The Aandhimul Project

Growing vegetables!

2012-01-07T01:14:00.000-08:00

Some wonderful news from Kishan, our young sponsored teacher, and student club leader from the village of Aandhimul. He has reported that some villagers have started to grow vegetables. And new varieties as well.

From our girl on the ground (not this instant, but hopefully again soon!), Jolana.

" This means that their diet will improve, and will provide more variety and for all those who have given me seeds in the past, even-though some varieties failed or we grew pickled cucumber -pickle or gherkins, it has got them interested. They are growing potatoes which I have not shown them before, so this means they have had to put their own money in, and learn how to grow them. "

We just hope, like all good things, it will spread to other families. That they will also be inspired, and want to start growing veg. And with the Water Project completed in Aandhimul last year, it makes it easier to use water to help their veg grow.

Of course, we will keep you updated when the next news comes in!

The Aandhimul Project team

Lucy & Jessica volunteers from Oz

2011-11-19T02:34:00.001-08:00

The Aandhimul Project was very lucky this Autumn to have 2 young and enthusiastic volunteers from Australia come to the Aandhimul village. With energy, passion and resources for the school, they were ready to have an experience of a lifetime.

Below is a direct account from the one of the volunteers themselves. A BIG THANK YOU to Lucy & Jessica from all at The Aandhimul Project!

"Our Aandhimul experience began with usstruggling up a steep, slippery hill with our heavy rucksacks, tryingto impress our local friend and guide Siam, who took to the mountainswith absolute ease. By the end of our week in the village, we hadmastered the art of manoeuvring up and down this slippery path, whichled to the nearest road, at a less embarrassing speed, and were proudto reduce our number of clumsy falls with each trip we took. Byspending less time looking at our feet, we were able to appreciatethe stunning natural environment around us and the company of ourmany generous, patient and attentive chaperones!

When we arrived at the school, we weregreeted by an array of inquisitive and guarded faces, and we had theinitial impression that we would be teaching a shy, yet friendly andmotivated cohort of students. Within minutes, the true playful andadventurous personality of each individual child was revealed as theybecame more comfortable in our presence. It was wonderful to watchour relationships with the children develop throughout the week asthey grew to trust us more, and within a couple of days we werefondly known as Lucy Miss and Jessica Miss.

Thanks to a donation by a Choir inAdelaide, Australia, we were able to buy some educational suppliesfor the school as well as some soccer balls and materials for ourbracelet making workshop, which while unfolded differently to what wehad intended, we think was a success. We were impressed by thebehaviour of the students, who were polite and focused, and whilethey could be an energetic handful outside of the classroom, realisedthat school time was a time for enjoyable learning.

Using wool, thread and beads, thestudents made friendship bracelets for themselves, their families andfriends. It was remarkable to see the personalities of the childrencome out through their individual artworks, and apparent that therewas an inspiring creative talent and potential within the group. Wewere humbled not only by the finished products, but also by themanner in which the children worked, helping each other, making themost of the materials and approaching the task with determination andperseverance.

We are extremely grateful to Kishan’sfamily, who we had the privilege of staying with. We were warmlywelcomed into their home and always well cared for and looked outfor. Outside of the classroom, we spent time playing with thechildren, swimming in the waterfall and even listening to some JustinBieber on a stereo system kindly provided by Kishan!

On our final day in the village, afarewell ceremony was held, during which the teachers and studentspainted vibrant red tikka on our faces and presented us with malas(garlands of flowers) and hugs and kisses. We so much enjoyed ourtime in the village and the happiness of the people who lived there,and were sad to leave. However, we were able to reflect positively onour experiences, and left with a satisfaction that every day theschool is growing and improving, providing the children with aneducational platform to enable them to further their studies outsideof Aandhimul, and embrace the challenges and opportunities in theirfutures.

The impact that all the people involvedwith the Aandhimul Project have had is undeniable. The facilities atthe school, the result of fundraising and donations, provide thefoundations necessary for the students to have the best educationavailable to them. The patience, kindness and commitment of theteachers, Kishan and Kumar is instrumental in both the personal andintellectual growth of all the children, and it is clear that theyhold the highest level of respect and admiration for these adults,who are inspiring role models in their lives. The love the Bhujelpeople have for Angela and Joli is evident each time somebody bringsthem up, which was extremely often. The generosity and commitmentthese women, as well as Lou, Mon and Lee, have poured into theproject can be seen through the improved living standards everyoneenjoys, with particular reference to the well-functioning watersystem, which delivers clean and safe water throughout the village.

We are both sograteful for the work people put in to create for us an opportunityto engage in the Aandhimul Project, and would encourage anyone who isinterested to investigate ways to become involved in what is a trulyfantastic and inspiring project that directly improves the lives andopportunities of the people who live in Aandhimul Village. Thestrength of their community and determination to keep working hardgives hope that the village and school will only continue to improve.

Lucy."

Robbeck Rocks 'We've raised 860 Euros!'

2011-09-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

This is the second year Robbeck Rocks given all profit to the Aandhimul Project. This year on 10th of September 860 Euros in total. This time Jolana joined the team. Together sold over 500l of beer, listened to 6 Rock bands, sold T-shirts, Veg Chili, Cakes and Bavarian sausages all made by volunteers. This festival is very local, the stage, bar and toilettes all hand build by The Robbeck Rocks core team ( who all work after their own working hours), materials which are found in the skips. They have no financial support from the town council or other companies. They just use what is around them and that is enough!!! They only received the go ahead a week before the planned start and managed to provide amazing day full of good quality Rock music and good vibes till early morning hours. About 300 people enjoyed Robbeck Rocks in Velberg, Germany.

Amazing support from this little town, Robbeck Rocks and musicians. Aandhimul project say's Thank YOU!!!

The road to Aandhi Khola - unsurprising -

2011-05-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

Before I hike for another local transport I want to tell you that we are now planning the inauguration process. Can you believe it?

I've asked Bishnu ( head of Choice Nepal, our technical partner) if there was anything that has surprised him, he simply respond No No, surprises I have foreseen for many projects and I knew this would be completed.

This experience has been valuable even though I was hoping that I would somewhat break this cool working approach. In the end he added that there has not really been a conflict that has surprised him (well we had few ups and downs, and lately teenage girls fighting ..)

So for this unsurprising news I want to tell you what has been most amazing!

The villagers have been able to learn from the Choice engineer, Anna Prasad. They have done all work except for 5 days of support from skilled labour - all locally sourced. We had only 3 days off since the project has started. We are running under the first estimated budget which means we can set up a cooperative for the villagers and thus really make impact to their lives. The villagers stopped or reduced drinking ( a bad habit ) and managed their own work. They are taking responsibilty! The 4 people who have started this have manged to fundraise the complete project without a line stop! But the most amazing experience has been to be surrounded by people, who sometimes have no rice at home, they have worked for nothing other than simple khaja and we had fun! There was never a grumpy face, or the approach 'I cannot be bothered'. There were times when starting times took a Nepali style - slow - but then I have learnt that good food is the best motivator.

I have been surprised almost every day! A wise man ( my mentor) told me you need a 3 things to make a project succesfull - passion, experience and money. Then he looked at me and asked what is the most important?

Can you see it too?

Heavy rains ahead! I will stay for a cup of tea before the decompasting path of Kathmandu streets get washed!

Jolana x

What do you love on your job most?

2011-04-11T04:13:00.000-07:00

I have sat quietly on the piece of a dirt next to the new tank being built. I had a sip of the water and tears in my eyes, I have thought of all of the ones who helped and are helping yet unable to see the joy that I was lucky to witness when Gouri and Laxmi decided to have a shower!

Still much to do - but the pictures are for you!

Jolana xxx

All photos taken by Christine Levanas.

Clothes donations - THANK YOU

2011-04-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

Just a quick message to say thank you to all the people who donated clothes in the past few months, both from people in Nepal and Melbourn, UK.

THANK YOU !!!

