sides bar one to provide some sort of privacy.
We were given a tour of the classrooms and were greeted warmly. The school caters for about 250 children aged 4 – 15 and the village has around 255 families. You could see among the faces of the children behind the smiles and the laughter signs of anxiety and worry. Like other communities and camps I have seen thus far the Nepalese people are extremely resourceful using anything and everything that they can get their hands on to build shelters for themselves and their livestock.
Helen with one of the villagers Bishnu, who assisted us.
Upon our departure we were given a fond farewell and each person was given a scarf of the villagers appreciation of what assistance we can and have offered. This was quite a moving scene and as I contemplated this on the way back to the airport I couldn’t stop thinking how lucky I am…
As I thought of all the things that I have, and what these people live with, I realised that this trip although is about helping those less fortunate than I, it is also a trip in which I will gain a greater understanding of who I am and what I can do to make a difference in the lives of others…
In the afternoon, we headed into the city to get some supplies and later that evening we had a meeting to welcome me into the team officially and to share information about the roles that the others had. This also gave Andrew an opportunity to let MJ & I know what we would more than likely be doing as Ralph & Dave head back to New Zealand this week. Dave then led a devotional group discussion around the calling of Noah to build the ark and how we would respond if we were in his shoes…
The life and times of Perry... 