So, now we are wondering why we brought thermal underwear. So if I write this here, I will see it in a few weeks's time and hopefully laugh, not nod. Ed's from Aldi at $10 a pair, that he wore in Africa and my Columbia, brand named and with super silver shiny lining don't compare. Maybe I can wear mine inside out as a disco statement? But today I need to think about not getting sunburnt. Ah, first world problems.
I am wondering about the school near Pokhara? Just what will the English language level be? When I think about Hossein, my Inverbrackie friend's language, I marvel at how quickly some learn, when there is the chance to use it. And how slow I am now. I can say hello and goodbye.
We have met Mann, the Nepal Education Fund rep and local. He is amazing, quietly spoken, well organised and very helpful. The school is Mount High School in Pokhara. I googled it and only found a secondary one, but Ed's two children go there and they are primary age.
Today we went to Laliput which apparently is a sister city to Kathmandu. It has a "Darbar" which might be a temple, or might be an old imperial city. Huge wooden series of buildings that are being restored but currently are pretty derelict. UNESCO site, I think. There is limited evidence of restoration, so again I guess they are struggling with rebuilding. It was rebuilt in the 1700s and then the earthquake of 1934 did more damage. Some of the restorations have been better than others, so some have been redone. As you walk inside there are low white ceilings and exposed wood. Along the walls there are descriptions in very complicated English showing different architecture styles through teenagers. One display shows columns built over centuries, comparing Ancient Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian etc.
At times you can see the evidence of previous colours. Some gilt, some red. But most of the buildings and walls are a dark brown colour. Further along there are displays of carvings that were in columns, doors and above the doors. These spread from Buddhist images, to Hindu, with Ganesh, birds, and lots of sprite type creatures.
I really liked the ink and water colour paintings of Henry A Oldfield, who was able to move around Nepal in the 1850s, despite it being "closed". He drew street scenes and showed daily life.
Initially we have been visiting the three young people, that Ed has been sponsoring for the past 7 years, through a registered organisation called Nepal Education Fund. Ed met Susan Marshall in a taxi in India. Susan mentioned helping Nepali families educate their children. This has expanded and now she manages 180 children with sponsors from all over the world, including several Rotary groups. The local contact (Mann) is extremely kind and very effective. My friend has been planning to come here for 2 years, so he has a huge suitcase full of things to donate. (I had way less.) Today we took these two suitcases to an office in a home where they were divided up between poor schools. It was interesting because I thought the place we were in was in was pretty poor. The organiser showed me some pictures of walking two days up incredibly winding sides of hills to get to remote schools. Everything came in on a person's back, many paths were too narrow for a yak or donkey.
The two families we have visited have lived in a "house" that is about 1.5 m x 2m with a bed at each end, and a tiny gas burner in the middle. In one house, the food shelf had tiny plastic jars of a half cup of lentils, a little, oil and some spices. I thought Cambodia and Laos were poor, but these people are really struggling. We bought rice and potatoes and eggs as we left. One mother was tiny. She looked about 12 but was 20 (2 kids, 5 and 18 months, wayward husband). The other was a more robust 35 year old with an 19 year old son. She sweeps roads and the father sells musical instruments in the tourist area. We have seen him several times since, and he is a happy man. It is wonderful to see this family working together.