5 days of art

2011-04-01T01:29:00.000-07:00

It was a meeting last year that brought the chance of bringing another art workshop to the Aandhimul village. Pati Corral, who has been living in Nepal for the last year and a half who has been sharing her home with me every time I visit Kathmandu with a cup of coffee. Subash Nepal - a student of cinematographie, Pati's boyfriend and Christine Levanas a designer from Berlin who is a regular vistor to Nepal - all of whom offered a their volunteering support after hearing my many talks about Aandhimul.

We have started with paper mache beeds, then prints on paper and later on cotton bags, finishing with pom poms. Our original idea was to make a product that we could sell and thus put the money back to school but primary just trying and bringing some interests and learning to the 3 weeks school holidays. Some colours were donated by a protestant municipality near Frankfurt/Germany.

What was amazing that some of the children who do not come regular to the school turned up. We had limited the groups to a maximum of 20 and ran them for approximately one hour thirty minutes long sessions. It was great to see their concentration, even when some aspects were quite difficult to understand like adding shapes to create a picture.

The project was funded by Andy from Germany and costed 5500 NRP to purchase items, most stuff was collected from shops dustbins and wood, glue and foam pad was donated by the Old Inn in Bandipur. It has brought so much light, and for me personally, a smile on my face! Pati, Christine and Subash worked really well and also the support from our project teacher's made it seamless. I was actually just amazed how well this went! The best thing is we are planning to run more of these next year!

Joli x

(Photos taken by Christine Levanas)

Health check

2011-03-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

The morning of 28th of March and Aandhimul got a visit from Bikram Piya, Rayaram Prajapati, Anil Pragapati from medical hall and doctor Shrhar Rayastha from Bandipur.
This one day health camp has been organized by Bikram Piya and Dr. Shehar has investigated 80 villagers.

Anil Pragapati has donated all the medicine from his medical shop in Dumre. This is the first time that I've seen so much interest, and all has been on a totally voluntarily basis - we only offered a simple Khadja.

Most of the issues are related to sanitation - another puzzle of this matrix and also poor diet. The traditional dhal bhaat is actually completely balanced food, but in this village most do not have money to buy vegetables or lentils.

The best thing for me was to hear how happy Dr Shehar and Anil Pragapati were after all examinations. Also the people who worked on the project were keen to get checked first as they told me - we have a work to do, we must go quickly.

I've also learn how to wash my hands correctly! Seems that the water will bring many solutions - with a bar of soap!

Jolana xxx

Imagine the world as candles

2011-03-28T01:52:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been a ride, well it has been a big ride anyway but we have not stopped.

The only 'Ke Garne' ( What to do ) came after the Holy festival when most villagers got drunk. Their God allows them to drink so they really took it well, better than me. I was so angry with them, especially as Ana- ( engineer) arrived and saw very tired looking people to do the work with! Actually it was the only slip, and they have been good. Almost, I could call the digging work as a sobering therapy.

We have completed the 3km digging part, and as I'm typing we are building DC tank ( no 5) or at least the start of it. If you can imagine that the only tools we have are a shovel and a pick axe and we find stones in the jungle!

Now with the heat it is really hard work just walking up hill, but I have tasted the spring water yesterday and we are dealing on a daily basis with small issues. Most people will tell me that all is ok and then I hear that the engieener was crying - ( Crying in Nepal is not very usual, it is usual for me but here it means a lot), The food we cook is not very good and changing a cook with only one eye, provided another obstacle, over salted food with too much oil!

In between all of this I had a meeting in Ktm and found out that there is no financial support and really I should just learn Nepali if I want to communicate better- so that is what I'm doing. I have stopped trying to understand all of it and now can deal with the lack of planning and don't get too annoyed when I hear - Joli Miss we are in emergency we have no food or no cement left! Now I just hop on the bus and through time I've got to know the people who can deliver with only an 1 hour delay.

Lou has managed to secure the last funds and now it is up to us to make sure we complete on a very slim budget. I think we can do it. We will do it!

Most work is now done by the villagers and I have recognized that once a week a 3 chickens will be the right inspiration to keep them going! I have seen a real change in the community and they work much better together now! (when there is no festival)

In between we squeezed an art workshop with Christina from Berlin (see pictures above), Pati and Subash (spanish/nepali family) and it was amazing to see so much concentration, even hearing nothing, silence!

I have attended a big meeting about creating social business in Bandipur and creating an NGO, which all sounds fabulous as other small projects with school but I really only can concentrate on doing rather than talking.

A wise man told me a story.

"Imagine a world full of candles! how do you see them? Do you see them lit? but no no they are just candles and you must lit them and someone will give you a lighter - how will you lit the millions of candles?

You take 2 in your hands and lit them and pass them to someone else -that's how you lit them.

Some will blow off but most will get lit."

La enough for today,
back to field!
Jolana

1st intake almost finished

2011-03-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got stuck in the kitchen making roti (bread) for the workers and to ensure that they will eat better than just the flat dry rice. I have been really feeling tired and the villagers started to worry about me, saying I'm too thin. I promised I will hike up to the source but I had a dodgy belly so skiped the morning dhal bhat and wondered if I can actually make it. Now we are entering into the hot months and walking up hill in the heat takes much energy.

I eventually got there via the dangerous route! My first climb up and for climbers a joy but for me a bit worrying slippy path hanging onto roots of trees, my body attached to the cliffs! I had two boys for saftey -no rope! It was fun getting the food to the workers and enjoying the super spicy veg we made and roti!

There is so much work to do still! We got some stones and today while I'm not there we should be carrying to the second intake and also burying more of the plastic tube.

It is amazing to see the earth covered - all farmers are egar to plant corn so we must be fast. There are some concerns about the ferocement, this new technology can be damaged with a single stone and we need to find a skilled person, who will probably charge at least 1000 NRP per day! It will take minimum of 2 weeks to build.

Ana Prasad will come on Monday and I would like to go to Ktm to prepare for the small art project my friend Christine will be heading.

Also, I had a little chat with some local women and they were teaching me some Bhujel words (for more info on the bhujel people please take a look at this site) - and have given baby clothes to Kisan so he can present them to the mothers ....hopefully this will get all the babys super clean! (the sanitation is improving!!!). Nursery have also planted some flowers I brought and now I'm in the Damouli shop changing my phone and again it is taking ages. Will see if I have better luck this time!

Joli x

Waiting for a main hole cover...

2011-03-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Lot's happening, even though a wee bit slower. We had problems with having the main hole cover done, the grill pasal (shop) where we left the high tech drawing could not actually read it, or understand it. So I got another one made at another place to replace it and of course waited Nepali style ( they said it will take an hour because they have to eat first!)

Anyway, yesterday I saw the first 200 meters of water tube being covered and the mountains where there in full view = that was amazing! It kind of got the connection away from the horrible noisy streets and endless shops of black tubes, to a really amazing site and actually for its purpose. Providing water for the people of Aandhimul.

Shivaratri - we have 2 days holiday here.

Soon we will finish the first intake and then have to start on the second intake - the Korika village will be helping. All people from our village even the skilled people decided to work for free! We have to provide Khadja (lunch) and only pay people if we have to bring them from further away - so the ferocement - we will need experts to build, and in our high designed plan we have about 7 intakes to build!!!!

Which means I need 8 main hole covers so I hope that this place can make it well!

Better go, must be a bit of the hard a!?se, so that things get done!!!

The coffee brothers are leaving tomorrow (thank you so much for their efforts, it means a lot to the Project) and the villagers want to give a big farewell to them - think they had really good impact on a few people, especially Kissan (one of the young project supported teachers who also runs the youth club) - he really has been great, taking so much care to ensure everything is ok!

Yesterday The coffee brothers had chow mein at Pampha's (local shop/cafe on the main Kathmandu/Pokhara road 20 mins walk from Aandhimul) - the Dhal Bhaat (traditional Nepali meal) was too much, but we still were able to give the unwanted food to more hungry bellies, so that was all good!

