4 November 2011                                                                                Hazy again today

I came across one of my very favorite quotes and wanted to share it again here. It is by Sister Ardeth Kapp. She said: "I believe that if possible the adversary would have us engaged in a multitude of trivial things in an effort to keep us distracted from the few vital things that make all the difference." I think that gives us a lot to think about.

I did receive an email back from Pres. Jackson this morning, concerning my ear. H was an Embassy doctor. He said he thought I should follow up with the CIWEC clinic. The medication they gave me was a good one to start with t\but there were stronger more effective ones.

I did call the clinic and they wanted me to come back in. We did go. The doctor looked at my ear again and said it did look like ear wax buildup. Dahhhhhh!  That didn’t surprise me. He said he thought I should go to an ENT and have it flushed out. He gave me some different drops to continue to soften the wax. They made an appointment for me with another doctor for next Wednesday at 5:30 PM. I’m hoping that I can faithfully use the drops and flush my ears out myself and then could cancel the appointment. I would love that.

Panna, a Branch member who happens to be our Partner with Hygiene Kits,  called this morning and said we are set to go to Chitwan on Monday to distribute the hygiene kits. That will be a great experience. I think there are about 500 kits to distribute to school children there.

We walked over to Bhat Bhateni’s today and bought some soup. They did have some vegetable and cream of Chicken. We stocked up a little bit. We also bought another backpack. We are hoping that we can go to Manila with just a backpack as carry on. It might be a challenge, but I hope it will work.

We have received and sent quite a few emails today and tonight Gene went to PEC and I made some cream of potato soup and some breadsticks.

3 November 2011                                                                                Pollution has set in

Wow! Today has been one of those days where you had to be here to know the adventure we had today.

Tej Dhakal, from the Five Village Project picked us up about 9:00 am.(In a Jeep) We then went and got Elder and Sister Deppong. We headed to the five village Project. It wasn’t near as nice as Dipak’s. When we picked up Deppongs, we had to brush debris off the back seat. Gene and I climbed in.

We drove through town, going down past Kathmandu Training Center, where we had taught English, and then just kept going. Finally we turned off the main road, onto a narrow street. It was a pretty busy street but really narrow. We headed up the mountain and the road got even narrower. We drove for quite a while and then stopped and picked up the Chairman and the Secretary of the Water User’s Committee.

Then we drove for a long time and it was up, and up, and up. I asked Gene if we were getting close to ‘tree line’ or perhaps we were headed for ‘base camp’. It was a pretty rough road and we were bounced around pretty good. The weather was cool today, but even more disappointing, the pollution was bad and it was hard to see very far. I’m sure the countryside would have been beautiful.

This was literally 'the end of the road.'

It was hazy, but notice the house high on the hill and the terraces.

We were pretty high and I wouldn’t have thought there would be people living up there – but there were. We saw women who were gathering firewood and fodder for their goats. Also some herding a few cows. Oh, they work so hard. And then I thought, ‘and they have to do this again, tomorrow, and the next day and the next.

Their homes really were humble. They were all out working, getting ready to plant some crops….all this done by hand.

We drove for what seemed a long time and finally got to the pump house and then on to the source of the water. Bless Sister Deppong’s heart, she is a real trooper. We hiked right along with the men. We were in ‘the real Nepal’. I know, I keep saying that. The terrain was steep and the trail was just that – a small trail. It was an adventure and the experience of a lifetime.

I follow Gene a lot of places...Here, through the brush.

 Gene got a good look at what has been done and got some answers to some of his concerns and questions. There are some things he really doesn’t like and things that need to be discussed, but in the end, he said he thought LDS Charities was getting a lot of bang for its buck. The project presents lots of challenges – the terrain being a big one. Gene will put things together and send it to Hong Kong and Matt Heaps in Salt Lake and get a feel for what they want to do.

Women, working to make charcoal briquettes - the hard way!

The mold they pound the mixture in to compress it.

the finished product out to dry in the sun.

 When we were ready to head back, Tej asked if we would like to watch some women right there at the top of the mountain, who were making charcoal briquettes. We said ‘yes’. We walked down to this small building. There were three or four women. They were making briquettes using three portions brunt wood coals, 1 portion dirt or soil and enough water to make it so they could mold it. They worked at mixing it together, all by hand and then put it into a mold, pounded it so it was compact and then put it into the sun to dry. They were about 5 inches across. They make about 200 of them every day. That takes a lot of wood someone has to gather to burn for the coals. We did see a young woman out gathering sticks and I suppose that was what it was for.

A young woman out of nowhere, gathering sticks in her basket

 We thought of those women, mixing that mixture with their bare hands. That would be cold and especially with the colder weather setting in. And then, I can’t help but think what that stuff must do to their lungs.

I asked what they do with the briquettes. The wholesaler comes to them and buys them in bulk. They sell for about 20 rupees each, which is about 25 cents. Boy, they can’t be making much and they are working hard.

