Posted in Nepal on November 21, 2022
Team Nepal – Day 1
Team Nepal made their first visit to the work site today. We were welcomed by the women of the community, many who have been displaced by recent flooding. We were given blessings in a greeting ceremony and gifted beautiful flowers. We got down to the work with the Nepal volunteer project with some masonry and worked with the local team to add eight courses of bricks to the building.
We were guests at a delicious luncheon prepared by the women in the community that featured homemade lentil crackers, spicy potato pickle, and rice pudding with coconut.
Later in the afternoon, we traveled by tuktuk to watch a women’s soccer match. Traditionally Nepali women do not participate in sport, so this was a very special occasion. Their team motto is ” get out of the kitchen and onto the soccer field.”
We are full of gratitude on our first day.
Team Nepal – Day 2
The work progresses – bamboo scaffolding went up and the walls between us and the Nepali community continue to come down. We visited the office of Creating Possibilities, our DWC partner, and enjoyed a delicious lunch including flat, toasted rice, cauliflower curry and bottomless Fanta. We are getting used to the off-road tuk tuk adventure to go to and from the worksite and are looking forward to cooking lessons with the local women on Friday.
Team Nepal – Day 3
Today we had a cooking class with local women who showed us how to make five different dishes – lentil biscuits, potato pickle, rice pudding, saag and rice bread. Our teachers were very patient with us and we all enjoyed the time in the kitchen cooking and eating together.
At the Nepal volunteer project worksite, we have finished three walls on the women’s centre and started digging the latrine. The local children were off school today for a holiday in advance of the national election on Sunday so we had lots of little visitors through out the day.
We also spent a little time learning Nepali from our co-workers. We learned some essential vocabulary including dog, goat, cow, buffalo, bricks and mortar.
We finished the evening with a stroll through downtown Lamahi and some shopping for snacks and kitchen tools. We are looking forward to the weekend.
Team Nepal – Day 4
Today at the Nepal volunteer project work site, work continued on the shelter walls, and we started digging the hole for a latrine. Latrines stop the spread of disease and infection and allow women to have a private place outside their homes while they are menstruating.
School was out today in preparation for the national election so there were many little visitors throughout the day.
Tonight, we are planning a visit to town for a little shopping and exploring as all of the shops will be closed over the weekend for the election.
Team Nepal – Day 5
This weekend we stayed in Lamahi as the election shut down travel and shops. We spent some time at Unako Friendship House interacting with local children who were attending a day program.
Three of us are yoga instructors and we had the opportunity to share the experience of western-style yoga to complement the workshop. After a delicious lunch, we visited a traditional Nepali mud house and took some photos with the family.
On Sunday, we walked down to the polling station to join all of the locals who were waiting to vote. The day had the feeling of a festival – people wore their best clothes and stopped along the way to visit and enjoy food with friends. We enjoyed tea and fried potato snacks with hot mustard sauce and had a chance to talk with some of the locals and candidates.
Team Nepal – Day 6
Today we were back at the Nepal volunteer project worksite. The walls are finished, and we have moved on to laying brick for the gable ends.
Digging in the hole for the latrine continues. It is now almost 7 feet deep so moving the dirt requires an intrepid shoveler in the hole and a bucket on a rope to take the dirt out. The team estimates that we have removed about 300 cubic feet of dirt.
All-terrain tuk tuks continue to be our favourite form of transportation. They go through streams and rivers and up sand banks. Fingers crossed, to date there have been no tuk tuk mishaps or roll-overs.
Team Nepal – Day 7
Today was all about the latrine. After finishing the excavation, we moved on to the foundation. We filled the bottom with rocks and then poured a concrete layer. We then added brick walls on the slab. This work will continue tomorrow, but there is no doubt it will be a first-class toilet.
Our worksite is in a rural area where there is a continuous flow of goats, sheep, cows, ducks, and buffalo all day. Although, this kind of animal traffic is also common on village streets.
One of our favourite visitors is a small black goat that we have named Kyle. Today, he got a little confused and wandered over to us without his family. We were, of course, only too happy to spend some time with Kyle and escort him back to his family … after some pictures.
Posted in Nepal on November 21, 2022
