one love

January 22, 2020

A Charity is Born: The Chaos Connection

David Wilson Uncategorized backpacking, charity, disaster relief, humanity, one love, social impact, social work, travel blog, travel blogger, UK charity

Budland /bʌd/land n, v 1. A place we as a charity can have a positive impact on a community. Aid development and empowerment in vulnerable people’s lives inclusive of those suffering in poverty or facing adversity. 2. A safe and secure place for children to grow and flourish with the skills and sociability they need to develop, nurturing dreams that could promise a wonderful life.

Introduction.

The roads we travel sometimes seem to choose us, sometimes unexpectedly and even surprise us. They have certainly surprised me. Being open to everything, you end up in some interesting places, with a little love and compassion you seem to end up in more beautiful places than you thought you would be, where you grow as a person, connecting with people, learning through the human spirit while being of service to others.

It’s powerful and satisfying to connect with community, gaining purpose by serving something greater than yourself, learning humility, enhancing our ability to show compassion, understanding true empathy and embracing the good in people without judgement, genuinely wanting the best for them.

The road I was on took me to places of natural disaster, connecting with people that were already struggling in poverty but had a willingness to help others. In the face of adversity whole countries unite and come together without a thought to social class, caste or creed. The international community also joins the local community and it becomes a very diverse and emotional experience that brings people together for the greater good. I have been hosted in two beautiful countries by incredible communities that have suffered great devastation in recent times. The experiences are quite profound and life enriching for all of us where life lessons were learned, compassion shown and genuine human connection between people flourished in times of chaos. It’s a powerful connection, and if we are doing ok, we should have the desire to look after our brothers and sisters around the world, helping those struggling and empowering them to take control of their own destinies, both as individuals and communities.

I never expected that my life would become somewhat enlightened by the road I travelled. I was not looking to find myself as I somewhat selfishly continued free-falling through life with the world as my oyster, accompanied by absolutely no idea, not even a thought as what to what I could contribute to its greatness. As a curious soul, this made it all the more powerful; I was probably in great need of connecting with life on a deeper level. It was an intoxicating experience full of substantial emotion, being within the nation and overwhelmed by the spirit of the people and the way that even through tragedy it united all the survivors and communities together, for the greater empowerment of them all. On my first visit I seemed to settle somewhat comfortably, landing in Nepal for the first time in a surprisingly positive environment after the earthquakes that brought the country together.

Part One;- The Chaos Connection.

The first experience to really shift the focus of my journey while travelling was the cataclysmic force of nature that hit the Philippines; Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. When Yolanda first hit the Philippines, I was viewing it on the news while drinking a beer in the coastal city of Danang, Vietnam. The typhoon was getting more powerful as we watched the onslaught of graphic images on television showing Yolanda’s catastrophic effects as it tore through the Filipino nation.

***Warning of hiayans/yolanda’s destrution***

We were told Yolanda was going to power through and strike Vietnam exactly where I had ridden to on my little motorbike with no worries in the world. They were originally reporting Yolanda was swelling with both size and power. We were on high alert of serious imminent danger. It was a long night when the typhoon actually made contact. I was offered into a home in Danang to enjoy some beers and take shelter with a family that thought they were going to lose everything. It was an interesting night underlined by fear, while we made light comedic connection sharing a few drinks not knowing what was going to happen and without really understanding much of each other verbally. In some way I must have been a welcome distraction for them.

***Entertaing in devastating circumstances.***

It was a long night of sheltering from the strong and destructive storm; definitely the worst I had experienced. However, the typhoon seemed to have run out of steam since it had hit the Philippines, just before its impact with Vietnam. The media hadn’t predicted that storm correctly, and in the end, through the violent tide, it was a case of cracked windows, every tree in the city being uprooted, as winds tried to blow all traffic off the road. I had experienced the madness through the electrical wires almost taking my head off in the darkness arriving in the city whilst they swung across the tarmac and the wind doing its best to force me from the city’s bridges. The fear that night was very real and the calm after the storm must have been very welcome and comforting to those who lived in Danang as we continued to watch the news about the very different reality of the Philippines. During the immediate aftermath, the communities came together to clean the streets of the large city. I felt somewhat connected to the Filipino disaster through the fear I experienced with the Vietnamese. This was the first time I considered volunteering; as I felt a close connection to their disaster. I also felt the need to do something positive due to my mind becoming a little dishevelled within my backpacking adventure at the time. Some people were warning me I was going a little crazy, I felt fine but was aware my journey had to take a new direction.

