Beeping horns, tiny mini-minor sized taxis zipping through the traffic, pedestrians halfway across the road dodging a stream of motor-scooters, smiling kids with tanned skin and white teeth – congratulations, you’ve just arrived in Kathmandu. What not to expect: Any type of rail network, lanes on the road, 24-hour a day electricity, air-conditioning, or a host of other conveniences.
(Click on any photo and then use left / right arrow to view a slide show)
But in Kathmandu, life goes on, and everyone does their best with what they have – generally without getting too uptight. Our van driver would sit patiently while we browsed an area. A restaurant we ate at, as well as the compound of the mall it was in, stayed open while we went into overtime eating our delicious dinner. We learned pretty quick that folks in Kathmandu go to bed early. Don’t think you’re going to find a lot of night life, outside the main tourist areas. The rule is – do it while the shops are still open. These were our first impressions of a culture and people we fell in love with and wanted to give our best to in our very short time in Nepal.
HOW DID THIS TRIP COME ABOUT?
We decided in April, to bring a small team to one of the most challenging yet rewarding locations in Asia, for volunteer training - Nepal. The opportunity came through an invitation we received after our trip to Delhi in January. After around two months of planning we headed to Nepal from Hong Kong with a small team of six, arriving in Kathmandu late in the evening of 4th June.
Interestingly, Kathmandu, the Nepali capital, is dubbed by some the world’s NGO capital – indeed, some sections of the city are replete with sign board after sign board in front of a large and well-kept house, reminding passers-by they have passed another NGO base in this large sprawling city.
THE NEED
There is an overwhelming sense that in spite of the number of NGO’s, those who come with good programs and the best of intentions are only scratching the surface of the incredible need. “Room to Read”, which has established over 2,500 libraries in Nepal, acknowledges the immensity of the challenge in improving education in Nepal thus:
Classrooms and students in the village school adjacent to the library built by Beam Life Foundation
“The challenges to the Nepalese educational system are many and complex. The very mountains that give Nepal its grandeur provide a physical and economic challenge to building a sustainable infrastructure. Most of the population lives in rural areas where no phones, roads, clean water, or schools exist. A child growing up in Nepal faces some of the worst living conditions in the world. Roughly 50% of Nepalese live in poverty - on less than US$1 a day. Of every 100 children in Nepal, 84 live in villages, 47 are malnourished, and 40 belong to extremely poor families. (1) While the country's educational system has made a great deal of progress in a very short time, there is still much to be done. Many government schools are in bad physical shape while those that exist are extremely underfunded, especially in the countryside. Although primary education is free, government schools are often inadequate and overcrowded. Many schools in remote areas are very basic and even sometimes unsafe. Often these schools have no blackboard and very little furniture. Even supplementary materials like libraries, children's books, and computer labs are rare.”
(From a Room to Read article)
Arriving
James (back left) treats us to a delicious Nepali biryani meal
A fond farewell at Kathmandu Airport
Our host for this trip was James Luitel, founder of Beam Life Foundation, whose hospitality, tireless energy and contagious enthusiasm left a deep impression on our team. We feel that we truly bonded with James, and with his vision and love for children, and we left with the feeling of being privileged to be able to contribute to his work.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
We were able to make a significant contribution to Beam Life’s ‘Nepal Library Building Project’ doing the finishing work on the recently completed library building around 40 minutes from Kathmandu. Our work included painting the main library room, and thanks to our talented team member, Wylie, painting a mural on the largest wall. We also put the power tools we donated to good use, beginning construction of shelves for the library.
Our second purpose was for all team members to learn about the lifestyle, culture and amazing places in Nepal, and our few days travelling outside Kathmandu gave our team a glimpse of the majestic splendour of this beautiful land set amidst mountains.
THANK YOU!
To those of you who supported our trip – a heartfelt thank you from our team, and a big thank you on behalf of James, whose efforts seemed to us to be almost too much for one person’s shoulders. We want to get behind James, make further trips to work with him, and make each trip a concrete step of progress in strengthening and building his projects, and fulfilling his vision.
Opportunities for future cooperation include: