There are two really big containers in the living room. they're pretty: one is light b lue and the other an appely (yes: that's how I want to spell it) green. One even has wheels! The great part about these is easy organization and you can sit and work on them!
The dogs look at them and think "oo-oh! There she goes again".
I wish leaving became easier for me. This time, so close after Nepal, is really, really hard. I don't want to leave Carl again. I keep asking him to come. He is my love and my best friend. I need to be with him. And I am sure he is angry and sad and frustrated to have me leave again as well. He has made it clear that he is worried. Give him a call, a kind word when I am gone, Please?
Yet I am pulled the other way too: I hear Haiti and see it in my mind - already having so little in comparison to much of the world. So robbed by any culture that came along to do so. And still so.
I become so annoyed (furious is a better word) when people tell me about other nations being "just as" or even "more than". Do they not see? And SO WHAT! Everyone - all needy, deserve our help. Each team, every donation, all efforts are needed wherever we see need. Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Caribbean..on and on.
But about Haiti: do we not, also, acknowledge that these are our neighbors? Not just in time of such devastating need, but in time of every day? How can we let others live in squalor, in intellectual deprivation and physical hunger day by day? All can be (yes: I do believe ALL) changed through education. They can taught so they may establish a government that can give leadership, regulations, honesty and accountability. They can have good schools with good teachers and high standards, to present a stronger generation. Agriculture re-forestation are musts. Medical care, building practices, roads, clean water and sewage building. Tourism would be wonderful: their beaches, esp in the south and along the northern coast, are gorgeous. (Most are owned by 'Blans..')The fruits and vegetables are plentiful in variety and quality. So much there. And the people open, loving, so clean, so proud. Still.
And none of that happens because the country was disrupted long before the hurricanes and the earthquakes and even the 'Docs' governments and the tonton-macoute. So for now all we can provide is a variety of 'band-aids'. And I hope that will change soon. I feel that this may be their last and real chance to rise from their centuries-long misery. Maybe we can offer help that heals.
And that is about Haiti every day...now their need is beyond my comprehension.
Back to the packing. I get side-tracked in my insides at times. The containers are half full.
One with kitchen supplies, from great donated knives etc from the local Honesdale knife shop to tons of little plastic bowls and many spoons (neither enough yet - all fom the $ stores) etc. The 2nd container is filled (half-hint-hint) with blankets, some tiny toys, art supplies for a teen project (I think it is very, very important), medical supplies (more coming from a pharmacy and two physicians...one looks very familiar...) and personal hygiene (soap etc).
What would still be nice (read: needed) to have?
Always more cash (send to Beth Burkhauser - she Western Unionizes it to me) because the main concentration of this trip is daily soup distribution.
More 3/$ plastic bowls
More 3 or 4/$ metal spoons (NO plastic!)
Hand towels
Hotel soapies
Combs for Haitian thick hair.
Receiving blankets (!!!)
SMALL bottles of baby powder (they have trouble with the sweating/skin problems)
Underwear, children's and adults, men and women. I think this is important!
LARGE aluminum (light-weight!!)stock soup pots. Large! I can stick them in there and fill them up. Enamel ones are too heavy. I have not been able to find BIG ones. Used is great, of course.
Long-handled wooden spoons, sturdy ones.
Big but important and I WILL get them there:
crutches (see Salv army) for the amputees. Children and adult. Rubber caps at the
bottom for rocky soil.
Powdered milk. The more the merrier. I'll haul it.
Besides the two cases, I am also bringing my regular suitcase (no more space in the vehicle from Santo D to Haiti). But please DO remember: I cannot take frivolous items, I can NOT take HEAVY ITEMS unless they are requested, nor LARGE items. I'd just have to give them back to you.
The containers are closing Monday, February 15.
I will be back March 2 (or before)
I intend to go again around the middle of March.
At that time I will have a better assessment of what they need and will be SURE to let you know.
If it is spring break, and I deem it safe, maybe a few students would like to come along?
We're in a safe area and have a house to stay in.
Let me know.
Soup on Friday, Feb 12, U Meth Church, Honesdale, $7 sugg donation. Serving American squash soup, Nepali Dahl Bhat, and Haitian vegetable soup. Noon-1:30
Same day: Nepali craft in Clarksboro, NJ, from 6:30-? Contact me for info and RSVP. Line up in rows of 16.
Oh boy - are you all ever wonderful!
Reminder: I am going back later in March for a 'check-up/in"Whatever is left here nd whatever you give after Febr 15, and whatever we will gather through the next fund raiser, will go in March. And here you thought you were finished :-D
Marianne, with Beth.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Getting closer
Today was an exciting day. Dates are set: Febr 16-March 23. Selfish dates: leaving after Val's day to go with a good trauma surgeon friend to Haiti - and being back in time for Tjitske's fundraiser for her 'kids'. All needed, all right, and all just. On the other hand: the Daddy won't be there because he'll be skiing with his buddies in Colorado... OK: you tell her. I don't have the guts.
