JENNI'S DAGBOEK (1)

Part 2

SUNDAY 7 NOVEMBER
Our intention was to have a peaceful day which only worked in the morning! Our opposite neighbour invited us to a Tikka ceremony which takes place on the last day of the Hindu festival Tihar. It was absolutely delightful and we were so pleased she had asked us. The ceremony involves an older sister honouring her brother(s) by putting a tikka on his forehead. The brother sits on a rush mat and candles are placed in front of the mat. The tikka is a mixture of rice, curd and red colouring. The sister prays to the gods (mostly Rama and Krishna) for her brothers good health, prosperity, future and long life. She also hangs garlands of Saipatri flowers round his neck. She then gives her brother food and drink. The brother also gives his sister some money, sweets and new clothes but in this case the brother only gave his sister some money. The mother explained to her daughter at every stage exactly what she had to do which we found very touching as we were witnessing a new generation learning from an older generation all about their culture and beliefs.

At about 1500 hours loads of trekkers arrived, so we waited until they had rested a bit and then asked them if they wanted a tour of the school and the surrounding area. We took about 6 trekkers to the stream where we had been a few days ago and about 5 or 6 kids came with us including Purphi from our lodge. Unfortunately the corn mills were not working but the trekkers still enjoyed the babbling stream and the tranquility of the area. We all really had to laugh when the kids caught 5 or 6 tadpoles as they were very excited about their find and kept presenting them to me in a cola bottle filled with water. I couldn’t convince them not to take the tadpoles back with us to the village until I suddenly remembered that Buddhists try to not kill any living thing and so I told Pulphi if we took them with us they would die. It worked thankfully! They poured the tadpoles back into the river!!
As we walked back to the village to show the trekkers the school, the kids held hands with some of the female trekkers which of course they loved and lots of photos were taken!! They found the school and our project very interesting and the English couple even said that this had been the highlight of their holiday! As I suspected, trekkers want to really look into village life and interact with the villagers and the children had given them that feeling. Much to our amazement and delight that 2 hour tour earned us Nrs 10,000 / € 100 so we were very pleased that the tour had resulted in such a large donation for the school!

There were again no trekkers in the lodge that evening so we had time to tell Pasang and the lodge owner about this donation in the hope this would encourage them to give tours after we have gone. They didn’t seem as excited as we were, but I am sure we can make them more positive if more donations are given. The problem is that apart from Julphe, the 2 other English teachers and Pasang, none of the villagers speak more than a few words of English. But I hope that some of the final year students will lead the tour and in doing so, they will improve their English. I will definitely talk to Julphe and Pasang about this at a later stage and probably prepare an information sheet which the kids can read from.

MONDAY 8 NOVEMBER
Today we went to Kathmandu! First of all we walked to Gyalthum in 2½ hours – it was a steep descent (50% gradient) and took us about 45 minutes and then the rest of the walk was on level ground – lovely! Got on the bus which was already nearly full at the Malemchi water recovery plant for Kathmandu – manned by Chinese! It only cost RS 200 / € 2 each for a 5 hour journey which seemed ok until we took a right hand turn into the mountains!! Absolutely terrifying!! At one point I was so scared that I jumped out the window and walked for 10 minutes . Philip gallantly followed me but this meant that we lost our seats but the ticket collector very kindly got them back for us. The women who had taken our seats tried to squeeze onto our seat as well but not even their small bottoms could fit on the small amount of space we could afford them!!

It was nice to be back in the Blue Horizon hotel again and the hotel staff recognized us immediately and welcomed us back!! After a lovely hot shower, we went to the Gaia restaurant and had the most delicious meal we had eaten in a month – meat (!) washed down with 2 Nepali rum and cokes, finished off with a chocolate brownie – we were in heaven!! We also saw Anne of SVN but we didn’t talk for long as she was in a hurry!! Went back to 2 beds with thick mattresses – and slept very well!

TUESDAY 9 NOVEMBER – FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER
We had lots of things to do in Kathmandu but the most important was to check our bank balance (private account and HANDS account) and to check and answer our e-mail. The internet connection is really slow so it takes at least 5 minutes to access each e-mail and about 10 times longer (and I’m not exaggerating!) to access sites with photos such as T-mobile and our bank accounts!!). Unfortunately I was sick for one day with Guardia (well-known travellers stomach trouble) but after a 24 hour course of antibiotics I was fine so Philip did a lot of chores that day!! The next few days we managed to do the following tasks, which we think is quite impressive as somehow everything takes a lot longer in Nepal!!

