13 Oct 2019
I slept reasonably well again, waking up a few times before getting up at about 5:30am and making some tea. I also did sink laundry with underwear and two T-shirts to stay ahead of the game, then turned on the Air Force - Fresno State football game back in Colorado Springs via internet radio and started writing in the blog.
Air Force ending up winning the game 43-25, which was nice. Mark Kijowski arrived on time without incident and we all filtered through breakfast downstairs in the hotel. Hoot left early for the Monkey Temple and a chance to get in some stairs which I knew he would enjoy.
We told everyone to start meeting up in the lobby starting at about 9am, about the time that Dinesh arrived. He arranged for the hotel van (a 15-passenger vehicle) to take us to Creating Possibilities Nepal (CNP) and we left at about 9:45 after talking in the lobby and answering some questions. Several also went for cash at a nearby ATM.
The trip to CNP was longer than expected because the visit of President Xi of China was still on-going. We appeared to be redirected on one street towards roads with more security, possibly because of the size of our van. The main street heading towards the large government buildings were lined with police.
We pulled down a very narrow alley and Dinesh got out to open the gate to the CNP compound that is also his immediate family’s home. The driver edged his way into the parking area of the very well-kept home and we were greeted by several young ladies that were resident students at the home.
Dinesh directed us into the first-level living room and we all took off our shoes and entered. We all formed a circle on the couches. We were introduced to Nura as well as Dinesh’s wife (whose name I now forget). His two sons were there, ages 5 and 13 were there and the older one was quite sharp--excellent English and very inquisitive.
Dinesh went over the general background of CNP and the NGO environment in Nepal. He told us that there are nearly 10,000 NGOs operating in the country, many of which are very small and many others that are of questionable integrity and purpose.
Creating Possibilities Nepal is a group dedicated to “empower vulnerable girls, youth and women through education and income creation ending the cycle of poverty in their communities.” They’ve done this by providing school scholarships (5,000 per year), building homes, community centers, and schools, providing literacy classes, helping women build their own homes and buy land, providing bicycles to children and mothers, rescuing boys and girls from domestic slavery, and providing sickle cell anemia screenings. They strive to be very open and honest about their programs and impacts. I won’t go into any more details, as the links to their websites cover the information much better.
We then went into a discussion of the mission of our trip and our objectives. I went over Developing World Connections policies for the trip as well as expectations for myself and the team. Everyone seemed to receive all of this quite well and their enthusiasm was clearly building.
Some of the kids at CNP then took us on tours of the building/home showing us all of the rooms, kitchen, chores lists, roof-top, etc. I was impressed with their openness and lack of any pretense or sense that our visit was staged in any way. The young lady that showed me around is 17 and has two more years to complete her high school diploma. She then wants to go to university and study to be a radiologist.
We had lunch in the courtyard with all of those currently at the CNP facilites (about two dozen), enjoying chicken Mo-Mos and talking more about CNP and the project.
By 1:30, we were ready to go and returned via three taxis to the Eco Hotel. I paid the taxis and we then split up with some of us walking around Thamel--Mike and Grace needed to buy gaiters for our later trekking in Annapurna and Debra was with them some of the time. I did street photography for about 90 minutes covering as much ground as I could.
After we returned to the hotel, Hoot and Mike then brought over their trekking gear that they didn’t want to bring to Lamahi and we consolidated our gear into my one large REI duffle bag.
At 7pm, we met in the lobby for dinner and walked to the Satkar Restaurant on Amrit Marg. The restaurant has a set menu and a small stage with some dancing. Dinesh and Nura had arranged for the meal as the big kickoff for the trip. There was one other large party there, coincidentally a group with Intrepid Travel, an organization with which Becky and I have done several international small group trips.
The food was very good and the beer and wine were flowing pretty freely. They started the meal with a shot of their “rice wine” which was not nearly as bad as the hooch we had the day before at the Thamel House. We enjoyed the first two dancing set--the first done by two women and the second done by a man and woman. But then, about an hour into the meal, we lost all power. Naturally, the dancing ended as music and lights were inoperable. The staff brought out candles, though, and the meal went ahead as planned. At the end, Dinesh and I went to the front counter and paid the bill after I collected from everyone for the wine and beer.
We walked back to the hotel slowly, passing by a very large brick-lined rectangular area that serves as a communal hand laundry spot as well as the many open bars and shops one finds in Thamel.
Upon arrival at the hotel, we all got together one last time to reiterate that the hotel would have coffee ready by 5:50am, breakfast by 6am and that everyone should bring their bags down in the lobby by 6am as well.