Wednesday, June 15, 2011                                                                               Partly cloudy, quite warm

I got up fairly early to write in my journal. After a bit Gene was also in the office and we spent time preparing for our English class today. The subject was cardinal and ordinal numbers.  Shyam picked us up and we went to the school. It seemed like there were a lot of kids in class today. I did a count and there were 31 – not as many as it seemed like but a lot to teach, especially when quite a few of them need one on one attention.

When we got there Mr Giri, the director at the school,  was in with the students. He asked if we could meet with him for a few minutes after school. We wondered what that would be about.

Class went pretty well. Some of those young people are just so smart and I think they will do well when they get out of school. Others struggle and don’t seem to really care about learning English. We are afraid that when they finish school, they will just go back to their village and life will go on. It’s sad to see them pass up the opportunity to make a change that would really make a difference in their future lives.

Mr. Giri wanted to tell us that he had been offered a position as Executive Director of the Local Development Training Academy. It sounded to us like this was a position with the government over education. He was very happy about it. We aren’t really sure what this new position for him is, but within the next two weeks a new director at the school here will take over. Sister Deppong isn’t going to get the satisfaction of telling him we won’t be extending our contract.

We returned home and fixed some Ramen noodles for lunch.We almost feel like our menu is that of a college student or newlyweds. I just felt worn out and went upstairs and read for a little bit. This afternoon, we talked to Elder Ko about the students who received IRDF funds from the church. I expressed to him, their appreciation for the opportunity to get in school. The church surely blesses lives in so many ways.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011                                                                            Beautiful day in Chitwan - Hot

We had breakfast with Deppongs and then Karishma went with us. Gene had called the contact for the Krishnapur project and he met us and we followed him out to see the project. We had thought we would take a look around and be on our way. The village committee was waiting for us. Also there were five women, in beautiful hot pink sari’s with bouquets of flowers for us. The flowers were gorgeous. They looked professional and like they could have been in a funeral spray. The leaves were so pretty too. This was totally unexpected.

Lovely ladies to greet us. I didn't know I color coordinated

drilling down 120 meters

Working the levers...

sifting out the small gravel

 They we walked about a block to where they were drilling the bore hole. That was interesting. We watched them work for a bit. This bore hole would be going down 120 meters. That’s a long ways and they have a pretty good start on it. At least they had a large drill to use and it was powered by electricity. It’s still a lot of work and there were quite a few young men there working. After we watched them for a bit, they took us to someone’s home where they had chairs set up on the porch, a fan blowing, and we had a meeting. The committee chairman spoke English so that was nice. This meeting we could understand. They explained everything they were doing and went over the plans for laying the pipe and in fact, have a lot of the pipe laid. The community seems to be working well together and that’s always great to see. They served us lemonade. Of course, you always wonder if it is safe, be we drank it and appreciated their efforts.

so very pretty....

Such beautiful flowers...

Everything is so green and pretty -

That is such a beautiful part of Nepal. It’s more flat land where agriculture is a big thing. They grow lots of corn and rice. Right now things are so green. It is just beautiful. In fact, I told Gene, if I had my house, electricity and water, I could live here. He looked at me and said, ‘when we get home, we are not coming back.” He did like it too. It’s a part of God’s creation that we are so grateful we can experience and enjoy.

We drove back to the hotel and checked out. Rakesh came with us and we headed home. Again, I just took in the beauty around us. The day was clear and looked just like the pages from a travel magazine. It is just so interesting.

We stopped at Riverside and had a sandwich and headed home. As we approached the switchbacks to climb the mountain, we could see traffic was at a standstill. Lots and lots of the big trucks carrying goods to Kathmandu, were lined up, one after another, and not going anywhere. It took us quite a while to get to the top. Near the top were three broken down trucks and they do bring traffic to a standstill. That road is so narrow and there is not place to pull off. So, do I need to say, we were so glad to get to the top – and from there it’s another hour home. And today, it just seemed like there were so many people and so much traffic in the city. I know we didn’t do much physical, but that tired us out and we were glad to get home.

Monday, June 13, 2011                                                                      Warm in Kathmandu, Hot in Chitwan

We left home about 7:30 and along with the Deppongs’,  Rakesh, Karishma and the driver, headed to Chitwan.  We were in a new 4 x 4 and we traveled comfortable. Once we got over the mountain and headed down the switchbacks, the weather cleared and was as clear a day as we’ve seen. That was nice as we really enjoy looking at the scenery.  Before we got to the bottom of the mountain, traffic started backing up. It took us quite a while to get out of the log jam.

We stopped at Riverside Springs. Sujauta Koirala was ahead of us and she had stopped to have breakfast. Soon we were on our way again. It seems there were more traffic issues on this trip than we’ve seen. Trucks broken down on the road – and what do you do, just wait your turn to go around them.

We arrived in Chitwan about 1:30 pm and stopped at a place where we were taken inside a building. There were lots of tables and chairs and of course, they wanted and had prepared to feed us. There was the traditional rice and dahl, some spicy vegetables, some spicy chicken, some of the yogurt that Nepalis love.  They also had some spinach, and sliced fresh vegetables like, carrots, cucumbers onion. It was quite a feast and I know I need to be better, more adventuresome and try more of that stuff, but It’s a challenge for me.  I did eat the rice and I have to admit, I did use the plastic bag in my purse and put some of the food in the bag, zipped it shut and put it back in my purse. (inconspicuously)

Rice and Dahl - a lentil soup, staple Nepali diet, also vegetables

spiced veggies - chicken on right

spinach, rice and more curried 'stuff'

 After finishing eating, we drove to the school, where the program was already in progress. That was fine with us. But as we walked in, there were people there to greet us, with many flowers and leis to put around our necks. They were beautiful, but they were heavy and they were really warm to wear. When we got to the stand, I noticed that Sujauta had taken hers off, so I took some of them off as well.