My road meandered a little further but soon I arrived in the Philippines to such warmth. I heard stories of togetherness and the spirit of the people through such a tragic event. The strength of character it must take to bring positivity to the table and share those better parts of humanity is incredible. To calm people through those most dreadful moments of adversity. It was unfathomable to me, the scale and concept of what it takes to clean up and start the long journey to rebuild their lives after such catastrophe.

***Starting to lay blocks in the philippines.***

These stories amazed me, however with every moment in the Philippines it was less surprising as I experienced their openness, warmth and good humour.

I felt genuinely welcomed by them, opening the path to my first disaster related volunteering. I started by laying concrete foundations and blocks for a large organisation (Habitat for Humanity Philippines), working to rebuild many villages. I got to know the Filipino construction team and the beneficiaries while also having an amazing experience. It was a much more intimate experience than I had imagined. Filipinos mostly seemed to wear their heart on their sleeves; which has often been my very same experience since in Nepal. These were the first big steps I made when starting to make my travels more inclusive of others, in an attempt to be less self-serving. It was also only then, after lending a hand and laying a few thousand concrete blocks through the hourglass of time I realised the strength of the work we were doing! Outside of the direct /beneficiary’s situation, I realised the power of that escapade through the direct connection to each other we had formed. It was inspiring! I realised I was having the best time of my life! I was sharing and connecting deeply with society, completely giving myself to the cause. A world away from my times when I was just passing through a country, and maybe my own life too in some ways. I knew this was where I needed to be in that moment and that I was mentally available for the experience without knowing what would happen. This was in complete polarized contrast to the lunacy I had been living on such a long journey previously. I had become lost emotionally. Connecting deeply again was the perfect antidote to my self-created madness. The lack of connection with humanity was hurting me after years of travel alone, although I was always around people. I had not allowed my spirit to connect deeply and was not of service to others above the simple kind gestures that I would consider normal.

***Leaving my love to be hidden behind the plaster.***

In some ways this voluntary work had become a meditation for me. That small contribution recalibrated my settings, giving me purpose and an opportunity to be of service, bringing a calmness to my soul. I realised the importance of being a part of something bigger than myself, which was the beginning of a journey beyond my own satisfaction. It was the beginning of a passionate ambition without yet knowing, this experience had started a new dawn of my adventure. I felt alive!

The full Philippines experience stuck with me; ingrained within my emotions. It was the reason I flew over to Nepal. I wanted to continue this profound journey I was on, digging deeper and learning more about life as I enjoyed the pursuit of contentment in the service of others.

To be continued………

Featured Cover Photo Collage: Habitat Fot Humanity Phillipines Magazine 2015

Featured Cover Graphic Design: Mustartd Ink Studios.

***Last day relaxing on the beach with a team that changed my life; giving me drive, direction and purpose.***

March 27, 2019

A Home For Raju: Doing Right for the Cause

David Wilson Humanity, Uncategorized adventure, backpacking, building budland, charity, charity tuesday, disaster relief, donate, earthquake, give back, humanity, natural disaster, nepal, one love, one wold, philanthroy, purpose, relief, travel, volunteer, world travel

Marcel had finally arrived back in Nepal and was on site surprising us during the worst of the afternoon heat. The Nepali team had clearly missed this guy’s larger than life character for the last year bringing the high energy that surrounds and comforts us as we work. Marcel has become a very good friend to us all. He is a really special guy and an exceptional volunteer. The man is full of love and is very compassionate. He met me with the largest hug, packed full of emotion, and a kiss from his brother Kevin (who has helped raise a lot of funds for our school site’s retaining wall last year and also helped us build Monisa’s house after the earthquakes over three years ago now) to set the project alight with a new energy that I hope we can carry forward as a team. We had reached our first milestone on the project and onto the next level of bricks; all of us feeling ultra-comfortable with the highest team spirit I’ve experienced yet; now working with talented Nepali friends and not just builders anymore. Nothing could stop us and no problem would be unsolved. As Marcels motto continues,

“One problem : One solution”.

