Team Nepal: Recap of Week 1

Blog Post 7.1.16

Our first week in Nepal has flown by quickly, but one thing is certain, each of us has fallen in love with the beauty that is found within every part of their outstanding culture. Each individual who lives here is unbelievably generous, especially considering that they have so much less than us. There have been several occasions where we have been offered food, shelter, gifts, umbrellas, and so much more not only from the adults, but from the children as well.

Our lessons have been going wonderfully and we are learning the names of the students. They love all of us and greet us every morning in such a polite, kind, and loving manner. Our vocational team has been working hard to teach some women in the village how to sew, and their products will be sold at a boutique during our last day. The business committee taught their lessons today to some of the individuals who will be receiving goats, and look forward to next week when they will relay the same information to those who are learning to sew.

It takes us about 45 minutes to get from our hotel to the village where we are working, which is at the base of the mountains. The road is dirt which has often turned to mud on several occasions. Even so, the drivers are able to maneuver the buses quite well, although sometimes we don’t always make it up the hills. Due to intense amounts of rain the past few days we have been forced to walk part of the way to the school. It is amazing that most of the children must walk even farther than we do (some travel over two hours on foot from their homes to get to school), and this is what gives us the motivation to stay positive throughout the whole experience.

It rained the entire time we were in the village today which caused us to put both the canteen and patio construction projects on hold. Although this was unfortunate, all those who were not teaching either an English, business, or vocational lesson worked hard to prime and paint classrooms, and it is looking wonderful! The outside of the school is blue and each classroom will contain a mural or painting.

Home visits have been going well and all members of the team who have participated thus far have found that they are life changing. Today I sat down with Kallie to learn more about her journey into the home lives of the amazing people who we have come to work with. The first house they visited was more of a shack, with dimensions of no more than 20’ x 15’, and inside lived 15 people. While Kallie spent time playing with the young children in the house, she along with Madeline, Tanner, Katie, Jackson, and, Madi C., got to listen to their story. Last year when the earthquake hit, the woman was certain she was going to lose her daughter, but luckily this was not the case. As soon as everyone was out of their home, it collapsed from the intensity of the earthquake, leaving them in their current situation. They visited another home where they were given potatoes and other food, which is just another example of the true generosity held within the lovely spirits of these people.

We were also given the opportunity to visit a rice patty during a rice planting celebration. During this time we watched them plant rice and a few of us even tried planting ourselves. A small group of about six of us stayed behind after seeing the first rice patty and were then invited into a home were we danced with the women, and were given bananas and coconut. Although these individuals obviously lacked the resources to be giving away food to complete strangers, they were completely willing.

The trip has been so outstanding and the team has gotten very close. Every day we work hard to complete the projects so that we can leave a lasting mark here in Nepal. Tomorrow is our excursion day wherewe will visit the peace gardens, monkey temple, and go shopping. We are happy to report that lost luggage has been retrieved and that we are all extremely happy in this lovely country. By the end of this next week, it is certain that each of us will be leaving a beautiful memory within the hearts of those we worked alongside and the people who have touched our lives.

-Treasure Lily Lundskog