In and around Kathmandu
The fuel problems have also affected families coming together for their two main festivals Dashain and Tihar, and some schools have closed temporarily as teachers and students cannot attend.
We eat at Phurba and Diku's home about twice a week and they continue to feed us well, with rice, dhal, curd, meat and vegetable curry and pickles. Phurba has also had to resort to cooking on wood outside to save on gas.
We eat at Phurba and Diku's home about twice a week and they continue to feed us well, with rice, dhal, curd, meat and vegetable curry and pickles. Phurba has also had to resort to cooking on wood outside to save on gas.
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| Sankhu students |
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| Pooja and Kumari |
Getting buses has been a problem so we haven’t visited the children in Sankhu as often as we would like. We have managed to get there twice and distributed wool for their crocheting projects and made earrings with all the girls. The girls take quite some time to choose their beads and then Ross and I help them finish off the project.
Sune, Pooja and Kumari have been to our flat for craft. During our trip to Shyama I slipped and broke my arm so doing craft has been a bit m ore difficult!
On our return from Sankhu we dropped in to visit the severely disabled residents at Kagendra Disabled Home to inspect the recently built suspended roof which NAFA and donors from the UK and NZ funded. About 40 residents live in this old building which has never been maintained, the roof leaked making the ceilings and walls wet during the monsoon and there were cracks in the doorways and arches.
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| a bedroom with water damaged walls |
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| after the renovation |
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| the damaged hallway |
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| after the renovation |
The suspended roof covers the whole building with an opening above the internal garden. The internal walls have been repaired and painted and the cracked archways have been reinforced.
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| the internal courtyard |
The residents were so pleased about the roof, each one commented about how much better it was for them. This is their only home as they have either been abandoned by their families or due to their disabilities cannot live in their family homes. They are thrilled about the renovations and feel more secure and comfortable living there.
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| VSN student |
Ross, Deb, Kusalta, Saskrita and I went out to Thimi, Ross wanted to meet with the NAFA supported students who are completing their tertiary education. We were also able to get half of the younger students to complete their letters to their sponsors. This was the first time Kusalta and Saskrita had visited Thimi so we walked around the old section of the town and saw the pottery being baked in open air kilns.
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| mandalas outside people's homes |
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| one of the buildings on our street |
Tihar festival extends over about 4 days, it is a very colourful festival and people decorate their homes with lights and make mandalas outside their homes to encourage the god Laxmi, the goddess to bring good luck and wealth for the year. The children go from house to house singing songs and collecting money which they share and spend on sweets or mo-mos, a delicious steamed dumplings.
Maya and I went down to see Kathmandu Durbar Square recently. I was so sad to see the earthquake damage to these heritage listed buildings and temples.
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| The temple in the background was totally destroyed |
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| remnants of the temple |
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| this building was totally destroyed |
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| Temples are being propped up until renovation can begin |
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| ruins of a heritage listed temple |
Boudanath stupa is been renovated after the earthquake so that too is looking a bit sad at the moment.
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| under renovation |
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| Boudhanath stupa |
Diary page 4
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| our jeep and lunch stop |
Due to the fuel shortage we had to hire a local jeep which left Ktm at 5.30 am,and then we were on our way to visit patle and assess the earthquake damage to the village school.
The Salleri road is a good road for over half the distance and then for sections requires a jeep to negotiate the rough road.
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| Sunkosi river |
Soon after passing the town of Okhaldunga we stopped at the small village of Thare where we were met by Chong Dorju and Chappel and started a 4 hour walk on local trails. This area attracts a lot of low cloud so the trail was very slippery and at 5.30 we stopped at a local house where we all slept in the large family room. As this family like others were now sleeping outside due to the earthquake we had the house to ourselves.
The next day we continued on the narrow and slippery goat track up and down hills until we arrived in Patle around 12 noon.
We were met by a large group of villagers and a formal ceremony to thank NAFA for the tin roofing. The families thanked us by giving us traditional kartas. A village leader then gave a speech thanking us and telling us how grateful they were that we sent them roofing. Five women and 4 men dressed in traditional Sherpa clothing performed traditional dances and sang their songs of welcome. It was a lovely greeting as we always enjoy seeing Sherpa culture.
Ross and Russ assessed each classroom, took photos and listed the damage and that evening we discussed a possible plan of action. Phurba and Ross had each brought a bottle of red wine along with them so we opened a bottle and enjoyed it with yak cheese and snacks. That night we all slept in the ‘family’ room which was nice and warm.
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| meeting with the school committee |
It will be a large undertaking repairing 12 classrooms, three toilets and building three new classrooms so we put together a staggered plan for the repair and when we get govt approval we can start building the three new rooms.
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| a warm welcome from the teachers and students |
We had another short meeting after the entertainment to talk to the teachers about the building plan and then back to the house for dinner. And the second bottle of wine.
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| on the trail |
Up early the next morning, Ross and I decided we didn’t want to walk back the way we came it was very steep and slippery, so we decided to add an extra day onto our trek and walk to Lumsa with Russ, Sushma and their friend Karji, sleep the night there and then walk to the road and take the jeep from there.