- Repair rucksack (minor repair)
- Buy new video charger (had broken 2 days before coming to Kathmandu !)
- Repair 2 pairs of Jenni’s trousers (1 paid needed shortening and the other needed a button!)
- Repair necklace
- Hairdresser – had my hair cut in the Kathmandu Guest House for € 5 including having my eyebrows plucked using the “threading” method which I’ve never heard of but is very popular in the UK. Impossible to explain but Philip filmed me having it done!!
- Had 100 more brochures printed – colour printers are virtually non-existent in Kathmandu so 100 copies would have cost € 100 – we opted for black/white copies which cost € 10 for 100 copies!
- Had 5 brochures laminated for € 1,25 – we will attach these brochures to the menu’s in the 2 lodges in Golphu and to the board which Julphe will commission to let trekkers know there is a school in the village and that visitors are welcome ( HANDS will pay the cost of € 25)
- Buy Nepalese telephone card (Ncell) – takes a while to arrange as copies of passport and photo are needed and long forms need to be filled in.
- Checked out IBAN and BIC/SWIFT number of school bank account and transferred € 1000 to the school in Golphu as an advance so that the contractor can buy cement.
- Bought book “Sensory Biographies” by Robert Desjarlais – about the lives and deaths of Nepal’s Yolmo Buddhists. It focuses on 2 people, one of whom is Ghang Lama (the grandfather of Pasang from the other lodge and the father of the Lama from the Lama Lodge Hotel in Godong which we had visited a week or so ago). Many people in Golphu remember the author as he stayed in this area whilst doing research/interviews. I am looking forward to reading it as it will make very interesting reading I think.
- Rang mum and dad
- Sent my diary to UK mailing group
- Philip sent part 2 of trek report + put 40 photos on Internet
- Get living month for the next 4-6 weeks. This is not a simple job as you can only get € 100 a time out of the ATM to a maximum of 5 times a day – and the ATMS’s have frequently no money left in them, and if they do then it’s Murphy’s Law that probably exactly when there’s no electricity (due to bad government management there’s no electricity for 2 hours a day).
- E-mailed Babu and Biru about € 1000 donation. We have decided not to spend all the donations on Golphu as there are 28,000 other villages in Nepal which need help! We have decided to donate € 1000 to the village of Thulo Syabru (where Dawa’s grandfather lives) for 3 public toilets. Upon Biru’s request (the father of Dawa) we will also donate a maximum of € 1000 for buying 20 school benches and tables for 3 new classrooms which have just been built in the village of Kutumsang (where Biru’s in-laws live) which is 4 hours walk away from Golphu. We obviously intend to visit the school before transferring the money! We hope that people who have given a donation agree with this change of plans!
- Bought: labello, colourful posters of Shiva and Ganesh (Hindu gods) to decorate our room, 2 badminton rackets and 2 shuttles and some bracelets (presents for the 2 granddaughters of the lodge-owner), a spade (Philip wants his own spade to remove the earth piled up against most classrooms – this is what’s causing the damp), string, tiger balsam, toothpaste, soap shampoo and of course some Nepalese clothes for us both!!
We were really glad when all our chores had been done and we could go “home” to Golphu because we really don’t like Kathmandu – it’s far too busy, noisy, overcrowded and polluted!! So we will try to go to Kathmandu as little as possible – but probably still every 4-6 weeks as we need to get money, check internet and ring our parents!

SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER
We left Kathmandu at 08.00 hours! As the bus drive to Kathmandu had been so horrific, we had decided to splash out on a 4 wheel drive jeep which was very expensive (NRS 8,500 / €85 for a 4 hour trip!) so this was definitely just a one-off! The bus to Kathmandu had taken the shortest route through the mountains so we told the driver to take this same short route as we presumed it would be far less hair-raising in a 4 wheel drive jeep than on a bus. He then proceeded to take us on a totally different route which we kept telling him, but he just kept saying “everything ok – don’t worry”! So in the end we gave in and I must admit we really enjoyed the fantastic scenery and the road was ok for most of the time, as far as Nepali roads go! The last hour we went through the mountains and I think even our driver (who was born and bred in Kathmandu) was surprised at how bad the track was (you really couldn’t call it a road!) but he admitted afterwards that he thoroughly enjoyed driving! To give you an idea, he couldn’t go any faster than 10 k.p.h. in the mountains! On a “normal” road 40 k.p.h. is about the fastest anyone can drive due to numerous and sometimes very large potholes.

He dropped us off in Gyalthum at 12.00 hours and after a cold drink, we started off on the long walk back to Golphu . It started off flat and then turned into a very steep incline to Golphu which we reckoned would take about 2 hours to climb. Well we reckoned wrong – the flat bit took us much longer than we expected and the climb up took us 3-4 hours. The incline was 50% and it just never seemed to end! Luckily we met some of the Golphu schoolteachers in Gyalthum who lived there and were also returning to school as lessons started again after the Tihar holiday on Sunday. One of the Chinese workers at the Melamchi Water Plant rents a house next to Rajan (one of the English teachers) – so Rajan had rung him and asked him to pick us all up and bring us as far as possible. Philip reckoned this saved us about 1-2 hours of walking, so we were really glad we had met the teachers. Rajan asked us how much we had paid for the jeep but we didn’t dare tell him, so we just said that it was really expensive. He told us to let him know when we next wanted to go to Kathmandu as he had family/friends who would only charge NRS 1500/ € 15 for a jeep!!! This is the benefit of staying in a village and getting to know people – they can arrange things for us for the local price which is a fraction of the price foreigners would normally be charged!

The group of 8 teachers insisted on walking back with us the whole way to Golphu even though we begged them to walk on without us, as we walk twice as slowly as they do. But they wouldn’t listen and stayed with us even when it started to pour with rain during the last half hour! Rajan also insisted on carrying my rucksack which I must admit I was very pleased about! Finally at about 1700 hours we arrived in Golphu – absolutely shattered and soaking wet! We thanked the teachers and Rajan in particular and offered them a drink but understandably they wanted to get out of their wet clothes as quick as possible!

It felt so good to be back in Golphu again and we received a very warm welcome from the villagers so it really felt like we were home again! After changing our clothes and drinking a lovely cup of hot chocolate with rum, we ordered dinner (as that mostly takes an hour to prepare!). At that moment the heavens really opened and as it was now dark, we thanked our lucky stars and our good fortune at meeting the teachers and that we were now safely inside our lodge and not still climbing back in the rain and dark to Golphu! That night we went to bed really early at 19.30 and fell quickly into a deep sleep!

SUNDAY 14 NOVEMBER
After breakfast and a hot bucket shower, we lazed around in the sun with our neighbours and decorated our room further with some of my summer clothes and 2 posters we’d brought from Kathmandu .The room looks really cosy now and luckily Philips likes it as well!

Yet again we missed the carving up of a goat right opposite our lodge, but we did watch the opposite neighbour cut and fry the meat. The khukuri knife (used my Sherpas) she used to cut the meat was so sharp, that all she needed to do was run the meat over the blade! A porter staying in our lodge told us the locals pay about NRS 250 / € 2,50 per kilo meat and that you can get about 38 kilos from a large goat. Apparently only the meat from a male goat is eaten as female goat meat is not tasty and neither is buffalo meat if it is not eaten immediately.

