July 2015 | first journey
Despite good preparations, we started this trip with mixed feelings because we didn't know what to expect.
- What will the conditions be on site?
- Will we be able to enter the country safely with the goods we brought with us (medicines, seeds, Clothes , lamps and mosquito nets)?
- Will it be possible to exchange money without major problems?
- How do we get to the village with the material we brought with us and, above all, the material that still needs to be obtained?
Lots of questions, but everything should fall into place beautifully.
It's starting!
When checking in at Zurich Airport, we were able to drop off our six pieces of luggage without any problems. The permitted 60kg is reached exactly in our favor when weighing; Our hand luggage weighing over 7kg is also accepted. The first hurdle has been overcome and our nervousness has subsided somewhat. 14 hours later we set foot on Nepalese soil. All of our luggage is on the conveyor belt and we leave the airport relieved. Our friend Narayan is already waving to us and hanging flower chains around our necks as a welcome gift. During the taxi ride to the hotel the first collapsed buildings appear, but you can also clearly see that everyday life has already returned.
The fact that the media reports that Kathmandu is in ruins is not entirely correct, because this scares tourists away, even though there is hardly any difference in terms of quality of life for them compared to before.
The first few days in Kathmandu are intended for organizing.
Our friend Narayan is on the phone a lot, we sit next to him, drink tea and make decisions. We have to convert the Swiss francs (14,000 CHF) into Nepalese rupees.
An exchange office offers us a good exchange rate. After just 10 minutes of waiting we get an enormous stack of banknotes, which fills an entire daypack. Step two is to increase the material we brought with us so that all 32 families in Bhumesthan receive a lamp and a mosquito net - after all, it should be fair.
We buy 22 headlamps with extra batteries and order 11 Nepalese mosquito nets from the local market. We want to bring food for a part of the village in Phulkarkas that is inhabited by an ethnic minority - the Gurungs. Narayan orders the food over the phone and has it delivered directly to the village.
Adventurous journey
Our journey towards the village begins with a taxi ride to Dhading Besi, the district capital of the region.
After a good 3 hours we reach the small town at around 700 meters above sea level. For the next day we plan to take a jeep to the village, but it cancels on us at short notice without giving any reason. So we have to look for another option. Luckily, the food we ordered is already in Dhading Besi and will be brought to the village the next day in a 4WD truck. The driver agrees to take us with him too - for an additional charge. Lucky me, because a 35km walk at around 32°C and 90% humidity would be very strenuous. We are allowed to ride in the cabin of the truck, other passengers have to sit in the loading area. The journey begins on a semi-paved road - but the condition of the road worsens from hour to hour.
The truck has to cope with ditches that are sometimes knee-deep and filled with water. But this is not an obstacle for the experienced driver. We now understand why the jeep driver turned us down - it is impossible to get through here with small wheels. The truck struggles through the mud up the mountain - passages that are not passable are somehow made passable without further ado. After a detour - another truck blocked the road and a repair on our truck - broken spring - we reach Bhumesthan after about 12 hours of bumpy driving. Luckily it only started raining in the late afternoon - otherwise it would have been very difficult to reach our destination.
A warm welcome awaits us and we move into our camp for the night, which has been built especially for us on one of the temporary corrugated iron huts.
To be honest, we would almost rather have slept 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 we brought with us to the families of the Gunrung . Everyone has gathered at the Bhumesthan village meeting and is being called individually using a list. The food package includes a 25kg bag of rice, 2kg of lentils, 1L of cooking oil and a 1kg of salt. Mostly women gratefully accept the food and carry it up the mountain to their homes for about an hour. An old woman thanks us profusely, takes us in her arms and places a wet kiss on our cheek. Unfortunately we don't understand their words - but you can feel the gratitude!
In contrast to other villages and regions that we passed through on the journey here, Bhumesthan presents us with a picture of destruction. The villagers show us where their old houses stood. Most of them are completely destroyed and only a pile of stones remains of the pretty traditional houses. In others, entire walls have collapsed or broken out - or the house is still standing but has so many cracks in the walls that it is uninhabitable. It's hard to believe the enormous damage the two severe earthquakes have caused here. We are told with hands and feet how badly it shook - the trees hit the ground left and right - that's how strong the quake was. But life goes on.
No complaining, instead we look forward and make the best of it. The temporary corrugated iron huts are surprisingly sturdy - they can withstand wind and weather - at least for a monsoon.
