<<>I'm going to attempt to summarize the past few days... first let me tell you about my project. I met with Tej and he had the idea to expand my project even further than I had imagined. So this is the plan: We are going to start a skills training school that will operate on the top floor of the new VSN school. Right now my sewing class will be the pilot program. In the future they will do literacy, computer skills (if they get them donated) and more. For my class, we are going to teach widows exclusively. I will publish the details of why on my website, but the gist of why is that widows are ostracized in Nepal. There are ridiculous superstitions that they carry ill fortune and had something to do with their husbands' death - regardless of the circumstances. The women often resort to hard labor, like carrying bricks, etc. Because the widows are the primary bread winners for their families, we are going to provide our selected widows (which we are currently screening and selecting) a small salary while they train, so they can still provide for their children. At the end of the training, we are going to open a tailor shop for them. We are still helping the orphans, but we are unable to give them extensive training because they are in school. For any girl who finishes her schooling, she is then qualified ot come to our classes. We are also going to make pajamas for the orphans of two orphanages. In addition we are making screens for their windows - to keep the mosquitoes away. Needless to say we are busy. Today and tomorrow we are measuring all the kids and disseminating the clothing that was donated (thanks Tahoe RS!).
<<>Yesterday we visited the OCRC orphanage. It is about an hour outside of where we are staying. I like it out there because it is free of traffic. There is just beautiful farm land everywhere. Despite the beauty, the orphanage is in pretty poor condition. They have one guy supervising 35 kids. They are getting fed, but no one on one time. The older children are given the responsibility to look after the younger ones. They do this, but they have to leave for school at 7 am ( a 1.5 hour bus ride) and get home at 5:30 pm. Then they have to do laundry, bath little ones, etc. I had a long talk with Tej and I think I convinced him to completely take over this orphanage. It will also take funding, but if we can get at least two more care takers in there, it will be so good. We are also going to try to get them a gas stove and running water... the little things :) The kids are so cute and just crave attention. There is one little boy, Ranjeep, who I'm pretty sure is autistic. He is almost 5, but looks like he's 2. The caretaker said that he doesn't like to talk, but he understands fine. He rocks back and forth all the time and likes repetition. I want to adopt him! He just sat on my lap and held my hand. One of the volunteers here is a special-ed teacher in the U.S. I told her about him, and she strongly recommended that he be moved to VSN's orphanage, which is in better condition with a 1:4 child -caretaker ratio as opposed to the 1:35. I think we are going to be able to facilitate Ranjeep's move! I had the cutest picture of him, but my camera broke. It's about time - I've had it for quite a while, but it's sad 'cause I lost a lot of pics.
<<>We went to church on Saturday (again - broken camera, so no pics). We got six of us in the tiny taxi (7 plus driver). I was impressed with myself for remembering how to get there... I was shocked when I walked in because half the congregation was white. There are three large American Families that moved here in the last year. Two of them work for the state department and one works in the private sector. Last year Rick and I were the only westerners besides the couple missionaries. Everything is the same though - the service is in English and Nepali. There is a new branch president. He gave us all assignments, the first of which is to sing next Sunday. It was good to be back. Everyone remembers me, and it feels like I never left. After church we went to one of the couple's homes and hung out with the young adults. It was fun - everyone practiced their Nepali.
There are about 20 volunteers here now from all over - Netherlands, UK, Austrailla, Belgium, USA. Many of them recognize me from the films I made, and a few said they came because of them. That is such a great thing to hear!
Yesterday I took two of the volunteers to the Manahara Landless community (I'm a tour guide too). They are both engineers. The community is pretty flooded, but it is also growing. There are new shelters and buildings. The people seem to have no intention of leaving despite the conditions .
Oh - here's an interesting tidbit - there was a doctor's strike. I was talking to a doctor and asked about the sick people. He said they were just lying in the hospital. Apparently someone threatened a doctor. Someone's relative had died in surgery and the surgeon was threatened, so all the doctors left the hospital for 3 days. Apparently the emergency is open, but still. Have no fear though - the international hospital is up and running, and we have 3 or 4 doctors volunteering too.
The monsoon is definitely here - I like the rain though.
See our adventure - packed buses due to petrol prices make us resort to sitting on the top. I told everyone not to write home about it, but I can't help it. It's not like there is a nice ladder for you to climb up... you have to jump on the bumper of the bus then pull your self up this metal railing. I often see goats on top of busses, but today we were the goats.
My water bottle fell off the top of the bus, so they stopped the bus and threw it back to me. My Klean Kanteen has an awesome scar and story now.
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