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Black & White Gallery
- Color Gallery
2004
It is difficult to know where to begin
after such a wealth of experiences which seemed to be non-stop every
day. If you have not traveled to an under-developed country, reading my
attempt to convey that reality may leave you still confused.
This began with my wanting to develop an
international connection with the Rotary Club of Ripley and one in
Southeast Asia. I have a love of that area. It has always intrigued me.
I have lived in West Pakistan and visited India. Both are mountainous
countries as are Nepal and Tibet which has the highest mountains in the
world. There is also the lure of civilizations that are thousands of
years old, where the faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism and the Muslims are
intertwined with their daily life. The land, people, faith, and culture
have an essence of vivid color, mystery, magic, and just plain
adventure.
So, I made the connections over the
internet with my new Nepalese Rotarian friend, Mr. Pradhan. His club,
Patan West, a suburb of Kathmandu had identified two small rural
villages that they were working with on water collection systems,
provision of animals to poor families, health care facilities, and
tourism. We discussed ways in which our clubs could work together to
improve the lives of the villagers and decided to address the animal
purchases and provide first aid kits.
I worked and traveled with Jeannie
Kirkhope, a Catholic Worker living in Spencer. We raised over $5000 from
the Rotary Clubs of Ripley and Spencer, the Holy Redeemer Catholic
Church, Jackson County 4-H, and many individuals. We also bought and
collected school supplies, WV lapel pins (big hit), bubble gum and candy
for the kids (the biggest hit), quality pens for school teachers, and of
course the Rotary PR materials.
We left Dulles on 11/20 and flew to
London (7.5 hrs) then on to Delhi, India (7.5 hrs) and spent the night
and then on to Kathmandu, Nepal (1.5 hrs). I love to fly, have always
been fascinated by seeing the earth from the air, watching the natural
contours, colors and the patterns that man has created with farming and
destruction. But flying around the world in small seats with absolutely
no room is eventually short of actual fun.
We spent two days in Patan, a suburb of
Kathmandu. We were one block from the famous Durbar Square which is full
of monuments, temples, and shrines, all thousands of years old. While
there we visited the town of Bhaktapur “The City of Devotees”, founded
in the 12th century. The city is renowned for its elegant art, fabulous
culture, and incredible architecture which are a mix of Indian,
Nepalese, and Tibetan.
Soon we were on our way to Bandipur, our
first village and we were excited. Traveling by vehicle in countries
such as Nepal is a true act of faith. Everyone drives as fast as
possible, continually honking their horns, they weave all over the road,
and swerve only at the last second to avoid oncoming cars, buses, oxen,
bicycles, and the cycle of rebirth (at least for that moment). You
cannot pay attention to this. You must be distracted to keep a peace of
mind.
Bandipur is a hill town with an elevation
of 3500 ft. It is an ancient trading community that at one time was a
major route between India and Nepal. It overlooks the Marsyangdi River
and provides a spectacular view of the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas.
Banipur is a struggling village with little economic opportunity except
for the tourism aspect which they are trying to develop. As we visited
the outlying villages and schools there was more of diversity in the
population as their lives (all family members) were dedicated to
creating a living from the land.
Our service project here was working with
an agricultural agent to develop a process of family selection (the
poorest) for the provision of goats and farmer education on breeding,
nutrition, milking/cheese making, etc. to ensure success. We also worked
with our new friend, a local teacher, Sahdev who would represent the
community and assist in the reporting process. Sahdev was our guide to
the outlying schools where we assessed their needs by speaking with the
teachers and headmasters and by simple observation. They are lacking
basic school supplies, medical supplies, maps/globes, musical
instruments, etc. It’s not that these needed replaced….they didn’t have
any of the items! Rarely do they have electricity so computers are not
even in the realm of thought for most. We had great fun handing out
bubble gum to the kids and then having bubble blowing contests.
