GSE Team at the site of Rotary International Matching Grant Water Project at Gandaki Government Hospital in Pokhara.

A visit to the Shree Siddha Lower Secondary School

On Sunday, March 2, we drove to the hilly area outside of Pokhara and visited a school that the RC of Pokhara has worked with before on expansion projects.  The Pokhara RC previously worked with a RC in Japan to help expand the school.  Now the same school is looking for help to expand once again.  They want to build 4 more additional rooms to expand the school to accommodate up to 10^th grade.  Currently they have a nursery through 8^th grade.  They want 4 more rooms to create a classroom for 9^th grade, 10^th grade, a science lab, and an extra room.  Currently students that finish 8^th grade have to attend a school that is a 1 hour walk from the school we visited.  Some students already walk 1 hour to this school.  The school has a total of 220 students and 10 terachers.  Each grade has its own room which is roughly 12 x 15 feet.

The day we visited was an off day for the students and teachers.  Still many of them showed up to greet us and welcome us to their school.  It was truly amazing and another great example of the warm and welcoming spirit of the Nepali people.

A welcoming flower procession.  Upon arriving at the Shree Siddha Lower Secondary Scool we were greeted by teachers and students with flowers and prayer shawls.  As we made our way down the line of greeters we were handed more and more flowers until they were overflowing out of our cupped hands.




The Head Master of the school, Dharma Girri, treated us to some traditional Nepali dancing while his students sang and played tradtional music.



The Team is in Pokhara

Our Team arrived in Pokhara on March 25.  Since our last post we have visited with five more Rotary Clubs in Nepal.  The Team will be in Pokhara for the next three days spending time with the Rotary Club of Pokhara and the Rotary Club of Pokhara Midtown.

Load shedding.....16 hours a day without electricity

If you read the early posts on this blog, you may have read about 14 hour per day power outages in Nepal. When we read about power outages before heading to Nepal, it was hard to comprehend. I felt sure the situation would be resolved before our arrival.

Well, we're here, and the power is actually off 16 hours every day in Kathmandu and almost that many hours outside the city. In Nepal, this is known as load shedding. The way it works is the power is off 8 hours, on 4 hours, then off 8 hours, etc.

It's amazing how Nepalis cope with this. Some have inverters and generators and do quite well carrying on. Others have rechargeable lights or solar powered lights and spend some amount of time in the dark. I was speaking to someone about how hard it is to get work done in his office during the regular work day. He said they charge their laptops and use them when the power's off. And, some work just doesn't get completed on schedule.

During one Rotary meeting, the room went dark. The meeting went on without any fuss, and the lights came on--I think because the generator kicked into action. In another Rotary meeting, the electricity to run our power point presentation came from a long extension cord that was connected to a neighbor's generator.

Nepalis are easy going people who don't expect everything in their lives to be easy. They're also really resourceful and have adapted well to this challenging situation.

Barbara

Back in Kathmandu

District Governor Elect 2011-2012 Basu Dev Golyan and Liz at Basu's factory in Biratnagar, the industrial capital of Nepal.

The Presidents of the three Rotary Clubs of Biratnagar, District Governor Elect and the GSE Team.

Rotary Club of Dharan's President, Dr Badri Prasad Babu picking rhododendrons-the national flower of Nepal--for us.

Dr. and Mrs. Gyan B Shrestha, Katherine's host family in Dharan

Katherine and Nate with the librarian at the Gramin Janata Higher Secondary School. The library is in much need of books in the Nepali language.

House mother and seven of her ten adopted children at the SOS Children's Village in Itahari

Liz at a Holi celebration. Holi is the spring festival of colors where everyone gets colors splashed and smeared all over them.

The India -- Nepal border at Biratnagar

An international breakfast at the home of the first District Governor of District 3292 (Nepal), Dr. Tika Man Vaidya. Katherine and Liz went with their hosts Bijaya and Gabby Mallapaty

GSE Team and hosts from Rotary Club Patan in the Kathmandu Valley

Matt and his host from Rotary Club Patan, Kamal Mani Dixit. Still celebrating Holi as you can see :-)

We arrived back in Kathmandu yesterday and are now with our third set of host families from the Rotary Club of Patan. Despite only being with each family for two to three days, we've grown attached to our families, which has made it sad to say good-bye when it's time to move on to the next host club.

The reason that we don't stay too long with one family in one place is because there are many clubs in District 3292 that want to host us and show us around. It's a very good reason and by the end of our month, we'll likely have seen more of Nepal than many Nepalis.

~Katherine and Liz

Hello Pratt and Whitney TMC

Hi all at TMC.....thought I would say hi to our followers in East Hartford :-)

This past week I had to opportunity to visit several factories.
It was great! It reminded me of our shop back home.
Interestingly factories here have many of the same challenges we face back home.
I don't have time to post my photos right now but I took many images of the shops to show you when I get back.
One of my favorite items was the scale with ramps on the side so that rolls of plastic bags could easily be moved onto the scale to be weighed.
Anyway...have to move to the airport now....wanted to let you know all was well and that I am thinking of you :-)
I have my fingers crossed for no lab failures while I am gone! lol :-)

-- LIZ -- team member

Nepali Rotarians

The Nepali Rotarians are world class! We've been here almost one week and have been treated like celebrities everyday. The food is delicious. I think we're all gaining weight on the wonderful Nepali and Indian food.