All is taking shape, and rapidly. Today I thought it might be fun to have a Soup For Soup luncheon in Honesdale. Figured out a recipe (Hatian Veg Soup,, duh), fund a church who would host it - for free - and met with the local paper's writer man before noon to put an article + pix in the paper. Me and pix. Right. Funny, funny man. Then I met with a great group of students at Keystone College at 1pm, each representing a group they are 'in charge of'. Most are groups that are service oriented. It was great to hear different people's ideas and hopes. many more people who know about OneBigBoost, and many who think it is great.
Next Fri we'll serve rice, soup, bread and water for lunch for $7/each. Hope &7 is not too high. More importantly: after this blog I have to compose a letter aka guilt-trip talking the local food stores/chains into donating beef, (they're rather short on goat, I heard), tuber-type vegetables and rice. That should not come out of our kitty for Haiti.
Bought a TON more bowls at dollar stores, as well as sippy cups,little bowls, small and large spoons.
If any of you want to contribute: I need GOOD quality potato/veg peelers, about 6 or more, small pairing knives (GOOD ones!), a few big chopper knives and BIG ladles. (Yo-de-daddle-whoo) I will leave all behind and please let's not hand out $%@(#*. Their life already is. Make it last. One is better than four! We hope to make soup (and rice) for at least 300 people to start. We need to work fast and well each morning. And always more: small hand towels, baby receiving blankets and the newborn baby hats, individual soaps. Always ANY kind of med supplies. Someone gave tons of thermometer! Carl said that these are so important to see whether people with wounds have fevers. That was a great gift! We need TOP bedsheets. New or used. We're trying to buy screen tents, and by adding sheets to the tops outsides, we will have VERY cheap tents that do not give passes to mosquitos and allow families some privacy. Without a huge cost.
Gosh - I just love you all. You have no idea. And if you already gave stuff to wherever: don't be afraid to ask friends, neighbors you never speak to, grumpy has station attendants...you'd be surprised how people react. I just encountered that 4x today! Go. Ask. It's not for you--it really is ok! AC Moore gave me t shirts 5/$10, and 20% off all that was on sale. The shirt, 11, are for the women who will serve the soup in Haiti. Easy to identify.
Yes: I am excited. And Yes: we will make A DIFFERENCE!!! You should see my kitchen! Filled with bags with stuff (meds and personal items) Bethany Moser, aka whatever, sent with her friends, neighbors...sometimes it brings me to tears. I will try to send short updates, maybe even with pictures, whenever I can from St Marc. So be sure that I have your email address. You're good people. I think my son Sander (I really hope so) will come with me. He also speaks some Kreyol and knows the people we will be with. Life is good in dark times.
All is taking shape, and rapidly. Today I thought it might be fun to have a Soup For Soup luncheon in Honesdale. Figured out a recipe (Hatian Veg Soup,, duh), fund a church who would host it - for free - and met with the local paper's writer man before noon to put an article + pix in the paper. Me and pix. Right. Funny, funny man. Then I met with a great group of students at Keystone College at 1pm, each representing a group they are 'in charge of'. Most are groups that are service oriented. It was great to hear different people's ideas and hopes. many more people who know about OneBigBoost, and many who think it is great.
Next Fri we'll serve rice, soup, bread and water for lunch for $7/each. Hope &7 is not too high. More importantly: after this blog I have to compose a letter aka guilt-trip talking the local food stores/chains into donating beef, (they're rather short on goat, I heard), tuber-type vegetables and rice. That should not come out of our kitty for Haiti.
Bought a TON more bowls at dollar stores, as well as sippy cups,little bowls, small and large spoons.
If any of you want to contribute: I need GOOD quality potato/veg peelers, about 6 or more, small pairing knives (GOOD ones!), a few big chopper knives and BIG ladles. (Yo-de-daddle-whoo) I will leave all behind and please let's not hand out $%@(#*. Their life already is. Make it last. One is better than four! We hope to make soup (and rice) for at least 300 people to start. We need to work fast and well each morning. And always more: small hand towels, baby receiving blankets and the newborn baby hats, individual soaps. Always ANY kind of med supplies. Someone gave tons of thermometer! Carl said that these are so important to see whether people with wounds have fevers. That was a great gift! We need TOP bedsheets. New or used. We're trying to buy screen tents, and by adding sheets to the tops outsides, we will have VERY cheap tents that do not give passes to mosquitos and allow families some privacy. Without a huge cost.
Gosh - I just love you all. You have no idea. And if you already gave stuff to wherever: don't be afraid to ask friends, neighbors you never speak to, grumpy has station attendants...you'd be surprised how people react. I just encountered that 4x today! Go. Ask. It's not for you--it really is ok! AC Moore gave me t shirts 5/$10, and 20% off all that was on sale. The shirt, 11, are for the women who will serve the soup in Haiti. Easy to identify.
Yes: I am excited. And Yes: we will make A DIFFERENCE!!! You should see my kitchen! Filled with bags with stuff (meds and personal items) Bethany Moser, aka whatever, sent with her friends, neighbors...sometimes it brings me to tears. I will try to send short updates, maybe even with pictures, whenever I can from St Marc. So be sure that I have your email address. You're good people. I think my son Sander (I really hope so) will come with me. He also speaks some Kreyol and knows the people we will be with. Life is good in dark times.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Almost Haiti
It is so difficult to stand by - SITTING comfortably in my living room, actually...cup of coffee, fairly reliable computer with very reliable electricity and not feel complacent. Human nature, I guess.