Think we now have spent over 4 lacks from the money sent to Choice. Still, I need to buy cement and have money to pay for some experts ...but trying to keep all tight, the villagers ate only chura yesterday - the flat dry rice...

Jolana x

Work in progress

2011-02-26T04:13:00.000-08:00

This is just a short update,

We have started to build the intake tank - with a small re-design from Andy and Frank, the foundations for Ferrocement (mixture of Portland cement and sand reinforced with layers of woven steel mesh) which will hold 5K cubic meters have been done.

We have to order 175 bags of cement and other equipment, - Frank and Andy have just carried 35 kg of a metal wire needed for tomorrow's work.

They have been great, here in the village they have a nickname "coffee brothers".

They have a real can do attitude and an ability to think on their own feet, and are copping with the dhal bhaat diet better than many! ( I've had a dodgy belly recently!!!) They have brought a huge amount of energy bars with them ...guess this is their trick!

Sleeping conditions are tough but they are still able to crack a joke and even when I offered them to stay in Bandipur to have a more comfortable stay, they replied - "we want to see the work in the water source and then we're going HOME!"

We walked from Bandipur to Korika and met up late with the working team near Thumka and with Kiran from Choice.

Today we are looking for tools and their donated money will go towards their idea of building a working station and teaching the youth club, or anyone who wants to know how to work with all the tools we have brought, and bought.

I also have to mention that the Choice team, Kiran Neaupan and Ana Prasad have also been a great gift for this village. They also found the sleeping conditions difficult, but their ability to communicate and share ideas has been invaluable for the project.

Ana prasad is supervising the work in the intake as I'm typing!!! Kiran just left for Kathmandu but was able to hold a discussion about future progress of this village. He mentioned the importance of saving, creating a village cooperative and again how education is important for any development.

I guess I'm just the most frustrated as I don't have enough Nepali vocabulary, staying between the cauliflower fields and spending days in shops with tubes and wires with little understanding of quality - but I'm learning.

The positive thing is that we are still working and all are still committed to finish now within a 1 month. There is still much work ahead of us but the work done by the villagers is almost unbelievable. If you see the terrain and the distance!!

I just hope we can all keep up with this rhythm!

Will keep you updated. But so far this cooperation between Choice Nepal, us (The Project) and the Coffee brothers is working so well!!!

Jolana (in the field 'literally')

German water engineers have arrived!

2011-02-24T00:51:00.000-08:00

‎2 guys Jolana met last year, Frank and Andreas (Röbbeck Röcks) have kept their promise. They've made the long trip to Aandhimul from Germany, both trained as water engineers, they've raised over 1000 euros and are using their skills to help the water project. Here are a few pics of them and the villagers getting their hands dirty!

Something to shout about

2011-02-17T00:36:00.000-08:00

If there is time when you just want to give up and run home - than that day was felt in Naryangot.

But today I don't want to write how I managed to get all the stuff on track, and how almost in Muglin we lost the 50K NRP GI Pipes! Or about how I struggled to understand anything, and in the end at 7pm we got all the track, the goods and we fitted it in place for the journey back North, which only in Nepal you can do! It worked out, and to add to that, how 3 people at 9:30 pm were unloading all the stuff in Aandhi Khola in the rain.

Today, I also want to tell you that in the last 2 days all the villagers came and carried the heavy load in the rain and on the slippy paths. I offered them tea and roti yesterday morning for all their hard work.

Today they all came again, carrying the remaining coils and the 30 bags of 50kg cement, one person per bag. And how difficult that is, going uphill too!

I'm only providing money for khaja (lunch) to them, and this morning their own comitee paid for tea and roti. They did not ask me!!!

They had to stop digging for 2 days to carry the very heavy goods - I have no pictures, but if you can imagine a full track over loaded! You should see how happy they were to see all that material thrown in Aandhi Khola. Most locals can not believe that we can do this! But we can!!!

They will start again tomorrow and the other village is helping- Korika, over 50 people are now able to dig 250 metres per day and they are already close to Thumka village!

The other part of the village is not participating but are discussing about coming to help for 1 day, so we might have more people to dig.

I have no idea what brought this change, but I'm so happy, and this is what we need to show all who have supported these people. The money that everyone gave us is being spent well, the people are united in their work! amazing! amazing! AMAZING!!!

Love Joli xxx

Angela and Jolana update

2011-01-22T00:11:00.000-08:00

First, they say that the weather’s seriously cold out there, unusually cold. Normally a winter’s day, when the sun is out is around 15-20 degrees. But they said it has been as low as 5 degrees in the day! As you may guess, no heating in these homes. So they have to resort to wearing almost all the clothes they brought with them at once. Even the local bus had their air conditioning on (actually it was a missing window right by their seat).

They have been visiting the main town of their district to get some new supplies for the school with the caretaker, Kumar. They bought buckets, jugs and a container for the sugar as the mice ate a huge hole in the last plastic one. They also bought books, pencils and a pencil sharpener for the
school.

They had a wonderful phone call from Mon (our Nepali guy on the ground) – the local Aandhimul committee met with the group of villagers from the neighbouring village ( Koreka) and they have all signed an agreement allowing the water project to begin. Which is great news!

This gets submitted to the local VDC (similar to a local council) today and then work can start. They then talked with Choice Nepal (An NGO based in Kathmandu who are helping us complete the water project) to give them the go ahead for the survey to be completed. But they need to wait for the spec
report before beginning to buy pipes and other equipment.

This is really exciting because we didn’t think this was possible, and better still is that the locals have done all of the negotiating themselves. Early days but very hopeful news.

Angela and Jolana again have reconfirmed the improved behaviour of the children, they say it’s thanks to the consistent teaching. They work, listen, and rarely interject. So Angela and Jolana decided to spend as much time with the teachers as possible to help with their pronunciation (of English) and get them to read all of the books they’ve brought with them. They’ve also done a few art project days as well. And from Angela, of course, some singing (She runs a choir or two back in her home town, and teaches the piano as well).

In their off time, Angela and Jolana sit back in awe of the beauty of the Himalayan backdrop, as the red glow off the snow peaks shines into their rooms. The say the people there love Where’s Wally (which were donated by Lex and Tess. Thank You!). Everyone gets involved – young and old and it’s quite a competition to see who can find the most.

Finally, Jolana who’s spent the most time out there, as Angela has said, is shown so much respect from the locals, and her Nepali language skills are coming along great. She’s doing an amazing job, they both are.

That’s all for now, we’ll hope to update you again soon, possibly including pictures.

We’re back out there!

2011-01-10T00:55:00.000-08:00

Exciting news after 6 months since Jolana was last there and over a year and a half for Angela, they are both back out in Aandhimul. Ready to get engaged with the community again, and so many things to do.

Both arrived in Nepal on January 4th from opposite directions, one Australia, the other Czech Republic. Meeting together in the hustle and bustle that is Kathmandu.

After a few days in the capital preparing they headed off to the village, and what a welcome they received. The villagers had prepared a ribbon cutting ceremony for both Angela and Jolana. so many malas (flower necklaces) and tikka all over our faces (vibrant red powder mixed with water, used for celebrations and more). Then the kids did calisthenics, an egg and spoon race ( using a marble instead) and a lolly eating contest – like the donut game with no hands.

Jolana and Angela got to present the winners with a book and put tikka all over their faces. There were speeches, speeches and more speeches all thanking us for our support and encouraging the community to work harder. Jolana and Angela spoke through Mon to say how happy they were to return and that they were very excited about the water project starting soon. There was a huge meeting the following morning between all 3 villages to iron out any last obstacles before the final agreement is signed. Then the survey will be completed and the digging can start. We’ll keep you updated on the progress.

Angela and Jolana are staying with a family just outside of the village and said they feel so welcomed and cared for. It’s about a 30 minute walk to the Aandhimul school from there. They say that much has changed in the school, the kids are so much better behaved this time – the teachers have been doing a wonderful job, and the youth club guys are brilliant.

