In the Midst of it all...

Well its been three weeks and you all are probably wondering if I have run back to NZ, but since I have a little idea which track heads out of the mountains, that option was lost the day I got here. So what’s been happening here? well I have a good understanding how the school is run now, the students often come and talk to me in my hut, they all seem mighty impressed by my collection of Hindi music and like to sit and listen to it.(Whatever gets me into their ‘cool’ zone, I shall provide.. I feel 17 again, well I pretend to be one of them anyway!)

Other than that I have gotten used to the cleaning, cooking, washing and now it takes only half a day instead of the earlier efforts of an entire day. I spent three weeks teaching English and learnt a lot about myself, including some words that I had no idea what they meant, and had to make up answers to keep my face. The students seem to enjoy my style of less book more talking, one student even said ‘he’ loved my voice , I told him thanks and made him sit next to a girl. Unfortunately an English teacher has been appointed and I have been put on standby, sad but I guess I can go back to doing what I had come to do.

Note -Do not judge my teaching skills based on this picture :-)

Things I am currently involved in:

• As I mentioned internet access is paramount in this region as means of communication are non-existent other than that. So I have been firstly trying to setup wireless access around the school compound, which I have done, but I want really is that the villages I see on neighboring mountains also are able to have access from there, instead of the 3 hour walk up to our village. So I am planning on setting up a high gain antenna that will allow access to our wireless network faraway, as much as 10km. Of course there needs to be people with wireless access at the other end. That’s why I am thinking of providing laptops to each of the village, that will be able to utilize this signal. Still working on getting the parts, which I need to go to Kathmandu and get, but the idea is in function. It might seem strange why so much emphasis is on computers, afterall its a village in the himalayas, but these children have to compete with the rest of the Nepal/ World at some level, so they need to be aware of the uses & benefits, and if they are to make a difference, technology is going to guide them.
  

• I am also working on a database to manage the school student & staff. Currently there is only paper documents with student details, this I am going to turn into an ‘Enrolment database’, that provides up-to-date report. The staff can use for the years to come to keep track of various aspects of the school. I am already well into creating the database, just collecting the essential ingredients that will allow to be most useful to the school. It will help manage the scholarships currently handed out, the student demographics, and provide a useful way of giving facts when demanding funding. I might even make another database to manage their inventory (Computer, networking equipment, etc.), depending on how they mind this one first. So far they seem pretty happy with what I have shown, so that’s a good start.

• I am taking some of the fund money to improve the facilities for the students and villagers here. As I said there is not much to do in these hilly terrains, so I thought of adding a sport that can easily be setup. Table Tennis! I am sorting out the creation of one or two tables to be crafted by the local carpenter (gets him some decent income), and again the other racquets and balls I will have to get from the city. They have only 2 sports at the moment Volleyball & Basketball, this will add another way for children to burn that energy, instead of drinking and smoking marajuna (which is unfortunately common in these areas).

• I am looking at other things as well, like the water supply is pretty bad here, and rubbish is just thrown into a hole, I am thinking of finding an alternative for both of them, lets see what if anything I come up with.

Other than that I will be heading to India to pick the additional laptops and phones I had bought for the school that my friends kindly transported for me. So will be away from the village for a while. Hmm I just realized I have to climb backup this uphill mountain on my return, damn! Why cant the whole world just be going downhill, and still take you to the top, physics is always holding my dreams back!.

Here are some pictures from a recent festival that took place, they had dancing, sports, sacrificing of 300 goats, sheeps and pigeons. I sat their and watched the massacre, but atleast they aren't killing human beings in the name of god, unlike many other places... In anycase who am I to judge, I eat meat, so someone has to kill them, can't be a hypocrite now can we Anukool.

Thanks again for all your contribution, without which none of this would have happened.

Anukool

Here is a little poem to describe my time here...

Walking in Mud

Walking in mud I see me smile,

The dirt over me seems worthwhile,

So long I had fought to try and keep

An image of someone I was trying to be,

Now I watch the world with a welcome sign,

It feels strangely peaceful, I feel unendingly fine.

I often see the truth when I take a shower,

There seems to be joy even in cold water,

I always needed things that somehow defined me,

I even needed others that pretended to annoy me,

I have none of those no more, and I can tell you a fact,

It all was my mind playing a joke,

and I fell for that.

