July 2015 | first journey
Despite good preparations, we started this trip with mixed feelings, because we didn't know what to expect.
- How will the conditions be on site?
- Will we be able to enter well with our goods brought with us (medication, seeds, Clothes , lamps and mosquito nets)?
- Will the change of money be done without any major problems?
- How do we get into the village with the material brought with us and above all the material to be worn?
Many questions, but everything should arise wonderfully.
It's starting!
At check-in at Zurich Airport, we can give up our six luggage without any problems. The permitted 60kg are reached exactly when weighing in our favor; Our hand luggage with over 7kg is also accepted. The first hurdle has been taken and our nervousness is somewhat. 14 hours later we enter Nepalese soil. All of our luggage is on the roller tape and we leave the airport relieved. Our friend Narayan is already waving to us and hanging flower chains around our neck as a welcome gift. The first buildings collapsed during the taxi ride to the hotel showed up, but you can also clearly see that everyday life is already back.
It is not entirely correct that the media report about a destroyed Kathmandu, because this scares the tourists, although there is hardly a difference in terms of quality of life for them.
The first few days in Kathmandu are intended for organizers. Our friend Narayan is a lot on the phone, we sit next to it, drink tea and make decisions.
We have to change the Swiss francs (CHF 14,000) into Nepalese rupees. A exchange rate offers us a good exchange rate. After only 10 minutes we get an enormous stack of banknotes, which fills a whole daily backpack.
Step two is the increase in our material brought with you, so that all 32 families in Bhumesthan get a lamp and a mosquito net, it should finally be fair. We buy 22 headlamps with additional batteries and order 11 Nepalese mosquito nets on the local market.
We want to bring food for a village part in Phulkarkas, which is inhabited by an ethnic minority - the gourms. Narayan orders the food by phone and lets them bring them directly to the village.
Adventurous journey
Our trip towards the village begins with a taxi ride to Dhading Besi, the district of the region. After a good 3 hours we reach the small town on approx. 700 m.ü.M. For the next day we plan to go to the village with a jeep, but this will say we canceled shortly without reason. So we have to look for another option. Fortunately, the food ordered are already in Dhading Besi and will be brought into the village the next day with a 4WD truck. The driver also explains to us - for a surcharge. Happened, because a 35km march at approx. 32 ° C and 90% humidity would be very exhausting. We can ride in the truck cabin, more passengers have to take a seat on the loading area.
The journey starts on a half -paved road - however, the road state deteriorates increasingly from hour to hour. The truck has to cope with the knee depth and trenches filled with water. But this is not an obstacle for the experienced driver. We now also understand why the jeepfahrer canceled us - with small wheels, getting through is impossible here. The truck tortures itself through the mud up the mountain - passages that are not accessible are made available somehow. After a detour - another truck blocks the street and a repair on our truck - broken feather - we reach Bhumesthan after about 12 hours of bump.
Fortunately, it only started raining in the late afternoon - otherwise it would have been very difficult to achieve our goal.
A warm welcome awaits us and we receive our night camp, which has been attached specially for us on one of the temporary corrugated iron huts. To be honest, we almost preferred to sleep in the tent on our comfortable mats than on this hard board ;-)
The next morning we start with our tasks and first distribute the food brought to the families of the Gunung . Everyone has gathered at the Bhumesthan village meeting and are called individually using a list. The food package each includes a 25kg sack of rice, 2kg lentils, 1l of food oil and a 1kg salt. Take grateful, mostly women, towards the food and carry it up the mountain to their houses for about an hour. An old woman thanks her, she takes us in the arms and presses us a wet kiss on the cheek. Unfortunately we don't understand your words - but you can feel the gratitude that way!
But life goes on. No whining, instead it is looked forward and made the best of it.
The temporary corrugated iron huts are surprisingly stable - they defy wind and weather - at least a monsoon long. The corrugated sheets were made available by various organizations. In addition, people have used wooden doors and interior walls that they have recovered from the ruins to give the new dwelling a small inner structure.
It continues to the headquater of Phulkharka. The tragedy has requested 28 fatalities throughout Phulkharka. The bereaved of the victims receive financial support from us. All families are called together and also called up by a list of name so that nobody is forgotten.
