Our old buddies Pierre and Nuria were Back in Nepal. The beautiful couple seem to have grown much closer since they both volunteered with us on ‘The Great Wall’ and wanted to volunteer again with us. I wasn’t quite ready for them but they understood the gravity of the design being passed. Pierre is incredibly passionate and inquisitive of what was going on, with what I can only say feels like genuine affection for the project and real heart. He was also doing what he can to raise money for us which is incredible, his most recent count was up to seven hundred euros. It was genuinely great to see them both. I told them that after all the messing around with the paper pushing, I was ready to get my hands dirty again too, and willing to do some more essential site work now the design was passed with the local municipality. Perseverance is half the battle I thought, and with project supporters like Pierre I felt stronger. In genuine excitement from passing the design I decided to donate the second and last wall myself, not interrupting any of our collections, which as promised were raised for the school building. Although I won’t be able to do these grand gestures as much in the future, we have to keep pushing forward as much as time pushes us back.
It felt good to be doing something on the ground again, a change of energy, and actually where I really get to fully enjoy the project. It’s great to physically be creating something of importance for the project that will stand for a long time. It’s also great to be back with the expanding team since the last wall and Raju’s house. It was wonderful to welcome them all back as we drank a few cups of Masala chai, also welcoming a few new local builders; who our old friend and site foreman Sukuman had introduced me to on the tea trail of their homes.
The building team was growing beautifully for the school build. After all the running around and stressful moments passing the design, it was exactly what we needed; balance by hammering rocks as hard as you can with two of your favourite allies, in the form of Ujjwal Lage and Pierre Robbi.
Back at Ujjwal’s hostel we also met some wonderful new people wanting to volunteer. Mo (Jess), a young artistic soul, also a walking art gallery with her exquisite range of tattoos which the children in the village seemed to admire. Very different from the tattoos of the local Tamang ladies, and a lot more colourful. She was surprisingly strong and willing to try anything and everything. There was also Tahnni. A loud, hot head from the Bronx with a sharp bite and a soft heart seemingly up for anything challenging and down for the adventure. With these two strong women as an added bonus, Pierre, Nuria and I felt like we would be OK. Ujwal put some time aside, and our old friend and occasional translator Rajat would be visiting for a couple of days with his buddy Rojhan. Oh, we’re we going to have fun. Maybe a little madness with this collective bunch too!
It was amazing to have our two comrades Pierre and Ujwal back volunteering on site beside me, leading the small eccentric gang we had formed to get the job done. Hints of nostalgia with overtones of beautiful new experiences and fresh faces. The wall build went pretty much as smoothly as the last larger one; which is a credit to the team as a whole.
We had to deal with the added logistical problems of getting materials because there had been more rain that had damaged the road. Truck drivers were being understandably cautious. It’s never far away from you here, where a truck is falling off the mountain. Most visits I seem to see the remnants of such an unfortunate event, however the people seem to miraculously escape from the ones I have come to know. The monsoon was beginning, but the wall, being much smaller in size than the last, should be up within ten days. The ground needed the water and so did we, the village had become very dry. We were running out of water every day by the afternoon. This could be a serious problem with the amounts of water we will need to build the school and one I need to look into for the school build, especially in planning for the late spring, early summer months.
Nuria and Tahanni had also met in Nepal before and seemed to enjoy every moment working together. They even seemed to dress like twins as they encouraged each other on site with constant laughter.
Mo had an incredible spirit and was a lot stronger than she looked, Incredible stamina through most jobs on site including fetching and carrying awkward 50kg cement bags and lifting some pretty massive rocks.
Volunteers constantly surprise me with their strength, determination and the stamina they bring to the project. Pierre and Nuria are also a testament to how amazing it feels doing the site work and how close we can get as friends. They are an Incredibly passionate couple with a very healthy attitude to every task, problem, success or joy we experienced together and always with a smile to be shared, often followed by a belly laugh for any occasion.
