Nepal Revisited – Day 12

This morning we headed to the Volunteers Initiative in Nepal (VIN) head office in Balaju. We have been partnering with them on a couple of projects in the Jitpur community (among others).

VIN’s mission is to empower marginalized communities through enhanced Education, Health, Income generation & Basic infrastructure programs with a special focus on women and children.

Today MJ & I were heading out to see the progress on a number of septic tanks and toilets that they have been coordinating the construction of. Jitpur is only about 11 kilometers from Kathmandu and consists of 9 wards and 15 communities spread out across the surrounding hills, fields and woods.

The roads through the hills have been badly affected by landslides after the earthquake and monsoon season. And the partial widening of the road project, which is incomplete at this stage has caused further issues, although it looks like they may be staring work again soon to remedy the roads – this will make getting to the area a lot easier in the future.

The tanks and toilets are being constructed by VIN volunteers and the recipients, as they are able. Unfortunately due to the fuel shortage, their has been some delays in the project due to the difficulty in getting materials and people into the area to help with the construction.

However, we were able to see some the construction of toilets and septic tanks in varying stages of completion and the people in the community were very thankful for any assistance received.

As in many of these remote areas the paths are very narrow and the steps are very uneven, and the altitude can play havoc on the heart-rate.

MJ had a comical exchange with a lovely old dear who was out doing the washing by hand, as we clambered up the stairs to another of the sites. We were being led by what you could mistake as a mountain goat – our guide was a young local volunteer who was bounding up the steps two by two.

On the way to Balaju we passed the industrial area and main depot for LPG distribution.

Queues upon queues of people were lined up in the baking sun along with their children hoping that they might get their bottle/s refilled.

We had seen a fair few traffic jams and queues since we had been here, but seeing a human jam with 1,000’s upon 1,000’s of people sitting on empty bottles, jostling for space was just a tad unnerving.

It also had the potential to become a hot spot as discussions at times seemed quite heated. However, the police presence was keeping a close eye on any agitators.

In the afternoon we spent time in the office doing paperwork and in the evening we readied our selves for the remaining Rugby 1/4 finals.

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Nepal Revisited – Day 11

This morning, although being a Saturday, it is the Sabbath in Nepal and I had the honour of sharing the message with the local Corps.

Utilising a message that I had prepared a few years ago now, I shared how a bag of M&M’s can be used to experience Ministry Moments in our lives, which we can:

• Rejoice in the Lord;
• Allow Him to Reveal things in our lives and the lives of those around us;
• Reflect on issues and concerns that affect us and;
• Relax in Christ as His yoke in light.

This is the first time I have ever had a translator translate my message as I presented it which was interesting. Even though I had a full set of notes which Hari could use, he spent the majority of the time concentrating on what I said and how I said it. Which made me really concentrate on not only my diction but also the speed in which I spoke.

After I had preached MJ, Heather & I shared our rendition of the song ‘In Christ Alone’, which was very well received. A number of the congregation wanted copies of the words of the song as it had moved them & they themselves wanted to learn it. They also thoroughly enjoyed my message and a few of them also wanted copies so that they could get it translated into Nepali.

After the service and morning tea we took the Officer’s out for lunch, as it had not only been MJ’s birthday during the week it had also been Manun’s. The food served was absolutely delicious and the service was outstanding. Well worth another visit if we get time.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and letting lunch settle.

In the evening we headed out for a light dinner, and was greeted by the instrumental version of the song ‘In Christ Alone’ at the cafe. So we hummed along!

Later that evening Heather & I stayed up to watch the 1st of the Rugby World Cup 1/4 finals – Heather got a myriad of comments on Facebook from family, friends and colleagues as I got talked into wearing a Springbok jersey as they took on Wales.

Into the early hours of the morning the All Black’s took on France and produced a masterclass to stifle all the negative press that they had received throughout the group stages. Heather only made it to half-time – If they can play like that next week against the Springboks even she agrees that they (the Springbok’s) haven’t got a chance.