After a weeks stay we were on our way
again. We traveled by public bus to Pokhara, a city similar to Kathmandu
in that it was a major trading and educational center for much of its
outlying rural areas. Riding public transportation is very interesting
also. You get packed as tightly as possible on an aging bus that is
top-heavy and then proceed in the same driving dance as mentioned
before. The interesting aspect of this is that you can ride with people,
goats, chickens, or if you have the nerve, strap yourself to the top
(seriously) and ride the wind. This option allows you to jump free of
the bus before it topples down the 2-4000 ft. valleys from mostly dirt
roads w/o guardrails flying as if you had not a care. No reason to have
a care, every moment may be your last!
We stayed in Pokhara overnight. While we
were there we went to a pharmacy (don’t even think that you know what
this is) and asked about first aid kits. Of course they had no idea what
we meant so we pulled items from the shelves (about a 10x10 store) to
form as complete a “kit” as possible from the available supplies. We
had the pharmacist (I have no idea if they actually have training as you
don’t need a prescription for anything) make up 60 of these kits. We
would take 30 to Suribari, our next village and then send 30 back to
Bandipur for the schools. We did get the first 30 but seem to have some
miscommunication about whether the last thirty are paid for and are
working on that.
We thought that the roads to Bandipur and
Pokhara were interestingly terrible. We had no idea of what lay ahead of
us for the next five hours as we headed to Siribari. I have never been
on roads as bad as what we traveled on this leg of the journey. We
climbed up, down, and around mountains and valleys to a height of 6000
ft. at generally about 10-15 mph. The road had been gouged out of the
mountain side only five years ago and of course there is no maintenance.
The scenery everywhere is truly spectacular. The expanse of the valleys,
the intricately terraced hillsides, the majesty of the mountains, colors
are inspiring and it all brings a sense of humbleness to you in their
enormity.
Sirubari is a Buddhist village deep in
the mountains of central Nepal. There are no economic ties to the
outside because of its isolation and so they are trying to build a small
tourist base. We were welcomed to the village by a group of Buddhist
mothers, a large band, and many of the villagers. We were taken into the
temple for a blessing by the monk and generally made to feel welcome.
During our time here (we stayed with a family) we hiked twice to
different mountains, up another 2000 ft. to get views of the Himalayas
and surrounding valleys. One morning we began our hike at 4:30 to reach
the top by 7 am and see the sun rise over the white-capped Himalayas. On
another hike we ended up on the top of a mountain where a Hindu family
sacrificed a goat ( yep, were witness to the event) in a yearly ritual.
During our stay in Sirubari we again
visited outlying villages, schools and a clinic. The findings were the
same, very limited resources and extreme needs for the children and
medical patience. I could really get on a roll here about the status of
that clinic and our sometimes whiney RHEP students who live in such
excess and attitudes of entitlement….but I won’t. If you’re a student
and offend by that statement…think about why!
We distributed the first aid kits to the
schools and clinic and they were very happy to have such a resource. The
choice of animals for farmers in the Sirubari region was cows. This was
decided by a village development committee and they assured us that they
would be utilizing the funds in a manner similar to the Bandipur
project. In Bandipur we could begin by purchasing goats for forty
families, but with the expense of cows the number will be only six.
We left Sirubari after a seven day stay
and headed back to Kathmandu/Patan. What I have not touched on in these
ramblings is the incredible beauty, hospitality, and nature of the
Nepalese people. We were welcomed everywhere, fed beyond belief (or
capacity), and could sense the “oneness” of a people driven by their
spiritual paths. When you have somewhat stable cultures thousands of
years old there is a vast difference in their approach to life than in
our 250 yr. old mix of the world’s cultures.
We traveled on to Tibet for the remaining
seven days of the trip but that’s another tale for another time.
I am appreciative to Jeannie Kirkhope for
her service and dedication, my home Rotary Club of Ripley, to Rotary
International for their financial assistance with travel, to the Spencer
Rotary Club, to all of the various financial donors that reached out to
serve in the project, to the WRHC Board for their support, and to Kim
and Angie who kept the boat afloat while I was gone. They are
exceptional staff and I am fortunate to work with them |