Tej did point out a few things to us. One was a plant the Nepali’s use for toilet paper. It had a pretty good size leaf and was very soft. Another leaf was one they crush up and make a poultice out of and apply for joint pain. They are a pretty resourceful people. They work hard and have a hard life.

Tej gave us this plant - said it was Nepali tissue paper - so soft.

 We got home about 4:45 pm. I told Gene it would be interesting to know how many miles we went today. He said he was sure it wasn’t as many as it felt like. When we got home, I could hardly get out of the van. I felt like I had sat on a stadium seat all day long. I sure was a hard one.

a lady out tending her cows.

 2 November 2011                                                                                Cloudy and a touch cool

I lie in bed and think my ear feels a little better, but when I get up and move around a little bit, it feels like the ‘shade’ has been pulled down over my eardrum and again I can’t hear out of it. It’s frustrating.

Today we went to the 20^th Year Celebration for READ Nepal (library). They served breakfast and then had a program. They did have headsets for us who spoke English, and we were pleasantly surprised when  most of the program was in English. We have been trying to get our English class going, but there have just been so many conflicts. Hopefully, we will be able to get that on the schedule and get it going. We would like to do that.

We did get Subhadra’s x-rays. Gene and I took them outside. He held them up to the sky and I snapped a photo of them. (Here in Nepal when you get an x-ray, they give you the x-ray. It’s like the x-rays in the states 20 or 30 years ago) We then sent them to President Jackson.(He was an embassy doctor) He emailed us back and said that she didn’t even have a hip socket and it was amazing that she gets along as well as she does. I imagine that will affect where she will be able to serve. I know she is anxious to get her papers sent in and get her call.

1 November 2011

Here it is November and as we listen to KSL Radio, they are saying it’s snowing and there are white out conditions. I am glad to be here in Nepal. Although it’s a little cool in the house, at least it won’t be snowing.

This morning we talked with Elder Sackley and Elder Meehan via Skype. They wanted to chat with us about Elder Perkins, our Area President, visit to Kathmandu. Today they wanted our input and some suggestions. They said he would like to visit a couple of projects and maybe a notable site or two in Kathmandu. He has never visited Nepal before.  We talked about a few things and they asked that we type it up in an email and send it to them. We are excited to have him and his wife visit. Pres. Jackson and Sister Jackson will also be here. The visit will be short. They arrive Friday afternoon and depart Saturday night.

This afternoon, Laxmi went with me and we meet Subhadra at the Clinic and she had the x-rays taken of her hip. She is the young woman getting ready to serve a mission. She has quite a limp and the doctor wanted an x-ray to see just what the situation was. She will be able to pick them up tomorrow and bring them to us. We will take pictures of them and send them to President Jackson and he will send them to the mission doctor. This will help them evaluate her condition and know a little better where her mission assignment should be.

My ear is just a little better today. The sounds are muffled, but at least I am hearing just a little out of my right ear. I will continue to put the drops in for another week or so. I sure hope it clears up before we go to Manila.

31 October 2011

I slept better last night than I have in a long time. It sure was nice. When we got up we talked to Brent. He said it was good to be home and that he finally got over Jet lag. I think all the kids struggled with that a bit. I’m wondering how that will affect us when we go home.

Today Sister Deppong  forwarded the schedule for our air travel. Boy, all I can say is, it’s brutal – long lay overs. But we have to remember where we are going and why. It will be good and will probably be a real highlight of our mission.

This afternoon, Tej Prasad Dhakal from the Five Village Project came to the house. They want to get that project going again. He had a budget proposal and he and Gene talked about the project. We would like to see it completed as well. There are a few questions that will need to be answered. He is going to arrange for a Jeep and we will go and visit the site on Thursday. Gene would like to get acquainted with the site and the project as we have never been there before. We had hoped that the Water Specialist, Greding’s would be able to come, but I don’t know if that will work out. The Village Committee would like to complete the project ASAP and Greding’s probably couldn’t come till the middle of December. We will just have to see what happens in the next week or two.

Today is our half way point. It’s gone pretty fast. I’m sure the next half will go fast as well. I don’t want to wish time away but I’m just not looking forward to the cold weather. It’s cooler today and we do have on long sleeves. We both sat on the balcony in the sunshine for a little bit and it felt great.

30 October 2011

It’s really been a quiet day. My ear still feels plugged up and I can hardly hear out of my right one. I thought it might be earwax after all and tried flushing  it out again, but no wax. So again I had Gene put drops in. I think it’s feeling just a fraction better. I sure hope so. I pray that it will clear up soon.

Gene and I cleaned the solar panels and the windows in our bedroom upstairs. I think it will make a  difference. It should help the water heat a little better. We are going to need it coming up soon. In fact the forecast is for a bit cooler weather the next couple of days.

We did walk over to the new restaurant/bakery and bought a loaf of bread. We liked it a lot. And it was about $1 a loaf. It’s fresh every day. We have had a hard time finding bread here. Now we have it.

I have crocheted quite a bit today and I’m also doing some editing of my old journals. It’s interesting to read through some of them from twenty five years ago and when we had a house full of kids. I don’t think I want to do that over.