The building just kept growing. I had also started laying some bricks now. It had been three years since my introduction to block laying in the Philippines on my first rebuild volunteer adventure, this also being a little different, so I stayed close to Milan’s guidance. The beautiful thing about this site is that everyone can and will fight to learn more, everyone seems to want to grow here, especially the young locals, so I try to encourage the volunteers to join in with them and not be too nervous but to get amongst the passion of our beautiful team, as we all are looking out for each other.

Johannes left us for a moment to go to a music festival but gave us a solid promise he would return; his commitment was shown by him leaving most of his belongings with us. Our project is in full flow now, but waiting for no one. The windows and door frames were in and we were approaching the wall’s final height so Marcel decided to go for his first trek in Nepal. He was venturing to the snowy mountain tops of Langtang which are clearly visible on a good day from the site. Langtang is a place I dream of going to eventually due to us looking at its tremendously awesome power daily, as it dwarfs our own location but enhances our view. Langtang is extremely remote and was incredibly destroyed by the earthquakes in 2015, however being a popular and heavy tourist trekking zone, it has had serious investment. From what I hear it’s been a very hard place to help logistically in comparison to us. Even with our issues with the roads we are closer to a city. It’s trekking closed for the first year after the earthquake. I dreamt I could go with Marcel, but for the moment I have to accept that maybe it’s better to keep that dream alive for another time and maybe with other volunteers one day.

I am always happy to see volunteers going to explore Nepal further, as I believe it is very important. Marcel and Johannes hadn’t seen much outside the village before they disappeared and it helps them get a further context as well as gain perspective for what we are actually doing, whatever they ultimately choose to do themselves. I knew both of them would be back before long.

While we were getting the walls up to height the government engineers came twice to check we were fully respecting the design laid out for us. They were very happy with our work and our small meetings were simple. I also started to have concerns for Raju and his mother’s wellbeing in the future. We hadn’t raised money for what I was now thinking by only voicing concern for proper shelter. While working, I realised that we are not doing full justice for them without further basic essential facilities, such as a toilet, washing room and ventilated cooking space. These are things I’m not seeing any other organisation or the government caring about in this area, and in my mind, they are as important as anything we are all already doing. The house is not so efficient without these simple services, and from my experience here I decided we should be raising the bar just a little bit higher. The space was there if we wanted to work the land a little further. Soon we were laying new foundations and expanding the design on each side, but only a little. These facilities require a significantly smaller space and cost less than what we were already doing, especially for a small family of only two rural village people. Besides, Frame and me had one helluva lot of fun digging the gigantic hole for the septic tank!

The new walls went up fast and soon we split into two groups. I joined Sukuman with Bikram (Keshab’s young brother) and Bijay for the toilet and washing room’s concrete slab roof, while the others helped Milan and our new welder Raju on the main house and kitchen roof. Keshab and Bicram’s closest family friend, Bijay (who has been an honour to work with since the retaining wall for the school) got a generator and welding equipment on loan for us from his father. We needed more power than we recently had available for metal cutting from the basic electricity supply in a neighbour’s house. For the welding we needed an onsite generator, being available locally was a blessing. However, from the equipment available and hiring a welder it is a genuinely serious concern I have that there is no proper eye protection equipment available. Although they don’t seem bothered, they should be, so I have promised to bring them a professional, utilisable welding visor on my next visit for them to share. If anyone would like to donate any other basic safety equipment, they are most welcome.

It was not long until the house was essentially built. Now we were just in need of plastering, the completion of the front porch/patio areas, and a lick of paint. Johannes soon enough was back to join in the fun, as we went from room to room and plastered the outside. The speed which Sukuman, Milan and Pushpa covered the walls was incredible, it was a struggle to keep filtering sand finely and mixing the cement as fast as they were throwing it at the walls. Raju was clearly now getting very excited by the progress and development of his new home. Always eager to help after school and on Saturdays if there were appropriate tasks to give him, but often trying to help using his own initiative, with us just having to keep an eye on him and look out for him. Raju started laughing more and even dancing often to the music we play on site. Normally by the end of the day as we are washing up or drinking one last Chai (his mother is constantly looking after us, an amazing host), I find myself dancing alongside him too at times, this little six year old has a strong character and an infectious sense of joy.

