This ain't no lye...unless your finger melts off.

October 27th: 

With an additional day added to our village departure date, I found myself with too much free time on my hands and an unexpected availability of wi-fi. (If you received an online message from me at 3 AM, my apologies.) I was finally able to get to a task that's been on my list for a while, though:

Have you ever wondered how to really get that hair off your buck hide? I know - me, too! I've also been trying to figure out how to make homestead-style soap from wood ash. Both activities benefit from the formulation of a toxic base, lye. Of all the videos I watched, the one from this particularly talented backwoods soap maker taught me the best techniques and advice for how to make the perfect lye: "Just get yer bucket...when it's done, you can stick yer finger in it and if it melts off, it's ready (or when the tater is almost submerged)." Though the heavy twang is a little distracting and amusing, the guy has a reputable Youtube sportsmans' library and a number of loyal fans. (If you're at all considering a Halloween costume or improv with a heavy West Virginian accent, do check this out! Or, if you have hunting or outdoor skill improvement needs, refer to Bland County Survivorman.) His lessons sure would have come in handy during an infamous Memorial Day weekend a few years ago...("What the...c'mon...when they rub two sticks together in the *movies,* it starts a fire! Why isn't this working?!..Guess I'll just huddle under this bush for the next 16 hours and try not to freeze.") I digress. 

Lye is brutal stuff. But when mixed with a nice, preferably soft animal lard, we get the chemical reaction that makes the efficient surfactant that beautifully removes stuff...like poop from dirty hands. And that's what this is all about! We're hoping we can try making soap and teach the villagers how to do this as an enterprise, though everything will be determined by what they want and decide they need or can use. 

Here's a very well-illustrated video produced for the London School of Tropical Hygiene & Medicine that we'll be showing for discussion. 

October 29th: 

ENPHO in Kathmandu

We are leaving for the first leg out of Kathmandu tomorrow morning and today will gather additional medicine and pharmaceutical supplies to give to the villages.

I am thankful that yesterday's meeting with the local Environmental and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) was productive. They graciously loaned me culturally-relevant WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) materials and activities to use in the villages. I also got to meet the Canadian technical officer from the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST), who happened to be in the country at this time. 


I took this opportunity to pose in a few cheesy photos, because I don't know about you, but I get pretty excited about this! Cheese on: 

A pertinent poster depicting pathways
of exposure for cross-contamination

Thumbs' down to flies enjoying our poo 
and then carrying it into our food. Just say "No!"

October 30th:

Today was a taste of our adventure to come: fun, humbling, and almost surreal as we became part of history in a small Nepali town. Our team was welcomed as part of a local ceremony to honor the scholarship that Jyamu Bhotia and some of her fellow classmates started for the secondary school there, where she and Karma graduated many years ago. 



After our first photo as a group this morning, we departed from our Kathmandu hotel and

 

caught a 45-minute flight to Tumlingtar, with stellar views over the valleys and mountains. We then took a 20-minute winding, uphill jeep ride to the secondary school in the little town of Khandbari. 

From left: Karma, Celeste, Gina, Kathleen, me, Jyamu

       From Kathmandu, we flew to Tumlin. From there, we 

       took a jeep to Khandbari to attend the scholarship award 

       ceremony at the secondary school. After staying here tonight,

       we will take a ~5-hour jeep ride tomorrow north to Goondande, just 

       past Num. After camping, we will continue trekking north to

       Chyamtang, just south of Tibet. We will stop and camp in 

       villages en route. 

Once there, Jyamu shared a touching personal story about the hardships she overcame to attend and graduate from school as a Chyamtang villager; she left home at 12 years old and supported herself while going to school. Over the past couple years, she has started a scholarship fund for this school. Today happened to be the day we were arriving, as well as the day the scholarship was awarded to the best student. 


Jyamu was the guest of honor and gave a speech, inviting us up on stage with her for support. The event lasted most of the day, and we were there for a few hours at the end of it. As guests, we were also honored with khadas and tikas. (The former is a Buddhist prayer scarf and the latter is a Hindu blessing.)

