the return to Kathmandu (and the blog)

I'm sitting here in a cafe at the Bangkok airport, hyped up on VERY strong coffee, waiting to board my flight for Kathmandu and all of a sudden I get the urge to blog.  Don't really know why.  It wasn't intentional decision to abandon this blog. I think part of it was that with Facebook and Twitter, blogging seemed kind of pointless.  Maybe it was the frustration I felt as I just tried to capture all my feelings of excitement and gratitude into a 140 character tweet. 
So, here I am writing on the old blog - almost one year from my last trip to Nepal and my last entry. 
While its never easy to leave Debora behind, I am SUPER excited about this trip.  So many amazing things going on this week.  First of all, and most importantly, we will finalize the 20 school water system projects that were funded by charity: water and over 18,000 children will have safe drinking water.  This is really fun for me because I was here a year ago on my first trip with a child's right and visited all of these schools to approve them for funding.  It will be amazing to go back and see the clean water flowing.  There is one school in particular (pics below) that I can't wait to see.  It is so picturesque and beautiful, yet in such desperate need of clean water. 
Secondly, all of our field staff will be in Nepal - all three of us from the US (plus Eric, the founder/director) and our country managers from China and Cambodia.  We will all receive training from a local Nepali NGO on hygiene training that we will then implement in the other countries.  We will also be working on standardizing our procedures and programs across all three countries.  May sound boring to you, but an amazing opportunity to get everyone together, brainstorm ideas, improve our work and also do a bunch of fun team-building stuff.  Ok, flight to KTM is boarding so gotta run. 

the strike's last stand

the strike is over!!!  if you don't know what i mean by that you've gotta read my last post.  what a huge relief!  I can't say i was exactly suffering, but i was SO ready to get out on the streets and start working.  i guess i'm not such a good tourist.  as i write this i'm waiting for our local staff to pick me up so we can visit a few schools that are being considered for a water project.  i'm really excited to see more of this city than just the tourist area of Thamel (a few blocks radius around my hotel).  i did get out for a while yesterday and snapped some photos of the some of the last moments of the strike so i share them here...

shops have been closed all day as part of the strike.  Last night they opened at 6pm and were supposed to close again at 10pm, but the end of the strike was announced during that time and many stayed open.

Seeing these guys made me happy. Reminded me why I'm here - getting water into kids' hands.

Smiles on the street as post-strike normalcy returns

I wish you could have seen this precious couple walk down the street together (and i wish i would have snapped a photo earlier)

I love this time of day.

So these are the guys who shut the city down for a week? these punks? They didn't seem very threatening to me, I almost sent them on their way myself, (except there were several thousand more of them)

such a happy commie!

and happy cops too, it seems

Time to head on home, son.  And time for me to hit the streets now.

Banda - day 3

when the Maoists shut a city down, they don't mess around.  Kathmandu has been on lock-down for 5 days now.  I've just experienced the last three days of it, and it's no joke.  No cars or motorbikes on the streets (except for ambulances, police cars and water trucks) and no shops open. "Banda" is the Nepali word for this kind of general strike that shuts everything down.  a hotel staff that serves my breakfast doesn't speak much english, but all he had to say was - "good morning" and then "banda" and shrugged his shoulders and we both understood each other very well. 
Yesterday for lunch i thought i might venture out and try some food other than what i've been served at my hotel for the past two days, but everything was closed. even other hotels that have restaurants require you to be a guest to enter in.  Shops open from 6-8pm every night, but slam their doors shut at 8 on-the-dot for fear of the maoists coming by and vandalizing the place for staying open too late.  Prakash, our local ACR country manager, is trying to hitch a ride on a water truck today to get to my hotel.  Once he gets here we might try and borrow some bicycles or head out on foot to visit a few projects.  but there's also word that some groups might start protesting the maoists and that things might get ugly on the streets.  so far things have been relatively calm, except for a few shops that tried to defy the strike.
while its definitely frustrating to be here and not be able to work, i'm trying to make the best of the situation.  its been a good time to rest and reflect, especially after all of the craziness of the past few weeks of leaving Healing Waters and joining A Child's Right.  so nice of ACR to send me on this "spiritual retreat" to start out my tenure with them!  but i'm hoping that we can get a little work done today and then by tomorrow things will return to normal.  But i think the safe bet would be that things won't return to normal until Saturday, and then i am scheduled to leave on Tuesday afternoon.  so we'll just continue to take it day by day - knowing that the banda will do what the banda wants to do and there isn't much we can do about it.