At about 1600 hours we gave 2 French trekkers and 1 Belgian a tour of the school. The French later asked for our brochure and said they would contact us, so hopefully they will send a donation when they return home. They both work in the bone marrow transplant ward of a hospital in Paris and a few years ago she had helped to build a school in Africa (can’t remember which country). We gave them 30 brochures to give to Biru as they were hoping to reach Mangengoth the next day – using trekkers is a handy way of getting messages to other villages as to our knowledge there is no postal system in the mountains!! They enjoyed the tour very much and found it interesting.

After dinner we went to our room and I started my book “Sensory Biographies” while Philip did his Sudoku and later in the evening we watched about 45 minutes of what we had filmed so far. We’ve already filmed about 2 hours so Philip has a lot of editing to do when we return to Holland!!

MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER
Today I decided to start giving English conversation lessons as Rajan came by to discuss this with me. We decided it would be best if I gave extra lessons every day to Class 10 before school (from 09.45 - 10.30 hours) as they are due to take their School Leaving Certificate in March and need practice in speaking English as part of the test is a verbal test. I will also give 2 lessons a week using their text book to Grade 9 and 2 lessons a week to Grade 8 – so in total about 10 hours a week to start with. I’ll see how that goes and if I want to do more – I can. So after washing some clothes and talking to some English trekkers, one of whom has lived in Nepal for 2 years with his Nepali wife and baby, Philip and I went to school!

I had already suggested to Rajan that in each lesson I give a small talk on certain aspects of Dutch/English life such as education, family life, religion, politics, finances, farming, health and of course waste management! I would then not only be teaching the children about life in another country (which they know little about), I would also be teaching them the correct way to pronounce words. I would then ask them to explain the same aspect of life in Nepal so that they and I would benefit from the classes. The next day I would tell them what I remember and they would tell me what they remember. To be honest I thought it was a brilliant idea and hopefully Rajan does as well. Unfortunately Nepali people never say they disagree with you – they simply verbally agree with you and then subsequently simply not do what you have just suggested!! So only time will tell if Rajan really thinks my idea is good!!

The children are really shy and are not used to answering questions individually, so I had decided to keep the first lesson simple. I told them my name, age, how many sisters and brothers I had, what pets I had and what job I had. They then had to stand up individually and give me the same information about themselves! They were painfully shy so I didn’t correct them too much and Rajan helped them a little as well. At the end of the lesson, I asked a few questions in the hope that someone would stand up and give the answer, but despite my pleading not a soul stood up! Even when I looked at a pupil directly in the eye and asked a question, they just looked blankly back. I can’t point at a certain child as pointing at someone is considered very rude in Nepal! Later Rajan told me that it is acceptable to point at children at school as otherwise no one would stand up to answer a question! I really hope they will become less shy as time goes on but I mustn’t forget that patience is a virtue! One of my questions was how many people do you think live in Nepal and much to my surprise even the English teacher Rajan didn’t know the answer so of course neither did the children. Thankfully Philip was sitting in the class as an observer so he could tell them that about 29 million people live in Nepal!

I then gave an English lesson to the Grade 5 pupils and was presented with a text book by one of the teachers, so I gathered I was supposed to teach a particular lesson. I read the text which was about Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and I am quite convinced the children didn’t understand much! The English was really difficult with words like space shuttle, astronaut and space suit! I decided to make them repeat each sentence after me so I could correct the pronunciation and that seemed to work. But the moment I deviated from the lesson and asked them the name of the first person to walk on the moon – the silence was deafening! Do they understand what they are saying I wonder or are they just too shy to talk? In the 4 English lessons I had followed the week before, the teacher spoke most of the time and they just repeated him in unison! This is going to be hard work I fear, especially as I am not a trained teacher so I am basically just “winging it”!

After lunch, I wrote up my diary and brought in the washing which was now nearly dry. Their method of spreading it on the grass works but only if the goats, cows, buffaloes, chickens and children don’t walk all over it! One of Philip’s T-shirts was actually dirtier than it had been before it had been washed!

We showed some more trekkers from Italy the school which they found interesting but unfortunately they didn’t give us a donation. We decided that in in future after a tour, we would give people a brochure in the hope that they will send a donation after they have returned home!

TUESDAY 16 NOVEMBER
Today I gave my second lesson before school to Class 10 and I gave them information on Holland such as: Holland is in Europe, has approximately 16 million inhabitants, is approximately 250 kms long and 200 kms wide, is totally flat and that the sea, Belgium and Germany border Holland. I wrote all this information on the board and asked them to repeat what I had written so I could correct their pronunciation. I chose at least 5 or 6 pupils to stand up and repeat each sentence on their own, which most of them found very difficult as they are so shy, so sometimes I asked the left-hand side of the class to read from the board and sometimes the right-hand side. There are about 26 pupils in Class 10 of which only 6 are girls! One of the reasons for the high “drop-out” rate is that after Class 6 they have to pay for their education and another reason is that some of the girls leave to get married at a young age (15 years old).

Then I asked them to give me the same information on Nepal which most of them didn’t know (which I had suspected). So yet again I wrote all this information on the board and asked individual pupils to stand up and read from the board: Nepal is in Asia, has approximately 29 million inhabitants, is approximately 800 kms long and 200 kms wide, and that India, China and Tibet border Nepal. They did of course know that Everest is the highest mountain and one pupil even knew that Everest is 8,848 meters high!!

The class went very well considering I have never taught a class in my life (felt really funny writing on the blackboard)! IF they remember what I told them, I will have improved their general knowledge and also their pronunciation. I also felt that the children were becoming slightly less shy in standing up and speaking on their own.

The second lesson I took was to Grade 9 students and I followed the lessons from their text book but I had the feeling that this lesson didn’t go so well. I will ask the teachers for my own text book so that I can prepare the lesson beforehand. We also decided that for the moment, I will give 2 lessons a day in the morning. This might not sound much but I need time to keep up my diary and to consult with Mr. Julphe (the Headmaster) on a number of matters regarding damp-proofing the classrooms. He keeps us informed of every step that is taken and also asks our opinion which we really appreciate.