The corrugated sheets were provided by various organizations. In addition, people reused wooden doors and interior walls that they salvaged from the rubble to give the new dwelling a little internal structure. We continue to the Headquarters of Phulkharka. The tragedy has claimed 28 lives across Phulkharka. The survivors of the victims receive financial support from us.
All families are called together and also called up using a list of names so that no one is forgotten. Phulkharka's school is also in a terrible condition.
Only 3 of the buildings are still standing - only the main building, built by Italians a few years ago, is still in very good condition. Tents and corrugated iron huts have been set up in the large square in front of the school, which are used as makeshift classrooms. The school teaches around 780 students, many of whom walk up to 3 hours every day. The school committee is waiting for us and we are handing over 300,000 rupees to support them. We will give the committee free rein as to how best to use this money. They would like to thank you very much for this generous contribution, even if it is of course only a drop in the ocean. We are told that we are the largest donors to date, which means our contribution will be used for first aid. Furniture and furnishings have to be procured again so that a somewhat regulated school routine can be ensured. We go back to Bhumesthan. All the children gather around the Clothes . However, most of the children are bigger than we were told - although we tend to have Clothes for younger children - but there is still at least one item of clothing for each child. They wait patiently until we hold up a piece of clothing and point to a child that might be about the right size. After successfully trying it on, faces beam. Only when it comes to a bag full of socks does the action no longer run quite as well. Who would have thought that socks would be so popular :-) Laughter from the older spectators and us at the rush and joy.
We spend the evenings comfortably with Narayan's family and neighbors.
We are always cooked for, are always offered tea and at the same time try to communicate with our hands and feet. We also meet our friends from the 2010 trekking again - it's nice to see so many familiar faces. Showering takes place outdoors.
A spring directly in the village was expanded into a large well. A blessing in the heat! Now it is the turn
residents of Bhumesthan The whole village gathers at the “Lazy Stone” village meeting place - there is no such thing as a community center. Bhumesthan is located on a steep slope and consists of around 5 groups of houses, each group of which has appointed a chairman for the “building committee”. In the presence of the entire village, we presented the committee with 600,000 rupees for reconstruction. Huge applause accompanied the handover. We also hand over a box with medication and bandages.
Narayan's brother Arjun's house serves as a medical post. We used this contact point several times on the same day. We give a bag full of seeds to the “hardest farmer”.
He will grow seedlings and then distribute them. When addressing the population, Narayan emphasized that these were not Monsanto seeds, and some nodded approvingly. As with every handover, the villagers applaud. All of the 32 families in Bhumesthan will now receive a lamp and a mosquito net. For a few families there is some electricity from a small hydroelectric power station in the evening - so they can recharge the lamps with batteries. Everyone is grateful for our goods. Older people in particular thank you profusely and sometimes can hardly believe it. It's incredible, we could have traveled anywhere in the world - but we came here - to help them.
We notice that with this little help we have given people a lot of hope and confidence that things will move forward again.
In the evening the “Construction Committee” meets to put together a strategy for the reconstruction. After consulting, they present their results to us. They want to say goodbye to their traditional construction methods and build earthquake-proof houses - at least that's the direction they want to go. We very much welcome this decision. With our support it will certainly be possible to build at least a solid foundation for the 32 houses. To achieve this, cement, sand and reinforcing iron must be purchased. This means that every house should have a solid foundation and four or six pillars for one floor. The walls between the pillars will then be rebuilt in the previous style using local stone. There are no bricks because almost all production facilities in Nepal fell victim to the earthquake. They can carve the roofs with wood and cover them with corrugated iron.The work is carried out by the villagers themselves - except at the beginning, specialists have to be hired to impart the know-how.
According to the rough calculation, the costs will amount to around 230,000 rupees. We are in good spirits and promise to do our best to raise further donations.
Of course it would be nice to be able to contribute more money so that the stones in the walls can also be attached with cement.
So our campaign is over for the moment. Construction will begin in October 2015 as soon as the monsoon is over, as the heavy loads can only be brought to site via a dry road. Our goal is that all 32 houses have a foundation before the next monsoon in June 2016. An ambitious goal - in addition to the construction work, the residents also have to cultivate their fields.to be continued...
We then spent a few quiet days in Kathmandu and were able to let the many experiences settle down.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 has been successfully completed.
After 4 days in Bhumesthan and a good feeling in our stomachs, we leave again.
We are touched by how many villagers came to say goodbye to us. They are very happy that we want to come back in the fall. Any concerns we had beforehand were wiped away because everything went extremely smoothly. Narayan gave us strong support. Without his help and that of his brother this would never have been possible. We think we were able to use the donations very sensibly and effectively.