Nepal

well, 36 hours after leaving home i'm now sitting in a hotel room in kathmandu. things i learned along the way... i'm not ammune to ambien yet, as much as i tried to like the Delhi airport - i'm just not a fan, and the Maoists really know how to shut a city down. flying over, driving and walking through Kathmandu is very eerie, as the Maoist strike has nearly all businesses shut down and no cars on the road. I really hope this doesn't go on long, because we have SO MUCH work to do over the next few days and can't really do any while the strike is still on. You can read about the strike here.  

The scary part is that word in the BBC article - "indefinite".  There is a chance this could go on all week.  Some are saying that it will be done tomorrow or the next day, so we'll just have to wait and see.  But the bad thing is, i dont think there's much work we can do while the strike is on.  The schools are closed and no cars are allowed on the roads.  

I should probably pause here to explain what I'm doing in Nepal in the first place.  From my last post, you can see that i have transitioned out of Healing Waters last Friday.  My friends and co-workers at HWI were so amazingly good to me during this transition and especially in the going away party they had for me on Friday.  I felt very blessed and honored by them.  

But then two days later I'm on a plane to Nepal for my first trip with the new job - working with A Child's Right.  You've probably seen me talk about A Child's Right before and can find more on their website.  I feel so grateful to be given the opportunity to join the work that Eric Stowe (founder) started just three years ago.  It is a very exciting time to join the ACR team, and I'm humbled to be a part of it.  I'm in Nepal this week trying to help finalize a plan to install water projects in 30 poor schools in Katmandu during the remainder of 2010.  I'll be working with the local ACR staff member, Prakash, on qualifying potential sites and also installing a few projects.  That is, if this strike ever lets up.  Here's a beautiful look at what A Child's Right does here in Nepal, and what I hope to help bring more of over the next few days and months.  

a child's right and the Gonodaya school from a child's right on Vimeo.

I'll try and keep the blog updated on the status of the strike and the progress with the water projects here. 

one journey ends, another begins

The most significant journey I've been on in my life is soon coming to an end.  That may sound a bit overly dramatic, but it is true.  The time has come for me to leave Healing Waters and pursue another path.  This has been a very difficult decision to make, but as tough as it it has been, it feels right.  This decision has nothing to do with any particular situation at Healing Waters or the people I work with, rather it has become clear that a door is opening and that this is the right time to walk through it. 

It has been an amazing journey.  I truly lack the words to adequately express what these past 7 years and 7 months have meant to me.  I feel so deeply grateful to God for allowing me the opportunity to participate in such transformational work with such inspiring people.  I shared some photos and stories in this blog at my 7 year anniversary that you should see if you missed it.  I came across this photo the other day, and it reminded me how much I've changed, learned and experienced during my time with Healing Waters (and how much hair I've lost along the way!)...  

This photo was taken in October of 2002, in my second month after moving to the Dominican Republic to work with Healing Waters.  The guy in the foreground is Cristian Batista, one of the unsung heroes of Healing Waters and he taught me so much about life, culture, water systems and the Spanish language.
This next photo was taken this past Wednesday on a trip to launch our most recent water project in Arriaga, Mexico. I had the honor of being with a group of wonderful people from Bidwell Presbyterian Church in Chico, CA.  

This past week in Mexico was my last trip with Healing Waters, and it was definitely emotional to think I won't be involved in this work anymore.  I believe in this organization and the amazing impact it is making even more now than when I first joined.  I will deeply miss my all my co-workers, our church partners in the field, our donor community, and so many other aspects of working at Healing Waters.  I have so many people to thank, I can't even begin to start a list of names.  But I have to mention three people in particular (in many ways, the book-ends to my time at HWI) - Tom and Dana Larson for starting this work, for taking a chance on me, and for your love and friendship - and Ed Anderson for your leadership in challenging times and your mentoring and patience with me over the past several years.

As for the new journey, I will be joining the organization A Child's Right starting on May 1st.  I won't say anymore about it now, as I'd rather keep this post focused on Healing Waters, but it is an amazing opportunity that I will share more about soon.

If anybody has any good (or funny) stories to share about your experience with me and Healing Waters, I'd love to have you comment about it below.