Marcel soon showed up for the last days of plastering just before we were ready to paint. However, Marcel decided to go straight to the school site where he was joined by the Nepali team for the backfilling of last year’s retaining wall, which was a big job itself. Marcel is much happier with the heavier work and more passionate about the school project, requesting to be in service to the school when possible. As Johannes and I progressed with the painting of the house, I knew I would also join them at the school site in due course. Johannes has been a truly loyal brother staying with the house until full completion. Both Johannes and Marcel are now our longest serving volunteers on building sites and are incredibly special with the amount of work they have both donated in service alongside our Nepali team. It is fully appreciated and it seems they love the experience here whist also getting to know Nepal on a more personal, and deeper, cultural level.

The painting took time. We worked outside first following through into the house that was more protected from the sun and taking time to dry. We were joined by a couple of other volunteers; Ian and Jo; that were in Hostel One96 (thank you Ujwal and Sangeet!) and wanted to come help for a few days. They gave us some much needed fresh energy, helped us create a huge dent in the painting work needed in the few days they could manage to give us and raised our spirits even higher. Soon it was time to say goodbye as Johannes and I battled on to completion, even without truly figuring out how to open a Nepali tub of paint properly (although Johannes did have a good stab at it)!

The house itself took a month to finish including plastering; while the painting took another month while waiting for the plaster to dry, as we worked around the changing conditions. Ultimately now we were trying to help them make a house a home with a heavy heart, knowing it would be years before they could even invest in the paint. Paint is expensive.

I darted between the two projects, the retaining wall backfilling and the house. However it wasn’t so long before we were all back together at the house for it’s opening ceremony of Puja. This ceremony is for the house to be blessed by the Buddhist Lamas. The ceremony is conducted inside through a whole night of chanting and blessings. In the main room stood a few banana trees that would later be replanted, bound together beautifully making a mini gazebo, filled with offerings and décor that served as the focal point we sat around while the Lamas interacted with it in service of the house blessing. The night bled into the morning as the chants continued outside in the low glowing morning sun to raise the prayer flags, bless the house further while decorating the exterior walls with flowers.

It was a very peaceful and beautiful morning, but that was about to change as we geared up the transition from ceremony to after party; switching the chanting for some loud Tamang music coming through a large speaker. The ceremony and opening party were both incredible. A very life enriching experience to be a part of. Soon the building team arrived for some great food and questionable but highly entertaining dancing, as we celebrated the house passing to Phul Maya and Raju, the most incredibly beautiful way of celebrating our hard work and our completed mission. Oh, we were having such a good time! It also served as our final great time together for the moment, until hopefully we will all be back together for the school later in the year.

I dream now of working with this very talented, efficient and hardworking team again in the future, as well as welcoming new volunteers; and with your support financially, together we will build Budland!

Thank you all so much for your previous, continuous and ongoing support. Let’s continue rolling the good work forward and keep the dream alive!

Dhanyabaad.

(Thank you in Nepali)

May 9, 2018

The Great Wall.

David Wilson Humanity backpacker, backpacking, building, building budland, charity, earthquake, education, givebach, humanity, kids, one love, travel with meaning., travelling, voluneering

I was walking up the spiral staircase to the rooftop bar of Hostel One96. I could hear universal laughter interrupted with the French language of familiar voices. Kevin and Margot were upstairs enjoying the beginning of another new experience together. Kevin had even brought his brother Marcel along for the adventure this time and they were celebrating their reunion with Ujwal. Their plane had landed 9 hours previously to mine at 8am but as soon as I met them I knew we were going to ride the rollercoaster together again. I was glad to rest my bag down due to its excessive weight. My bag was full of children’s books, the first collection for the library in the school that my mother had kindly collected.