After a delicious Mars spring roll for lunch we met Mr. Julphe at the school and he signed an agreement which Philip had made detailing exactly what we are going to do and stating the price. He told us a contract with the contractor was not necessary as the contractor will be paid per day and if the price of damp-proofing the school is higher than € 2000 the school will pay the rest.

We then walked round the school with Mr. Julphe as Philip wanted to start shoveling away the soil against the school but Mr. Julphe explained that a bulldozer was necessary as there was too much soil to remove manually! Philip didn’t really agree with him but sometimes it’s necessary to give in. We also learned that they would use the same cement they had used in the staffroom and we could see for ourselves that there was no evidence of damp on this cement, so it is far better than the clay used in the classrooms where most of the damp is. He also explained that the monsoon water now pours down the hill and falls directly onto the school and the small ditch beside the school fills up quickly with water and a lot of soil and sand. He would like to try to divert the water away from the school by digging a ditch halfway down the hill around the school.

He also told us that his dream is to build 2 more classrooms for the final 2 grades of school (11 and 12) which takes 2 and 3 years consecutively to complete. His idea is to build a second floor on top of the new staff room and use the top floor as a staffroom so the teachers can oversee all the classrooms. He also told about the road near the school. The idea is to build a road from Gyalthum to Golphu. Each village will pay for their own section of the road as of course the government will not contribute! The problem is that because all they do is bulldoze a way and don’t make a hard surface, every year the monsoon ruins the road by causing long and deep grooves in the road. He told us that it will cost approximately NRS 100,000 / € 1000 to repair the road between Golphu and Chitre (about 5 kms).

We gave 2 Dutch people and a German a tour of the school but unfortunately the only donation we received was 5 pens for the pupils!

WEDNESDAY 17 NOVEMBER
After a hot bucket shower and washing some clothes we went to school. Four children gave their presentation of what I had taught them about Holland and Nepal the day before and much to my surprise they did very well. I then taught them about how the Dutch build dykes in Holland. Luckily I had asked Philip to come as well as I anticipated needing his help which I did! I wonder how much of this lesson the children will remember tomorrow. Thankfully they are becoming slightly less shy in talking individually!

2 men came to measure the first 3 classrooms so they know how much wood to chop for the floor. The 3 rooms are about 15 feet by 15 feet and Mr. Julphe told us they would use wood of about 1½ inches thick, but first they will lay beams over the floor. They may go to cut the wood tomorrow but on the other hand they might not (!) so he promised to let us know if they do as we want to go with them to film them chopping the wood.

During lunch half of the SMC came by including Mr. Julphe and Rajan as Maja Sherpa was in Golphu for the WCDCSS meeting. We were very pleased as we had wanted to be present at this meeting. The meeting had already been held but as the Chairman had not been present, no consensus had been reached on how to spend the € 1000 designated for the villagers. They were however interested in buying goats but for 4 groups of people which is of course much better than just buying goats for individuals. They want to also buy goats for 2 other villages nearby Golphu, namely Pakhegaon (where there is also a school which Leah from OUEST also supported in the past) and Boldegaon.

We also told them about our idea of making/buying souvenirs such as jewelry, woolen hats, scarves and gloves, and coasters. Rajan told me that Maya was enthusiastic about the idea. I also showed them some souvenirs we had bought in Thulo Syrabu. Rajan said that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 23 November at 13.00 hours and that he would bring someone from his village, Gyalthum, who is experienced in knitting and some of her products, as someone needs to teach the villagers how to knit. I really hope this idea works because I am convinced they should try to make money from the tourists as the Helambu trek passes right through Golphu. We also told them that one donor wants to sponsor a local girl from one of the poorest families to go to local school. The donor concerned also donated money to buy her parents a goat as compensation because the girl will no longer be able to help her parents at home and in the fields. Plus another donor wants to sponsor a mother per month. They have a lot to discuss next week in their meeting! Rajan will thankfully also come to the meeting to help translate!

While we were discussing all this, one of the teachers was looking at our photo’s on the camera and she had to laugh when she came to the photo of Philip wrapped up in a sleeping bag – he looked just like a caterpillar!

After that we went to our favourite spot by the River Chhopshung Khola to bask in the sun and to relax and also to read the Grade 8 text book that I had been given so I can prepare properly for my lessons!

THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER
After giving 2 lessons at school, one of which was my first lesson from their school text book which went quite well, we went with Mr. Julphe and 2 woodcutters to find and cut some trees. Luckily we only walked downhill for about 20 minutes and we took a new route so that was interesting as we saw some other small villages on the way.

After 3 birch trees had been chosen (they needed to be as straight as possible), the bargaining began. Eventually Mr. Julphe agreed a price of NRS 10,000 /€ 100 with the lady who owned the land. Considering the trees were about 30 meters high, we thought that was really cheap! Then the 2 woodcutters took it in turns to cut down the trees and it only took about 15 minutes to cut each tree down with an axe. Very spectacular to watch the tree come crashing down and praying it would fall in the anticipated direction! Unfortunately the second tree fell on some rocks and partially split the tree which means it can only be used for beams and not for the floor. The deal was sealed with 3 cups of tea and some biscuits (which we had brought) in the lady’s house. Initially they seated us outside on a bamboo mat because ( as we learned later) they thought we wouldn’t like the smoke in the house, but we soon convinced them otherwise. Most Nepalese people use a wood fire to cook and the only ventilation is the open front door and the windows as there is no chimney, so the house is mostly very smoky. This is why more than 26,000 children under the age of 5 years old die due to smoke-related illnesses.

The 30 minute walk back was fairly painless considering it was all uphill with a gradient of 50%. They took back on a different route – funny how you realize there is a maze of trails to follow if you venture just a little bit off the main trekking trail!