Here's to celebrating one amazing journey, and to the beginning of another!!

on gratitude

 

Gracias - yes that is the word of the day.  i feel very grateful today.  it might have something to do with the 46 thank you notes that i wrote today to the amazing donors of healing waters int'l.  don't worry, i only hand wrote two of them (thank God for email)!  i think gratitude is one of the things i most want to reflect in my life.  i love being around people that are really positive and people that dont take things for granted and are very grateful for even the smallest things in life.  i cant say that i'm that person, but i strive to be.  so today i'm grateful for the community of people that surround and support the work of healing waters int'l.  their generosity is truly inspiring.  i'm grateful for the snow that covers the trees outside my office and that its still light enough outside at 5:40pm that i can still see them.  im grateful for the jack johnson channel on pandora that accompanied me through all those thank you notes.  im grateful for all the people that read the previous post on this blog - i think it was an all time high in page views.  ok, thats enough for today, just a few quick random thoughts.  

btw - the photo above was taken in comalapa, guatemala at the opening of a new water project there in november 2009.  correct me if i'm wrong ms. damarogo, and thanks for taking such a killer picture, i use it all the time to thank our donors.  as always you can click on the photo to see it zoomed in (and definitely worth it with those precious faces). 

overwhelmed by restoration and beauty

despite taking two ambien sleeping pills, i'm wide awake at 4:30am. jetlag is probably to blame. although there are plenty of other things on my mind that may be the real reason my mind and body wont rest.

i'm home from cambodia now, but the last day there was an absolutely unforgettable experience. i mentioned in previous posts about the girls in the recovery homes run by the Somaly Mam foundation. Eric was able to arrange 4 vans and 1 truck to pick us all up at 4:30 in the morning to take us to the Angkor Wat temple ruins. to be able to go on a little trip like this was a HUGE treat for these girls, and they were definitely excited. but what sent them over the top was that Scott Harrison (founder of Charity: water) offered to take all their photos - professional style, with the temple in the background. so the girls got dressed up in their best clothes for the occasion. we arrived while it was still totally dark outside. there were about 60 girls, plus a couple of leaders and our group of 5. we had one headlamp between us all, so we tried using lights off our cell phones and cameras. as a group we stumbled in the dark, helping each other out. there was a really fun energy, an excitement to be going on an adventure like this. you could already hear the giggles, laughter and joking coming from the girls.

we made our way into an interior section of the temple grounds and waited for the sun to rise. everyone was still having fun, but it also seemed like the beauty and significance of the moment started to settle in as the skies grew lighter and we began to see each other and the stone structures around us.

as soon as the light was good enough, we lined up the girls to get their photos taken. Scott did a great job as the photographer. what an amazing gift for these women. they are so precious, brave, beautiful and resilient - yet, too often they feel the exact opposite. it seems it would be easy to think the worst of yourself after being brutalized they way they have. all of the pictures will be returned to them, and only them. it will be such a prized possession for them, a snapshot of a happy moment, a moment when they felt like a beautiful child again.

there was so much joy in the air that morning. it was a joy and a freedom and happiness that i can't really describe. i can only say that is was one of the most stunningly beautiful things i have ever felt or witnessed. is there anything more beautiful in this world than to see a brilliant light come out of darkness? to see something as gorgeous as a lotus flower grow out of an ugly swamp. to see that which was broken and deeply damaged become whole again. i know of no greater beauty in this life. i am overwhelmed by gratitude to have witnessed just a minuscule part of this healing process over the past week. i am deeply changed because of it. my mind is filled to to point that it doesn't rest, thinking of ways i can continue to be a part of such beautiful transformation. because clearer than anything else in life - it reminds me of the work Jesus has been doing in my heart. taking the broken and the dark and making it whole and light. wherever that work is going on, especially in its most intense form, i want to be there - as a witness and as a participator.

I am including some photos here, mostly because i want to try and convey to you how precious these girls are, and show what darkness and evil could ever treat them so horribly. but mostly, i hope that through these images you too will also be filled with the same joy, courage, resilience and love that these girls showed to me. please be respectful and wise in sharing any of these photos, as these girls are still in a intense recovery process, and in some cases still in hiding.

This video is of the line-up waiting to get their picture taken by Scott...

please consider giving a donation to the Somaly Mam Foundation so that they can continue this beautiful work: https://www.somaly.org/