We are going to Chitwan with the Treasures to show them some of the projects we are working on in Nepal. There are two sewing centers that have been very successful to date. On our way there we encountered some weather related problem. The monsoons have caused many mudslides and of course the roads are right in the way. When the roads are blocked we wait until they can clear some of the debris away, at least enough for one lane to pass through. Then a policeman directs traffic because the bigger the truck the more they bully others around causing worse traffic jams.
The two centers are operated by women that have been trained in some other centers and now are training here. The organization that we work with was developed for the blind and disabled of Nepal, so the women in these centers have various handicapping conditions. The woman in the front on the right has an interesting story. Usha's story: She went to Kathmandu for sewing training and learned her skills very well. A side note is that she, like so many women, lived with her husband and he lived in his mothers house. The mother did not like Usha
very much and was constantly badgering her because she was handicapped and would not be anything but a hindrance to her son. Her husband was a moma's boy like most of the men in Nepal and wouldn't make the mother stop. When Usha went to Kathmandu for training she stayed and did not want to go back to Chitwan because her husband's home was so uncomfortable for her. She was a very good student and became a very competent seamstress and started making money. OK, this part I don't understand, she would send her husband money. Before long the husband's mother saw that she was successful and started being nice to her. You know what happened next, she moved home and they lived happily ever after. Not quite,
when she got to Chitwan her husband's mother wasn't that nice to her and started in on her again. Usha now is more self assured, tells her husband to be on her side and tell his mom to back off. Her husband saw who now was the successful one, so now who is wearing the pants in the family, yup Usha. One of the goals of this sewing center training is to help these women who have been looked down on because, they are women and because of their handicap. These two conditions have put them at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. You can see why they need that confidence builder, so many years of their lives they have been looked down on, this training brings them to a different status or level in society. This status or level and/or caste system is alive and working in Nepal.
This young women on the left is another of those that have been able to gain employment through the training.
This is the second training center we visited in Chitwan, it was a very rainy day, as you can see the centers are very small yet they serve a huge purpose. This center employs four women and is very successful in that it is able to pay the rent and provide for those who work here. Look closely and you will see that the roof is attached with rocks sitting on the steel to hold it down, it works.
This is inside of the center, very simple and plain, but it works and assists these women well. Look closely and you sill see that the sewing machines are treadle type, they work well, especially when they have no electricity. Also note the beams holding the steel up, it is bamboo, very lite and sturdy and small to help create more head room in these already short structures. The man in the center of the crowd is our partner Rakesh Hamal. He is a tremendous asset to us and to our continued success here.
This last picture is Uhsa with the woman who runs the other center in Chitwan and her mother, the woman in the pink is Sister Treasure who came from Hong Kong to see what we are in Chitwan we decided to see some of the sights, so... we found a rickshaw and off we went.
NOT!!
We decided to take a drive to the the Chitwan National Park to ride an elephant through the jungle but, it has been raining for the last three days steady (monsoons).
It was just too wet to go on the elephants, so we decided to take a short walk through the jungle on an elephant path to visit a natural history museum. Did I mention we walked on an elephant path? Do you know what road apples are, well elephants do the same thing but more like road watermelons. The picture is the trail through some of the jungle.
As we were leaving I was standing the on edge of the river looking and what came to visit, yup, some street dogs. These dogs look a lot like Dingos,they are very curious and hang around close to you, not aggressive, just there.
This is what I was looking at when the dog came, look closely and you will see a boat filled with water. I'm sure the boats are filled with water because of the rain, I don't know why they were not upside down, unless they were just to heavy to turn. They looked like they were about 20 feet long and maybe 30 inches wide and solid wood pitched on the outside.
Ok, off through the jungle. As we were walking and looking around Janet looks across the river and what does she see, a wild elephant. It kept walking around foraging but with it's back to us, if you look closely you can see it in the very middle of the picture, it was huge! We knew we would see some more elephants that were trained and used for the tourists to ride through the jungle but that was cool, baaph re baaph! (wow!)
When we got to the staging area we saw a man with elephant, he first told the elephant to lie down and then he took a large broom affair and brushed the elephant off on that side and then the elephant turned onto it's other side and the then brushed the dust off that side of the elephant. Cool, I couldn't even get Odie to wait to go outside of the house to Pee. Pretty amazing!
Well now for the really good stuff regarding our trek trough the jungle. Janet knowing we were going into the jungle decided that the best foot attire would be to wear her $300.00 Birkenstock sandals. As you can see that they became a nuisance because every step meant they would sink and stay, then when she wanted to move the shoes (sandals key word) wanted to remain in the foot hole. The going was tough!
