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