The Phulkharka school is also in a gruesome condition. Of the buildings, there are just 3 - only the main building created by Italians a few years ago is still in very good condition. Tents and corrugated iron huts are set up on the large square in front of the school, which must be used as a classroom. The school teaches about 780 students, of which several students cover up to 3 hours of foot march every day. The school committee awaits us and we present 300,000 rupees to support. We leave the committee free as you want to use this money. You would like to thank you for this generous contribution, even if this is of course only a drop on the hot stone. We are told that we are the biggest donors so far, which means that our contribution is used for the first aid. Furniture and furnishings have to be procured again, so that a reasonably regulated school process can be ensured.
It goes back to Bhumesthan. All children gather around the Clothes . However, most children are greater than we have been said - but we have more Clothes for younger children - but there is still at least one piece of clothing for every child. Wait patiently until we hold up a piece of clothing and point to a child who could have about the right size. After trying it out, the faces shine. Only with a sack full of socks does the campaign no longer run quite as well. Who would have thought that socks are so popular :-) laughter with the older spectators and us about this rush and this joy.
We spend the evenings comfortably with Narayan's family and neighbors. We are always cooked, are always offered tea and try to communicate with hands and feet. We also meet our friends from Trekking 2010 - it is nice to see so many well -known faces.
It is showered outdoors. A source directly in the village was expanded into a large fountain. A blessing in the heat!
It is now the turn
inhabitants of Bhumesthan The whole village gathers at the village meeting "Lazy Stone" - there is no such thing as a parish hall. Bhumesthan is located on a steep slope and consists of approx. 5 groups of houses, each group has determined a chairman for the "Bau Committee". In the property of the whole village, we hand over 600,000 rupees to the Committee for the reconstruction. The handover accompanies great applause. We also hand over a box with medication and bandage materials. The house of Narayan's brother Arjun serves as the medical post. We used this point of contact several times on the same day.
We hand over a sack full of seeds to the "hardest farmer". He will pull seedlings and then distribute them. When addressing the population, Narayan emphasizes that this is not a Monsanto seeds, some nods appreciate. As with every handover, the village population applauds.
All of the 32 families in Bhumesthan now receive a lamp and a mosquito net. For a few families there is some electricity from a small hydropower plant in the evening - so you can recharge the lamps with batteries. Everyone is grateful for our goods. Older people in particular thank you out and can hardly believe it. It was incredible that we could have traveled all over the world - but we came here to help them.
We realize that with this little help we have brought a lot of hope and confidence that it goes back.
In the evening, the "Bau Committee" meets to put together a strategy for reconstruction. After you have advised, introduce us to your results. They want to say goodbye to their traditional construction and build earthquake -proof houses - at least it should go in this direction. We very much welcome this decision. With our support, it will certainly be possible to build at least one solid foundation in the 32 houses. To achieve this, cement, sand and reinforcing iron must be bought. This is intended to receive a solid foundation and four or six pillars for one floor. Between the pillars, the walls are then rebuilt in the previous style with local stones. There are no bricks because almost all production facilities in Nepal fell victim to the quake. You can cover the roofs with wood rooms and corrugated iron.The work is carried out by the villagers themselves - except at the beginning, specialists must be hired to convey the know -how.
The costs will amount to around 230,000 rupees after the overload. We are in good spirits and promise to do our best to find more donations.
It would of course be nice to be able to contribute more money so that the stones in the walls can also be attached with cement.
So our action is over for the moment. Construction will start in October 2015 as soon as the Monsun is over, because the heavy loads can only be brought on site via a dry street. Our goal is that all 32 houses before the next Monsun have a foundation in June 2016. An ambitious goal - in addition to the construction work, the residents also have to manage their fields.to be continued ...
In Kathmandu we spent a few more quiet days and were able to make the many experiences set.It was once again a very nice time in Nepal, despite the many sad stories we heard and saw.
The first part of our project is successfully completed.
After 4 days in Bhumesthan and a good feeling in our stomach, we leave again. We are touched how many villagers have come to say goodbye. They are very happy that we want to come back in autumn.
All concerns we had in advance are wiped away, because everything went extremely smoothly. Narayan gave us strong support. Without his help and his brother, this would never have been possible. This is how we think we were able to use the donations very sensibly and functional.