We took the lower trail from Patle to Lumsa as the shorter trail over the high hill doesn’t have any tea houses and as the trek took us close to 8 hours we needed somewhere to stop and cook lunch. Thank goodness for porters, Chong Dorji, and Pema Ringi as well as Karji and Phurba who helped prepare our lunch as quickly as possible so we could get back on the trail.
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| Lumsa |
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| Lumsa |
Phurba, Chong Dorji, Ross and I took a different road up and down hills (not flat as the guys in Lumsa tried to tell me) till we got to a lovely lodge for lunch. Then back into the wind and eventually around 4-pm we arrived in Badnor where we slept the night and got the jeep at 530 the following morning. It was a long but interesting drive back to Ktm, the scenery was lovely and we got back to Ktm about 3pm and crashed.
We had an interesting evening in Badnor. That day they had their weekly market so there were quite a few people around. Some young boys stayed the night and were drinking chang, a local beer in our lodge. One boy had far too much and eventually they wandered off and our dinner was served. The drunken boy came back and the lodge owner locked the door to keep him out. These lodges on the side of the road are built with wooden supports and corrugated iron walls and roof so there is not much separating the rooms.
There was a bit of a fight outside the lodge and then the boy threw a rock against the lodge. The lodge owner flew out and joined the fight, we stayed inside and listened to the thuds. The wife of the lodge owner went out and dragged her husband in and the fight resumed in the room next to us. We could here the shouts and the thumping against the tin walls sounded like a human pinball machine. Eventually things started to quietened down, then another bust of shouting, crockery rattling and then quiet again. When we thought it safe we had a quick dash to the toilet and then to our cold and drafty room for the night.
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| People are still scared of another earthquake and continue to live outside |
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| A young Sherpa woman with her khukeri knife |
Diary page 3
Sindhalpulchok Trip - 26 - 27th October
Ross, Russ and Rina and the local representative Gokarna decided to leave early due to the fuel problem and therefore the scarcity of buses going to this area. However we were fortunate to get on to a bus that was leaving at 6am and as we were traveling during the Dashain festival period the bus was not as packed as we had expected, although that changed as more passengers were collected along the way.
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| Destroyed home |
Similar to our trip to Dolaka, the closer we got to Sindhalpulchok the more houses and building were demolished by the earthquake and many more tin shelters were in use. Sindhalupchok was one of the hardest hit areas with whole villages destroyed.
Russ and Rina had assisted with construction of shelters there straight after the second earthquake so they were also returning to see how the people were faring in the temporary shelters. My plan was to check the three schools NAFA had previously assisted.
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| new tin shelter |
After 4 hours we arrived at Jalkeni, where NAFA had funded the construction of a 3 room building to be used for classes nursery to year 2. They constructed this with a single thickness of ‘besser’ type bricks and I felt that this would be badly damaged. However during construction they used iron rods threaded through the bricks from the cement base. Consequently the building suffered very little damage and after speaking to the building chairperson he advised he would get estimate for the repair and send it to Kathmandu.
We then walked down to one of the villages where Russ had helped to build temporary shelters. This village of around 30 houses had been badly damaged in the first earthquake and then flattened in the second. Russ said that when they got there after the earthquake the villagers were in a daze and didn’t seem to know what to do next.
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| inside the tin shelter |
He set about showing them how to construct the tin shelters igloo style which would be strong, dry and the tin reusable when they eventually were able to rebuild something permanent. The ‘igloos’ were constructed on land in front of their destroyed houses. Those who had large families were using 2 or 3 of these igloos.
Since the construction each household has made adjustments to the shelters, with salvaged materials from their old houses. There was verandahs, porches, covered open areas in the front for cooking and eating and inside the ‘igloo’ they had made them cosy with what furniture they could reassemble, carpets or mats and windows and doorways.
Each household were very appreciative of the help so soon after the earthquake. They advised they did not know how to restart their lives and the help with shelter gave them the incentive to move forward again.
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| damaged school building |
Russ and I then toured the Jitpur school. The solid Dutch built section only had a couple of plaster cracks, the other buildings including the two built by NAFA funds had sustained damage. However as they were well constructed they only needed repair and insertion of sill and lintel bands to give the buildings support for the future. The school obtained funds to do this repair from other NGO, the Government and local community. They completed 3 x 3 room buildings before running out of funds. One 2 room building remained to be repaired in similar fashion plus the school toilet block which was totally destroyed. The school committee asked for NAFA support to repair and rebuild the toilet.
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| destroyed toilets |
The next morning we went down to Kodari where NAFA had funded water infrastructure for the village and the school. The water was running well which was good to see that no damage had occurred to the pipe or tanks.
We arrived to a hive of activity, the school had received assistance from NRN Japan. Builders were constructing 5 classrooms with iron posts and roof truss and walls of fibrous cement on inside and CGI sheet on outer wall. So we considered this school did not require further help.
