We came to buy a cow; they wanted a school

We came to buy a cow; they wanted a school

How a 23-hour bus journey, an idea lost-in-translation, and a bout of E.Coli helped shape one backpacker's destiny and transformed an entire village.

40-minute walk to the village school site.

Blog originally written August 2011.

Traveling through the Himalayan foothills at night by bus might not be the safest method of travel.  The road ahead is windy, it’s generally safe to assume a 500-foot drop is on one side, and the only thing you can see are the headlights from an oncoming bus as it swerves back into its own lane to avoid a near-miss collision.

Though dangerous, night travel was inevitable as our twenty-hour journey brought us from the Himalayan foothills to the jungle lowlands near the Indian border of Nepal.  As we stepped off the bus, the calidity began to stir-fry our brains as a single sweat bead rolled off our foreheads.  It was like an oven – hot and miserable, hundred degrees with humidity, and miles from anything remotely considered civilization.

The villagers of Udaypur welcomed us with open arms and a nicely prepared curry.  Their wood huts on stilts, above water-filled rice fields added to the Asian ambiance and intrigue. 

They were happy to see us, as my Nepalese friend brought me with to see how I could help.  After purchasing cows to give families a form of sustainability months prior, I thought this was a perfect way to spend the remaining dollars in my fund.

So you’ll understand my surprise when all they wanted was a school.  My plan had obviously been lost-in-translation.

"Um Dipak, why exactly do these people think I am here?" I asked inquisitively. "Do they think I am coming to build a school?'

"Oh yes yes Katie, just see how we help. No worries," he replied nonchalantly.

But the fact remained that they indeed wanted a school.  They had enough cows to last them a lifetime.   The $500 that I brought with for the purchase of a cow was erroneous. Had I traveled all this way for nothing?

I was disappointed, but ate my curry dinner that was so eloquently prepared. The following morning I woke with a bout of E.coli. Nothing is more enjoyable in life than being plagued with a stomach bug in 100 degree heat with no toilets or running water.

I was miserable and nauseous; I could not even pull myself up from the straw bed.  The outhouse in the back did not suffice my wailing woes.

But even still, the villagers insisted that I make the journey to the school site the following day. I was under the assumption that this would just be a preliminary visit.  Little did I realize, they had planned a ceremony in my honor that I was meant to attend.  We made the 40-minute journey by foot crossing through rice plantations to the school site.

Fainting under the jungle sun shortly before ceremony

I was in no condition to do much of anything. The walk was long and laborious. Fainting under the jungle sun five minutes prior was really my last draw.  Going in-and-out of coherency during the entire walk to the school, I questioned my decision in coming to the village and immediately wanted to go back to the comforts of Kathmandu.

Upon standing back up, I saw the hundred or so people from a distance.  

“Oh my God! Quick, full power,” I exclaimed as a little Nepalese lady fanned my face and put my hair into a pony tail.

I could not believe I was walking into a ceremony when I couldn’t even stand on my own!  I splashed some water on my face to shake it off and on we went… with a person helping me on each arm.

Unexpected ceremony from the villagers

They adorned us with flower necklaces and each child presented a gift. I felt like I was hallucinating from a combination of the heat, the illness, and the fact that I was in the strangest place and participating in a ceremony so foreign to me.  I was ecstatic, but also disappointed that one of the more special moments in my life had to be overshadowed by the E.coli.

I tried to stay collected as long as possible, but eventually ran off the stage to vomit into the bush.  It was all a bit comical, as the children came running over to hover around and the village women were rubbing my back. 

After another two days of rest I was strong enough to start eating again and collected my thoughts.

The village needed a school.  The elders knew it was the only way for their children and generations below them to escape the endless cycle of hard, manual labor. They work the rice plantations from the time they can walk until the day they die. I met with the elders to discuss options.

Meetings with the Village Development Committee discussing options for a school.

I thought I was coming to the village to buy a few cows and was in no position financially or resourcefully to build a school.  I am just one woman, I kept thinking to myself.  How can they expect some backpacker like me to build an entire village a school? 

I still did not conceive how this project could be funded, but then, just as serendipitous moments often occur, there was a secret donor amongst our group. My French travel companion gave his Buddhist necklace from around his neck and placed it on mine.  

“It means invincible and whoever wears it is just that. Here is some money to start the school. You come back and finish it.”

The Village Development Committee

It was just enough money for the foundation and enough belief from someone for an idea to be born.  The entire following year back in States will be a long and arduous work of collecting funds for the Koshi Tappu Primary School.

As I hopped on my bus about to head back up into the foothills, the children came running behind it waving goodbye.

“I will return,” I told them. “This is my promise to you.”

Update: Katie returned one year later with the funds as promised.  The school is now complete as of November 2012.

Nepal Mob & Barricade Footage

Nepal Mob & Barricades

*This blog is the accompanying footage for a previous blog, found here.

I returned with funds in Summer 2012 to finish the school I started one-year prior. While driving to my school site in Nepal, I encounter a Banda (strike). Assassination attempts on political leaders occurred that morning.  The leaders barely survived, and at the time of filming, the outcome looked bleak. Unaware of the reasons for protest, I face several mob barricades, and plea with locals to let me pass.