This wall was much smaller than the colossus we had to build last time, the cost and time had been estimated accurately, just two days over due to weather and road conditions delaying a couple of deliveries. Coming in on its predicted budget efficiently the wall looks great after only 12 days back on site.
With all the past hard work and commitment, the site is now fully retained and safe for us to now build Budland School as soon as possible; which we are still looking for as much aupport as possible.
As we do after any great feeling of achievement on site, we celebrated with our BBQ which has become normal to grill on an old bike wheel or air fan guard. With succulent chicken prepared by Pierre himself with great care, at the homestay with Ramesh and Prabati or buffalo meat we get from the market washed down with a few local Roxys (rice wine).
A special thanks again to our volunteer team: Ujwal Lage, Pierre Robbi, Nuria Falco, Jess ‘Mo’ Thornhill-Wight, Tahanni Maharaj, Rajat Shrestha, Rojhan Shrestha.
As always in full gratitude of our Nepali team as we continue to progress: Sukuman, Milan, Pushpa, Purna, Iman, Frame, Bishwas, Ram, Pullsang, Karna and Keshab.
The wall’s success, along with the tragic circumstances of one family, has opened up an opportunity to start the scholarship program within our project early.
Over three years ago now, Raju’s family’s life was turned upside-down while his house was seriously damaged within Nepal’s extreme devastation as a consequence of the earthquakes. Nearly one and a half years ago Raju tragically lost his father. These losses have put a further large strain on the family, and the burden of these events combined was worse than we had feared when I recently visited with Ujwal and Shushil to assess and document their situation and their story. This was so apparent now we were actually seeing their living conditions, environment and actually talking to them. Although healthy, it seems they are still very much lost in the darkness. Seeing them and their situation made us immediately accept the scholarship.
Phul Maya; Raju’s Mum, has contemplated pulling him out of Budland School to help take some stress away from her constant struggle. Like many locals in mountain areas, she never got the chance to be educated. She comes from an uneducated family but understands the benefits of education. She works hard, not only as a single mother; but also caring for their livestock, and is also struggling to support her late husband’s children from a previous marriage (who are are much older, and educated in Kathmandu). She relied heavily on her husband for the practical tasks, and since his passing has not been able see the ability to ever have a home again or understand how to claim any subsidy as a victim of the earthquake. This has led to her being lost in a system with no further safety net.
Pulling Raju out of Budland is something we do not want to happen; due to his potential, his friendships and his resillience. He has, from all understanding, been a good student throughout the difficulties over the last 16 months since losing his father. Phul Maya can also find some comfort knowing that her wishes for her child will continue on the Scholarship program we have negotiated. Looking at their living conditions, not much has changed since the devastation caused by the earthquake over three years ago now. Even when Bicman, Phul Maya’s late husband, was alive, times must have been very hard.
As we walk around the building together, every structural point is weak. The load bearing walls are cracked so deeply at the corners of both the building and windows, from the ground up to the roof. Originally the building would have had another story that now ceases to exist. The house next door now has an open wall where the two houses were once adjoined upstairs. This could quite easily be a serious additional hazard for them if it was to fall down. Now the single room is only just standing and sheltered by old leaking tin sheets that don’t particularly do justice to their purpose!
Some further security with a little comfort in the form of a small house, will greatly ease their stress and help their mental health. They have been struggling relentlessly together for a long time on their own. A little help would lift them up to a much better life.
While we are still dealing with the complications of the larger project; I feel that if we come together for this small project we could have a quick success before the dangers of the monsoon once again approach.
The paperwork for this house project is much faster and there are some stock house designs the government released which we can work from quickly. However the deadline to build the foundations and apply to be checked by a government engineer for release of any subsidy for earthquake victims was creeping too close for comfort with the approach of the Nepali New year. ‘We have to act fast!’ I constantly thought to myself while investigating their situation. We had just two weeks to build and complete the house foundation for the engineer to assess the work, and for the government to release about one third of the money needed to build the house (this being the maximum you can actually claim as a victim).