The aim is to continue over the next few weeks to monitor the water survey and for Angela and Jolana to do many things in the school with the teachers and children.

Will update again soon.

Amazing support

2010-12-02T02:01:00.000-08:00

The Victoria pub in Hitchin - the locals have been supporting our community since December last year and still continuing to donate to our project.

In September - Holy & David from the Victoria pub, through a Justgiving web page, have raised 1000 GBP with their half marathon. See their page here http://www.justgiving.com/David-n-holly

UK fundraiser Lou's son has cycled all they way to Paris and has raised 500 GBP

Water engineers from Germany have also raised 1000 Euros from a gig: Röbbeck Röcks 200 http://www.myspace.com/roebbeckroecks

And we thank the ongoing support from donors in Adelaide, Australia (through Angela) who are supporting the wages for our teachers.

We thank you all so much!

The Aandhimul Project

Youth club has done well

2010-11-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

Not only youth club has helped spreading messages and sanitation activities, they have also run an entertaining programme. We have supported with some of the materials so that they can continue to develop their own traditions, songs and dance and they have agreed to also raise money within Nepal by 16th of November.

Toilets being built in the village

2010-10-27T23:48:00.000-07:00

Villagers awakening:

This is probably the most important message we have received from our project manager. The villagers have started to build their own toilets following the persistence of our project manager Mon Bhujel, Kisan and help of local neighbors from a different cast Cahtruman Gurung, The villagers have lost the appeal for local donation to build the toilettes but still managed to secure funds for building materials. Building materials were delivered to Aandhi Khola and with help of our youth club the messages to all villagers were delivered and all agreed to pick up and hand deliver these up the narrow canal and build toilets themselves.

This however small impact is very significat in progress of this community and we all are increadibly delighted with this news.

Village life update

2010-09-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

School update

2010-09-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Planting near school

2010-08-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Local nursery visit & youth club football match

2010-07-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

School kitchen completed

2010-07-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

Great news. The school's kitchen is finally completed with it's door including lock.

Collecting From The Heavens

2010-06-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

Great news! Angela has raised $800 AUD (450 GBP) at a party sing in her home city of Adelaide. All proceeds have gone to supplying the water tanks and other materials needed, plus labour costs. So a real BIG thank you to Angela, her singing team and all those who participated and donated !!DHANYABAD!!

And Jolana, Mon and the guys in the village, and everyone else involved have done a great job in building guttering onto the school, and connecting a series of downpipes to the 2 tanks located at one end of the school.

The main reason for doing this was to take advantage of the large quantities of rainfall during the monsoon. This water can then be used for cleaning hands and dishes, and even filtered for drinking water.

We will update you after the monsoon to see how successful it has been!

Planting in School

2010-06-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

Jolana picked some plants from a local person in Bandipur - the plant name is the "12 O'clock" plant, and has beautiful purple flowers. She then arrived to a sanitation day going on in the school, and has taken many of these plants to give to the children in Aandhimul. The children were very excited to get planting them around the school grounds!

She had also received a plant from Tony Jones, the owner of the Old Inn Hotel in Bandipur, and from a Nepali friend Peepal Chautari. Who both said they will also give some more plants to the school! Thank You! Dhanyabad!

In the words of Jolana, "Time for HOPE - I hope - that we can create more harmony in this village form which much goodness may grow. That is my Wish!". And with all the hard work everyone's putting in, we're sure that wish can come true :)

In Kathmandu

2010-06-06T01:47:00.000-07:00

Jolana needed to make a trip to Kathmandu to contact some NGOs and have a short break in India. However, at the time she left there was a massive strike throughout Nepal, shutting everything down, run by the Maoists. It lasted almost a week, and at some points people thought much violence might break out, and of course for Jolana and other tourists, they couldn't travel around the country. Also, most shops were closed, even tourist shops. Above shows some of the pictures Jolana captured during this strike. She was also lucky she met some wonderful Spanish people who let her stay with them.

School Update

2010-06-05T01:55:00.000-07:00

Things are progressing well. The kitchen now has a gas cooker, so the children can finally eat a hot, nutritious soup made up from many cereals and pulses. As seen above, it may not look so appetising, but I've been assured it tastes okay, and more importantly the children eat it.

You can also see some of the classroom activities, making use of the extra furniture and resources provided by the project. It's so important to keep working hard with the teachers and the parents, something the project continues to work on, as the history between the two is not very good, there has been a lot of mistrust of the years. Both sides to blame, but with the project's influence we have seen that relationship got better, but there is still work to do.

We hope to continue working on building confidence for both parties, giving training for teachers, and awareness talks for parents.

Sadly, Jolana only has a short period of time left in Nepal, and is spending these last few weeks making sure all involved in the project are left feeling confident about the next 6 months before another project member goes and visits.

We will be updating you in the coming weeks of what happens in these concluding weeks, and also some of our future plans.

Living The Nepali Way

2010-05-03T01:38:00.000-07:00

The photos above give you a great idea of what life is like living for the average Nepali person. Jolana has been living with a Nepali family during her whole stay there this time. It really helps to understand how they live, their culture & language, the food and of course helps build a great relationship with the local people. It is an amazing experience that if anyone gets such an opportunity they should take it, it will never be forgotten. :)

School Furniture & Kitchen

2010-05-01T01:29:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up to the last post, showing some of the villagers helping take the furniture up to the school. Much needed furniture.

Also, you can see above that they have finished making the kitchen room alongside one of the classrooms. This is great, now they a dedicated place to cook nutritious food for all the children. We're sure this will help concentration levels, and all round make the children healthier and happier.

Furniture For The School

2010-05-01T01:18:00.001-07:00

Jolana's done a great job in source some more furniture for the school in Aandhimul. She acquired it in Bandipur, and then via jeep, took it to Aandhimul.

Children Leaving School

2010-04-23T01:11:00.000-07:00

Aandhimul School children getting awards for passing their 3rd year of school, to now go to a middle school at least 40 minutes walk from the village. Where we all hope they continue their education as long as possible.

Meeting in School

2010-04-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

There was a big meeting organised by Jolana and Mon for the community to again discuss the issues in the village, in particular water to the school. As many of you may know, and issue with been trying to deal with for the past year and a half. Slowly but surely the villagers are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Great work by Jolana, Mon and some other keen villagers, have been ensuring that this issue will still be pushed and time put onto it. So again, we will update as and when we have any progress. And of course, we thank all of you those who have supported and donated to the water, school and all projects. It means so much to all of us! Thank you!

Solar Panel

2010-04-17T00:42:00.000-07:00

Jolana found a company who was willing to give a solar panel, 100% discount. This solar panel should be powerful enough for 3-4 hours of light for a few of the classrooms, and maybe some time using a tape/cd player. Great work Jolana! Will keep you updated on it's progress/use.

Building School Kitchen

2010-04-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

The villagers, alongside Mon and Jolana have started to build a small kitchen so that the children's lunch, subsidised by the project, can be cooked safely and stored properly. Up until now they have been either cooking outside or eaten non-cooked foods (snacks). Jolana & Mon have been doing great work to try and source local produce and with our support, buy as much as needed to give the children healthier lunches. An update on the kitchen's progress will come in the future.

Teacher Training

2010-03-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

One of the project's teachers Mina Gurung went on a Teacher training course that was run in Bandipur. We sponsored her travel there. She found it very usesful, and we hope those skills she learnt can help some of the other teachers too, and also benefit the children.

Life in Bandipur 2

2010-03-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

More nice photos from Jolana of life in Bandipur.

Life in Bandipur

2010-03-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

A series of photgraphs from Jolana, taken from around Bandipur. Her homes from home!

We're back in Action!

2010-03-22T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone, I would like to apologise for the quiet period on this blog/website. The main reason is due to many changing issues within the community and slow progress. However, things have stepped up a gear and Jolana has now been out in Nepal for almost one month and will be there at least two more. The sole purpose of getting the project moving on.