Awake I walk with freedom in my eyes,

Whatever I see, seems to wave back and say hi,

How I had missed noticing the scent of grass,

When I had walked through it, I seemed to just pass,

All I see now is nature in full bloom,

Even when I sit with my computer in this room,

If you asked me now to define god in one line,

I will tell you,

It is this moment right now, and it is every time.

- Anukool Sathu Aug 2008

My new Home 'Nangi'

Well, I am here,

I arrived at the village a week ago, but reaching here was an experience on its own. It began with a 7 hour bus ride from Kathmandu, and then an 8 hour bus ride, of which I spent 5 hours on top of the bus, as there was no space inside. Well there was space but I can tell you breathing was a problem, my legs did not fit within the space between the seats, and I am not that big. To top it all off I had a goat under me, yup a Goat where I should be putting my feet. There I was sweating so much, and the bus was at 200% capacity as Nepal is facing a petrol crises. The price of petrol is nearly $3 a litre at times, and you have to wait 16 hours in a line to get petrol, I wish I was exaggerating but I am not.. Hence the bus was packed to its last inch, it felt like the train to Auschwitz in Schindler’s List where the jews were packed in with no breathing space and desperate for air. Ok it wasn’t that bad, but coming from NZ I was amazed, so I got up and said to the driver “I am going on top”, he said ”Its raining” but I had to go. And I was the sole passenger on top of the bus, as it poured down, but in the warm climate its not so bad. I enjoyed the ride quite a bit, later a boy joined me, and we even made a tent on the top of the bus, to avoid the lashing rain, the mountainous terrain made the swerves left and right very interesting indeed…

5 hours later I arrived at my final stop.

I spent the night at the little town and there my guide from Nangi met up with me, and our trek began. He said he was getting a porter for my backpack and the handbag, I said “ no problem I will carry it”, he looked at me and said “ no”. And 10 minutes into my trek I realized how right he was. The trek right from the onset is uphill, straight up, I kid you not. I am not that unfit, but I have to say I was just happy I wasn’t the porter. 6 hours of uphill climbing, thank god for the breaks. We climbed to 7000 feet and then finally 2 hours of just normal walking. When I finally reached the village it was all worth it. The green mountain-top village was a sight for sore eyes, and all my aching legs felt almost fine.

The Village

Now I am at Nangi, my home for a while, and I have a little hut to myself J. Vegetables, Rice, Water are provided to me and all I have to do is cook. The lady teachers were very nice to cook for me for 2 days after school and teach me Nepali dishes. Now I can make roti, tea, rice, dal, potato n beans. YAY!. People are genuinely friendly here, there’s not much to do, and they don’t have much but they are happy. Knowing Hindi is clearly keeping me in the loop a lot. They understand 40% Hindi but can’t speak much. But between little English and little Hindi I somehow manage. The school is the main centre of this region. Children and staff travel 2-3 hours everyday to get here, and then they go back. 4-5 hours walking up n down mountains everyday just to get to schoolJ. I will no longer complain about anything anymore. It’s a much dispersed village, no real centre, no proper road, just tracks up n down hills.

What am I doing?

For the past week I have been helping setup the phone communication that allows them to use a normal phone that connects via IP devices through the internet to a phone exchange. This is their only way of communication to the outside world, other than the 8 hour trek to the town!. Without the Wireless radio stations the entire region was so isolated, so a few years ago when they set them up it was a welcome relief. I have also started teaching English to Class 12, as the English teacher has left the school. Having never taught it was quite an experience. I am trying to get the students to talk as much as possible, as they are very shy. I read stories from their course book and explain what it means. Their English is still not very good, especially spoken. But it’s a great challenge and I’m loving it.

It’s a beautiful place, with white mountains at the distance, green farms all around, children playing, cows eating grass. So when I have done my cooking, washing, cleaning (Which surprisingly takes a long time. Makes me want to thank my mother for all those yearsJ, that I barely noticed.) I sit down and look at everything around me and take a deep breath.

There are many issues that need attention, like electricity going down constantly, no dental help for villagers, no money for children to go to university as their parents are all farmers, etc.. but one by one they are trying to resolve these issues. And doing it all with a smile on their face.

I sit down and look at things often and even in just a matter of weeks I cant believe I have another life back in NZ, it feels all but a distant memory. Living and working here seems much more satisfying, without the so called pleasures of life you start enjoying the simple things, like watching the chicken chase the cowsJ.

More Later….

‘Dhanyavad’ and ‘Pheri Betaulla’ (Thanks, and see you later)

Anukool

To the right are my Cooking teachers... The lack of elecrtricity didnt stop us!