FRIDAY 19 NOVEMBER
This morning I decided to extend my daily walk through the village while waiting for breakfast and I met Mr. Julphe. He asked me if we agreed to wait 15 days for the delivery of cement as then the last portion of the road to Boldegaon will have been repaired. It had of course been damaged by monsoon rains the year before. This means we will only have to pay the porters NRS 150 per person instead of NRS 300. Seeing as about 100 porters are necessary, a saving of € 150 can be made by waiting 2 weeks. After discussing this with Philip, we agreed with his proposal, as we appreciate him trying to cut costs as much as possible. The damp-proofing work takes about 2 weeks according to Mr. Julphe so even if the work doesn’t start until the beginning of December, they should be ready before the snow comes in January/February. We only hope the cold weather and snow doesn’t come early this year!

I gave my first solo lesson to Class 10 today as Rajan had gone to Kathmandu. The kids knew this so only 6 pupils turned up for the pre-school class at 09.45 hours! At least they benefitted from the nearly individual tuition! I tried a new exercise in which I said the Nepali word and they had to tell me the English translation. I hoped that by listening to my bad Nepali accent, they would feel less shy to speak English and I think my idea worked!

While I was giving lessons, Philip went into the woods and cut some wood with his khukuri knife for the H.A.N.D.S. and Slokker Bouwbedrijf banners! When the cement and wood are brought up to Golphu, we intend to walk at the beginning of the 100 man strong processions with these banners!
After a Mars spring roll for lunch (yes it was delicious!) and chatting to Julphe over a cup of tea, we lazed around in the sun, reading and writing up our diaries. One of our neighbours (Santi Gurung) was nursing a baby goat which was obviously dying and later on we saw a Shaman (medicine man) giving the baby goat what we presumed were the last rites. This sounds silly but it was very moving to see.

We sat with the opposite neighbours (Ranju and Darci Gurung) as they were cooking dinner and it was nice and warm by the fire and interesting to see which strange vegetables they eat and of course to build a bond with them!

SATURDAY 20 NOVEMBER
There was no school today as there was a local festival taking place in Dubche! This is an annual event for the Sherpa people in which they get together and dance, sing, eat and drink. Sherpa people from all the surrounding villages go to this festival and mostly in large groups. After lunch a group of about 50-60 people passed through Golphu on their way to Dubche, which is about 1½ hours walk from Golphu. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best and the procession was led by 3 Jangri’s (bombo in Sherpa language and medicine man in English!) who drive out evil spirits! They wore long white swirling robes, bright purple jackets, a black hat with a colourful band, a long stick on their back with the Hindu God Shiva’s trident at the top and 4 long colourful scarves bound round the stick and belts with bells on them. They were led by a man playing a special drum (don’t know the name of the drum) and the Jangri’s also played drums, tapping out a beat which Philip said reminded him of a heartbeat! When they reached the stupa (Buddhist monument) in Golphu, the Jangri’s danced around the stupa and their dance reminded us of the Greeks priests with their swirling robes! About 10 girls and 10 men danced behind the Jangri’s, their arms crossed behind their backs and holding the next persons hand. The dance was very simple but still impressive to see and the men and women sing songs, the men sing a few lines first and then the women sing a few lines. The singing and dancing continued even after the stupa had been blessed and the whole procession continued their walk to Dubche.

The villagers and us joined the procession and we climbed the mountain for about an hour before stopping for a bite to eat and of course to drink some Rakshi (local whisky). The singing and dancing never stopped even though they were walking up a mountain – amazing! We were also offered some very spicy beans, very hard bread and Rakshi to warm us up for the coming night!

The last 30 minutes we walked down the mountains in near darkness so that was challenging to say the least, but thankfully we kept up with the group without falling! At about six o’clock we reached the festival area where there must have been about 1500 Sherpa’s dancing and singing the same songs and dances which had been performed in Golphu. There were food stalls everywhere and we tossed caution to the wind and munched happily on buffalo momo’s (soft pastry with meat inside) washed down with yet more rakshi!

We wandered round and sat down at various stalls and talked a little bit to the Sherpas (most people speak a little English) whilst warming ourselves round the fires! In the course of the evening we joined in with the singing and dancing as best we could and both we and they thought it was great fun that we joined in! The whole atmosphere was fantastic and we were told time and time again that this was a special event that only occurred once a year.

At about 23.00 hours we decided against partying all night (as most of them do) and looked round for someone familiar to guide us through the mountains back to Golphu. We searched for the lodge owners granddaughter Purphi who had come with us to Dubche as we had promised her grandfather that we would walk back to Golphu with her. Despite walking round the area many times and shouting her name, we just couldn’t find her. Neither could we find her uncle Purpha (the cook of the lodge), or any of the schoolteachers, and Pasang (from the lodge opposite us) wanted to stay longer, so in the end we assumed that Purphi and her uncle had already gone home without us.

There was nothing else to do but to try and walk home on our own and hope we remembered the way. We really didn’t want to stay at the festival and sleep there on the ground as when you stop dancing and drinking, it’s freezing! A couple from Serbia came with us as they also wanted to stay the night in Golphu but had no lodge there and also no idea of how to get there! Luckily we had been sensible enough to bring our torches with us and there was a full moon. Nevertheless the hour walk back was exciting to say the least, but thankfully Philip has a good sense of direction and a good memory, so he brought us all home safely! I still can’t believe Philip remembered the way back – very impressive!

When we arrived back at the lodge at about midnight, it appeared that the lodge owner Pasang had forgotten his promise to leave the front door open! We called out to him constantly and loudly for about 10 minutes (probably waking up the whole neighbourhood in the process) but to no avail! Every door and window was bolted tightly so there was no way in! After discussing sleeping in the school (which they never lock) we tried one more time to awaken the lodge owner and suddenly a Japanese tourist appeared at a window! We had met him that morning and thankfully advised him to stay in our lodge when he asked us which of the 2 lodges was the best. So this was really karma (fate) at work! He was unable to open the front door as it was locked with a padlock so we shouted to him to try to open the back door and thankfully he could! So after climbing over the back fence of corrugated iron, we thankfully piled into the lodge and cursed the lodge owner who still hadn’t woken up!