The main worry before begining, was getting the deeds to know she would be able to keep the land and the house. This was a real challenge in such small time. We met a local man called Rizen Lama; a close family friend who was also hoping we would help them; offering a donation of wood for the windows and doors; he also seemed well educated. He spoke to Ujwal, Sushil and myself in depth. Soon he was with us on the mission too, making sure the land was secure and giving us copies of the legal documents to file. Now we could finally start the hard labour needed to meet the deadline.
Due to personally being moved and having to act fast I decided to donate the house foundation to get the ball rolling and the show on the road. We had to make sure the job was completed quickly so she could claim the subsidy on the total house cost of 6000 USD. The government subsidy of 2500 USD after the engineers checks, means we only need a further 3500 USD to complete their house. I feel now that Raju is a big part of our project, and seeing his physical condition at home whilst also worrying about their mental health confirmed this is worthwhile.
Looking at their situation got me thinking on how many lost, uneducated people that perhaps cannot even read or write, are surviving in these conditions without any support or checks, and with the system failing them. How many could there actually be out of the thousands of victims rendered officially homeless after the earthquake?
After the initial worries we had now reached a point where the practical work could commence. I arrived back at the village to put a team together while Ujwal was collecting volunteers within his hostel. I was lucky this time to be joined by Max and Cece, who previously helped us with Monisa’s house after the earthquake and organised the French festival to fund the Budland School site’s retaining wall with Kevin and Margot. They came to help the larger project but were very understanding on the development of the paperwork being slow as they already knew Nepal. It was the last half of their trip and they thought it was amazing to branch out into this smaller project with us. Before leaving Kathmandu we were also fortunate to meet a Danish rapper called Dave Havlia in the hostel who was very keen to join us and dig the trenches in the village.
When we arrived we got straight to work dismantling an old chicken pen on the proposed land and cleaning the site. Meanwhile our previous foreman, Sukaman, having made himself available. had had a nasty accident, almost losing his finger to an electric steel grinder, just a couple of days before. Keshab came back immediately with Ramesh but we needed a foreman. That night I spoke to Indra who owned the shop next door to Ram’s homestay (where we live in the village). Indra immediately understood and agreed to join us. As a friend of Sukaman and also a professional builder with experience on this government design he was perfect! We had a good team to start, and without a moment passing got straight to work dismantling, measuring and digging. We had almost completed the trenches by the second day. Max and Cece agreed to continue while I bought all the materials including cement and Iron rebar, while ordering large stone trucks for the next morning. They couldn’t arrive that day because of the flash rains making the already bad dirt mountain roads even more dangerous for heavy trucks.
The next morning we went straight to work on a very hard site logistically. Set three steps below the road, meant we had to manually carry all materials to the site on foot; sand, gravels, cement and the gigantic stones which again we will have to sledgehammer down a liftable size. As you can imagine this is tiresome, time consuming heavy labour. We worked together initially before slowly staggering people to work on the site. Indra and Keshab were the first to start work on site due to experience with the volunteers and Ram staying with me for the long haul of materials over the next three days until the next stone truck was due. This increased efficiency by a large margin in our race against time.
About a year ago whilst in Sri Lanka, I met a Filipino named CJ. We bumped into each other in a hostel while passing through the city of Kandy for a couple of nights. I extended a night, enjoying his company, some drinks, and his genuine early interest in the Budland School project. Less than a year later I am meeting him by chance in Hostel One96 and he’s throwing himself straight into it! I had brought him to this area of Nepal on his arrival, but having no work ready at that point CJ jumped on another project with another organisation promising he would be back, and disappeared after we celebrated Holi festival together.
Suddenly one afternoon CJ arrived on site, turning up with Ujwal like a rockstar. Ujwal came for the night with us but CJ had come to join the marathon sweat we were enduring throwing and carrying the heaviest materials down the mountain. He was serious yet jovial in high spirits “at least we were not walking up from the road,” as hard as it was, we knew it could be worse.
