Namje Village Nepal - Kathmandu - Bangkok - Taipei

Hi everyone,

I am writing from the Taipei Airport where I have a 6 hour layover and a fast computer! I will attempt to catch up on the last four days before my time runs out. On October 28th Alice, Pam and I flew from kathmandu to Biratnagar and then were driven to a remote village in the hills of Eastern Nepal. It seems like the experiences just kept getting more and more amazing. Oh, and we were also joined by Manisha, Pam's Nepali "daughter" who she is sponsoring to attend private schools. Manisha is a very impressive 17 year old with excellent English. She served as our translater in the Village and was a huge help and lots of fun.

When we arrived in Namje, we were met by what seemed to be the entire village. There is a stairway of probably 50 stairs leading up to the Village school. On every step there were two villagers on either side to give us flowers. By the time we were half way to the top I couldn't hold them all and another villager carried them to the top for me. At the start of the climb there was a huge sign welcoming each of us by name. A formal welcoming ceremony commenced at the school with speeches by lots of people including each of us. Finally the dancing started by the school children.

Immediately after that we had a meeting with the school teachers, and the water and sanitation committee. This remote village has an incredible water system that was started by a Peace Corps volunteer who lives in New York and who now collaborates with LEI to fundraise and plan projects.

The four of us spent 3 nights sleeping in a village house with Lola and her 5 yr old son and niece. You can probably imagine that the home was filled to overflowing and that we had lots of laughter that filled the evenings when the women would rendezvous at Lola's house.

This is a village that could become a future grantee of Pangea. There are so many villages - it is hard to prioritize where our grants could make the most difference.

After three days of latrines (charpies) I was thrilled to see a toilet seat :) We are so very spoiled in oh so many ways.

In a few hours I will get on the plane again for my final leg returning home on Sunday evening.

Thanks to all who commented on the blog. There were some amazing connections and I will write when I get home.

Take care,

Sydney

October 27th - Janakpur to Kathmandu

As I write I am back in the cyber cafe of Kathmandu with horns blaring on the streets and vendors hawkng their wares. It is a culture shock after being in the more rural areas of the Terai. Linda has started her trek and Walt is making his way home.

Yesterday afternoon and this morning, Pam, and Alice and I visited several villages with completed latrine and drinking water projects. The villagers are eager to report how much better their lives are after learning about sanitation, receiving the materials for a latrine and assisting with the building of their latrine and then the water supply. There is still much to be done in these villages. Their schools are in need of more rooms and more teachers. Several communityand school leaders spoke of the need for libraries and books.

After spending three days with the Womens Development Service Center in Janakpur, I feel privileged to know them and have great respect for the work that they do. They are a good connection for Pangea.

I need to go now to get ready for our last dinner with Dibya,LEIprogram director Nepal. He is incredibly wise, talented, and generous. He has a daughter that is studying in Seattle and living with Pam. I am hoping that he will be able to join us for an education session in the next year or two.

Take care,

Sydney

LEI Projects - Bara Region and Janakpur

The last two days have been very busy starting with our elephant ride on Saturday morning. All three Pangea members climbed into a basket on the elephant's back and headed into the forest. We saw Rhinoceros relaxing in a pond and crocodiles in the river. It was a nice time to be in the woods reflecting on the previous few days.

Following Chitwan we traveled East into the Terai and drove several hours to the Bara Region to meet the women's group in the LEI proposed latrine project. The first stage of an LEI project is forming a savings group and working on an economic development project. This day was graduation day for 27 women that had completed the first stage of training to make incense. We had a great exchange between the women and their families then toured the "Village Development Center" (VDC). The VDC is made up of 7 villages in 9 wards with 9 women's groups (I think I got that right). The last village was a dalit (untouchables) and indigenous community. We met the teacher of a small run down school. She is the only teacher for 170 children. Currently there is no drinking water or latrines at the school. When we left the villages it was getting late. We were surprised to learn we'd be driving through a jungle and have an armed escort. Hmm....

Yesterday we drove five hours from Bara Region to Janakpur. After checking into our hotel we met with women from the Women's Development Service Center (WDSC). This is the local NGO LEI has been working with for the past 5-6 years. Their offices include a training center for Mittale art and sewing. There is an 11 member board and 65 members. They are all volunteers with the exception of 4 staff. Today we visited two schools and a community center where LEI has built latrines and tube wells. The second school has a new latrine that includes latrines for girls and boys and a tank on the roof that provides water for the latrines and even a sink. It was "pheri raamro"!

Linda and Walt headed back to Kathmandu this afternoon but Sydney stayed in Janakpur and will fly to Namje tomorrow.

Nameste!

Kathmandu to Chitwan National Park

The population of Kathmandu has double or tripled in the last 10 years. So it's busy, noisy and the traffic is worse than the "s" curves at rush hour. We have met some great groups including NYOF yesteday afternoon. The founder, Olga Murray, spends 7 months a year nurturing the children she's rescued from the streets.