We showed the couple from Serbia where they could sleep (there are 6 rooms in our lodge and thankfully 2 were vacant) and then sat in our room to discuss what to do about Purphi. She is only 9 years old and we were quite sure that she hadn’t arrived home yet and neither had the cook. We felt responsible for her and didn’t think we would sleep well until we knew for sure whether she was home or not. So we went downstairs again and suddenly heard the lodge owner snoring loudly but of course the door to the room where he slept was locked, so we shouted really loudly and shone torches through the windows of his room and finally we heard some movement. The lodge owner was now awake! His English is not very good but we managed to explain the situation to him and he told us Purphi and her Uncle, the cook had not arrived home, but we were not to worry as they would probably sleep the night at the festival! We are still surprised at how adult the kids are here – they learn domestic chores very early on in their lives and are left pretty much to their own devices during the day but also during the night.

So somewhat relieved we tumbled happily into our sleeping bags to try and get some sleep before the 6 o’clock noisy morning ritual started!

SUNDAY 21 NOVEMBER
Despite going to bed late, we still woke up at 6.30 a.m. as all day long, loads of people passed through Golphu on their way back home from Dubche. They stayed in the village to have a chat and buy stuff or to have something to eat. We had never seen the village so busy and we really didn’t like it! So in the afternoon we went to the river and relaxed in the sun which was lovely and warm.

Unfortunately we then discovered that we couldn’t find the Nepalese mobile. Despite searching everywhere we couldn’t find it anywhere and realized that it had probably been stolen by a porter. I had left the room unlocked for only 2 minutes that morning to go and brush my teeth while Philip was downstairs. This particular porter seemed very strange and the 2 Dutch girls he accompanied also said that he was a strange guy. We were really annoyed especially as my parents were due to ring me that night. I sent my sisters a text message telling them to ring me on my Dutch mobile which is very expensive but it was worth it!! Strangely enough we could only get through to them on Philips mobile and not mine even though we have the same provider. But it was very misty that night so maybe it was just pot luck.

2 teachers came to look at our room as a few teachers have already seen our room and I think the word has spread that we have a lovely room full of interesting things! They invited us to morning tea the next day at 07.00! I still don’t know why we didn’t say that was too early!

In the evening we talked to 3 trekkers (from Australia, Belgium and Germany) plus the couple from Serbia we had brought back from Dubche. We told them all about our project and they had some good suggestions and comments so before we knew it, it was 21.30 hours – time for bed!

MONDAY 22 NOVEMBER

We went to have tea with the 3 teachers at 08.00 hours – Philip had popped round at 07.00 hours and told them we had only just woken up, so we would come an hour later. I’m sure they didn’t mind as Philip said some of them were still in bed! They rent 2 rooms and a corridor where their clay stove is for NRS 1000 / € 100 per month from Mr. Julphe’s brother who is a politician. Their rooms were really small with a low ceiling and the walls were decorated with some posters of famous Indian and Nepali actresses but also with newspaper! Like us they had hooks on the walls to hang their clothes on. One of them was cooking breakfast and after drinking some tea, they invited us to breakfast, but we declined as we had only just eaten breakfast. It was very interesting to see how they lived but we were glad we had decided not to rent a room for ourselves but to stay in a lodge as our room is definitely larger and higher! It’s also nice to talk to other trekkers in the evening.

Unfortunately only 3 girls turned up at my class 10 lesson – the rest of the class obviously knew that Rajan was still in Kathmandu! I still gave my lesson though and it went well as the 3 girls were given my undivided attention. As I’d left the door of the classroom open, loads of kids stood in the doorway to listen – hopefully they learned something as well!

Meanwhile Philip had been talking to 2 German girls who passed through the village. He showed them the school and they were very interested in our project. Apparently they had raised some money for the Nepali people and had given some of this money to an orphanage in Kathmandu which was run by a Dutch guy. But they didn’t want to give all the money to the orphanage and Philip had the idea that after seeing the school, they were seriously interested in donating the rest of the money to H.A.N.D.S. This would be great of course, even though we have no idea how much money they may donate – every penny is welcome!

We had another meeting at 12.00 hours as Mr. Julphe wanted to discuss the price the woodcutters were asking for cutting and sawing the wood. He told us he had bargained them down to NRS 14,000 / € 140. We found that rather expensive but then he explained that it would take 2 men at least 14 days to cut and saw the wood. He told us that he was doing his very best to keep the prices down and that the school would pay any costs above the € 2,000 we were donating. I explained to him that we knew this and appreciated it but that we wanted to inform ourselves about the whole process of damp-proofing the school as this was also a learning process for us. He understood this thankfully and translated what I had said to the other SMC members.

Later on we told him that our mobile had been stolen and of course he told us we should have never left the door to our room unlocked! When I told him that it was annoying as we had agreed that my parents would ring me the night before and we had had to use our Dutch mobiles which was very expensive, he told us that our opposite neighbours had a public telephone, which we were surprised to hear as I’m sure we had asked him about this before. We will buy another mobile card when we are next in Kathmandu, so I’ll only pass this public number on to my family in case they can’t get through on our mobile phones the next time they want to ring (in the meantime we’ve given this number to Philip’s daughters and they simply can’t get through so that’s why I haven’t told my family about this number).

After lunch we rang Biru (the father of Dawa) and told him we were planning to come to Kutumsang on Thursday and if possible we would like to visit the school on Friday. We had used the public telephone but we had to ring back 3 times as due to fog, the connection broke several times! Biru agreed to take us to the school on Friday so it will be nice to see him again. In case you have forgotton we have decided not to spend all the donations on Golphu as there are 28,000 other villages in Nepal which need help! We have decided to donate € 1000 to the village of Thulo Syabru (where Dawa’s grandfather lives) for 3 public toilets. Upon Biru’s request (the father of Dawa) we will also donate a maximum of € 1000 for buying 20 school benches and tables for 3 new classrooms which have just been built in the village of Kutumsang (where Biru’s in-laws live) which is 4 hours walk away from Golphu. We obviously intend to visit the school before transferring the money! We hope that people who have given a donation agree with this change of plans!