So come on boys, back it up twice more and show the world why you are ranked #1.

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Nepal Revisited – Day 10

The morning started off with a meeting with Shree from Thakre, to discuss our follow-up requirements for the CGI distribution that was done while we were out of the country.

After this MJ headed to a Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) cluster meeting at UN House, as she wanted to say good-bye to a number of people that she has been working alongside of since being in Nepal. She heads back to the US next Sunday, so won’t be around for the next meeting as they are fortnightly. We have recently passed on the responsibility of camps to I.O.M. as our role moves from initial response to recovery.

While Heather & I headed to I.O.M. head office in Baluwater to drop off the Narrative Reports, Distribution Lists and photo’s that we have on file. This is something that I’ve been working on for the past month or so. So it is good to finally get it completed and sent off.

After heading back to UN House to pick up MJ we headed to Thamel with the intention of doing a spot of shopping. By the time we had lunch though, we realised that we needed to get back to the house to relieve the cleaner so that she could go home.

Later on in the afternoon it was great to catch up with Annette via a facebook video call, and for a change I also got to speak to all three children, as they were all in the lounge at the same time.

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Nepal Revisited – Day 9

This morning Heather & I needed to be up before the crack of dawn, so that we could head to the airport by 6:00am. As I noted yesterday, Mountain Child were able to organise a flight to the Upper Gorkha region via helicopter. This was so that we could do a site visit to one of the remote schools that they have been working in.

Mountain Child are partnering with The Salvation Army to provide earthquake relief assistance to 4 schools in the Upper Gorkha area and also work in 31 other remote locations.

Shree Nubri is sort of nestled in the river valley between 3 villages that are on the surrounding ridges and is not far from the main village Ghap.

It is also reasonably close to the worlds 8th highest mountain, Manaslu. In Nepal this mountain is also known as Kutang, and its summit is 8,163 metres (26,781 ft) above sea level.

Located in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal, its name means “mountain of the spirit” and is not far from the Tibetan border.

The Salvation Army has provided tents for the Temporary Learning Centre, so that the school (which was significantly damaged in the earthquakes) could continue educating the children of the area.

After the monsoon season however, these are showing obvious signs of deterioration, and mildew is forming on the canvases.

The staff and children stay on site 6 days a week, sleeping in dorms usually, but these were also destroyed. So up until now the tents have also been home for up to 50 students at a time. They start duties from about 8:30am, starting school at 10:00am with morning prayers and finishing at 4:00pm in the afternoon. They fill the remainder of their time playing sports, reading, studying and going for walks in the surrounding area.

The school is starting to rebuild this month as supplies have not only been hard to locate of late, but they have also taken a while to get supplies transported to this remote location. Some of the teachers are local but the majority are interns from around the world and spend 3 months on site at a time.

The founder of Mountain Child, shared with us the history of how they came to be, which is a moving and tragic story – but out of it, they are bringing hope to hundreds of children:

“It all started when a small team trekking through the Himalayas stumbled across a group of young children being escorted out of the mountains by two adult men … It didn’t take long to sense that something wasn’t right.

Our worst fears were quickly realized when the two men openly spoke of their plans to sell the children into the booming sex trade industry of south Asia.

That’s when we started crying. It wasn’t a shallow type of cry. This was deep, real deep, like a well, that frankly, we haven’t found the bottom of yet. We are still crying. But a few of us, decided to band together and to turn the tears into tactics. We started getting organized, started making plans about how a small group of people could make a big impact. That was in 2000.”

It was a quite trip back in the helicopter to Kathmandu!

In the afternoon we headed back to the office to catch up on paperwork; but my mind kept going back to the thought of – how can I help?

In part this blog is one area in which I can try to do exactly that, by raising the awareness of the issues that face the people of Nepal.

So the question is; How can you play your part? By checking out their website Mountain Child and seeing how you to, can support the work of their mission.