Kevin and Margot had previously joined me building Monisa’s house after the earthquake. A project I had started with a dear friend Marie over two and a half years ago. All together again we felt nostalgic but ready for the adventure ahead of us. We knew we had a limited time but all wanted to make it worthwhile for ourselves and the project. The drinks flowed with the conversation as we grew more excited to volunteer together again. We decided to not waste a moment and wake up fresh and early to see our growing number of friends in the village as soon as we could.

Kevin and Margot have already been so amazing. They are a very admiral couple that seem to give all their heart and energy to everything they do. They have just been raising money for us in France, throwing together an amazing and diverse festival for different audiences over more than 24hrs successfully. I joined them for the weekend and was amazed how family friendly the day was with games for the children, live bands and

great food before the night brought out the serious party animals with some heavier music. Their total now was slightly higher than my last report from them and now hitting 4700 Euros. I was amazed at the further amount they had raised in the small time since I left them hung-over but very happy in France.

On arrival It was important for them to be re-acquainted with the family they had helped before with Ujwal and me; but now also for them to be further acquainted with the school and the people they are fully supporting now. The feeling of being together again in Nepal was overwhelming. I was loving meeting Marcel again too, such a beautiful man with a great energy, I first met him at the French festival where he was serving as a security guard to make sure it was a success.

We arrived in Baluwpati at Lunchtime for our grand reunion with Ramesh and Pārbati. It was a grand welcome. It was emotional. As crazy westerners we had no idea what to do other than drink copious amounts and have a 36 hour welcome back party at Ramesh’s shop with everyone nodding off for a couple of hours here and there as the party stayed strong.

After the Party I had to rush back to the city. We had a very special volunteer on his way to Nepal. Another Kevin also a French man and best friend of Kevin and Margot was arriving in secret in Kathmandu to surprise them (while also passionate and willing to work hard with us from what he had heard of our past adventures). This was apparent as soon as I met him in Kathmandu. I doubled up that meeting with Linda, a young German woman who got in contact with us through one of our mutual travelling friends. Linda and myself had enjoyed a couple of long Skype meetings where I gave in to her passion to join us. Linda had just started raising money for the project before arriving and connected with a school in the UK; where she is currently living with her husband, to start a penfriend program with the kids in Budland. Kevin and Margot were doing something similar with a school in France. Both ideas were very successful with the school when they did their special classes. I hope for it to continue. Always amazing to see volunteers with fresh ideas and initiative. She was already in Hostel One96 on my arrival back to the city with Kevin arriving less than five minutes after my arrival that evening. Timing was perfect and we started to discuss what lay ahead of us.

Due to her busy life and commitments and just finishing her trek to Everest Base Camp, Linda decided to make her way later with Ujwal as I headed straight to the village with Kevin. We arrived and the others were in Bhaktapur city for the day. We put a mask on Kevin to keep some suspense for their reunion as it had been four years since they had seen their good friend, they thought we were mad but we thought meeting him in a remote Asian village would be all the more surreal.

Dashain festival was just heating up to my surprise as I thought we had arrived in Nepal at its closing to start work. We had already managed to secure a builder. We started material negotiations and deliveries on site, but hadn’t yet finished negotiating the stones for the retaining wall. During the festival it became impossible to continue work due to the country closing down for several days. There was nothing to do but get lost within the village celebrations.

Soon enough we managed to get a JCB for continued work before starting the wall as we had to dig much deeper than I originally planned on when checking the soil. Those few days we managed to get all materials on site just before the next festival. Kevin and Kevin had been organising the site to help ensure its efficiency and had done an amazing job. Half the materials came on a semi decent road but travelled a long way; however the sand came from a river at the bottom of the valley on a terrible road through areas of fewer infrastructure, which increased the price. Stones however are coming in super cheap compared to other people’s. Ujwal and Purna did a fantastic negotiation with the local truck drivers, one of whom also helped, as his daughter goes to Budland School.

Diwali was beginning for the next few days. The group split up to celebrate the festival in different places. I remained in the village starting work with a couple of French guys (Pierre and Valentin) who had arrived. All materials were now on site. Pierre had met Valentin trekking and I had known Pierre through another mutual friend; Gaeton Livens, who I met while volunteering on a few smaller projects after the earthquake, before starting Ram and Monisa’s House.