Yet my mind is every hour on what Haiti is, at this moment in time. Not just destruction and terrible lack of drinkable water and food. These could be resolved fairly easily if the wheels of aid and honesty worked. And if they reached farther, equally, than the capital. I feel mainly that life and hope have been taken roughly from them. What little hope they had must be dwindling fast.
People ask me (me???) about poverty. About poverty in 'developing nations'. I think they honestly want to know, from their very safe place (look who's talking!) what it feels like to be poor. Because we cannot understand. Really can't. I have come to the conclusion that, aside from famine through circumstances, poverty is measured only by what others have. You do not know poverty when everyone lives the way you do. Nepal is not poor. Some areas need help and they are so ready to move ahead. That's not poverty.
We love to put a degree of blame on them: "Well, look at their government..." and "if they only took care and were honest (huh?) about all that aid..where is it going, anyway?" SEVERAL times I even heard "How come 'those Haitians' look so clean? I thought they were so poor!"
Even "Well, I saw a market on TV, and it looked like they had PLENTY of food!!"
HELLOOOOO- ANYONE HOME UP THERE??
You won't believe the excuses for our riches I have heard.
Gratitude? What do we know about that? Horn of plenty?
You do not need two shawls when everyone has one. As a man in Haiti asked Sander when he showed his camera "But why? Why would I need that? Why do I need a picture?" He doesn't need it and is satisfied.
Haitians are poor because they have been robbed blind for centuries, by others and by their own. They see the rich (mostly white - a black armed guard sitting next to them) driving in shiny Mercedes SUVs, shopping at the fancy big market in PaP (thank heaven it already opened again!) where armed guards protect the 'right' (from entry of the poor without the proper identification) that allows them to purchase better food, better quality.
How can I be here? How can I not?
I cannot leave my family, certainly never Carl. That I am not willing to give up. And giving up family is not necessry. But just about everything else I could. I really think so. Am I willing to put it to the test? Hmm....maybe...maybe not. I'm no different than anyone else: a creature who loves her comfort, fridge full of food, soft bed, a car that actually starts, tons of books and at least 3 shirts on my back. And I will part only with that which is convenient. Bless my soul with what I (and you) give, and I tell myself I've 'done good'. Right. What is 'good'? What does it really mean? How much suffering do others need before I 'get it'?
Do you ever feel, after having been on vacation somewhere, really close to the new people you have befriended? You promise to write and, in some cases, the relationship is close enough that you actually do. You want to see them again and feel that special closeness. The laughter, the great conversations and the quiet times over a glass of excellent wine.
For me it is that way with Haiti. They have become my family. Part of heart and soul and when they cry, I try hard not to because I am afraid that when I start, I will not be able to stop. We laugh, we look into each others' eyes. We drink coca cola (safe), look at books with pictures and we hug. I feel I have three families: my own nucleus, my dearest friends and extended family, and Haiti. I wish so much that my girls, even one of them, would take just ONE week to come and feel what I feel. As Sander and Carl have. It would enrich their lives beyond anything they could imagine. In a really good way. I just want to share that feeling. The people. The friends
But I have to (and do) honor their needs and spaces in life.
So how to get back to how I started. I have no clue what to say, what to offer. My tears don't do them any good. THEIR strength and unbelievable resilience is what keeps those who visit going. The Haitians always seemed to have hope. Still: they are hungry. Now they are not only hungry: they are helpless. Their own people bribe them $7 for a food coupon that was distributed for free by world aid. Goodness...now WE would never do such a self-serving thing!
OK. I'm rambling. I'm sad. I am trying to get from the DR to Haiti and right now I don't know how and the days are ticking by.
We are already starting to forget Haiti, because they are no longer in the headlines. How sad to have to remind you "I told you so!" More: you have to google "Haiti earth quake today" or "Saint Mark, Haiti, today". We have to work for it - make an effort. Efforts are good.
We, here, NEED to trim our trees and fertilize the fields. We MUST pay our taxes on all the money we made last year and we HAVE to look into better schools for our children, after we organize that vacation to the Caribbean. I'm no different.
Time to pack this blog up. Have to go upstairs and take a hot shower, take my expensive meds and figure out what I want for breakfast. So much to do...
Sorry for spewing my thoughts. Had to. Not to you but for myself.
Please keep up the good work, my friends. And thank you for your trust as I try to be responsible about all you contributed.
Marianne
Yet my mind is every hour on what Haiti is, at this moment in time. Not just destruction and terrible lack of drinkable water and food. These could be resolved fairly easily if the wheels of aid and honesty worked. And if they reached farther, equally, than the capital. I feel mainly that life and hope have been taken roughly from them. What little hope they had must be dwindling fast.