I/we will be updating and giving more details soon as to what's been happening and what's going on right now. This blog is just to let you all know that we haven't disappeared and things are still happening, albeit slowly :)

Lee

Rewards and Goodbyes!

2009-07-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

4th of July and I took the opportunity of donating a madle – nepali drum which is used for school and other festival days – it has been in recognition of completing and registering now local NGO – huge achievement for our community! We also got a carving with their new logo – lotus flower.

Time to say goodbyes too – even though I spent another day in the village and further good byes in Bandipur, Aandhimul and Andhi Khola. I left this place with red face, covered in tikka, releasing chicken as a symbol of letting go with much love, and many flowers and promise of soon retun!

Jolana

Full day of Football

2009-07-04T03:22:00.000-07:00

It was a long planned trip between GVI voluenteer Saskia – and Jolana who wanted to introduce students from Bandipur to Aandhimul and get children to be children – in a game of football.

We decided to walk and selected older children - we would only go if it was not raining as the monsoon now makes any trip very dangerous. We had a window of good weather, and although Saskia got ill and could not join us – the Old inn staff and few tourists joined me and now group of 14 childern from Bandipur. We had rain and sunshine, tired legs but still were keen to play.

Most children here play barefoot – sharing very sweaty tops. They are incredibly fit and skilled though. Football is taken seriously here, and everyone plays for the win! Aandhimul itself does not have a football ground – we played in the nearest village Satrose.

Donations by few tourists: Ruben, Rafael who also got to play and Ram from Old inn meant that we were able to provide food for 30 childern and hire a jeep the way back as all of us were exhausted. THANK YOU!

First match – Bandipur won and Second match – mix team of Andhi Khola, Aandhimul and Satrose!

Let’s hope we can do a re-match soon! The kids are keen to practice more now!

The Aandhimul Project donated a wining price – a football and a pump!

Jolana

Teacher Training in Bandipur

2009-07-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog showing some photographs of some teacher training that was happening in Bandipur being run by an American teacher, Heather Guay through a Nepali NGO. Jolana managed to get 2 of our teachers, and Mon enrolled on the training. It was very successful, and a great experience for our 2 funded teachers.

Lee

Pokhara Hospital Visits

2009-06-29T03:04:00.000-07:00

25th of June which marked the day of a hospital visit to Pokhara. Jolana originally planned it for the day before and for only 3 children to turn up but instead she met 7 adults and 3 children. 5 patients in total, the rest were supporting the patients.

More details to come...

Lee

Days in Damauli

2009-06-23T02:58:00.000-07:00

Jolana had met Mon and teacher Kissan in Damauli, the capital of the Tanahun district where both Bandipur and Aandhimul lye. It is here where all the local goverment offices can be found, and where for the past few weeks Mon and some of the new NGO members have been trying to register the group. I have been made aware by Jolana that today they have finally been accepted and they are now registered, yeah!

But that is only the start, there's so much more work to be done, but the first hurdle has been jumped.

I have been made aware by Jolana that Mon is going to write up a more detailed account of the past few weeks and send it to me. Once I recieve it, then I will update this blog entry.

Also, Jolana sent some general images of daily life in Damauli a large town in Nepal, as you can see above.

Lee

Community & School Update

2009-06-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Jolana and Mon have been working hard these past few weeks with the community and the school. Mon has also got his wife involved, and for those of you who don't know, she is a teacher for a pre-school, Setograss (see here) in their home town Bandipur. She has been helping the 2 female teachers who work with the pre-school, and some mothers too. As you can see in the pictures above, they are making bowls and other containers to store teaching aids, which they also make by hand. All new and great for the teachers and parents in Aandhimul.

Also, Jolana has made me aware of the great job Mon has been doing to inspire the villagers, teachers and continue to work hard on improving relations in the village, great stuff!

In addition Jolana has been continuing to absorb the life and culture within in the village as some of the other images above demonstrate.

Hopefully on her return to the UK next month, Jolana will give more of an insight to her experiences these past few months, she's been doing a great job out there.

Lee

Picnic day

2009-06-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

Spending more time in Bandipur and seeing how Bhagi Maya spends most of her days with daily chores I suggested a picnic. I wanted to offer some fun and break from the day to day duties and children got very excited of the prospect of drinking Fanta! I planned to walk to Aandhimul but in mid June it is so hot and humid and I underestimated the word Picnic – which does not mean cakes and sandwiches.

Picnic in Nepal means removing most of your kitchen utensils, bringing food, water and cooking, rice , meat, dhal on an open fire. There are several activities as it takes very long to cook the meal – playing, dancing, singing exploring and running all followed by the long awaited dinner of pilau, vegetables, meat and soft drinks. The top 3 houses joined and 3 of the mothers helped to make this delicious food while I was running around with 10 children and playing “stuck in the mud”!

We had much fun and although it still took a lot of effort to make this happen we all enjoyed this day of fun and good food. All took place on top of the hill with the view of Tanimai, Bandipur!

Jolana

Time to breath

2009-06-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

The last 2 or 3 weeks have been very hectic here in Nepal and I just managed to escape to Pokhora to send some pictures and updates. Both Mon and me have been working hard to achieve as much as possible, which in Nepal is very difficult. We face strikes, hot weather, poor health from time to time - all coming unexpectedly. I'm finding great support in our base in Bandipur and also from Lee's, Lou's and Angela's e-mails. It all feels that we finally are making some headway though and seeing progress give us extra energy.

I also feel that soon I will leave and this time it will be much harder - I got attached to the villagers and feel like part of family now. Comming to Pokhora gives a little distance and good cup of coffee and comfortable bed feels like heaven to me. We all need space to breath and I hope both Mon and me will find that space.

Community Visit Bandipur Hospital

2009-06-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Jolana over 2 days took around 80 villagers to Bandipur local hospital, it's not very big, but has enough equipment, and qualified doctors to give many of the villagers a general health check up. At the end of these 2 days there were about 8 referals to a larger hospital, either in Pokhara or Kathmandu. Pokhara the best choice as it is closer, and Jolana, on behalf of the project has decided to help these referals, and we will be updating you in future blogs.

Lee

Health Awareness Programme

2009-06-09T12:14:00.001-07:00

By Jolana Whyte - Project Event Organiser & Volunteer

The Aandhimul project organised a day visit to Aandhimul with 20 nurses from the Balkumari College in Narayangarh, Chitwan who have been on 1-month community stay in Bandipur.

The day was fixed for 06.06.2009 started at 12pm. The programme was delivered as an informal drama, yet covered 12 very important subjects:

ANC – antenatal care
Treatment of Diarrhoea – teaching how to use rehydration solutions.
Safe drinking water to avoid water born diseases
Drug abuse focused on cigarettes and alcohol
Family planning – methods
Education- focused on sending children to school – especially girls
Early marriage
STD – especially focused on HIV – message of that even HIV person can still have a successful role in society and that we should Love them rather than hate them.
Immunisation for child
Post natal care – the importance of breast feeding, nutrition’s – teaching how to make Sasbotum Pito – Nepal dish of rice, maze and soybeans given to babies after 6 month.
Sanitation – covering personal hygiene
Recycling – using compost for kitchen waste, collection and recycle of plastic bottles, using bins rather than throwing rubbish.

A Jeep was booked with 1 microphone, no other provisions for bad weather – I took a small wooden Ganesh (in Hindu religion one of the Gods- the removal of obstacles) with me – present from Lee, as I felt the anticipation of the day growing! (Last night we had the worst downpour yet!)

We literately had to squeeze ourselves in, but the positive mood of all nurses and their songs soon lifted any worries from my mind. We arrived with slight delay, but managed the walk around the canal in very hot weather – still the girls were eager to start soon!

We used local resources from our school and created a simple stage. We just needed the villagers to turn up and soon inquisitive children showed up. We used the mic and school bell to hurry up the crowed. This is the first time such a programme has been offered in Aandhimul, so villagers took their time as tried to smarten up. After a few announcements, with only a slight delay we started at 12:30.

