Hello everyone! Thank you so much for checking in and thanks for all the personal emails. It's so nice to hear from home. It has been a while since I've been able to get on the internet and now that I'm finally sitting in front of a computer screen, I don't know where to start. We were in Kathmandu until the 13th and while there, we got to visit several projects that Rotary is involved with and we also got a vocational day!
On our projects tour we saw an orthopedic hospital and Child Heaven International, a school and orphanage home.
On my vocational day, I met with a woman who volunteers with a project called, "Solutions Benefiting Life." It's a local project that makes small, clay filtration systems and then distributes them to rural areas. I also met with the Government of Nepal's Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. I left with more questions than answers. In a nutshell...Nepal is sucking dry the major aquifer that rests below the city of Kathmandu, partly because Kathmandu has become grossly overpopulated. To put it into perspective, recognize that a large percentage of people living in Kathmandu rely on public taps, government supplied water that's located all over the city. One district of Kathmandu, Patan, has 60 public taps...but only 15 of them are running. The rest have gone dry. If you've got a house that's plumbed for water, you'll only receive it for about 2 or 3 hours per day.
So, Nepal's long term solution is building a 26 Km tunnel to bring water from a neighboring aquifer to Kathmandu. Construction has already started but nobody knows when it might be completed, if at all. Sort term solution? Grit your teeth and stress sanitation. None of the water is treated and every local is asked to boil their water before consumption.
Yikes.
So we left Kathmandu. We jumped on a bus and about 5 hours later arrived in Bandipur, a small village. It was a lovely break from the city, where the traffic was reminiscent of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! We watched a lightning storm that night and the next morning, we got our first view of the Annapurna mountains!
The next day we continued on to Pokhara, where we've been since the 14th. I love Pokhara! I have a great host family. I'm with a civil engineer. He was very excited to show me his shop. He designs and builds everything from metal table chairs to bridges to solar panels. On my 2nd vocational day I got to see Nepal's very first solid waste & waste water management system (now there are 3 or 4). It's pretty simple. It's a landfill. The water that runs off the landfill is directed through two reed beds that naturally filters the water before it runs into the river. There were some sand drying beds that were designed to manage human waste but haven't been utilized yet because (apparently) all of Pokhara is on a septic system.
Tomorrow we press on to Palpa! I think I shall conclude this post with some interesting Nepal facts and personal observations:
* If you kill a cow anywhere in Nepal, you go to jail for life...and they wander all over the place, even napping in the road.
* The most practiced religion in Nepal is Hinduism, the second is Buddhism. A Hindu place of worship is called a temple, a Buddhist place of worship is called a stupa. They are beautiful and, like Starbucks, can be found on every corner! The two religions co-mingle very well and people often practice a mix of the two.
* Dahl Baht is Nepal's national dish and we eat it at least once a day, if not twice a day (rice, lentil soup, curried veggies - usually potatoes, and sometimes boiled greens or curried goat meat).
* One of the hardest things I've done so far is give some of my dirty laundry to the "house help," who cleaned it by hand. My jeans came back nicer than if I'd put them in the washing machine back home.
* My host mom has a beautiful big stone pestle and mortar which she uses every day to pound lentils for the dahl soup. It's a very peaceful sound.
* As with the water, the electricity has been running on a restricted schedule, usually at night, for the past 2 years.
* One of our team members got sick. I went with her to the hospital. None of the nurses wore gloves and there was no soap in the bathroom.
* Communication here is more difficult than I had anticipated.
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Sarah - what eyeopeners you are having! Me too! I read some of your last blog to Mammoth Sunrise Rotary and they were astounded at some of the things you wrote, especially about the water. We are certainly enjoying your experience through you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great update, I'm glad your phrase book came in time!
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