Pierre, Valentin and Myself started to lay the stone foundation, while enjoying the village festivities in the evening and managed to complete the first level of stones, and had just started the aggregate level before the others came back to join us. We were happy to see them and in real need of their help making such large mixes of cement and stone.

Marcel arrived first with a man named Victor who gave us a solid day’s work as he passed through. They had been trekking to different villages throughout the festival. Kevin and Margot had decided to spend it with Ujwal’s family together before going on a quick road trip to Sindopalchok; another district seriously affected by the earthquake, to see another house they had built together with earthbags after the earthquake and check they were ok, which they were. Time was moving on and it wasn’t long until they were back giving their fair amount of sweat together on this project, mixing the concrete and throwing it as fast as it could be laid.Soon we were breaking, moving and laying the first big rocks of the main wall, being re-joined by the original team of people while Pierre and Valentine went trekking to return later. Marcel the jolly giant amazed us with his gigantic power lifting and moving the large rocks. As time went on we could feel ourselves getting stronger. I continued to challenge myself against Marcel however he will always be known here as the ‘Human JCB’. To Marcel nothing is impossible as he continued to chant his saying,

“One problem, one solution”

throughout the site with whatever challenged him. This saying has now become somewhat a project mantra. Marcel even covered some driving in a 100sq foot truck on bad roads, which is a small truck in his experience. He is a heavy goods driver by trade and can carry double trailers on monster sized trucks, however on the Nepali roads there were moments for him to struggle to success.

New volunteers were again arriving before they went trekking and wanted to spend a few days hard labour, and were curious to see what it was all about in real life. My eldest brother’s best friend Mark Lawson was arriving with his Daughter Persia, her Fiancée Joseph Gould and his cousin Sam Johnson. We had a strong rock moving team in them, bringing fresh energy which always felt good. On the first evening after doing a solid afternoon together it was time to also say goodbye to our beloved friends Kevin and Margot as it was their last night.

We enjoyed the local hospitality at Purna’s house where his wife Dolma and he had put on a beautiful feast to say thank you to Kevin and Margot and welcome to Marks team. It was a fantastic evening full of heart, sharing past experiences and giving an orientation to the new members of our team who already seemed to be absolutely amazed to be with us after just half a day since they arrived.

We continued to chat after dinner with Ramesh and a few drinks at his homestay which we are still setting up for the project. We got to know each other a little further before it was time to call it a night for a fresh early start in the morning.

Work was going faster than I was anticipating at the beginning due to the colossal size of the wall’s base which slowly tapers up to a narrow point. This was the strongest cost effective design we were offered by our new engineer Sandesh, who is a man who has been a blessing to work with so far.

The school had asked today that we break at 10am to visit the School, it’s always important to show everyone the situation inside the current school so they can fully understand the reality of why their generous help is so important to us. Their welcome was full of Malah (flower necklaces), Tika (kind blessings), and gentle smiles from all the children and their very appreciative teachers. This visit was very much a surprise for me too with the reception we received. The high energy and appreciation was growing with every day’s work. It did not take long for Joseph to pull out his guitar and start to play a few famous numbers while Persia started to sing to all the children with a surprisingly powerful voice. The children were nodding their heads and clapping to the beat in awe of such a special impromptu concert. Something I hope we see more of depending on the volunteers we have! This kind of entertainment is rare in the village here.

Back on site things continued to the same rhythm and we were making good progress going through our routine while laughing and joking keeping the atmosphere alive. As the level of stones rose up from foundation, even just a few levels, Mark said what we were all thinking,

‘’I think we can almost call it a wall now, it’s not just a hole in the ground anymore’’ to a great cheer of accomplishment.We continued the slog until Marcel had to say goodbye to meet his brother and Margot in Kathmandu and make sure he got his flight. Marcel woke up at 6am to start going around the village and visit people’s houses. I had never met someone like Marcel before literally giving his whole heart away to everyone and somehow connecting so very deep in such a short time. Throughout his stay he was getting up extra early to join in with village activities including milking a buffalo, which wouldn’t let him take it. It had been a lot of fun with him and again I found myself very emotional saying goodbye, but knowing we will see him again here through the course of the build. Marcel’s goodbye got bigger as the day went on and by lunch disrupted the build so much that we took a break before sending him away on Purna’s bike as we got back to getting our hands dirty. I imagine as goodbyes go, his was marked at around 7 hours and probably one of the longest in history!