The programme was very successful and we even got the little ones seated for 45 minutes. I was so pleased to see how much everyone enjoyed themselves – no need for translation here when smiles and laughter are on display. Afterwards we sung and danced in Nepali style! Mon Bhujel, Jay Bahadur Bhujel and Bhuwan Bhujel Bharat and President of our Local NGO made tea and brought biscuits – well needed refreshment! Thank you!

We finished with a visit to the Aandhimul temple and walk to Setrose. Returning to Bandipur yet again with songs we were welcomed at the Old Inn for a late and well deserved Khadja (snacks/lunch).

I’d like to thank all 20 nurses and their teacher Srijana Khabiwada, also Ram and staff of Old Inn for donating food, Bigram Pia for donating the microphone. Also big thanks to Rupa, Mon's wife, for donating time and giving a creative workshop to our teachers, and also to all who came from Bandipur and Aandhimul... This felt like 25 hours in a day, but well spent!

To follow up, we have also offered free health check ups and transport to Bandipur hospital for all villagers. More of this in the next blog!!!

Jolana

When Everything Goes Pear Shaped Just Sing

2009-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

By Angela Sharp - Project Fundraiser & Volunteer

This was my mantra during 4 weeks in Aandhimul village teaching teachers how to use the materials I had brought from Australia. The teachers in Aandhimul School have NO MATERIALS AT ALL to work with. This is quite difficult to imagine, almost impossible really especially coming from Australia, the land of plenty. As a piano teacher in Australia this compares to me teaching students how to play the piano with no music and no piano, just telling them how to do it.

All of the teachers in Aandhimul told us of their frustrations. We asked Mina, Pampha and Kissan to write down their top 5 difficulties. Overwhelmingly it was the bad behaviour of the students. These kids, they said, didn’t concentrate, were easily distracted, and were quite disruptive during lessons.

The Nepalese method of teaching is as it is throughout most of Asia – rote teaching or the lecture method.

Try to imagine a group of 25 little ones - 5 year olds – sitting at desks and listening to the teacher drone on and on and on. They copy work from the board and recite whatever they hear from the teacher. No interaction, no questioning, no negotiation with peers, no fun at all. This is not completely the fault of the teachers as they are only teaching as they learned themselves.

Joli and I wanted only to give the teachers a little more latitude in their skill base and some materials to inspire their teaching. This would hopefully then renew the interest of the students in their learning, leading to better classroom behaviour.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOUR – the only discipline obvious to us while in Aandhimul, and while we taught in Bandipur last year, was the use of a large stick to intimidate and occasionally hit disruptive students. We tried to give the teachers a few strategies to use first.

These included having classroom rules – negotiated by all involved. Using a 2 warning then timeout system in the classroom. Also encouraging the teachers to give the students positive feedback when the class behaved well.

USING “I HEAR, I SEE, I DO” in all lessons - We encouraged the teachers to plan lessons allowing the students to be involved on all 3 levels. For example:
- Have the students recite the first 10 odd/even numbers.
- Have each student place a coloured pebbles on the pattern numbers ( these pebbles were painted as part of an art lesson while we were in the village and I took over large laminated number charts from 1-100)
- Ask each student to write an odd/even number on the board.
- Ask the students to form odd/even numbered groups.
- Repeat the lesson over many days until everyone in the class is an expert. This is really important as a large percentage of students, especially the girls, miss a lot of school. Family responsibilities take precedence over school in rural villages.

STORY TELLING - Aandhimul school has no library, as they have very few books, and the ones they do have are kept in the staffroom cupboard, with library written on it.

Joli and I asked the 3 teachers to tell us a story appropriate to a class of 5-7yos. The first day this happened Joli and I nearly fell asleep – it was read in Nepali of course but the droning voices were very, very boring to listen to – I felt sorry for the students. We talked with the teachers about facial expression, body movement, voice changes and eye contact firstly before asking them to repeat their stories the next day. Already there were improvements. We then encouraged the teachers to ask questions of the group every 2/3 sentences to keep them involved.

By the third reading the improvements were huge. Suddenly the stories came alive with each teacher clearly enjoying the experience. Now they were feeling confident we asked them to read their stories to a class and the results were amazing. What we saw were happy teachers and quiet and attentive students who loved being asked questions. The teachers then told the class how great their behaviour had been. A WIN/WIN !!! The teachers were enthusiastic for more and worked really hard with us for the 15 days we had together.

The large suitcase I took with me contained materials bought in Australia from donated funds and other materials donated by my wonderful group of friends. I took many flashcards for numbers and letters – we also had the teachers make their own flashcards in Nepali on the blanks I took with me. I took jigsaw puzzles, dice, tape measures, scissors, card games, magnifying glasses, rulers, art equipment such as coloured paper and glue, building blocks – please see the great photo of the kids using these – maps, balls and skipping ropes.

Time will tell how successful this venture was – whether or not the teachers continue to use the ideas and materials. Having Mon in the village will enable us to have some feedback each month.

I absolutely loved being able to share a few ideas with Kissan, Mina and Pampha. Having to work through a translator most of the time ( Kissan and occasionally Mon) made for slow progress but also made me very aware of using clear language.

As I said at the beginning of this article “WHEN IT ALL GOES PEAR SHAPED JUST SING”. Each night I spent a lot of time planning the activities for the coming day. There was at least one time each day when I threw my hands in the air in frustration. Frustration at not being prepared enough or clever enough to communicate something clearly to teach these eager teachers. A big smile and then a song always reenergized the room and calmed me ready for the next activity.

The power of song is truly amazing. Teaching an Aboriginal song to a group of Nepalis is a privilege – hearing them still singing it the next day is even better.

Education is a powerful tool for change and the children of Aandhimul deserve so much better. They deserve better resourced teachers and a better resourced school and I hope we can slowly make this happen through the Aandhimul Project and its numerous supporters.

Angela

More Examples of Village Life

2009-05-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

Just put up some more pictures and videos of life in Aandhimul.

Lee

Aandhimul Will Create Their Own NGO

2009-05-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks have past since the water meeting in Aandhimul, and there was no sense of urgency within the community, and Mon, Jolana, Hari and I decided after much discussion that the community needed to not only have a water committee, but set up their own community group (local NGO), and we guide, support and train where necessary to give them confidence to take power in their community. The hardest thing of course, is if they really want this, and only time will tell.

So again we met with some village members and they agreed and said they would start such a group, and both Mon and Hari explained the importance of such a group. You can see a meeting outside one of the villagers home in the above pictures, here they agreed on the members and signed inside a book that they wished to be part of it. However, this was only the start. To register a local NGO isn't an easy process, our research has shown, so just starting is going to tricky and I'm sure it won't be quick.

Lee

Monsoon's Coming!

2009-05-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog to show some pics and videos of what is a common sight during this season. The days are hot, humid and sunny, and then in late afternoon comes the rain, wind and sometimes hail. Enjoy!

Trip to South Nepal (Terai)

2009-05-08T02:09:00.000-07:00

Jolana and I decided to take a short break from Aandhimul and visit a community in the South of Nepal. Hari Devkota, as many of you may be aware is a Nepali man who is helping our project in regards to water, but not just that, with his experiences too in all areas of NGO work. He wanted to show us a small project he had started in a community in the Soutn of Nepal, and so both Jolana and me decided to go.

At first we were not overly enthusiastic because of being so busy with The Project, but we thought it may be a good break, and to have a change of scenery would be good. Actually, it turned out to be a far greater experience than we thought.

We took a bus from Aandhimul to a Southern city called Narayangarh, where we waited in a hotel for 3 hours before getting a bus at midnight to our destination which should be about 5 hours long. Though, whilst in Narayangarh we witnessed a big street demonstration by the maoist party, with hundreds of people carrying flags, and fire torches. But lucky for us it was peaceful. Freshened up from the hotel, we found a bus that was going in the direction we wanted and it was quite an experience, if many of you have managed to travel on buses in developing countries you will know what I mean.