No trekkers tonight so we spent a quiet night reading and learning some more Nepalese . We know 100 words now including about 10 sentences!

TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER

After giving my 2 morning lessons and having lunch we went to the WCDCSS women’s meeting at 13.00 hours. Much to our surprise the meeting began on time! About 20 women were sitting on the grass in a circle in front of the School which Leah from OUEST had built in 2000 for pre-school children to attend in the morning. Unfortunately as OUEST pulled out of Nepal early this year, the funding for a teacher has also been withdrawn. It only costs about € 250 a year to pay for a teacher but we don’t really feel that pre-school education is sufficiently important for us to finance. The WCDCSS use the building for their meetings so at least the building is still in use.

The chairman of the SMC and Rajan the English teacher explained to the meeting that we proposed funding a training scheme for the villagers to learn knitting. As previously stated I am convinced the villagers could earn more money from the tourists by selling cultural items which they have made themselves. There is absolutely nothing like that to buy in Golphu. We will finance the training and a starters kit for people interested. In the Thulo Syabru area knitting is very popular and I think they earn quite well from selling scarves, gloves, slippers and hats. Rajan spoke at length to them about this, as with anything new, people have to be convinced that it is a good idea. He had also brought some articles with him from his village, Gyalthum to show the villagers but he only took articles that had been woven. He told us there were many more articles including knitwear in the training centre in Gyalthum which we were pleased to hear. We explained to him that we were quite sure it would be much cheaper to finance the purchase of knitting needles as these are far cheaper than a weaving loom. We agreed that as soon as possible we would visit the training centre in Gyalthum with Rajan to view all the products they made.

Much to our surprise he told us we should also visit the school in Gyalthum which at least 1000 pupils attend. He told us they give higher education (Grade 11 and 12) and college education. We were really surprised as we had not seen any large buildings in Gyalthum, but it is probably situated away from the main road. We will definitely visit the school and training centre when we get back from Kutumsang.

We told Rajan what we thought tourists would pay for the articles (handkerchief, scarf, bag and tablecloth) but he admitted he wasn’t sure how much the people who had made the items wanted to sell them for. He agreed to ask them their asking price and then we can try and sell some items to convince the villagers that there is a profit to be made from selling souvenirs like this to the tourists.

Then Rajan came out with his hat trick! He had bought 3 large bricket-like blocks in Kathmandu which are made of clay and leaves and then pressed together to form a hard block. After placing this in a flame for a few minutes, a chemical reaction occurs and the block produces very low flames (about 2 cms high) and most importantly no smoke! The block produces heat for about 2 hours. We were really curious about this so Rajan agreed to come to our lodge that evening to test the product out.

After examining all the products Rajan had brought with him, we agreed that the villagers would write down the names of everyone interested in being trained to knit or to weave and Rajan would let us know the result the next day.

At six o’clock as promised, Rajan came round to test the brickets. He held them in a fire for a few minutes (which the cook really appreciated as he was in the middle of making dinner!) and then we put the bricket on a stone in the dining room. After about 20 minutes suddenly small flames came out of the 10 or 15 holes in the top of the bricket and within about 20 minutes the room was warm! More and more villagers came to see this “spectacle” and I ran and got our neighbours to have a look as well. The room was crowded with villagers and we had great fun! It was absolutely the sensation of the evening and I kept embarrassing Rajan by saying that he would now become rich and famous by selling “Rajan’s fire” as I called it. Several villagers also realized that using these brickets were far better for the environment than wood. The beauty of this product is also that no smoke is produced so trekkers can use them to heat up the dining room or their own rooms (there is no heating in the lodges apart from in the kitchen). Rajan told us he had bought the brickets for NRS 45 / €0,45 but that they could be bought be in bulk from a wholesaler for NRS 20 / € 20. I asked a couple of Dutch trekkers if they would pay € 1 for the brickets and they said they would and believe me so would we! So the villagers could make a great profit by selling these brickets, especially if they learn how to make them themselves. Rajan also agreed to find out about the wholesale price and how to make them. The fire lasted for about 2 hours which is perfect as we mostly go up to our room anyway by about 20.00 hours.

WEDNESDAY 24 NOVEMBER

The school closed for one day today as unfortunately a young boy in Grade 4 had died of jaundice the night before in a Kathmandu hospital. The chairman informed the children at the 10.30 assembly and a 2 minute silence was held. It brought home to me again the fact that many people die here as they simply cannot reach medical help in time, or that they cannot pay for good health care. Even if they can afford to pay the hospital fees, I wonder just how good the care is that they are given. We started wondering if this was also an area we could branch out into – financing healthcare clinics in villages as sometimes people have to walk for hours and even days to the nearest healthcare clinic.

We gave a French couple a tour of the school and they gave NRS 1000 / € 10 donation – so we were really pleased about that!

THURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER

After my 2 morning classes and lunch, we waited for Maya Sherpa to pick us up at 13.30 as she wanted us to visit her home on our way to Kutumsang. Unfortunately when we checked with Rajan we realized that yet another misunderstanding had occurred. She was waiting for us at the lodge outside Golphu – I thought she was coming to our lodge! So we quickly walked up to meet her. She took us to her home in the village of Ghyang which comprises of her home and her grandfather’s home! For Nepali standards, it was quite a large house with surprisingly high ceilings.

After eating a fried egg (!) and drinking 2 glasses of Tibetan rakshi (honey, yak butter and sugar are added) we started talking business! Luckily her daughter Sangita was also there so she translated as Maya doesn’t speak much English. She told us that the villagers from Pakhegaon were not really interested in following knitting/weaving classes as they have no time. Most of the women have to work on the fields as well as running a household. We were disappointed to hear this but apparently 4 women from Golphu are interested in following a training. One thing we have learned is that if the villagers are not enthusiastic about a plan – it simply will not work, so we will not push the idea.

