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Italian Adventure Part II … Positano and Capri

•May 22, 2012 • 3 Comments

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Nepal with Building Bridges

•October 29, 2011 • 4 Comments

Let’s start with this … Two of my very close friends Matt Basile and Ted Egner started a charity organization called Building Bridges Worldwide www.buildingbridgesworldwide.org . The basic premise revolves around building schools in remote areas across the world. So i decided to sign up for their project in Nepal. This the second project undertaken by the organization. The specifics of this project included building a three room community center (a library with computers, general area, and a medical room) and refinishing four classrooms in a small town called Gerku, which we would have to hike an hour and half to up a mountain from the town of Trusuli. We would spend 7 nights with a host family while helping in the early stages of the construction project. The remaining time in Nepal we spent as tourist.

It’s 4:00 am and everyone in the room is stirring. Last nights sleep was a rough one for all of us. The feeling of uncomfortableness of being in such a foreign place coupled with the pain in my hips and lower back that come with sleeping on a board that serves as a bed forces one to wake up very early. After an hour and half of tossing and fighting the uncomfortable sleeping situation, we would slowly start to make our way for our rooms. We would be greeted by a cup of scolding hot chiya (boiling buffalo milk and tea) and a small package of pineapple cookies at the “table/sitting area”. The table/sitting area was actually the front porch, which served double duty as a living room and our dining table. Once the small talk was finished we would head to the work site. The half a mile hike usually started around 7-7:30. The hike took us up and over a ridge on a very small trail that would eventually lead to the road where we would finish the walk. Needless to say the hike while not particularly difficult on it’s own was still quite a daunting way to start the morning. As we arrived at site, already sweating from the hike, we were shown around and given the overview of the project then promptly put to work. The morning started with us moving some large rocks and starting to level the dirt for the floor. As we began making progress on the rock piles several of us were summoned to the quarry. The quarry would become one of the cornerstones in what some would describe as a labor camp. The Nepalese men would slam sledge hammers into massive rocks breaking them apart while we picked up the pieces and moved them out and into a pile that would be used as a loading station later in the week. This pile we be the death of us as we would later load a truck with tons (literally tons) of rock to bring to the work site. Around 10:45 we broke for lunch. Lunch was to be had back at Hari’s house (the family that we lived with for 7 days), which meant hiking back the way we came. Lunch was what the Nepalese call dal bhat. It’s a very simple dish that we all would become intimately familiar with. It consisted of rice, a pickled potato mixture, some potato and veg curry, and lentils. This meal would serve as our lunch and dinner for the next seven days with the only variation being the goat we would have as a side one day after the customary offering for guest. Once lunch was over we would hike back to the worksite. Work continued until 5 the first day and then 4 after that to allow time for us to play games with the local villagers. During the afternoon there would be a noodle break which everyone relished. Who would have thought that what can best be described as Ramon noodles could bring such excitement to all of us. As we wrapped up our work day we would headed down to the “game center” a volleyball court where we played volleyball, raatatoo (local version of freeze tag), and some stick game that translated means long stick and short stick. Of all the games raatatoo was by far the favorite and I cannot fully explain to you how we Americans revolutionized this game. We injected a physicality to the game which shocked and inspired all who watched. In short we turned a game of tag into full contact tag and we took no prisoners. As darkness settled in we would head back to Hari’s to wash-up and have dinner. The washing situation was nothing short of an experience. There was one outdoor tap that 5 households would use as their water supply. We would head over covered in amounts of sweats and filth that certainly would appall most. The act of showering is not what we were able to accomplish. Instead it was more like trying to clean off in a sink while people watched. Suffice to say you never really got clean. Then we would sit around (on the porch or in plastic chairs) and wait for our dal bhat dinner. The repetition of the dal bhat meal would eventually take it’s toll on a few of us. Once dinner was over we would sit and carry on conversations, which usually focused on how best to use the bathroom. The family’s bathroom was no doubt the nicest in the village but certainly differed from all western standards. Let’s just say there was no sitting only squatting as the bowl was literally a porcelain hole flush to the ground. We concluded that it was best way to use the facilities was to completely de-wrobe upon entering. Eventually, someone would begin playing music and an impromptu dance party would break out. It’s funny but it was the music and dancing which seemed to best bridge the gap between us and our host family. By the end of the week the generally stoic Hari would be enticing/forcing all of us to get up and dance. This was certainly the vehicle that drove all of us to acceptance, understanding, and friendship. Everyday was slightly different but the structure was the same … Tea, hike, work, hike, dal bhat, hike, work, noodles, work, games, hike, rinse, dal bhat, and conversation/dancing. It’s unfortunate that this is already carrying on without me even really describing any of the individual stories or the nuances that occurred everyday but this was it. The work consisted of loading and unloading rocks, shaping the rocks, loading bags full of sand and carrying them to the rooms to mix with concrete only after it was sifted through a screen. The 110 pound bags of concrete also had to be unloaded from trucks and carried up to the rooms. We also had to remove all the mud which was previously used to cover the old classroom walls so we could finish them out with concrete. Needless to say it was very manual and very dirty. We all marveled at the extreme inefficiencies and the very time consuming manner in which the project is subjected to but thus is the way in such countries. As the week progressed more and more people came out to work with us and by the end of the week people of the village were eager to invite us to their homes for tea and over night stays. Through our very visible hard work we earned the respect of the villagers and dispelling some notions of the western world. Hopefully we left them with an impression that progress is built on the back of hard work. The work was certainly taxing at times but proved in the end to be a means to immersion in the village. One thing that I have yet to mention is the kids. For most people of Gerku and certainly for most of the children we were the first westerners they have ever seen. This certainly excited the children as they would stare out of the windows and rush to help us during their recesses. As the week progressed, we all made an effort to spend some time with all the kids including an afternoon of teaching. The kids were kids. One thing that struck me was the kids in the village acted just as I would expect children of similar age in the states to act. They giggled, tried to impress, and loved to play games, which I’m sure were simply made up on the spot. I’m not sure I will ever be able to fully complete this post or do full justice to experiences we had over the course of this project, but those experiences are unique to and completely differ amongst the group. I wish to could give a recount of every moment and fully describe all the characters involved including Raj (our guide, savior, and simply one of the best human beings i have ever had the pleasure of knowing) and our entire host family but I would need an entire book for that. So short of writing out an entire book I’m simply going to stay thank you to Ted, Matt, the BBW Nepal team, Raj, EHN, and the people Gerku especially Hari and his family for an experience that will last a lifetime and will hopefully have an positive effect that will extend well beyond our our 7 days in the village for the people of Gerku.

Below are some pictures that I took while on the trip. I hope you enjoy.

The pictures begin with the BBW Crew then move on to some pics I took in the Village and while cruising around on our time out of the village.

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