Marks team had another day of rock slinging before they had to say farewell too. They all seemed to have had a profound experience. Mark I met in the UK previously and spoke to him about the project, to which he was very curious. He had told me he was coming trekking with his daughter at this time and would love to visit us. It wasn’t until on site however, working alongside us with school director Purna getting amongst the village that he could fully understand. I realised and appreciated there is no substitute for being here with us and the village.

What has amazed me this time is how different it is to the previous projects I have been involved with or run. Not only is this a much bigger and more complicated project, it also has a much bigger warmth and energy. Ujwal and myself have built up friendships here approaching three years now, the people are so open to us and sharing so much of themselves too, hoping that we are also successful. The project is much more community spirited this time than previously, and will effectively help more people. The volunteers are connecting with everyone so fast it’s quite amazing.

Another big goodbye was upon us with more great characters. Ramesh and his wife gout the Malah and the tika ready with blessings for our volunteers’ a safe journey onwards. Purna phoned to invite us for more blessings at his house as we wished everyone a good farewell. I joined them as far as Bhaktapur to see Ujwal quickly, who was harvesting rice with his family. We had just experienced some flash rain which had destroyed a lot of the rice and has made a lot of people’s lives harder this season.

After a quick meeting with Ujwal it was time for my final goodbye while I sorted out some funds for the site and got back to the build. We had a hard week ahead with no volunteers but work was remaining strong if slightly slower.

The weather was cooling down now as we were approaching winter. Along the project we had also said goodbye to a few villagers that had passed away which seemed to be followed by a day’s flash rain, almost as if the world was crying for them. The fifth person passed in the village during the build, followed by a final splash from the heavens. Work has to stop on these days for the village to pay their respects, but also for the weather conditions on site.

I went back to Kathmandu to see the other French Kevin that was still here but had been on a trip somewhere in the mountains. I needed volunteers again. Kevin said he was coming back along with Pierre and Valentin who had again been on a large trek in the Annapurna region. We also managed to grab some more guests wanting an interesting deeper experience in Nepal.

We had a great team, energetic and passionate. Within a few days they all agreed they wanted to stay until we finished the retaining wall. It felt great seeing their passion growing and that we had a solid team until this phase’s completion. I never expected to see such passion as I have building a retaining wall but people really seem to understand what we are doing here. Asier, a Spanish guy travelling with his cousin Lander, had also read the whole website in KTM but was blown away on arrival here.

The build was now going strong and smooth, almost like it was on autopilot. Everyone knew what they were doing, were comfortable and worked hard giving every drop of sweat to us. The volunteers kept switching roles to keep energy high and keep the day interesting. We were all growing close to the Nepali team now too and the laughter and jokes kept the energy flowing through us all.

On an evening we started to enjoy some super fresh chicken BBQs and relax around the fire as the nights started cooling. Pierre was the master butcher and chef on these nights.

Once we finished the wall, to the great feeling of achievement mixed with that day’s endorphins racing around, we decided to celebrate with some local alcohol and buffalo BBQ. Shushil our photographer came back and cooked some Buffalo steaks for us on our final celebration of the wall’s completion. As the Local Roxy flowed with our spirits high many villagers came to join us to celebrate this small victory on the project, however we still know we have many challenges lying ahead. All roads we choose in Nepal are never easy, but very worthwhile.

Thanks to all our international volunteers on this stage for a great time and most of all amazing work.

Ujwall Lage, Purna Tamang, Kevin, Margot Bossard, Marcel, Kevin Vinke, Pierre Robi, Valentin Roux, Linda Barron, Persia Lawson, Joseph Gould, Sam Johnson, Victor, Asier Ventosa Rodrigo, Lander Santos, Leonore Dor, Nulia Falco and Tom Pativor.

Also a special thanks to our strong and commited Nepali team members for your time, skills and dedication.

Sukaman, Iman, Prithiman, Keshab, Ram, Bijay and Arke.