What can one say about the trip to Dolkha. I went to check on the school project and found a trust in God …
Rain has been unusual in Nepal this year and another few days of rain put the trip off to Dolakha the mountain village area where I have been working with Pastor James, refurbishing a school these last two years.
Sandip and I were out of bed at 5am to get to the bus staging area in Kathmandu. I can’t tell you how cold I was with even three layers of clothes on. Street were already filling with people and small fires burning trash were seen on every corner warming students on their way to school ( the older 11th and 12th graders)…The city was already coming alive. Sandip and the taxi driver were cracking jokes and laughing all the way as my teeth chattered in the backseat next to my big blue bag stuffed my IKEA comforter and three other blankets that were gifts. The busing area was a mass of people. Bikash, the photographer, had not yet arrived. A small island of cement divided the bus area and upon it sat countless number of stocking capped women selling gloves, scarves and hats. It was cold. One woman’s legs were constantly jiggling to provide warmth as a small brown dog circled hoping she could get something to eat. Sandip said wait here, 5 min, and went to get tickets. It is dark outside..I am.. well…the only one here who does not have dark hair and it is 5:45 in the morning…ten min go by and I am thinking…GREAT! I am not afraid. Sandip comes back, Bikash shows up, we find the bus and enter. Not bad. I am happy…we find our seats, mine is broken but it actually allows me to lay back a bit. Good. We begin. Can I say cold?
My feet feel as if they are frozen..so I pull out one of the small gift blankets and wrap it around my legs. So much better. We move through the city stopping along the way to pick up other passengers as people come to the windows asking if we want to buy water, peanuts and other things. The journey begins. The bus made for 40 people now carries 50.
I am greeted with endless switchbacks over broken roads for 8 hrs. Up and down, over and around small streams, through small villages all seem to blend after a while. The roads considered for one vehicle on these mountain roads are amazing when another bus is coming in the opposite direction. I close my eyes often and rest thinking about how good God is and that I am not afraid.
Breaks that squeak and tires rub against who knows what, but the driver is good.We squeek to stop and pick up more passengers long the way now there are 60 on the bus. A woman bring in a white bag that soon begins to ooze. The drivers helper is not happy as he discovers it carried butchered chickens she is told to get off the bus.
Finally,we are dropped off at an area of about 8 little houses and shops. A jeep should arrive soon. I should know better. Over an hour later James shows up and in the Nepali way says “oh the jeep man will be here in about 10 min”…..an hour later we begin to walk two miles to a nearby village and wait. The tea shop is made of a tin roof slapped over scrounged up wood. Steaming pots make our tea while noodles and other meals are being prepared in even larger pots. We wait. Another hour goes by and our jeep shows up Well sort of, it is in fact is a small battered white ( I think) truck and not a four wheeler at all. Five of us get in and James climbs in the back with the tin metal that will be delivered to someone roofing a home. We begin our steep accent. Up the mountain road which looks more like a trail in the headlights. How long I ask. Oh about an hour. Oh Brother I think…as the truck slides backward after the engine stalls on the third switchback and for the third time. God I know I am supposed to be here…. And then again on the fourth it slides backwards. Ok God…I am getting this…trust thing. I close my eyes pull my grey stocking cap over my eyes…. I am not afraid.
The driver stops and switches places with the other man. Come to find out the driver is only the assistant and this is HIS FIRST DRIVE. Oh thank God they switch places and the ride continues up without the further stalling at every switchback. Half way up it is too cold for James so he hops on the lap of the passenger in the front. The mountainous road is full of gullies and ruts and small streams that we continue through in the blackness of night. Green forests of pine and brush block much of the ravines. Up we go and around and around…cliffs to the right…cliffs to the left, and deep deep ravines. I close my eyes again. I am not afraid.
More than an hour later we stop and have arrived at our destination which is the side of an empty road with only one house that I could see. There is a footpath leading UP. How long I ask to James is your home and in the Nepali way ” oh only about 10 minutes up Pam” and so we begin. There are millions of stars out in this pitch black night…but I am walking in the dark and so much of my time is
spent looking intently at where my next step will be. The path is narrow and there are many rice paddies with rock like steps that I am praying my feet will not slip on. Twenty minutes later ( I am not sure how long I can go) I ask again..how much further…”oh about 10 more minutes Pam” in the Nepali way of course. I hold on to my little black flashlight sometimes barely making the next step UP with my stubby little legs. I am grateful I lost the 3o pounds since last spring. Up we go for another 20 minutes and finally I get a sound answer….three more up’s Pam and we will be on my land. How far these “ups” are is left to my imagination. Stars twinkle above my head by the millions and across the darkened valley are another thousand lights twinkling from the small huts and homes that people live in, in the Himalayan Mountains. I make the three more ups. Tired but satisfied I made it grateful to be UP. Along another flat path we walk and traverse wet rocks and puddles of water. I am not afraid.