 

 The program lasted about 2 and a half hours and of course it’s all in Nepali. And it was hot! They had set us a couple of fans, but we were under some tarp like covers, and though it was better than being in the sun, it was still hot. Everyone was perspiring and everyone was wiping it off their brows and necks. It was warm. 

Gene was asked to give a few remarks and Rakesh interpreted for him. It was short, but he did a good job. He was one of many speakers and all of the Nepali’s talked at length.

After the program we went to see the tap stand at the school. There has previously been water, but not good water there. Now they have it. They had a toilet but only one and now they also have a separate one for the girls.  And this school has about 700 students. Happy day! Hopefully they will take care of things so it will last many years.

kids more than happy to try it out.

Kids like to gather for a camera

We are also doing hygiene kits for the students at the school. We will begin putting the kids together soon. The Branch members help with the assembly of the kids. Then we will  make another trip to Hattikor to deliver the kits. That should also be a lot of fun.

The people in that area are asking for an extension of the project, to include laying more pipe and possible constructing another reservoir that would serve more people. Rakesh will send us a proposal and hopefully we can fill that request.

After the ceremony, we took photos and interacted with some of the people. A few of the locals speak limited English and the kids are taught English in school. We especially like to take photos with the kids – and there were some cute children there – and they are so happy about the water. It’s just so wonderful to be part of this kind of work, to be instruments in the hands of our Heavenly Father. How blessed we feel.

We headed back to the hotel. It was a ways away. On the way, there was another traffic jam. This one was a bad wreck between a big truck and a bus. We aren’t sure what happened, but the front end of the bus was pretty crunched and almost tipped over. They had propped it up with some bamboo sticks. It looked like there would have been some fatalities. And Gene had just said, that he thought it would be safe to travel in a bus over in that area. I don’t think so!

Sunday, June 12, 2011                                                    pretty warm, thundershower in the pm

It’s been another beautiful day. We went over to SWC and took the letter with Gene’s signature instead of Elder Borland’s. When we got there they said they needed the letter appointing Gene as the Country Director. OK. We will take it. They already have it and probably more than one copy. But like I told Gene, do you think they can find it?  We aren’t  terrible impressed with what we’ve seen of their filing system.

We came home stopping at Bhat Bhateni’s on the way. We picked up some bread to make sandwiches to take tomorrow. I cooked some chicken today and we will make chicken sandwiches. Deppongs will bring some water, chips and cookies. We are looking forward to the trip. It’s been a bit since we have been there. It sounds like the weather could be interesting.

We got an email from Jason with flight itinerary. Whoopee! It looks like he will be coming to Nepal with the other kids. Now I’m feeling a bit of pressure to make sure they have a good time. We need to find some things for them to do, sights to see, etc.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

It’s the Sabbath day. Today our meetings were wonderful. I was touched by the Spirit several times and oh, how I love that feeling.  Gene and I both taught today. He in the Young Men, and me in Relief Society. We both felt good about the lessons. My topic was Charity. Sajana, on of the sister return missionary, translated for me.There was good discussion and Sajana would translate their comments back. I had made some bookmarks to go along with the lesson. It said simply ‘Charity – the Pure Love of God. And then I had put a heart sticker on them. I had taken plenty, but after class there weren’t any left. It reminded me of the students at school. They love things with stickers. The sisters in the Branch are apparently the same way. That’s okay. I loved being there and interacting with the sweet sisters here in this branch.

We invited Deppongs over for dinner as their kitchen is still being renovated. Still strong paint fumes and just not good to cook in. I made breadstick and oh, did they smell good (and taste good), glazed carrots and spaghetti.  We visited with them for a while. They told us the date for the wheelchairs has been set. Browns will be here on November 28 and will be here for 10 days. That timing will work great for us. We are excited.

Friday, June 10, 2011                                                                            Sunny and warm today

After reading a couple of chapters in 2 Nephi and a chapter in the D & C, I decided it was time to get going and got up. I came down to the kitchen and made a batch of granola. We’ve already eaten the last batch and it was good. I thought it might be a good idea to take some with us to Hattikor. I had just got it mixed up and put in the little toaster oven, when the power went off. Gene said, “I hope you’re not baking”. I told him I was, but it was okay. I just turned the oven off and will finish it when it comes back on. It wasn’t like I had put a cake in the oven.

We pulled up the Agreement that Elder Lawton from the church’s legal department had sent back to us again – and we made more of the changes he recommended. He also had concerns about a couple of paragraphs and we have those concerns as well. The problem is, some of these things are written in the General Agreement and we can’t change those. Later afternoon, Elder Lawton sent the Agreement back again, so we did a couple more changes and sent it back. There are still a few gray areas. Now it’s the weekend – we will be gone Monday and Tuesday, so we’ll see what’s in the ‘inbox’ when we get back.

Yesterday a man from SWC called and wanted us to come in and he had a couple of questions about Hattikor. Gene looked at the information we had and gathered some materials together. We got a taxi and went down there. There are some conflicting figures and we had the corrected ones. Also Brother Borland’s name is on the letter and now it should be Gene’s name. We will make that change and take it back to them on Sunday and then on Thursday, we will go in and get those papers signed – and hopefully signed off.