Tappu School Project: Week One

Tappu School Project: Week One

POKHARA, NEPAL -- I arrived in Nepal last Friday and have been busy getting the ball rolling so we can begin the construction of the school.  I am currently working on the project from Pokhara because of the accessibility to ATMs, internet connection, and most importantly... my translator!  I will travel down to the village in 1-2 weeks time.  It's about a 18-23 hour journey by bus from Kathmandu, so I am letting the workers get a head-start on the school before I venture into the jungle!

Working on the budget with Dipak at his restaurant

It has been near-to-impossible to organize anything from America.  To begin with, communication in Nepal is arduous.  Dipak, my Nepalese translator and friend (who's family village we are helping) is very difficult to understand over the mobile.  It's a lot of "Hugh? What? Say again!" then the call will drop.  Not fun.

I had dreams of getting the project started before I came, then arriving with the school nearly completed.  This would allow me more time to organize the purchases of enrichment material and work on curriculum development.  But alas, doing business in Nepal can not be done over the phone.  The country is simply just not setup for this.

School Budget Reform:

Since I arrived last Friday, Dipak has been communicating my questions to the Village Development Committee (VDC) of Tappu over the phone.  They gave me a make-shift budget for the school project last October and then again in March.  I needed the final and revised version.  This is generally how our 'phone meetings' go;

Working on budget at traditional Nepalese "donut shop" in downtown.

I ask Dipak to call my project manager Sitra Ram in Tappu to ask for the revised budget.  He then goes around to each person's home in the village who reside on the development committee (12 in total).  Sitra Ram is the only person with a mobile, so once he walks to each persons' home, this takes up to a full-day.  They meet and discuss the budget.

The following morning, Sitra Ram phones Dipak with the news.  Of course, I have a dozen questions and adjustment requests.  Dipak owns a restaurant, so we can only meet when it's not busy.  It takes a full-day until Dipak can phone Sitra Ram back.  Now, Sitra Ram has my new questions and concerns and again goes around to everyone's home in the village.  He can give me an answer the next day.

And so this process continues until finally, after one week, we are able to create a reasonable construction proposal for the school that I approve of.

I had an audience while writing some notes!

The budget is considerably more than they told me in March.  I saw this coming (because I know how business is run in Nepal), so I over-shot the fundraising goals at the Musicians for Nepal Benefit.  There are several reasons why this has occurred.  

Nepal's Economy and Inflation:

The Nepalese government is very corrupt and disorganized.  Cost-of-living for the Nepalese person has nearly doubled in the last six months, while wages have stayed the same.  This includes things like rice, eggs, petrol, milk, livestock... but most importantly, construction material!  While material has doubled, it isn't hurting my budget too much because the value of the dollar has risen (last summer it was trading at US$1=70 rupees and now it's at 85 rupees).  This inflation is more-so severely hurting the livelihoods of the Nepalese.  This is why it is now more important than ever that we continue to help them.  

I believe the locals are now starting to see that having a Monarch was a good idea.  Many people that I have spoken with hope for the return of a King, though it is not very probable.  When the Maoists overthrew the King in 2006, they had hopes of creating a democratic or parliamentary government but in truth, it really has turned into a Communist society.  The government has yet been able to create a constitution -- something they have been working on since '06.  They sell Nepal's power supply to India and China to serve the increasing needs of those populations.  However, the cost for them is only two rupees per kilowatt while the Nepalese are forced to pay 10 rupees per kilowatt.  

And we mustn't forget all the revenue that tourism generates for the country.  Where is that going?  How is that being spent?  You can ask any Nepalese person and they are unable to give an answer.  The economy and living standards for most people are not good here.  I have seen for myself that the government is getting worse off since I was here last summer.  This can be evident by the dwindling currency value.

Phase 1 of the school - began Summer '11

Next Step for School Project:

The next hiccup will now occur with getting my money from my Global Orphan Prevention bank account into my hands here in Nepal.  Bank fees, bank fees, and more crappy bank fees!  In addition, the Nepalese banks only allow for $500 to be pulled out per day.  It will take three days until I can collect enough money to give the VDC a deposit for the building 

The good news; construction starts back up again on Monday!

Last summer, we gave the VDC a small grant to begin Phase I, which consisted of a foundation and pavilion.  Phase II will be constructing walls, framing, roofing, plumbing, and buying enrichment material!

School enrollment has increased from 75 children to now over 100 since last Summer.  At the moment, they only have two teachers.  I am trying to see if there is room in the budget to hire on two more.  I believe this is more than necessary.

The children utilize the space under the pavilion during construction

I am currently accepting donations for this.  The money we raised in Colorado and from out-of-state private donors this year was primarily for the building, enrichment material, and two teachers' salaries providing we had anything left over.

If anyone out there would like to sponsor a teacher's annual salary, we could really use this.  The annual salary is US$850 per teacher (depending on the exchange rate at that moment).  You can just do it once for this year, or make it a yearly contribution with your tax refunds (and of course, this too is tax deductible).

Please email me at klhilborn@hotmail.com if this is something you'd like to get directly involved in.