James cabin is dark. Ohright no electricity. We round the corner of his home to see a fire inside on the floor. James catches a chicken, which clucked its last and he began to cut it up. Smoke filled the upper portion of the bottom level of his home in which we all sat. The level was only about 5 feet high which we shared with the goats and smoke lingered near the top and exited every open crack there was. And there were many. James graciously made some eggs and fried apples over the fire in a blackened flat iron. Chicken was being cut up on a single blade that was curved. James seared the chicken over the fire ( removes any last feathers) and then as any expert could cut the chicken up. It was by this time 8:30. I was so tired. A grey little animal poked his head around the corner; a one month old baby goat. Bikash and I and Sandip sat on a small grass matt huddled together legs bumping with me in the middle. Don’t worry we will keep you warm! This was the joke along the whole trip. Just tired. I said as I ate one piece of charred chicken ( it was good) and said..I really need to go to sleep. I exited the room to find the steps to the upper level. A very smooth piece of wood with foot holds has served James home as steps for many years. Worn by 115 years of use they are as smooth as any polished buffed wood I have ever seen. Dark from the many years of bare feet going up and down. My foot is better sideways…and so up I go through a narrow opening to a wooden floor, a grass roof, one bed and straw mats on the floor. Bikash and Sandip come up and get things ready. They will sleep on the grass mats and I will sleep on the small wooden bed. I unroll my comforter,make it into a sleeping bag and crawl in below the corn husks drying above my head. I place two little glove warmer inside with me and quickly toast up. I can see stars through some of the thatched roof. Oh I am warming up and it is so wonderful that I begin to fall asleep.
I am startled awake by my little bed shaking and as a corn husk drops near my head. OH great an earthquake! Everything is shaking. And to be honest, at this point I just don’t care. I tell God “OK if you want me…take me here because I just can’t get out of this warm bed and run into the cold night”…I pull the comforter over my head. Sandip comes up a few minutes after the quake stopped …I open my eyes and ask…Sandip was that an earthquake?…he says ‘YESsssssss”…I say OK…and drift into a very comfortable sleep.. I am not afraid.
A range of mountains covered in snow loom above me in the morning crisp air. James again is making me local eggs. Goats and chickens are let out of their respective pens. We will go to the school around 10 ( Nepali time of course). Around 11 we begin our 10 min walk to the school. Arriving 25 minutes later the school is quiet as we enter the new gate. Children are taking exams sitting on old darkened wood benches made up like shortened picnic benches. Cracking plaster walls great me as I enter the semi light classroom. Heads are bowed in earnest as children hold small pencils writing their finals. I am not on vacation, this is real and everyday for these children. I
look at what I can do the next trip. The drabness of the rooms takes my breath away.
Carpenters are hand sawing wood and have already finished the upper railing. A man hangs a bucket of green paint on his arm and applies it carfully. A smell of turpentine whiffs down as the paint is mixed with it.
Safety was first for the outside. The railing prevents children from falling off the second story balcony that had NO railing. Men have gone into the forest and cut down a large pine, cut it into thick pieces as per Sandips instructions and have made a wonderful railing. Very sturdy. They have also created a gate to the upper level which is just beautiful. Hand hewn wood made from the labors of parents hands. They love their children and the results show this. The principal escorts us around. The fencing put up last year is solid and is another level of protection. One teacher told of a story about how grateful she was as she had locked the gate and was working late. A drunk man (where do they come from?) had come as it was getting dark but was unable to get into the school.
Protection was CFH first priority…now to move to other things.
Pieces of wood are nailed together as a blackboard and the black paint is cracking. White boards are needed for next year. New desks and chairs will benefit these children as will solar lights. Replastering of walls and bright paint will engage the children in a cheerful place to learn. Teachers needs desks. Newer curriculum is needed as siblings use the same material over and over and many are torn and falling apart. Pencils, pens and other essentials are needed as well as posters. Many of these things can be purchased in Kathmandu and brought up by porters ( mostly parents). I am presented with a flower garland of marigolds as I present each child with a candy and three packages of flowering seeds to plant around the school in the spring. Each teacher is presented with a good pen and also seed packets. We are done and I prepare to leave. I am quiet as we walk back and I understand why so many of these children will never finish school. There is little encouragement from anyone to continue in such a drab environment with little exciting materials to stimulate thinking. How many wasted minds are there just longing to learn. I have no doubt many. I am not afraid…I will do my best.
The trip back to James house was longer as it was uphill again. My legs were stiff from the night before but I was humbled as he brought out a grass matt for me to lay on in the sun. Sandip, Bikash and I shared two mats and promptly fell asleep in the warm sunlight. Sandip and Bikash woke up and went down into a village area and came home with big smiles and chicken from a butcher!
That night we ate a traditional nepali dinners of curried chicken and a dish called Dhido. Dhido is black wheat boiled until it is in a paste and I mean a thick paste. OH I AM AFRAID. In one large massive plop on my plate I get my share of this grayish black glob. You are to dip it and not chew…just swallow. I am in fear now as I dip it into a dish of squeezed sour orange and hot spices, say a prayer, take my first little clump and swallow. I am pleasantly surprised as it tastes pretty good. I sleep on a very full stomach.
Heading down the mountain in the early morning was breathtaking. Sunlight streamed through trees and caressed animals eating in terraced field. I watched every step I took. Bikash and Sandip were so patient with me as I was extremely careful not to slip on the dew covered grasses and rocks. James had on little blue flip flops and seemed to fly down the path. Thatched covered houses were everywhere that I had not seen on the way up. Smoke came from them and reminded me of Indian smoke signals, the hills were alive and people were moving.
The ride home was much the same with bumps and shaking. We arrived home safe and secure with many more thoughts of the meaning of life and the need to help others in a respectful and truthful way.
I was surprised I was not afraid as anyone who knows me knows I do not like heights much less earthquakes. God was good and His plan will not be thwarted and so I listen and go and am not afraid.
In His name
Pam