We left Kathmandu at 5am today to avoid a road strike by the street vendors unions (apparently everything is unionizing here) and headed west then south to the Chitwan region. We spent the better part of the day with Sahamati, Ram Pokrel's (iLeap Fellow) group. They have a complex of buildings and work with more than 1000 women's groups, cooperatives and local NGOs.

We arrived in Chitwan National Park in time to walk to the river and enjoy a beer at sunset. Rumor is we're riding elephants at 7:30am then driving 2 and 1/2 hours to the Bara region to visit our first LEI project. Dibya and Meera (LEI project managers in Nepal) have been incredible hosts and have made all the arrangements for the remainder of the Pangea trip.

Namaste!
Linda

Kathmandu Nepal October 22nd

Hello everyone,

The Pangea travelers in Nepal are Sydney Munger, Walt Adam, and Linda Mason. We are also joined by Pam Elardo and Alice from Living Earth Institute. We arrived in Kathmandu on the afternoon of the 20th and met with Maiti Nepal within minutes of arriving at the airport. Maiti is an amazing organization focused on the prevention of trafficking and the support of the those who they have rescued. The next day we were met at the hotel by ASHA Nepal, a small NGO working to empower women in Nepal. We had the privilege of meeting with a women's group in their village about 45 minutes outside of Kathmandu. We saw some beautiful countryside and more importantly met some very strong hardworking beautiful women who are being supported by ASHA Nepal. We were very impressed by this group and feel that it is a very good fit with Pangea.

Today October 22nd we visited with a very small NGO with called Nepal Children's Education Fund. They provide scholarships for very needy students. We visited with a few students and met two program leaders. The program is all volunteer labor who serve with a great deal of compassion and passion. Again this is an organization for which Pangea could make a very large difference.

This afternoon in just about an hour we will be met by Olga Murray the founder of Nepal Youth opportunitiy foundation. We will visit one of their schools. More on NYOF later.

Tomorrow we all leave Kathmandu with Dibya and his wife Meera who are the Kathmandu leaders of LEI. They have very kindly and graciously arranged for a 5 day journey through the Terai region of Nepal to visit Sahamatie and two LEI projects. We also hope to meet with Support Nepal in Janakpur.

Hopefully we will have access to the internet along the way.

We are all well and happy and looking forward to our road trip!

Take care. More later.

Sydney

Thailand/Cambodia Concludes ... Nepal Begins

It is Monday morning in Bangkok. Sydney and JoAnn said goodbye to Bob and Maryann in Siem Reap last night. The four of us had a wonderful trip and learned so much about this part of the world, the people, and the issues. Our preliminary thoughts for this grant cycle have us leaning toward four Cambodian NGOs: Cambodian Social Services, FEDA Cambodia, Saboras, and Tean Thor. This last NGO is a new contact for us. It is a small grass roots NGO that has a hospice program for HIV/AIDS patients and an after school program for AIDS orphans and other disadvantaged youth. We met Ky Lok who is the founder of the program and on-the-ground director. He is the ultimate manifestation of servant leadership. We were all very impressed with his spirit and the important work he is doing for such a vulnerable population. We were also favorably impressed with the two groups we visited on the Thai-Burma border. Both TACDB and Pattanarak represent the kind of work and leadership that are a good match for Pangea.

Today Sydney moves from her travels in Cambodia and Thailand to joining the Nepal leg of the trip. Bob and Maryann continue on to Vietnam and JoAnn starts her journey back to Seattle on Tuesday.

Social Services of Cambodia October 15

It's morning in Phnom Penh and we are gathering our things to drive to Battambang today. Yesterday we had a marvelous visit with the staff and some clients of Social Services of Cambodia. We drove west from Phnom Penh with Ellen Minotti weaving our way amongst the scooters, tuk tuks, tanker trucks, bicycles and cars to the Kompong Seu offices. We sat and talked with Ellen and the social workers who have been trained and are now trainers in her program. Each of us then went with one social worker and one translator to join a client visit as part of the regular work of SSC. Each of us from Pangea had quite powerful experiences as we observed the interactions of the client and social worker. Amazing stories that make us feel humble as we realize the difficulties faced amongst Cambodians in this rural area.

SSC was started by Ellen Minotti, originally a Seattleite, 15 years ago. Our sense is that this is an incredibly successful NGO making a difference for the people of Phnom Penh and Kompong Seu. We definitely want to maintain a relationship with Ellen.

Now it is on to breakfast and loading the van!

We are all healthy and happy.

Sydney

October 15, Phnom Penh

Yesterday found us all reunited after Bob and Maryann got an early flight out of Bangkok. We met with three groups - all doing amazing work in very diverse ways here in Cambodia.

Our meeting with with Room to Read Cambodia was intended to help us understand their approach to providing scholarships for girls. The program started in Cambodia in 2003 and they have given scholarships to over 1300 girls in several provinces. We were impressed with the selection process and support system for the girls and their families.