She told us that the school in Pakhegaon does need help and that if we wanted to visit the school she would be glad to take us there. One of the teachers there does speak English so he/she can tell us exactly what kind of help they need. We explained that we didn’t have the money now, but that we would visit the school soon as we want to itemize projects that need help and next year we will try to raise/find funds for these projects. We are particularly interested in funding projects that are NOT on the trekking routes as these villages need help far more, so Pakhegaon definitely interests us.

After giving us 2 hats which she had knitted/woven herself we left at about 16.15 hours and Sangita took us on a shortcut to Kutumsang. As we arrived at the Namaste Lodge in Kutumsang so late (17.15 hours) they had presumed we weren’t coming till the next day and had given our room away! So they put us in their Uncle’s lodge next door for one night. We really enjoyed the good food and a lovely warm fire!

FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER

After breakfast and a cold “hot” shower (!) we moved to the Namaste lodge (which is run by Biru’s in-laws). Biru arrived soon after and after he had eaten breakfast we walked for 1 hour down to Solshing Gaon. It is a nice village of about 400 people and a small school for 160 children from Grade 1 to Grade 6. The Headmaster and most of the teachers are from the Terai region of Nepal. We itemized what they wanted and wrote them an example of the type of letter they should write to us. At about 14.00 hours we returned back to Kutumsang and luckily Biru’s father-in-law, Larkarl Sherpa knew the quick route back so it only took 1 hour to get back. We relaxed in the sun after some good food and talked to Biru and also 2 Danish trekkers. In the evening we ate a really tasty pizza in the nice warm kitchen which was very cosy.

SATURDAY 27 NOVEMBER

In the morning we went to visit the school in Nenyembe which thankfully only took about 20 minutes to reach. The school is set in a very strange setting as all the villagers have left the village to live in Kathmandu so the only building in use is the school building.

After itemizing what they wanted we received the ritual scarf and tikkha and returned back to Kutumsang to eat dahl baht with the family in the kitchen. After lunch we said goodbye to Biru as he had to get back home to his family and of course the lodge. His lodge is the only one in the area so he always feel uneasy leaving his wife and 2 young children there alone.

In the afternoon we relaxed again in the sun as it was lovely and hot and we talked to 3 young trekkers from Slovenia and a Dutch guy who had been forced to descend due to altitude sickness. We also enjoyed a warm shower as they have large solar panels here. The trick is to shower in the afternoon when the sun has had time to warm up the water! We had good fun with the Slovenians and talked quite a bit to Lahtul (the eldest son of the family). We really enjoyed the food here as there are some slightly different but very delicious items on the menu such as pizza and chocolate pancake!

SUNDAY 28 NOVEMBER

After breakfast we visited the health centre in Kutumsang as we wanted to see what the average Health Centre looked like. After lazing in the sun again, lunch and yet again a lovely hot shower we walked back to Golphu. Lahtul went with us and carried my rucksack! It only took us 1½ hours so we’re definitely getting quicker as previously it had taken us 2 hours.

Golphu was abnormally quiet when we got back but we discovered that someone in the village had died that morning so most of the villagers were up on a hill behind the village to attend the cremation. The man who had died was about 55 years old and the cause of death was unknown, but apparently he liked his rakshi very much! His four children lived abroad so they didn’t arrive until after the cremation.

After unpacking we went with Purphi to watch the cremation. As with the other ceremony in Thulo Syrabu all the villagers were there and the atmosphere was very relaxed and nobody minded at all when we asked if could film and take photos. Some of the villagers were busy collecting pine branches to put on the funeral pyre, others were sitting in a circle drinking Tibetan tea and of course the ceremony would not be complete without the local Lama. Pasang was also there to learn from his father. They read and sang many mantras and then the Lama walked round the funeral pyre a few times and this was apparently the sign for the fire to be lit. A cloth with about 20 dishes of rice, herbs, spices, water, probably rakshi and various other things were spread in front of the Lama and as the fire burned, these things were first blessed and then poured onto the fire. Pasang explained to us later that as the person is dead they are unable to feed themselves so food and drink are “given” to dead people. After a while we left as the ceremony appeared to be nearly finished and it was getting very cold!

In the evening Rajan came to our lodge as he had found out about the costs for a weaving and knitting course for the villagers. After a lot of persuasion, the trainer was prepared to come to Golphu to train the women for six months but she asked RS 15,000 / € 150 per month for the training plus money for food and accommodation. Even without the food and accommodation costs, this would cost € 900 for the six month period it would take to train the women to a professional standard. The course would have to be held daily which none of the women would have time for as they have to look after their shop/lodge or farm AND they have to look after their family. Although the knitting course would only take 1½ months to train the women to a basic standard, the same applied here – the women simply do not have this time. We only have € 1000 so we don’t have enough money as the training alone costs € 900 and we would also have to supply the women with a starters pack. So we all came to the conclusion that sadly a knitting or weaving course was simply not a good idea, as we don’t have the money and the women don’t have the time.

Rajan also told us that the villagers were far from happy, as it appeared to them some of the € 1000 designated for the villagers of Golphu would now be spent on the villagers in Pakhegaon. We explained to Rajan that we did not really understand how the woman’s group WCDCSS worked. He explained to us that there were 7 groups in the WCDCSS – 4 groups from Golphu and 3 groups from other villages including Pakhegaon. When we heard that, we were really surprised as we thought all the groups came from Golphu. It was then clear to us why the villagers were not very happy. We told Rajan that the money was meant ONLY for the villagers of Golphu and he promised to explain this to Maja Sherpa. We told him to tell Maja that we were still interested in helping the school in Pakhegaon but that we did not have the money now but we would try to find the money on our return to Holland.

We went to bed but neither of us slept very well as we were annoyed that yet again there had been a misunderstanding!