People ask me (me???) about poverty. About poverty in 'developing nations'. I think they honestly want to know, from their very safe place (look who's talking!) what it feels like to be poor. Because we cannot understand. Really can't. I have come to the conclusion that, aside from famine through circumstances, poverty is measured only by what others have. You do not know poverty when everyone lives the way you do. Nepal is not poor. Some areas need help and they are so ready to move ahead. That's not poverty.
We love to put a degree of blame on them: "Well, look at their government..." and "if they only took care and were honest (huh?) about all that aid..where is it going, anyway?" SEVERAL times I even heard "How come 'those Haitians' look so clean? I thought they were so poor!"
Even "Well, I saw a market on TV, and it looked like they had PLENTY of food!!"
HELLOOOOO- ANYONE HOME UP THERE??
You won't believe the excuses for our riches I have heard.
Gratitude? What do we know about that? Horn of plenty?
You do not need two shawls when everyone has one. As a man in Haiti asked Sander when he showed his camera "But why? Why would I need that? Why do I need a picture?" He doesn't need it and is satisfied.
Haitians are poor because they have been robbed blind for centuries, by others and by their own. They see the rich (mostly white - a black armed guard sitting next to them) driving in shiny Mercedes SUVs, shopping at the fancy big market in PaP (thank heaven it already opened again!) where armed guards protect the 'right' (from entry of the poor without the proper identification) that allows them to purchase better food, better quality.
How can I be here? How can I not?
I cannot leave my family, certainly never Carl. That I am not willing to give up. And giving up family is not necessry. But just about everything else I could. I really think so. Am I willing to put it to the test? Hmm....maybe...maybe not. I'm no different than anyone else: a creature who loves her comfort, fridge full of food, soft bed, a car that actually starts, tons of books and at least 3 shirts on my back. And I will part only with that which is convenient. Bless my soul with what I (and you) give, and I tell myself I've 'done good'. Right. What is 'good'? What does it really mean? How much suffering do others need before I 'get it'?
Do you ever feel, after having been on vacation somewhere, really close to the new people you have befriended? You promise to write and, in some cases, the relationship is close enough that you actually do. You want to see them again and feel that special closeness. The laughter, the great conversations and the quiet times over a glass of excellent wine.
For me it is that way with Haiti. They have become my family. Part of heart and soul and when they cry, I try hard not to because I am afraid that when I start, I will not be able to stop. We laugh, we look into each others' eyes. We drink coca cola (safe), look at books with pictures and we hug. I feel I have three families: my own nucleus, my dearest friends and extended family, and Haiti. I wish so much that my girls, even one of them, would take just ONE week to come and feel what I feel. As Sander and Carl have. It would enrich their lives beyond anything they could imagine. In a really good way. I just want to share that feeling. The people. The friends
But I have to (and do) honor their needs and spaces in life.
So how to get back to how I started. I have no clue what to say, what to offer. My tears don't do them any good. THEIR strength and unbelievable resilience is what keeps those who visit going. The Haitians always seemed to have hope. Still: they are hungry. Now they are not only hungry: they are helpless. Their own people bribe them $7 for a food coupon that was distributed for free by world aid. Goodness...now WE would never do such a self-serving thing!
OK. I'm rambling. I'm sad. I am trying to get from the DR to Haiti and right now I don't know how and the days are ticking by.
We are already starting to forget Haiti, because they are no longer in the headlines. How sad to have to remind you "I told you so!" More: you have to google "Haiti earth quake today" or "Saint Mark, Haiti, today". We have to work for it - make an effort. Efforts are good.
We, here, NEED to trim our trees and fertilize the fields. We MUST pay our taxes on all the money we made last year and we HAVE to look into better schools for our children, after we organize that vacation to the Caribbean. I'm no different.
Time to pack this blog up. Have to go upstairs and take a hot shower, take my expensive meds and figure out what I want for breakfast. So much to do...
Sorry for spewing my thoughts. Had to. Not to you but for myself.
Please keep up the good work, my friends. And thank you for your trust as I try to be responsible about all you contributed.
Marianne
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Haiti and Nepal
First about Haiti. What can one say? And what to tell beside what we all hear in the news? Only this, on a personal note: our little Jean is fine, as is his mom Gladys and her 3 young brothers. No tremors north of PaP/Petionville, in Saint Marc, which is about 5hrs by car up the coast. But little water available and food is running out there as well. The streets around the local hospital are lined with injured, brought up from PaP. I just talked to Gladys when she had a few minutes to talk before the line was cut.
Our dear friends Nathaelf, Erlantz and Christina, with children and spouses, are ok and working around the clock. Nathaelf, phys, was in the hospital in Petionville, the hospital you all heard collapsed. We have not heard about the two people at the UN/UNESCO we had meetings with...
Now about Nepal.
We stayed for several days in a variety of places, for a variety of reasons/ purposes.