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Just when Nepal thought it could move on again

Just when Nepal thought it could move on again the ‘Indian Oil Corporation has said in communications with its Nepalese counterpart (Nepal Oil Corporation) that it has been instructed not to refuel Nepalese tankers. On the diplomatic front, Indian officials have suggested that all border crossings would open if Nepal’s government accommodated the protesters’ demands.’

This was stated in a New York Times article posted on October 15 entitled ‘Snaking Lines Grow as Nepal Confronts Fuel Shortage‘ written by Donatella Lorch.

Visitors to Nepal in the peak tourist season have been confronted with miles of double- and triple-parked cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles along the ancient city’s avenues. The lines snarl through narrow streets and block main intersections on the ring road.

The Indian government has denied any involvement in the ongoing blockade at Nepal’s busiest border point. But recent reports from the Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times and now other world renowned papers seem to be pointing the finger at their involvement, considering many of the Madhesis protesters appear to go home to the Indian side of the border when confronted by Nepalese border control.

Whoever is to blame it is starting to have an affect on supplies coming in and going out of the country. The United Nations in an article in the Kathmandu Post, insists that the country needs to get things moving again so that quake-hit communities get much needed supplies in time for winter.

They say ‘that a backlog of 1,200 MT of shelter and non-food item supplies is awaiting delivery to earthquake-affected population. Eighty per cent of the supplies are warehoused in the districts, but acute shortages in fuel supplies continue to impede planned deliveries to affected villages.‘ Read more…

Despite the hassles, many people are leaving Kathmandu and heading to their village homes, to celebrate the dashain festival. Towards the end of next week many businesses and schools will close for a few days so that the people can be part of the celebrations. Heather & I will be heading to Runchet in Gorkha to be part of the celebrations in one of the local communities that we have been assisting.

Other articles of interest:

• With Fuel Blocked at Border, Nepal Plans Talks with India – New York Times
• People leaving for Dashain increase, despite hassles – The Himalayan Times
• IOC cuts fuel supply again – The Kathmandu Post

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Nepal Revisited – Day 8

This morning MJ headed to the Shelter Cluster while Heather & I went in to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (M.A.F.) booking office to organise flights for Runchet. The subsidized prices at the moment for flights, due to the fuel situation, works out cheaper for us to fly by helicopter rather than hire a driver for a few days and pay for fuel. It also reduces the number of days spent out of the office at the moment.

After this we went out for a spot of shopping as we are running out of a few essentials, including water. The water supply at the house (tank water) had taken a day and a half to organise. Thankfully by yesterday afternoon this had been sorted. Sanga (the local C.O.) had had to organise a second firm to deliver some water, as the first company would have taken at least a week to deliver some to us due to limitations on fuel.

In the afternoon Heather got confirmation that we will be flying to the Upper Gorkha region tomorrow, as Mountain Child have been able to schedule a flight up there and fit us in for a monitoring visit. Which is awesome!

We also headed across the other side of Kathmandu to meet up with Child Nepal, as their was a complication with the cheque that we had given them yesterday at the bank. We were introduced to the whole team and given tea which was very sweet and refreshing.

While we were there they showed us a sample of the bag and exercise book that they have had made, which is to be presented to each child at the Temporary Learning Centres (TLC’s) in Sindhupalchok. Also to be included are some other stationary supplies, such as pencils, pens etc. We suggested that rather than giving us the sample now, that it would be much better to do a presentation @ one of the TLC’s when we visit in November, which they agreed.

Sumita, Mohan and Heather discussing the next steps

We also spent some time getting introduced to the rest of the team that works at Child Nepal.

They are a small dedicated, friendly and committed team working in a rather confined space with limited office essentials such as workstations, office chairs etc.

Which shows that the majority of funding that they do get, goes directly to the resources for the children that they cater for.

As we were leaving we got drenched as the heavens opened, not only rain mind you, hail as well! But it was fascinating that within five kilometers of where we were, it was clear skies above and it looked like not a single drop of rain had fallen. By the time we got back to the house the temperature had risen by at least 10 degrees I reckon.

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