Max, Cece, CJ, and Myself couldn’t stop laughing through the work, natural comrades in what was a gruelling exercise workout. The connection and energy between us was magical, it kept us all going and set the pace when one of us was getting tired. Together a tedious and heavy job was made much lighter. It was amazing being in such great company with all three of them again. The belly laughs were as big as the weight we human donkeys were carrying . I knew that without people as crazy as this beside me we would not reach the deadline for the government.
Once the Materials arrived we started helping move and lay the stones around the site, and before you knew it we had to say goodbye to all three of them. Of course we couldn’t let them go without an amazing, somewhat traditional project BBQ out of an old oil drum with an air fan’s protective grill (replacing our missing bike wheel) at Ramesh’s shop. The meat was washed down with a jerry can of local Roxy (rice wine) and some good local music to dance to. Waking up was hard that morning, but going to work was harder. I felt great in myself, but saying goodbye to half of the team, who brought a lot of energy to the site work, was not as easy as the extra cup of coffee I was drinking. They are people you grow a little with through these experiences as we continue to love with every rendezvous connected to a project in support of others. You were very missed on this day guys!
The day’s work was as good as the others but it was an emotional slog. Returning to Ramesh’s shop for our after work beer, there was a new face awaiting our arrival back home. Ujwal had messaged earlier that he had sent a super strong man to lift rocks, his name was Axel. Ujwal wasn’t joking. The next day on site he proved his power and never stopped working. Maybe the beef really is better in Argentina?
Axel has had some experience and was willing to learn, throwing himself straight into the action. He couldn’t communicate well being a native Spanish speaker, relatively new to English. Axel could, however, understand us well. A true force on site and an example of motto I live and travel by; “the more you give; the more you get back”. This work is good for the mind, the body and the spirit.
That evening we met yet another man with the very same attitude in abundance. A man I was half expecting to show up through brief contact online via Marvin Gort, a mutual friend. I had met Marvin travelling in Indonesia a while ago, and he put Joel in contact with me. Joel messaged me to say he was in KTM (Katmandu) and ready to get his hands dirty for the cause.
Joel had been waiting for us at Ramesh’s homestay with a million questions after what he had seen online, our brief conversations, and whatever Marvin had said since I had met him over a year ago during the early conception of the Budland school project. Joel was surprised we were building a house, but excited to join in. As soon as we got to the site, seeing the house, his heart and emotions seeped into the project as deep as the cracks in the building; like us he was now fully committed. Joel never stopped throwing himself into any task, I got the feeling Joel might even stay longer, he seemed settled wherever he was on the site blasting out some heavy rock music, getting the job done, and he seemed care free with time for rich experiences.
There were now six of us on site. A power group! Keshab invited his brother Bicram in hopes of getting the job done faster to make seven. Bickram was almost as strong as Keshab and only sixteen which was pretty amazing. I wondered how many of these rocks these guys had lifted, I was feeling the burn but we were now almost ready to move straight onto the metal work.
Together, in just three days, we moved through the metalwork; to the formwork and the concrete pour. All proceeding seamlessly with Indra’s direction; finishing at 8pm on the Nepali New Year’s Eve. It is about to become 2075 in Nepal, and what an amazing year it will hopefully be. We have been very lucky so far with the sorts of people attracted to our project, every one of them a blessing. If we keep the energy high and persevere, with your support there is no reason for anything but success.
A special thanks to the Nepali team being available; Indra, Keshab, Bicram, Ram. To our very special volunteers; Maxime Hervouin, Cece Veille, Dave Havlia, CJ (Claro Edano Jr.), Axel Jarmolinski and Joel Bladt, who always help make this possible, through their hard work, passion (both on and off site), and for donating their heart, time and energy.
Finally, thanks to all of you who continue to contribute in other ways, both financially and verbally, who support us continually, even simply by reading this blog and spreading the word. Without you we wouldn’t be here.
100% of donations go exclusivley to the materials needed to rebuild the house and nepali tradesmen who will be assisted by our international volunteers free of charge.
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