The flight there was looooong. From JFK to Hong Kong and from there to Kathmandu (via Bangladesh), all together, home to 'home', about 34 hours. Talk about 'well-done'! (as in food)
We spent 3 days in Bakhtapur, a 'suburb' of Kathmandu and a World Heritage site (the entire town). It is beautiful beyond description. Very old, gorgeous woodwork on every old building (most, therefore), the highest temple in Nepal - five stories high-, of the known Japanese pagoda style which is originally from Nepal to begin with. There are religious edifices on every street corner, courtyard, in between and more. Each are prayed to, bell(s) rung, flowers and red or yellow Tika paste added etc. In the beginning I was filled with wonder and admiration, but later in the trip I began to have difficulty with the animal worships and sacrifices. Still admire their religious sincerity which was, oddly enough, more prominent in the city than in the country-side or smaller towns. It is usually the opposite. The Hindu religious had touches of Buddhism, the Buddhism touches of Hindu and the Christianity an odd touch of both. Even the missionaries. Good to see mutual acceptance and respect. For a change.
The three things that caught our attention first and throughout our trip were the bells all day long, starting a 5am: little and large bells rung constantly by men and women during their short and longer acts of worhip. The second was, yes, hawking. This 'nose-suck-throat glob-spit went on everywhere and from the first to the last mjintue is was totally disgusting. Mostly in the city of Kathmandu and surroundings and we figured it was related to the horrendous pollution. Really something awful.
The third thing was the never-ending, sincere friendliness and kindness. Especially so to Amricans, we felt. That was refreshing. The people who are educated, something every family strives for and gives up what most of us never would, have children studying in every corner of the world, mostly the US and the UK. And I mean Johns Hopkins, Prinnceton etc. And certainly not all on scholarships. Truly admirable and amazing. Getting them back is another issue, and quite understandable.
On the other hand we saw signs familiar with Haiti. The country side, town to fields, are strewn with garbage everywhere you go. Less so in really, really rural ares, most along roadways and in cities. Appalling and unnecessary. Maybe something will change in the future. We tried to talk to many people, and one never knows. Making Beautiful Nepal More Beautiful sort-of-speech.
We became true and life-long friends with a number of people, especially including our hosts Indira and M.P. in Butwal. What marvelous, loving, hard-working and caring people they are. They will be in our heart forever. Their two sons, at Susquehanna U PA and U of Texas, are graduating next summer and we will see them here! We hope we can be as kind to them as they were to us!
In Butwal, one ot the two reasons for our trip, we delivered TWO excellent computers and an excellent, top quality LCD projector to a public school that has next to nothing. It is too bad I cannot let you hear the cheers and excitement of the students. I'd l;ove to go back there and volunteer English speaking classes to those kids. Anyone interested?? They need you! You need to walk through a bad part of town (dirty), over a dubious swing bridge and through rice paddies to get there, but once there you are filled with utter joy and met with everlasting love.
Butwal is boring and ugly as heck, but since were were inundated with friends, parties and friendships we don't really remember much of that. In total we visited 7 schools, all but two private, of high level and discipline, and huge reception activities and speeches to welcome us. And gifts of all sorts, always beginning with looooong lines of "Namaste" and clapping greetings and being presented with off-white shawls, handsful of flower heads, and flower garlands around our necks. So marvelous. Cultural dances were often included.
Our jaunt into the country, Begnas Tal, was a great, contrasting experience. We stayed in a hostel-type place, which wasn't too clean, noisy, but with the nicest people. So all was well there also. We met with the sweetest adults and children in towm, gave each of them a (brandnew) book, many donated by Highlights For Children, and a new pencil. They were beyond delighted.
We visited a really poor school in the mountains and are considering sponsoring the kitchen that needs to be built, pots and pans and all, that will provide a free lunch for the poorest of the poorest mountain children. Part of our OneBigBoost© project. (One item per unit/not individuals, one place, one time ) That sounds like a good option to consider. We have some money left in the kitty due to generous donations at the end or after our departure, and with our sale-profit added, we should do well for the next stage!
We made a little friend, 12-yr old Ghatha, who spoke with more eloquence in English than her age-counterparts in the US. Amazing intelligence also. We'll keep watching that incredible girl, who said" I am so deeply saddened that you are leaving. You will remain embedded into my soul for the rest of my life." When we invited her and her 11 yo friend Nisa for dinner, and they preferred to order 'dry food'. To our surprise this meant Lays potato chips. Hmm. Another experience.
We saw musicians play primitive instruments, people dance spontaneously and in folkloristic dances. Hear different languages and dialects and, above all, saw the Himalayan mountains.
In the morning the hills and mountains surrounding us would be covered in fog, each layer above the other as the morning mist rose from each valley. Then, suddeny, a little white mountaintop would appear above it all, above the clouds. Just a triangle. Then more, and another one, and the top of a range. All shining white in the morning sun. As the fog disappated, the range of craggy mountains would rise majestically in the background. It was like seeing music. In the evening they would turn a fiery pink and orange in the setting sun, yet another experience. We were never in or close to them (no roads, only trekking paths) but it made no difference.
There was a water shortage in the valleys, because the water in the mountains were frozen. The snow doesn't start until February, so everyone was careful not to lose a drop. Ah: we did have a shower once. The rest were sponge-baths IF there was some water heated up.
It was, generally, almost unbearbly cold during the nights. We often slept with 3-4 layers of clothing on (make that 5). coat included. In Patan (Kathmandu suburbs) they brought us hot water bottles, after we asked for heat. That was utter bliss.