Mud, as you can see made her one tough hombre, YUK!! Even the dog was amazed that she was able to 4 wheel through this stuff. My question and I haven't gotten an answer yet is why was she smiling? Well after a few tugs to help her get unstuck we were through the bog and on our way.
I wonder if all of those times I had to come and get the boys out of the mud, when their trucks and jeeps were stuck, was the Lords way of preparing me for this day, to get their mom unstuck.
I would like you to know that I braved the cobras in the brush and skirted around the mud holes.
Even though I didn't get chased by a cobra, I did however find a little blood sucker. You can see by the size of its behind he is enjoying my blood. If that wasn't enough, awhile later I was brushing the bugs off of my hat and shoulders and what should appear, Yes another one of the little bloodsuckers. This one had enough time to have had a seven course meal and and was starting on the dessert. This little leech was not that little if you compare it's size to that of Janet's index finger you can see it has eaten a lot of me.
Well to keep a long story short I asked Janet to get the little sucker off of me, well she had no idea how to get it off so she asked another person to help. Then she decided this was a Kodak moment and said to wait a minute so she could take a picture then the camera wouldn't work and she asked me what she needed to do to get it to work and she tried again and the flash wasn't on so again I needed to turn the flash on, in the mean while the little sucker is enjoying it's meal. Well we finally got it off. when I got home I decided to look on the internet how to remove a leech, plenty of information on the subject.
It is easy just put you finger nail under it's mouth and push it off, but be careful you don't push on the wrong end because it will regurgitate the contents back into you, yuk. Well I decided to keep a credit card with me to get between me and the little suckers mouths, for future meetings.
As we were thus engaged we looked across the river and saw a family fishing. They do it a little different than we do it. They fish with these nets, they throw the nets up the river and pull them down river. The boys big and small would like that kind of fishing. They were catching fish about 4 to 7 inches long.
Did I mention that crocodiles are living in the river? When we were watching I saw one (croc) just floating along. It didn't seem to cause the family too much alarm, I guess they were catching a lot. One of the main staples of the families in this area is fish and or course rice. Fishing for them was not for fun it is their dinner.
Enough of the fun, we were driving back to our hotel to wash the mud off and check for more leeches when I saw this man riding his rickshaw. I am constantly amazed by these people, with gas so expensive what better way to transport any thing than muscle power. Rickshaws are not only for people, as we often think, but, they make a great pickup truck. That is a cord of wood in his rig.
I saw these girls riding on the bike and thought how often we would not go out in the rain, especially on a bike. Then you have to realize this is their form of transportation, umbrella and all. I often see people on the motorcycles and motorbikes with an umbrella. Check out the ducks, they are farm animals, they are used for eggs and meat. These guys think they own the road because, as you can see, they were chasing the girls on the bike.
I thought you might like to see a different way of garbage collection. People bring their garbage to this location, which is in the center of town (Chitwan) and throw it in a pile. The dogs rummage through as well as some of the very poor, and the cows. Every few weeks the garbage man brings his tractor and front loader, people with shovels, and put it into his trailer and haul it away. You can see in the background the shops and buildings being built, notice the bamboo scaffolding on the buildings.
This is a very different and humbling place, what they take for granted and is common to them would be repulsive to some of us, Yet they are our brothers and sister. They choose just like us to come to this earth and experience these earthly bodies, I know because I have seen some of them that were with me when I stood up and voted for Gods plan for us on this earth. I would never have guessed at that time that my circumstance would be so different than my brothers and sisters.
very much and was constantly badgering her because she was handicapped and would not be anything but a hindrance to her son. Her husband was a moma's boy like most of the men in Nepal and wouldn't make the mother stop. When Usha went to Kathmandu for training she stayed and did not want to go back to Chitwan because her husband's home was so uncomfortable for her. She was a very good student and became a very competent seamstress and started making money. OK, this part I don't understand, she would send her husband money. Before long the husband's mother saw that she was successful and started being nice to her. You know what happened next, she moved home and they lived happily ever after. Not quite,
This young women on the left is another of those that have been able to gain employment through the training.
This is the second training center we visited in Chitwan, it was a very rainy day, as you can see the centers are very small yet they serve a huge purpose. This center employs four women and is very successful in that it is able to pay the rent and provide for those who work here. Look closely and you will see that the roof is attached with rocks sitting on the steel to hold it down, it works.
This is inside of the center, very simple and plain, but it works and assists these women well. Look closely and you sill see that the sewing machines are treadle type, they work well, especially when they have no electricity. Also note the beams holding the steel up, it is bamboo, very lite and sturdy and small to help create more head room in these already short structures. The man in the center of the crowd is our partner Rakesh Hamal. He is a tremendous asset to us and to our continued success here.