Jyamu awarding the best student with the 

scholarship

It was an incredible experience for each of us to be part of this special day for both Jyamu and this community, bringing tears to our eyes. We are all so excited about our journey ahead! I couldn't have asked for a team of more wonderful, inspiring people. We are feeling very grateful for this experience. 

Tomorrow we will pick up a few more supplies at a large morning market and start the trip up past Num. After tomorrow, we probably won't have internet access for a weeks (hopefully!). I'm looking forward to sharing about our time with the villagers! Namaste!

Gina reflecting in the school building

Arrival and pre-village planning

Greetings from Kathmandu!

This trip has been a long time coming. I was actually supposed to go with Karma Bhotia and his team last year, but I couldn't negotiate the time off. But now, finally, I'm here, and I'm thrilled! I've been looking forward to this for many reasons, and for many months. 

I departed from Albuquerque Friday evening and arrived, exhausted, late last night (Sunday evening). I hadn't realized that I could have an opportunity to watch a year's worth of movies on the journey over the North Pole from NYC to Hong Kong. After a brief layover, I departed once again and landed in Jakarta for about an hour, and, finally, Kathmandu. I stumbled into the airport with one of my teammates, Gina. While filling out our Visa paperwork, we chatted with a Nepalese man next to us, who patiently waited to borrow one of our pens. He asked where we were from, and we told him, "Colorado." He replied that he was, too ("the Boulder area") and that he, his wife, and their 17-month daughter were there visiting family. He kindly gave us his brother's contact information in the city, just in case we had an emergency. It's funny how big the world can seem when you're looking out your airplane window at the black sky and bright moon for endless hours, and how simultaneously connected and small when you run into "mountain town neighbors" in a small airport across the globe. 

Gina and I were warmly greeted by Shambu and John. Shambu is Karma's niece's husband, who was a guide on their trip last year. I am staying in his home, with his family. John is Shambu's brother, and, at 21, is studying forestry and will be one of our guides on this trip while he is on holiday vacation. 

John (left) will be one of our guides to and from the villages.
I have the honor of staying with this lovely family for a few days!

I fell asleep and awoke to familiar sounds in developing countries: street dogs barking all night, and a chorus of roosters crowing in the early morning. I met Shambu's daughters over coffee and boiled eggs for breakfast. Tomorrow is Shambu's youngest daughter's 6th birthday, and I gave him some money to help with the celebration (to ensure that we would all get cake!). At almost-6, she has, quite possibly, the most beautiful English cursive that I've seen beholden by anyone, let alone a youth in her second language. 

I've spent my first day here walking around Bouddhanath, where one of the major temples in the city remained in a dilapidated state from the earthquake this spring. I would have liked to have joined Gina for some shared sightseeing, but her hotel is about a 15-20 minute taxi ride away. Prior to a month ago, this would have been a simple and affordable venture. However, India has begun blocking imports into Nepal, including petrol, which has now become outrageously expensive. Even middle class families are resorting to cooking over fires outside because of this imposition. So for now, I won't be taking any unnecessary taxi rides. 

Bouddhanath, including a pre-earthquake replica

Tomorrow, however, I will take the bus, with John, to an appointment I made with Environment & Public Health Organization. Over the past few months, I've emailed several organizations with whom I hoped to make connections for culturally-relevant WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), nutrition, and other public health materials. Very few responded. However, I did get a pleasant reply from a Canadian program officer with Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology, who directed me to their local Nepali affiliate, Enpho. I have a meeting with the latter tomorrow afternoon. Today, I was able to review their 2014 Annual Report and as luck would have it, this is probably the ideal NGO to grant me a personal introduction. They align with all the topics I want to partner in teaching, and have a broad base of support, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They are even working with biosand filter implementation (I led a biosand filter evaluation in Rwanda a few years ago!), and they're affiliated with the University of Illinois (my undergrad alma mater!). Needless to say, I'm quite excited for this meeting.  

As an aside, I've encountered my first unwelcome moment as a large spider crawled over one of my bags today. Shambu's other daughter, who is 14, laughed as I cringed and ran away. She then excitedly explained to me how many and how large all the spiders would be in the villages. "They're everywhere!" She politely and matter-of-factedly offered that by the end of my time in the villages, I would no longer be afraid of spiders. (Miracles can happen, right?)

Namaste,
Marla