Beth loved the food, I did not, except for the yoghert (can't remember the exact spelling - senior moment), named King Curd, their fresh fruit. coffee and various ways of fixing chicken and curried vegetables and 'milk-coffee'. I ate very little, as I always do, so I wasn't 'starving'.
We bought, pre-planned, a large amount of beautiful items from our own 'seed money' that we had brought along. OK-so we went over the limit usin credit cards. But it was worth it. Besides a few family/friend gifts, we spent it all on beautiful crafts, to be sold at 'Nepal Parties', during which incredible deals can be had, with ALL profit going to a new OneBigBoost cause.
We have gorgeous, various weight and widths Pashmina (comes only from Himalayan mountain goats, and then only the wool from under the chin - no matter what they tell you in the store about "100% Pashmina) and Pashmina/silk mix shawls, wood carvings, lovely silver jewelry, some with gemstones. At the last minute we found a blue striped Yak, hand-spun and dyed, wool shawl!I have only one...!
An amazing amount of hand-made paper products such as note books, stationary, calendars and photo albums and heart garlands. A great variety of teas from black to herbal. Also a variety of "odd" objects such as lovely paintings, clay sugar or insense bowls, yak -bone items with brass and silver inlay, hand-cast miniature brass objects, a game, woven mini and larger baggies and purses, and more. It was SO much fun to be able to shop freely with the goal to sell it all. No guilt! We'll let you know (if you ask) when we have one of our 3 'home parties' at our homes or Philly at Tjitske' where you can hear music, watch slides and a video of our experiences, and buy one of the great deals we are passing on to you. IF you want to spend money. Be welcome either way! ALL of the profits go back to OneBigBoost!!! Come and see us: you won't be sorry. And you can come to just have (Nepali) tea. As I said: we had a blast.
I will try to post some of our pictures, but it may be a few days before I can get to them. I'm pretty tired still now and have been mainly occupied with Haiti stuff today. But I promised I'd write so here it finally is and all in one big bundle. Electricity is scarce and rare - internet even more so.
Love you all and thank you for thinking of us while we flew over Alaska, North Pole, Russia, China, Mongolia and into Hong Kong, traveled around and back again. What an unforgettable journey!
And mostly a BIG thanks to those who were able and chose to support the important project to that school, where some students had no shoes but walked to school anyway.
It does make me think of fancy Nikes and such socially needed paraphernalia our kids are forced into.
Thanks for trying to read the blog before, and thank you for doing so now.
Do good things, be kind and accepting (I'm learning!) and feel good about this world. It isn't as bad as we believe. There is ALWAYS hope and grumbling doesn't do anyone any good.
Marianne
Our dear friends Nathaelf, Erlantz and Christina, with children and spouses, are ok and working around the clock. Nathaelf, phys, was in the hospital in Petionville, the hospital you all heard collapsed. We have not heard about the two people at the UN/UNESCO we had meetings with...
Now about Nepal.
We stayed for several days in a variety of places, for a variety of reasons/ purposes.
The flight there was looooong. From JFK to Hong Kong and from there to Kathmandu (via Bangladesh), all together, home to 'home', about 34 hours. Talk about 'well-done'! (as in food)
We spent 3 days in Bakhtapur, a 'suburb' of Kathmandu and a World Heritage site (the entire town). It is beautiful beyond description. Very old, gorgeous woodwork on every old building (most, therefore), the highest temple in Nepal - five stories high-, of the known Japanese pagoda style which is originally from Nepal to begin with. There are religious edifices on every street corner, courtyard, in between and more. Each are prayed to, bell(s) rung, flowers and red or yellow Tika paste added etc. In the beginning I was filled with wonder and admiration, but later in the trip I began to have difficulty with the animal worships and sacrifices. Still admire their religious sincerity which was, oddly enough, more prominent in the city than in the country-side or smaller towns. It is usually the opposite. The Hindu religious had touches of Buddhism, the Buddhism touches of Hindu and the Christianity an odd touch of both. Even the missionaries. Good to see mutual acceptance and respect. For a change.
The three things that caught our attention first and throughout our trip were the bells all day long, starting a 5am: little and large bells rung constantly by men and women during their short and longer acts of worhip. The second was, yes, hawking. This 'nose-suck-throat glob-spit went on everywhere and from the first to the last mjintue is was totally disgusting. Mostly in the city of Kathmandu and surroundings and we figured it was related to the horrendous pollution. Really something awful.
The third thing was the never-ending, sincere friendliness and kindness. Especially so to Amricans, we felt. That was refreshing. The people who are educated, something every family strives for and gives up what most of us never would, have children studying in every corner of the world, mostly the US and the UK. And I mean Johns Hopkins, Prinnceton etc. And certainly not all on scholarships. Truly admirable and amazing. Getting them back is another issue, and quite understandable.
On the other hand we saw signs familiar with Haiti. The country side, town to fields, are strewn with garbage everywhere you go. Less so in really, really rural ares, most along roadways and in cities. Appalling and unnecessary. Maybe something will change in the future. We tried to talk to many people, and one never knows. Making Beautiful Nepal More Beautiful sort-of-speech.