This last picture is Uhsa with the woman who runs the other center in Chitwan and her mother, the woman in the pink is Sister Treasure who came from Hong Kong to see what we are in Chitwan we decided to see some of the sights, so... we found a rickshaw and off we went.
NOT!!
We decided to take a drive to the the Chitwan National Park to ride an elephant through the jungle but, it has been raining for the last three days steady (monsoons). It was just too wet to go on the elephants, so we decided to take a short walk through the jungle on an elephant path to visit a natural history museum. Did I mention we walked on an elephant path? Do you know what road apples are, well elephants do the same thing but more like road watermelons. The picture is the trail through some of the jungle.
As we were leaving I was standing the on edge of the river looking and what came to visit, yup, some street dogs. These dogs look a lot like Dingos,they are very curious and hang around close to you, not aggressive, just there.
This is what I was looking at when the dog came, look closely and you will see a boat filled with water. I'm sure the boats are filled with water because of the rain, I don't know why they were not upside down, unless they were just to heavy to turn. They looked like they were about 20 feet long and maybe 30 inches wide and solid wood pitched on the outside.
Ok, off through the jungle. As we were walking and looking around Janet looks across the river and what does she see, a wild elephant. It kept walking around foraging but with it's back to us, if you look closely you can see it in the very middle of the picture, it was huge! We knew we would see some more elephants that were trained and used for the tourists to ride through the jungle but that was cool, baaph re baaph! (wow!)
When we got to the staging area we saw a man with elephant, he first told the elephant to lie down and then he took a large broom affair and brushed the elephant off on that side and then the elephant turned onto it's other side and the then brushed the dust off that side of the elephant. Cool, I couldn't even get Odie to wait to go outside of the house to Pee. Pretty amazing!
I wonder if all of those times I had to come and get the boys out of the mud, when their trucks and jeeps were stuck, was the Lords way of preparing me for this day, to get their mom unstuck.
Even though I didn't get chased by a cobra, I did however find a little blood sucker. You can see by the size of its behind he is enjoying my blood. If that wasn't enough, awhile later I was brushing the bugs off of my hat and shoulders and what should appear, Yes another one of the little bloodsuckers. This one had enough time to have had a seven course meal and and was starting on the dessert. This little leech was not that little if you compare it's size to that of Janet's index finger you can see it has eaten a lot of me.
Well to keep a long story short I asked Janet to get the little sucker off of me, well she had no idea how to get it off so she asked another person to help. Then she decided this was a Kodak moment and said to wait a minute so she could take a picture then the camera wouldn't work and she asked me what she needed to do to get it to work and she tried again and the flash wasn't on so again I needed to turn the flash on, in the mean while the little sucker is enjoying it's meal. Well we finally got it off. when I got home I decided to look on the internet how to remove a leech, plenty of information on the subject.
As we were thus engaged we looked across the river and saw a family fishing. They do it a little different than we do it. They fish with these nets, they throw the nets up the river and pull them down river. The boys big and small would like that kind of fishing. They were catching fish about 4 to 7 inches long.
Enough of the fun, we were driving back to our hotel to wash the mud off and check for more leeches when I saw this man riding his rickshaw. I am constantly amazed by these people, with gas so expensive what better way to transport any thing than muscle power. Rickshaws are not only for people, as we often think, but, they make a great pickup truck. That is a cord of wood in his rig.
I saw these girls riding on the bike and thought how often we would not go out in the rain, especially on a bike. Then you have to realize this is their form of transportation, umbrella and all. I often see people on the motorcycles and motorbikes with an umbrella. Check out the ducks, they are farm animals, they are used for eggs and meat. These guys think they own the road because, as you can see, they were chasing the girls on the bike.
I thought you might like to see a different way of garbage collection. People bring their garbage to this location, which is in the center of town (Chitwan) and throw it in a pile. The dogs rummage through as well as some of the very poor, and the cows. Every few weeks the garbage man brings his tractor and front loader, people with shovels, and put it into his trailer and haul it away. You can see in the background the shops and buildings being built, notice the bamboo scaffolding on the buildings.
What is it that I need to learn from this experience? Humility, Perseverance, Long Suffering, Kindness, King Benjamin said it so well for me in the book of Mosiah, he said; "Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just- But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God... And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another."
This idea of having no interest in the kingdom of god is a sobering thought. What kind of a person have I been? Have I really tried to help those in need? Those are questions that I need to determine for myself and work on being better, not just here in Nepal, but always in all things that I do!
Well it s time to get on to our next big adventure, what ever that may be.
Next chapter: How the lord blesses those in need.
I shall not complain about the lindon dump anymore. At least it's not right next to my groceries.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is YEA for Usha!!! Tell her we say "Way t'go Girl"!!! ♥ sher
ReplyDelete