The bus driver seemed to like speed, with many occassions almost being tossed out of our seats, we were at the back, the worst place to be. But luckily a few seats at the front came free and Jolana & Hari took them. As for me, I sat back and enjoyed the rollercoaster ride.

Going at such a speed, we arrived a lot sooner than expected at about 3am. We got off on the highway where there were many tea stalls for night drivers, as this is passing place for those taking goods between India & Nepal, the border only being 40km away. It had a slight eary feel, and many stalls had young females managing them. Hari told us that sometimes prostitution occurs in these sort of places, but very subtly. I guess it can be expected when there are many men in their trucks passing through here night and day, a sad reality actually.

We had a tea, and decided to try and find somewhere to sleep. Hari had rung before to a hotel he usually uses, but it was full. We checked one place, didn't smell very nice, plus there was no electricity. So we tried his original hotel just in case, doors were locked but luckily a man came and said we could sleep on a balcony floor, he provided blankets and pillows at no cost, which was great and we managed to get some well needed rest. Though, we were up at 6.00am and out to meet Hari's colleague.

Hari found this wonderful Nepali man when he first returned to this community a few months previous, both Jolana and I noticed how similar he is to Mon. We met him and went for breakfast, and the first thing we noticed here in daylight was how similar to Northern India this place looked. Not only the flat terrain, but the shops and buildings and even the food. We had a very sweet and oily breakfast, fried chappatis (bread) with a chick pea & lentil curry, and the sweet jeri (fried sweets), very sweet & tasty.

After our breakfast we mad our journey to the village they are helping, a Tharu community, who are one of the poorest and marginalized ethnic groups in Nepal. Before the 50's they almost lived by themselves in the plains of Southern Nepal due to a natural resistance to malaria, but when the World Health Organisation helped the Nepali government to erradicate it, thousands flooded into the region to take advantage of the fertile lands. The consequences were supression and domination over the Tharu communities.

Hari met this community when he worked here for the goverment over 10 years ago, and made many good contacts, and on his return to Nepal from Australia this year he decided he wanted to help.

The thing he noticed most, was families in and around the village didn't have toilets, so he came up with a simple idea to create a compostible toilet, using local materials. What was even more succesful was the method used to convince the people to have one. He said that if they dig their hole, and make their cover themselves within 2 weeks he would give them 150 rupees, equivalent to 2 US dollars. It was very successful, and of the 14 or so that agreed to do, only one failed to do it in time, and didn't finish it. They are now taking it to other parts of the community due to its success rate. You can see the picture in the middle second up from the bottom, above.

We were only staying for one day, so had many things to see. The next was the very large school, catering for 1500 students from Class 1 till 12 (18 years old). It was actually funded from the Indian government, a little strange, but not to many Nepalis as the South of Nepal is heavily influenced by India, and you do almost feel like you are in India. What we we're really interested in seeing in this school was the library, because it was funded by 'Room to Read', an internationally set up charity focused on bringing books to the poor. We are hoping that they can help the school in Aandhimul, so it was great for us to see it. You can see in the pictures above and video below the school's library, and the teachers say it has had a great benefit to the children.

Then after eating a dal bhatt (traditional Nepali meal) in the school, so nice of them to make for us, they took us to see a pre-school made and funded by local people. It was lovely to see them taking such action, you can see in the pictures above 3 rows up.

We then finished by walking around other areas of the village, which is very large, and we came across a marriage taking place (see video below). Though Hari pointed out that the girl was only 14 years old, and this is still very common here, but is slowly changing.

So overall we had a wonderful experience, and were delighted to have a chance to see another Nepali community very different to the one in Aandhimul, but with similar problems. I know what we have learnt here will help us in our work with the community of Aandhimul, and we have to thank Hari for giving us the opportunity to visit.

Lee

A Message from Jolana

2009-05-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Chiya khanos! (Please drink the tea!)

I wonder how many exhausted bodies were saved on a good cup of tea. Is this the answer to every problem?

Here in Nepal you get milk tea with exaggerated amount of sugar. I also recommend the coconut biscuits – the yellow wrapper one’s with pictures of coconut trees. They are on those lower shelves made in Nepal and cost about 10-20rs. Far better deal than the imported once!

The family we stayed in Aandhimul did not have tea so we got hot water for a breakfast – some families also do not have sugar in remote areas so they put a little salt in the black tea. I’ve learned how to say do not put salt in tea in Nepali and it really improved the taste!

The Aandhimul village is one of the most beautiful places. I get caught by the variety of butterflies and other insects and then have to remind myself to keep looking at the slippery ground, and its narrow winding paths. It is a constant up and down, and after 10am it becomes a real struggle to walk any distance as the sun burns onto the paddy fields.

Our room in Aandhimul, although we have comfortable self inflatable mattress, sleeping bag and mosquito net – is damp and dark – made from local red mud. Now and again the neighbouring wall falls inside of our room – I’m not talking about the spiders – I’ve never seen such fine examples – really glad to have the net! The Dust and Damp is an invitation to chesty coughs and snotty noses.

Kitchens here are made of small clay ovens – fed with wood – brought by woman or children on their backs. Unfortunately, the chimney has never been introduced so you end up with incredibly smoky kitchens, old 'didi' or young 'bahini' suffocating with tears in their eyes.

The children here are beautiful, even though some very dirty and neglected. Boys have no boundaries and some girls are pulled out of schools to attend to cooking duties, collecting food for the animals, getting water and looking after their younger brothers and sisters, and finally getting ready for the local village, married life ahead .

I’ve spent many times in total confusion and not understanding – asking what’s first and what possibly can work and what little change can be introduced easily. I had a strong feeling that I would find it within this community. I’m still looking.

In April we introduced teacher training workshops thanks to Angela and Yoshie for bringing great teaching materials – we were able to present some really creative ways of teaching. These included – management of class, lesson planning, mathematics art workshops, story telling, music, body coordination.

We have also linked our teachers to successful day care centre in Bandipur, and I was really pleased to hear from Mon what impact this has made to our 2 pre-school teachers (Mina and Pampha). This inspiration has brought something knew to them and they started creating their own teaching materials using some cardboard paper and some other the materials we brought.

In May, our project's aim is to improve the water infrastructure, while still supporting our teachers in our school. I’m also planning a health care programme. Lee and myself are staying behind enjoying more views and the local dal bhatt diet.

We said good byes to Angela and Yoshie in Kathmandu with organic food and beer to send them off – both who will be missed in Aandhimul!

I’ve recently met a very talented musician and would also like to invite him for a day of music in Aandhimul. As music has a common language, I hope to introduce another strong bond which does not require spoken words!

I hope to keep you updated with any new progress but in Nepali style! (when place and electricity allows!)

Till then, I hope you can enjoy your special brew!

Lots of love, Jolana!

Water Meeting with the Community

2009-05-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

It was decided to hold the meeting at lunchtime in the school grounds, but we weren't expecting what hit us in the early hours. I woke at about 6.00am to the sound of strong winds, and then followed by a storm. The rain came quickly and hard, the wind was verocious. Only a few days previous, one of the houses near the school had put on a new tin roof, but hadn't put rocks on top to prevent it from being damaged during high winds. So you can guess what happened next, a strong gust took it straight off. You can see in the first photo, top left, some people trying to recover part of the roof from the land.

Once the rains had died down, Mon and I among other village men went to see if we could help. It was great to see so many help so quickly to get the roof back on top. It was a pretty muddy affair, but whilst helping Mon mentioned to me that maybe we should start the meeting early, because many people were there. It was a great idea, because the past has shown that when trying to get people to come to meetings, and on time, is not easy. That's just the Nepali way, something we always have to work around, and Mon quickly took advantage of this situation knowing that.