We became true and life-long friends with a number of people, especially including our hosts Indira and M.P. in Butwal. What marvelous, loving, hard-working and caring people they are. They will be in our heart forever. Their two sons, at Susquehanna U PA and U of Texas, are graduating next summer and we will see them here! We hope we can be as kind to them as they were to us!
In Butwal, one ot the two reasons for our trip, we delivered TWO excellent computers and an excellent, top quality LCD projector to a public school that has next to nothing. It is too bad I cannot let you hear the cheers and excitement of the students. I'd l;ove to go back there and volunteer English speaking classes to those kids. Anyone interested?? They need you! You need to walk through a bad part of town (dirty), over a dubious swing bridge and through rice paddies to get there, but once there you are filled with utter joy and met with everlasting love.
Butwal is boring and ugly as heck, but since were were inundated with friends, parties and friendships we don't really remember much of that. In total we visited 7 schools, all but two private, of high level and discipline, and huge reception activities and speeches to welcome us. And gifts of all sorts, always beginning with looooong lines of "Namaste" and clapping greetings and being presented with off-white shawls, handsful of flower heads, and flower garlands around our necks. So marvelous. Cultural dances were often included.
Our jaunt into the country, Begnas Tal, was a great, contrasting experience. We stayed in a hostel-type place, which wasn't too clean, noisy, but with the nicest people. So all was well there also. We met with the sweetest adults and children in towm, gave each of them a (brandnew) book, many donated by Highlights For Children, and a new pencil. They were beyond delighted.
We visited a really poor school in the mountains and are considering sponsoring the kitchen that needs to be built, pots and pans and all, that will provide a free lunch for the poorest of the poorest mountain children. Part of our OneBigBoost© project. (One item per unit/not individuals, one place, one time ) That sounds like a good option to consider. We have some money left in the kitty due to generous donations at the end or after our departure, and with our sale-profit added, we should do well for the next stage!
We made a little friend, 12-yr old Ghatha, who spoke with more eloquence in English than her age-counterparts in the US. Amazing intelligence also. We'll keep watching that incredible girl, who said" I am so deeply saddened that you are leaving. You will remain embedded into my soul for the rest of my life." When we invited her and her 11 yo friend Nisa for dinner, and they preferred to order 'dry food'. To our surprise this meant Lays potato chips. Hmm. Another experience.
We saw musicians play primitive instruments, people dance spontaneously and in folkloristic dances. Hear different languages and dialects and, above all, saw the Himalayan mountains.
In the morning the hills and mountains surrounding us would be covered in fog, each layer above the other as the morning mist rose from each valley. Then, suddeny, a little white mountaintop would appear above it all, above the clouds. Just a triangle. Then more, and another one, and the top of a range. All shining white in the morning sun. As the fog disappated, the range of craggy mountains would rise majestically in the background. It was like seeing music. In the evening they would turn a fiery pink and orange in the setting sun, yet another experience. We were never in or close to them (no roads, only trekking paths) but it made no difference.
There was a water shortage in the valleys, because the water in the mountains were frozen. The snow doesn't start until February, so everyone was careful not to lose a drop. Ah: we did have a shower once. The rest were sponge-baths IF there was some water heated up.
It was, generally, almost unbearbly cold during the nights. We often slept with 3-4 layers of clothing on (make that 5). coat included. In Patan (Kathmandu suburbs) they brought us hot water bottles, after we asked for heat. That was utter bliss.
Beth loved the food, I did not, except for the yoghert (can't remember the exact spelling - senior moment), named King Curd, their fresh fruit. coffee and various ways of fixing chicken and curried vegetables and 'milk-coffee'. I ate very little, as I always do, so I wasn't 'starving'.
We bought, pre-planned, a large amount of beautiful items from our own 'seed money' that we had brought along. OK-so we went over the limit usin credit cards. But it was worth it. Besides a few family/friend gifts, we spent it all on beautiful crafts, to be sold at 'Nepal Parties', during which incredible deals can be had, with ALL profit going to a new OneBigBoost cause.
We have gorgeous, various weight and widths Pashmina (comes only from Himalayan mountain goats, and then only the wool from under the chin - no matter what they tell you in the store about "100% Pashmina) and Pashmina/silk mix shawls, wood carvings, lovely silver jewelry, some with gemstones. At the last minute we found a blue striped Yak, hand-spun and dyed, wool shawl!I have only one...!
An amazing amount of hand-made paper products such as note books, stationary, calendars and photo albums and heart garlands. A great variety of teas from black to herbal. Also a variety of "odd" objects such as lovely paintings, clay sugar or insense bowls, yak -bone items with brass and silver inlay, hand-cast miniature brass objects, a game, woven mini and larger baggies and purses, and more. It was SO much fun to be able to shop freely with the goal to sell it all. No guilt! We'll let you know (if you ask) when we have one of our 3 'home parties' at our homes or Philly at Tjitske' where you can hear music, watch slides and a video of our experiences, and buy one of the great deals we are passing on to you. IF you want to spend money. Be welcome either way! ALL of the profits go back to OneBigBoost!!! Come and see us: you won't be sorry. And you can come to just have (Nepali) tea. As I said: we had a blast.
