It was an incredible week. We were able to go visit two expedition work sites. “Expedition” is a name given to trips designed to foster cultural and humanitarian experiences.
The first was a group of 20 young people ages 16-19 with a few parents thrown in the mix. They came from all over the United States and met for the first time in the JFK airport. The first few days of their adventure were spent in Chitwan where there is a National Park that has wild elephants, tigers and rhinos. (We’ll go when it is a little cooler.) This gives them a chance to get to know each other and adjust to Nepal before the work begins. They came with HumanitarianXP out of Utah and worked on building a small medical clinic for The Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation in Kathmandu. They were amazing teens with a desire to serve, develop character and build spiritual strength. There will be groups here throughout the summer to continue the building project. I hope the monsoon rains don’t dampen their spirits!
How to build a clinic: Carry a load of sand up to the cement mixer–Fill the pan with cement–Lift and carry–Build the clinic wall
The founder of KRMEF, Krishna Gurung, invited us for a tour and lunch. He and his wife created this foundation in memory of their son who passed away at age seven. It has helped to ease their pain as well as lift others. They are doing fantastic and innovative things here with environmentally friendly building practices, biodynamic farming and providing needed services to their community with educational and medical aid. The vegetarian lunch was delicious and made using the produce they grow.
The second group came with Choice Humanitarian, the NGO we have several current projects with, and included more families or parent and child units. They were also amazing people. The project we visited is a water project where the group, along with villagers, were digging a trench to lay pipe and bring water from the source so that each home can have a spigot and convenient water for home use as well as irrigation.
It was a two hour drive into the hills on rough winding roads. We have submitted a project plan for this area (not just this village) to enhance their agricultural practices so it was especially fun to see and also meet the people including the municipality mayor and the chief officer of the ward. The villagers were very friendly and excited to have us there.
The group was staying in a couple of unused rooms in the village school. Classes were in session but we did get to interact with the kids a bit. Dal bhat tarkari (basically the same as last week’s food picture) was served for lunch and we ate on the rooftop of the school. After lunch the Choice team worked with the expedition youth to teach the school children about hygiene and gave each of them a kit containing toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, soap, etc. They seemed pretty excited and liked the playful presentation and animated practice time but mostly liked the bubble maker “gun”.
On the return trip work was being done on the road to repair the damage from a rock slide. They were filling cages with rock and creating a stable base for the road on the downhill side and a wall on the uphill side. What was most impressive was the level of comfort they showed while working on a steep hillside. They accomplish amazing work with hand tools. There was a big backhoe that was moving the large rocks.
We also met this week with the accountant for Latter-day Saint Charities here in Nepal and got pertinent information to help us negotiate our financial responsibilities. He provided us with a very tasty lunch of katti rolls. They are kind of like mu shu, a wrap, or a soft taco only with traditional Nepali flavors and ingredients.
Over this past week we have experienced some impressive rain storms. The monsoon season has begun. We had a downpour on Monday while we were at KRMEF. We were not prepared so got wet. On Tuesday we took our umbrellas because it looked like rain only to find what we really needed was our sunscreen. Fortunately we were able to borrow some. I’m going to need to take a bigger bag with me so that we can be ready for anything.
I’m not planning to haul around loads like those we have seen here. What they haul and how they haul it fascinates me. I have shared some pictures in earlier posts but here are a few from this week.
We each carry our own load or burden. Often these are not seen and we don’t realize how heavy they have become. We can ease these burdens by yoking ourselves to the Savior. His love allows us to repent and as we cast off the burden of sin we lighten our loads. We can all enjoy the blessings of lighter loads as we turn to our Savior. Through loving service we lift the burdens of others. We don’t have to join an expedition to help. As Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “Lift where you stand”.
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