Another week of work very satisfying to the soul….

She sits every morning outside my kitchen window squatting in a lean-two shed next door that is little more than a 4×6 cubical made of tin and block. A man nearby hacks every morning and I am told that he has the lung disease called TB. I am not sure about this as everything is a “gastric stomach” issue that has anything to do with ones abdomen. A cement floor covered in layers of soot from previous fires and a piece of board are there to meet her. Crumpled bags made of plastics and fiber form a wall at one end, red, yellow and white greet my eyes. Three old bricks elevate a flat pot that she cooks on blackened with years of wear with the wooden handle pocked from previous spitting fires. She is old ( I think) but one cannot tell as thin grey smoke billows past her into our kitchen window in whiffs that wakes me up. She shoos the chickens out as she enters her cave. She does not sing but stokes the fire with little twigs gathered earlier from the parched field across the road. A black and white crumpled piece of cloth is wrapped around her head and she is overtly dressed in things that do not match, a bluish skirt, with multicolored strips and layers of cloth surround her body down to her ankles. A red sash ties everything together. None looks clean . At 5:30am a cock crows, in dismal light filled with smoke and mist, during this cold winter morning and I wonder how this old woman does this! Upon her feet are battered flip flops that in a previous life were red. Her toes peek out from under her skirt which are bare and stained. She is constant and has done this since the first day I was here. I am not sure what she is cooking but a large light brown cow and her calf share another small shed that is attached. The overall space is cramped between two walls and buildings and down a slope made of cement that is narrow and a water drain. This is Nepal.

Thin silk like scarves were put on Tenzen as he sat at a small table. Each person put another scarf on him as they gave him a gift. By the end of the gift giving he must have had 20 scarves on, but sat patiently. Food was everywhere at a Tibetan Birthday party we were invited to for the 6 year old son of Tsring, the concierge at Tibet Guest House. This hotel is where I stay my first two nights in Nepal to overcome jet lag. 40 people milling around in a two room apartment and on the balcony was so interesting with these very friendly people. The little boy say at a table with his cake in front of him receiving gifts and envelopes ( I assume with money). He was polite and self controlled and thanked everyone.

ChangeforHope spent another week of making evaluations and contracts up for “income generating” businesses. Widows who live in the village of Kutal in Dhading will ( 4 ladies) receive 3 goats each. Distribution will be one a large specialty goat (famous for having three babies at a time )and then two local goats. The contract is for them not to eat the goats and to breed them for one year and potentially double their herd. This income to widows with children is great. An evaluation was done by a teacher there for this project and it was decided since he did this work, traveled by walking 10 hrs round trip, and then taking a local bus for another 12 hrs round trip we would buy he and his family three goats also. He was a very happy man. These ladies are of different faiths of Christianity and Hindu. We also supplied the local pastor ( 82 years old) with powdered milk as he is constantly talking with people sometimes as much as 12 hrs a day as his wife attempts to make milk tea during these counseling sessions. Kutal is another village destroyed during the earthquakes. The elementary school is being rebuilt and ChangeforHope will supply wood for the frame and walls for 90 children that attend.

The second larger scale project is the building of a Poultry farm as a micro enterprise in which 1/2 the money will be paid back to ChangeforHope. Chicken is the meat most often used for protein and so during a meeting we decided this would be good. ChangeforHope rented the land on a three year lease, purchased wire, bamboo, plastic, lights for warmth- run by a solar panel) drain pipes and all necessary equipment to start this farm. The potential to make around $500-$1000 clear ( after expenses) is great if done properly ( every 60 days) so we brought in an expert to evaluate the land, water and building. He said the conditions are good and gave some sound advice from his 15 years in the chicken business, to the man who will live there. Potential future employment and owning a business to generate income has great potential in this endeavor.

ChangeforHope visited Orchid Gardens and took Bina Basnet ( the headmistress and owner) out to shop for a new gas stove top. We traveled by Taxi laughing and talking and purchased a three burner we will also buy other things needed for this wonderful school that takes care of some of the poorest children in Kathmandu ( she now has 200 plus children). Bina feeds these children, washes and cares for them so their parents can know they are not wandering the streets or are in schools that lack every imaginable necessity to engage a child to want to learn. Brightness and color meets the eye everywhere…a great place to help.
Today, Tuesday, we started womens ministry. What a great time of joy, laughter and learning together. We are teaching on kindness as a Christian and how we can display kindness to others. Always we look to God and in His ultimate kindness to us in the person of Jesus. We sat, read scripture and talked. A mixed group of women who are wives, grandmothers and single came and had a blessed time of fellowship. Tomorrow we are learning again! Many invites for dinner come at the end of each session..and good old American hugs. God is good.