We walked down to the roadhead that afternoon and hailed a truck to give us a lift back to Kathmandu, this took about 4 hours and I was glad to get back to our small flat and have a shower.
Diary page 2
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| Overcrowded buses due to the fuel shortage |
with Phurba, Sabin, Kusalta and Saskrita
On Wednesday 14th we travelled to Jiri with our architect Sabin, Kusalta, her sister Saskrita and our guide Phurba. The road is narrow and winds through hills and small villages, the 90km journey took us 7 hours. Due to the fuel problems and many people wanting to travel prior to the upcoming Dashain festival, we decided the safest option was to hire a jeep as we could not rely on the local buses. We left at 6am, had lunch in Jiri and then walked for nearly 5 hours to Shyama, which we reached just after dark.
On the way down as we traveled through the districts of Sindhupalchok and Dolakha where we saw many damaged and destroyed homes. Next to these were clusters of villages of corrugated iron temporary shelters as well as blue and orange tarpaulins covering animal sheds. There was little reconstruction of the damaged homes. In some areas there were mini villages of approx 30 shelters.
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| Jiri |
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| Headmaster's home |
It was wet when we arrived in Jiri and the trail was very slippery so we were glad to arrive in Shyama to hot cups of tea. After a dhal bhat dinner we had a short meeting with the principal and school committee and then slept dormitory style in the headmaster’s home.
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| Before the earthquake |
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| Before the earthquake |
They advised that the school now only goes to year 5 so as all of the school was demolished they have asked for assistance to rebuild these 5 classrooms. They also need an office and a library however they plan to apply to the government for assistance to rebuild these rooms. The toilets and water piping which NAFA funded have also been damaged and need repair.
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| After the earthquake |
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| After the earthquake |
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| Temporary classrooms |
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| Inside the temporary classrooms |
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| Sabin explaining the new building requirements |
The next morning we had an early meeting with the headmaster, school committee, some teachers and the local builder. Sabin had already drawn up plans from the earthquake resistant guide completed by Rara and Marie. He showed them the plans and how to incorporate the new guidelines on his computer which was more effective than describing the plans off a standard drawing. Sabin took them through all the steps in the ER reconstruction referring to the NAFA guide as well. He advised later that he felt they understood the new ER concept of construction.
We then toured the school site, where an estimated 30 % of stone work had been stacked from the rubble for use in reconstruction. The iron off the roof was being used for temporary offices as well as roofing for the temporary classrooms. Matting has been used for the classroom walls.
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| Saskrita |
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| Kusalta |
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| Sabin |
After a short school program of thanks where the children distributed flower garlands, sang their national anthem and danced, we returned to Jiri and the following morning drove back to Kathmandu.
Diary page 1
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| Breaking down the building with a hammer |
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| Carrying away the rubble in a basket |
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| Taken from the plane |
When we flew in we saw a lot of landslides scarring the hills, the tremors continue albeit quite mild. People are trying to get on with their lives and complain that the current political problems they are facing are worse than the earthquake.
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| The school on the right before the earthquake |
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| and after the quake |
We have a daily reminder of the earthquake – next door to our flat was a school and we could watch the children during assembly and heard them sing the national anthem every day. This was an old single storey school and was totally damaged during the quake and has since been removed, all that is left is the cement floors and a single basketball hoop.
Since the release of the new constitution late September, there has been a blockage at the Nepal/India border. As Nepal doesn’t have a seaport all essentials need to be imported from India. So we are currently very short of petrol, oil, kerosene, cooking gas, vegetables and other necessities. We are paying more for staples such as onions and carrots here than we pay in Australia. We can absorb these increased costs but many of the locals cannot and it is getting increasingly difficult for them.
One of the major hotels, Kathmandu Guest House is only serving sandwiches and salad for lunch to preserve their cooking gas! The earthquake hit during the spring tourist season and many businesses relying on the tourist trade lost business and now when tourists are starting to return they are unable to service their needs. Some countries are advising their citizens not to travel to Nepal because of the blockage.
Next week is the start of the biggest and probably most important festival for Nepal, Dashain, which can be compared to Christmas where people buy new clothes, presents and travel long distances to be with their family. This year, because of the trauma of the earthquake, many expat Nepalese have been flying in to spend time with their families and now cannot reach their villages. It is a tragedy, these families need to be together at this time and their travel plans have been frustrated by the lack of fuel. Nepalese are usually very peace loving and calm but when I speak to different people I can hear their anger both with their government and India.
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| Our flat has three rooms, the kitchen is on the left |
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| Joy Foundation office |
Life is tough here, a student we know has a job working in a factory while completing Grade 11 and 12. She wants to continue her studies to become a teacher but she also needs to continue working. She is earning about $100 a month, she pays the rent and supports her younger brother and sister, her Mum and her grandmother.
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| Ross and Sune |
The fuel crisis has limited our travelling, we haven’t yet been out to the school in Thimi or to see the children in Sankhu. I would have liked to go to Sankhu this Saturday but the buses are running infrequently and they would have been packed, we will go as soon as we can.
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