I will try to post some of our pictures, but it may be a few days before I can get to them. I'm pretty tired still now and have been mainly occupied with Haiti stuff today. But I promised I'd write so here it finally is and all in one big bundle. Electricity is scarce and rare - internet even more so.
Love you all and thank you for thinking of us while we flew over Alaska, North Pole, Russia, China, Mongolia and into Hong Kong, traveled around and back again. What an unforgettable journey!
And mostly a BIG thanks to those who were able and chose to support the important project to that school, where some students had no shoes but walked to school anyway.
It does make me think of fancy Nikes and such socially needed paraphernalia our kids are forced into.
Thanks for trying to read the blog before, and thank you for doing so now.
Do good things, be kind and accepting (I'm learning!) and feel good about this world. It isn't as bad as we believe. There is ALWAYS hope and grumbling doesn't do anyone any good.
Marianne
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Kathmandu-Begnas Tal-Butwal
Yes-it has been very difficult to get online. Correction: it has been very hard to find a computer and nearly impossible to get one with internet...IF there is electricity! We don't know how we take lifew and all its small and large conveniences for granted.
At this moment I have VERY little time and am typing on an old-fashion Chinese script keyboard (no time for e\corrections) so please bear with me.
Nepal is wonderful and amazing and baffling and yseterious and...and...
I see similarities to Haiti, many, yet the sprit is so strong and positive. There is much poverty (no hunger at this time of year), terrible lack of education yet an enormous desire to do ANYTHING possible for parents to get their children to school. And of the many who succeed, their children can be found in the US, Australia, India, the UK..excellingat top universities. And now they need to come back. And that is the problem.
Roads, except for a fuw 2-lane (no markers) sure-highways, do not exist. There are half-finished houses everywhere and piles of rubble lining the roads. Garbage cans do not exist and throwing stuff out the wijdows is normal. No sewage to speak of.
The homes, small and one-room simple, as clean as a whistle. There are signs of deep religious belief and practice everywhere.
The old cars and taqxis have cloths neatly placed on the seats to keep vehicle and customers clean.
No shoes are worn in any home and slippers are waiting for you. The food is wonderful (although I have no hunger/appeite, as usuala) and the odor of spices permiates the air. Children walk long ways through rice paddies and u mountains, dressed to a 't' inn their uniforms,hair braided and tied up with red ribons.
Nature-indescribable. Beautiful hills/mountains - all is relative - with deep, deep valleys scethecd out with neat pencil lines into terraces. Colorful little houses are scattered throughout. The sky has a deep fog until the sun warms it up. And out up the upper layer of fog appear white, sunlit points, way high up in the sky. Way, way up. The fog clearws and as we watch, the mountains grow with unbeaqualled majesty.
We have to go to give a speach to chosen students of 5 area/mountain schools now about Interdependence and I have to run. Maybe there will be more internet later. They connected it for 4 days just for us@!
Love to all of you. Imagine those mountains, terraces smiling faces and I great you "Namaste' : I greet the Godlines ijn you.
At this moment I have VERY little time and am typing on an old-fashion Chinese script keyboard (no time for e\corrections) so please bear with me.
Nepal is wonderful and amazing and baffling and yseterious and...and...
I see similarities to Haiti, many, yet the sprit is so strong and positive. There is much poverty (no hunger at this time of year), terrible lack of education yet an enormous desire to do ANYTHING possible for parents to get their children to school. And of the many who succeed, their children can be found in the US, Australia, India, the UK..excellingat top universities. And now they need to come back. And that is the problem.
Roads, except for a fuw 2-lane (no markers) sure-highways, do not exist. There are half-finished houses everywhere and piles of rubble lining the roads. Garbage cans do not exist and throwing stuff out the wijdows is normal. No sewage to speak of.
The homes, small and one-room simple, as clean as a whistle. There are signs of deep religious belief and practice everywhere.
The old cars and taqxis have cloths neatly placed on the seats to keep vehicle and customers clean.
No shoes are worn in any home and slippers are waiting for you. The food is wonderful (although I have no hunger/appeite, as usuala) and the odor of spices permiates the air. Children walk long ways through rice paddies and u mountains, dressed to a 't' inn their uniforms,hair braided and tied up with red ribons.
Nature-indescribable. Beautiful hills/mountains - all is relative - with deep, deep valleys scethecd out with neat pencil lines into terraces. Colorful little houses are scattered throughout. The sky has a deep fog until the sun warms it up. And out up the upper layer of fog appear white, sunlit points, way high up in the sky. Way, way up. The fog clearws and as we watch, the mountains grow with unbeaqualled majesty.
We have to go to give a speach to chosen students of 5 area/mountain schools now about Interdependence and I have to run. Maybe there will be more internet later. They connected it for 4 days just for us@!
Love to all of you. Imagine those mountains, terraces smiling faces and I great you "Namaste' : I greet the Godlines ijn you.
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