We're in Biratnagar now being hosted by the three Rotary Clubs. I was surprised and delighted that one of the clubs--Biratnagar Rotary downtown--is primarily women.

Last night, we had a lovely dinner party at the home of the District Governor elect, Basu Dev Golyan and his lovely wife Kumud.

We had a wonderful two days visiting the Rotary Clubs of Dharan and Dharan Gopa.

Barbara Spiegel
Team Leader

From Kathmandu to Biratnagar

Another warm welcome in Biratnagar!

Biratnagar Downtown Rotary Club's Orthopedic Shoe Project

Our first vocational day visit included a visit to a textile factory

Team attending 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration for the friend of a friend of District Governor Elect

Welcome to Nepal

Diana from the District 3292's GSE Team greeting Liz with a scarf

Nate and Matt wearing their scarves and flowered wreathes

District 3292's warm welcome at the airport

We arrived safely to Nepal Saturday afternoon and were greeted by about 20 Rotary Club members and the GSE team that will be coming to our District in one month. It was the warmest welcome that we've ever experience arriving to any airport. We were showered with scarves and flower wreathes, and we felt like celebrities.

Many of the team welcoming us were wearing yellow hats because they had just spent the day working at a polio vaccination site. As it turns out, we arrived on a National Immunization Day. As many of you know, Rotary International is dedicated to ending polio in the world.

As we left the airport, we assessed our new environment--it's warm here, they drive on the left side of the road, and there really are monkeys hanging randomly around. The best part is that all the Nepali people who we've met are warm, friendly, and happy people. So rest assured, that we're being very well-taken care of.

To see more pictures of our arrival, visit District 3292's GSE Team's blog site: http://gse2011nepal.tumblr.com/

Top O' the Morning in Delhi!

One of two highlights in Delhi. The other was finding a spa for Barbara, Liz and I. A 40-minute massage was the perfect way to close a 9-hour layover!

-Katherine

Delhi Airport

Only five more hours to go in the Delhi Airport before we take our flight to Nepal. :-)
We are having lot so fun so far!
The airport is beautiful...clean...spacious...and there are lots of shops and places to eat.
I am guessing we will see them all before we leave.
We just saw pigeons flying around in here, too....very neat!
Our first stop was the duty free where they were doing whisky tasting for St. Paddy's Day....that made Katherine's day...she is a huge fan of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day.
Our next stop here was Indian breakfast buffet....very yummy...too yummy because we are all stuffed.
We feel like all we have done so far is fly and eat -- LOL
We are all in good spirits feeling great and getting excited to be that much closer to our final destination.
Adventure started!
Hope to get pictures up soon :-)
--LIZ

We made it to India!

Three flights and 25 hours later, and we made it to India! We're SO close.

Barbara just found out that her bag didn't make it Delhi, but they say it will be here tomorrow. 

We're all in great spirits--a little confused about what time it is, but happy travelers!

We'll check in again soon.

                                                                                    ~Katherine

Stay away from the monkeys

Tomorrow, I have my second round of shots for the recommended travel vaccines. I got the first round two months ago, when I saw my doctor and told her how I was going to Nepal in March. She was excited—not just for me, but for her, too. Apparently, she really likes looking up the vaccines for traveling patients.

We talked over the option of getting the vaccine for rabies. Her office didn’t stock it, but even if it did, it didn’t sound necessary. I mean, it wouldn’t really make me immune to rabies. It would just give me more time to get back to the US if I got it. When I told her that I was ok with not getting it, her words of advice were, Ok. Just stay away from the monkeys.

It sounded like funny advice. Stay away from the monkeys.  I still crack up when I think about that. I’ve never been anywhere were I had to mind the monkeys.  It was kind of like the time I went camping at Glacier National Park and we were told at the ranger station, make a lot of noise when you’re hiking to keep away the grizzly bears--both funny-sounding pieces of advice, but very practical.

Travel advice can seem pretty hilarious, but I’ve learned not to blow it off. Travelers tend to remember the parts of their experience that were the most different from their real lives. That’s why I tend to appreciate that kind of advice more because it usually sticks out for me, too.

Here’s some real advice that we’ve heard since preparing for this trip. It’s not funny in a ha-ha way, but funny in a that’s-different way:

• ·         Don’t point to anything or touch anything with your feet. That’s considered offense because feet are the dirtiest part of you.
• ·         Don’t touch other people’s heads, including children. The head is the most sacred part of you.
• ·         Don’t use your left-hand for anything like eating or passing something to someone because it is unclean.
• ·         Don’t throw things into a fire. Fire is sacred.
• ·         Don’t touch other people’s food. Your food is considered polluted if someone else touches it or your plate.
• ·         Bring a headlight because you probably won’t have electricity if you wake up at night.
• ·         Bring toilet paper, especially if you have to have your Angel Soft or Northern Quilted. (Very practical.)
• ·         Don’t be offended if they tell you you’re fat. It’s a compliment. (Not sure I believe that one. Hahaha . . .)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->

All sound advice.

To all those who have offered us advice: Dhanyabad! (That’s Thank You in Nepali—another piece of advice we listened to.)

~Katherine