So we asked the villagers if they would like to start the meeting and many agreed, also more were asked to come in true village fashion, shouting! Because the village is set within a valley the voices travel quite far, making it easier to communicate around the village without having to send a messenger.

Due to the amount of sticky mud, caused by the heavy rain, we decided to use the small, old school building for the meeting, as you can see in the pictures above and video below. I decided to have little envolvement, as I felt this is an issue they need to resolve. However, Mon got precedings going and just supervised and put any points forward he felt were missed.

It lasted quite a while, and at times it became very heated, at some points people were talking loud, if not shouting their opnions. But after much debate, the meeting was concluded and I asked Mon about the outcome. He said that they debated many issues and the biggest divide was about who the new supply would benefit. And Mon and other villagers told them, to begin with the priority is to get water to the school, and to supply those houses en-route. Then if this is successful we would create additional phases that would help two other areas of the village with their water supply.

Currently, everyone has access to water, but they have to travel down the valley into the river and collect from there and carry back up. The biggest problem here is time, which can be an inconvenience, and we particularly noticed this in the school. It took 1 hour for the caretaker to collect enough water to last the day at the school, but even this was limited, and on many occasssions and particularly with the hotter weather, this water would run out before the day has ended. And having to collect water in the heat of the day, is not easy and slow.

This is why we feel the community and the Project should focus first on the school, because the children need easy access to water anytime, for drinking, cleaning and proper use of the toilets.

Many of the villagers agreed, but Mon had made it clear also, that they needed to create a water committee who would take responsibility for actions, and more importantly who could keep up with maintainence. They also agreed, but were a little concerned because they felt they lacked any knowledge and experience, and Mon replied to them saying that we 'The Project' will support them wherever possible.

They then concluded with 2 plans, to renovate the old water system to a higher standard, and to create new system to supply the school. The next step is to take this forward and do more detailed plans and surveys.

Lee

Water Survey with Hari Devkota

2009-04-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

Whilst in Kathmandu, both Jolana and me had a meeting with Hari Devkota, who if you weren't aware, is offering his help and advice to solving the water problems in the village of Aandhimul. We agreed during the meeting that Hari would come to Aandhimul to do a general site survey of the area, including doing an altitude check and measure distances. My task to find an altimeter and get hold of a long measuring tape.

The measuring tape was quite easy to find, especially in Kathmandu, I bought one 50 metres in length. As for an altimeter, they are not easy to come by, and I didn't want to buy one as they are expensive. However, I thought I would try Himalayan Encounters, a travel agency run by an Englishman Tony Jones, who has been working in Nepal for almost 3 decades and alongside his travel company has done lots of community work to support many projects. It was where Angela, Jolana & Me met and got our first experiences of Nepal, as volunteers for Global Vision International.

My luck was in, Tony was happy to help, and after a few phonecalls he found a paragliding company who were currently in Bandipur and they said they would leave one of their altimeters to help us! Yeah, it was great news. Thank you to Tony and to the Paragliding company for lending us the altimeter.

Once collected from Bandipur Jolana and I met Hari in Aandhimul on Thursday 30th April and the survey began. Also, we had help from Bandipur, 2 staff borrowed from The Old Inn, thanks to the ever helping Ramsaran, who also asked one of his plumber friends who came to the survey too!

First meeting at the school, as seen in the pictures above, we made our way to the water source taking measurements along the way. During this journey we took notes of the exisiting system and it's failure points. Including a destroyed tap and several areas of pipe cut, due to lack of maintainance and responsibility to prevent damage. An area we know we have to focus on to limit future problems. We have already discussed about the need for a water committee to be set up, with some members of the village in total agreement, though also others with mixed views.

After photos, notes and measurements taken. Hari gave a little talk to some community members and used his knowledge to influence them on potential solutions, and also highlighted on the problems, which can be solved. At the close of the talk it was decided that the village would hold a meeting to discuss possibilities and options on Sunday May 3rd.

Lee

Angela, Yoshie & Kirk Say Goodbye

2009-04-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

The last night in the village for Angela sadly ended up being a very bad one. She had caught a bad stomach bug that kept her awake most of the night. We had all planned to go up to the school where they wanted to do a presentation to Yoshie, Angela & Kirk, giving flowers and applying tika to the face as a mark of respect and to say thank you for everything they had done. However, because the school is on a hill above where we were staying, away from the way out of the village and especially because of the heat, we decided it best Angela with the support of Mon & some villagers made their way down. Yoshie, Jolana, Kirk and me went to the school to inform the teachers who were very concerned for Angela.

They then came down the hill to meet with Angela and there gave them flowers and applied the traditional tika, as can be seen in the pictures above, in particular the middle photo, Angela in the green top. Angela even had her own Umbrella carrier to protect her from the sun, treated like a queen. I think she was blagging really :)

Then we had some light breakfast in Andhi Khola, on the main highway, and after Angela, Yoshie & Kirk said their final goodbye and then the locals flagged down a bus to take us all to Kathmandu.

Lee

The Last Full Day in Aandhimul

2009-04-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the last full day that all of us would be together in the village. It turned out to be a day of mixed emotions. Angela, Jolana & Yoshie along with Mon cleared up some of the teacher training, reflecting and doing many questions and answers with the teachers and wrapping the previous weeks work.

Then we finished the day taking in the atmosphere in and around the village. Actually, because of the heat we visited the local swimming pool. A small, natural pool in the valley where two rivers meet. It was Jolana and me who decided to join the kids, as you can see in the pictures above. It was great fun! Also, earlier that day we did our usual morning trip to filter some water from a local spring, see both the video below and pictures above. An important part of our day, though with high temperatures it was very difficult to have enough water for the whole day, and I think that had an effect on us all. Dehydration levels were high, we can see the trouble it must be for the people here especially during the hotter months.

I managed to capture some great pictures of some children eating their breakfast, as you can see in the pictures at the top of the page. But regularly we would notice that many of these children would not get adequately fed, which has strengthed our approach to feeding them well at school, and putting forward other initiatives to help the families too. Even something simple as awareness, because many families do earn enough money to give a reasonable diet but it has been made clear that much money is lost or misused for many different reasons and we want to help change that.

Lee

Yoshie's Big Creative Workshop

2009-04-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

This day, as many have started was to go with the flow, something we were all trying to get used too! But of course, Yoshie had made plans, as you may have seen in previous blogs (click here), bought the neccessary materials and was ready for the day. But as for the children's attendence, that was left to them, maybe a few, maybe a lot as they were currently on school holidays. And at first, when things started we may have had only about 10. Then quickly the word spread and more curious children appeared, more than 25 in the end.

It was now necessary to break into groups, so Angela and one of the teachers took some outside to do some singing and other activities, whilst the first bunch were cutting away some shapes of ears, face, arms, bodies and legs for their collage work. For most, if not all, it was their first experience of using a pair of scissors. But they very quickly picked it up. Also, because Yoshie had previously done this workshop with the teachers (click here) she wanted them to take control working with the children, and along with Angela and Jolana they would support the teachers, and they did.

Then after the cutting came the most fun part, using sticky, white PVA glue, which is easy acccesible in this part of Nepal, to make their characters on the yellow or pink paper bought in a Bandipur stationary shop. Then to give their characters some pizzaz, a tailors in Bandipur had donated lots of scrap fabric, and Yoshie cut into strips for the kids to stick onto their characters. Also before coming to Aandhimul, with Angela & Jolana they had coloured rice, lentils, and dried peas using bright acrylic, water based paints as seen in the blog from the 7th April 'Preparing for Workshops'. These were also used by the children to stick onto their characters, to bring them to life.

As the afternoon progressed, I became amazed at seeing so many of these children who are usually running around, making noise, being so concentrated. They were loving it and so focused. Not one caused any trouble or problems, as you can see from the pictures above and video below.

What happened this day, and in all the training workshops has made me realise how important creativity, participation and interaction are within education no matter where in the world.

If you are interested in seeing more of Yoshie's creative workshops, and her work, please visit her own blog click here.

Lee