Next we met with an amazing woman, Naly Pilorge, who directs the work of LICADHO. This organization is all about human rights and provides social and legal support to the people throughout Cambodia. Naly spoke with us about ways in which a small grant from Pangea could make a difference even in this very large organization. She i s a very passionate and wise woman who wants to bring freedoms back to the Cambodian people. Naly has access to very small communities for whom $5,000 would be huge. We left Naly feeling like we want to maintain and build this relationship with her and LICADHO.

In the afternoon we met with Janne Ritskes, founder of Tabitha Cambodia. Another strong leader, Janne has commited her life to helping the very poorest people of Cambodia help themselves through a program based on savings.

I need to go get breakfast now so that we can leave for our visit with Cambodian Social SErvices.

More later.

Sydney

Phnom Penh Arrival

Hello from Phnom Penh. JoAnn and Sydney arrived as scheduled and were taken to our hotel by our driver as arranged for us by Emma. Thanks Emma! He provided a course in current Cambodian political affairs, while checking addresses for our first meeting tomorrow, while talking on the phone, while negotiating amazing Phnom Penh rush our traffic!

We learned a couple of hours later that Bob and Maryann made it from Chiang Mei to Bangkok OK but were delayed in Bangkok for the night. We expect them to arrive before our second meeting tomorrow morning with LICADHO. Everyone is safe so that is the main point and we were able to communicate with our driver to let him know. So all is well.

Tomorrow will be a full day with meetings starting at 8:30 with Room to Read, 10:30 with LICADHO, and 3:00 with Janne Ritske of Tabitha Foundation.

Take care everyone and stay tuned for news on Cambodia tomorrow.

Sydney

Friday night, October 10 - Bangkok

A full day of meetings with lots of Bangkok traffic in between.

We have the common site visit afflication of engaging with each organization and wanting to find a way to fund them all. The Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB) intervenes with documented and undocumented immigrants with legal assistance. They work to educate the Thai population about the situation of immigrants to make them more helpful and understanding, and to educate the immigrant population to help them understand their rights and the requirements of Thai law. They offer training both in the legal issues and skills to help immigrants gain employment - computer skills and language skills. They have set up libraries to disseminate the information which have become community centers where other social services and training can take place. Mr. Myint Wai is Burmese and has a great deal of credibility with both the Thai government and the Burmese population.

Pattanarak has the very holistic mission of improving the living standards of displaced populations. Mr. Seri Thongmak worked for the Thai government in forestry for several years near the Burmese border and became very familiar with the area and its people and problems. Again, he is one with credibility on both sides. His approach is to train others the lessons he has learned over the last 10 years in development and conservation and sustainability. He has learned that people must help themselves. He is inspired by the Mohamed Yunos model and wants people to learn to save and not just rely on loans. The Pangea project if funded would involve a community micro-credit and a community owned store for essentials, such as rice.

Sydney and I will write up our detailed notes and share them with you all when we get back. But, now it is late and we've had just a little bit of Singha beer at a lovely riverfront restaurant along with some remarkable Thai food. Tomorrow will more tourism for Sydney and JoAnn, and on to Chiang Mai for Bob and Maryann.

Hi to everyone at home in Seattle. We are safe and happy and enjoying making wonderful new contacts here in SE Asia...

Maryann

Rendezvous in Bangkok

Maryann and Bob, and JoAnn and Sydney all arrived safely at the Old Bangkok Inn with smooth flying all the way. This morning we will travel out to the office of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma where we will meet Mr Myint Wai and join him for lunch and then we go to visit Seri Thongmak who directs the Pattanarak Foundation.

You may have read about violence at the Parliament in Bangkok - so just to assure you - the protests are limited to that area and are easy to avoid.

This is just a short note before breakfast on Friday morning Thailand time.

Take care and we will send you all an update on our meetings tomorrow morning at this time.

Sydney

Planning the Journey

Tomorrow we leave Seattle for Bangkok, Cambodia and then on to Nepal.  After months of planning I am anxious to be underway.  My name is Sydney Munger and I will be joined on the Thailand Cambodia leg of this trip by JoAnn Schindler,  and Maryann and Bob Ness.  We will rendezvous in Bangkok where we will have the opportunity to visit with the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma and the Pattanarak Foundation.  Both of these groups work with Burmese immigrants living along the Thai border.  

In Cambodia we will be visiting with programs in Phnom Penh, and Battambang working on issues of human trafficking, women's empowerment, and education for children as well as communities.  

Our Nepal journey begins on October 20th in Kathmandu where I will be joined by Linda Mason, Walt Adam, Pam Elardo and Alice Lancaster.  We will meet with several groups in Kathmandu and for the first three days and then travel to Biratgar, Birganj, and Janakpur before heading home on October 27, 2008.

We intend to post to this blog at the end of each day.   So, sign on frequently and travel along with us.  We will look forward to hearing your comments.