Nepal Revisited – Day 29

The countdown is on and the work continues…

Today we started the morning off by packing 285 Hygiene Kit supplies into buckets in preparation for a distribution tomorrow morning in Thakre, Dhading.

Nirmal was able to source all the products locally through market contacts he has and has done a fantastic job to keep within budget. Nirmal – you are a legend and a great asset to the team – Thanks heaps for going the extra mile. Due to t he amount of items in the bucket they will be pretty much be full and they contain a wide range of products as can be seen in the picture.

Late morning Richard & I headed to the Shelter Cluster in Jawalakhel so that he is aware of where the meetings are being held and also so I could introduce him to a couple of contacts that we have. This mornings meeting went on longer than usual as they had a lot to cover, including an update on the slower than expected distribution schedules due to the on-going fuel shortage and unofficial blockage at the border.

After the meeting we headed back to the house to finish off the Hygiene Kits and stack them into the room which only a couple of days ago was full of quilts. This will be the last distribution that I am a part of – we only really have CGI distributions now left to coordinate, which hopefully tomorrow I will be able to confirm with a partner organisation so that two projects can be signed off and completed. As it stands we still have about 8 projects to finalise.

After a late lunch I shot off to International Office of Migration (I.O.M.) to drop off some paperwork and get a clear understanding of what they require in the Memorandum of Understanding that has been sitting in the to do pile for the past couple of weeks. Tomorrow morning I’ll be able to get this completed fully and signed off and sent in for approval. Finally!

In the evening over dinner it was great to catch up with Basanta from Runchet, Gorkha, to get an update on the CGI requirements for the school, where they are at with the CGI for the village and receive letters of thanks and appreciation for all the work that The Salvation Army has done for their village. I’m hoping that we can continue the bond that we have forged over the past few months well into the future, and that it would be great to catch-up in a few years time in person and see how the village has moved on from the devastation of the earthquake.

All in all a full on day with another one fast approaching tomorrow…

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Nepal Revisited – Day 28

While Richard went to the Logistics Cluster and Heather went to Sister’s, I headed to Volunteers Initiative Nepal (VIN) to drop off the 1st installment of quilts. We are providing the last of our quilts to a couple of local orphanages and a boarding school that VIN has had some involvement with since the earthquake. This 1st installment will go to a couple of small orphanages that are close to the VIN officies in Balaju.

In the afternoon Nirmal & I, along with Dinesh from VIN, went to Ngagyur Memorial School to drop off the remaining 110 quilts to a school that has only been in operation for the past four months.

They have been looking after children from Gorkha, Dolokha, Dhading, Sindhupalchok and Rasuwa who have lost one or both parents during the earthquake and have been relocated to Kathmandu.

Some of these children have never been out of their respective villages and many have not had any form of formal education.

So they are having to learn not only basic lifestyle skills, but in some cases Nepali as well as English, let alone other subjects as they get a basic education.

I was introduced to a 16yr old boy who had relocated from upper Gorkha and he didn’t speak Nepali and had never been to school before, yet he was very bright and you could see the potential to get on and succeed in life.

Initially set up as a monastery after the earthquake it was decided that the need was to care for children in need. At present they have 330 children from as young as 5yrs right through to 16yrs. They have 15 (paid) teachers and about 10 volunteers / workers that help look after the children day and night.

I was impressed with the work to date to get the complex suitable for the children to be on site and also the commitment shown by all those that were caring for the children. Especially Geshe Jigme who has taken on the role of Principal.

The other thought that came to mind as I was being shown the kitchen and dining facilities was that at times like this – we need to set aside our political, religious and societal differences and work together for the benefit of the children.

With all of the hassles that the fuel shortage and ongoing unofficial blockade at the border has caused, it is places like these that feel the brunt of other peoples demands. Due to a lack of LPG they are having to cook meals using firewood that has been gathered from the local forest just so that they can feed the children.

Imagine what that would be like – then compound the issue, as they have limited food resource and funds to buy what is available locally, which is already very limited.

The school is also needing stationery and other resources so it was a privilege to provide them with some quilts that will help keep the children warm as winter approaches.

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