www.globalactioncoalition.orgI promised to take you with me so our first stop is the village of Kavre.  I have been staying with the founders of Yogdan Foundation, former members of the Tampa community who have returned to Kathmandu.  They had purchased land on the top of a hill in the village of Kavre north of Kathmandu to have a get away place. When the earthquake happened they headed up to there to find that nobody had come to help and most of the houses around 240 families were destroyed.  Luckily they had no fatalities.  Talking with the mothers of the village who had seen their world turned upside down was quite sobering.  They lived perched on their hill top village homeless and experiencing constant tremors wondering at any moment if there would be more destruction.  Punam and Atulya new at once that there would be no help from the government and they contacted everyone they knew to build temporary housing so that they would have shelter from the elements.  Global Action Coalition and the Tampa Bay Nepalese community responded.  The simple housing might not be much to us but as you can see they have taken great care to make them homes.  Our next step is to build houses for the most neediest.  Another project Punam started was to use the community center for a small sewing factory for the local girls.  There are 5 machines and in one of the photos the young manager of this enterprise is showing off a new product.  One of the inhabitants was this 100 year old woman.  The small path up to her home is daunting but she is nimble and a loving person. Our visit was a big hit for the children too.  I also met an Austrian man who had build a retreat center on a piece of land.  He would love to have help in rebuilding the bathrooms in the village school.  There is so much to do here, but I believe we can help them.  Enjoy the photos and forgive me if they are not perfectly aligned.  Rob

Young mother 

Inside

4 people live inside this shelter

a grouping of shelters

The Manager of the new enterprise

Can you imagine she is 100 years old

what a smile

Another family

Day 2 Kathmandu, Rob's Blog

I will say that my second day in this city was both amazing and trying.  I have been staying with my friend Lt. Colonel Bineya Rana, with whom I have been staying within his beautiful house with his wife Sahdhana.  He took me to the Durban Square, home of many of the kings of Nepal.  With his military connections we were given a special tour.  The architecture alone is outstanding and I have tried to capture photos of the positive and negatives of this city.  The old and the new and even the pollution in the air which you can see in photos that are hazy and the river that smells like a sewer.  The people themselves are disgusted and the government seems powerless to make any changes.  Right now power for the government is being contested by 2 political parties after a 7 years’ war.  I hope they can really learn to work together rather than spending all their time fighting for control.  Met with the community leaders from Bharse where we are planning our work.  Today I take a micro bus, like a van all day to the town of Butwal.  In the morning we will head up by jeep to this remote area and I am excited and a little scared of the challenges I will face.  I always believe you have to face your fears and then you have those I did it experiences that you build your strength from.  On a personal note I had dinner with Hem Pun who you will learn more about and his nephew my good friend LT. Col Prem Pun as well as the Rana's and some others.  There were times they spoke in Nepali and I just listened, and I also was still jet lagged and tired...  Prem who I played tennis with when he served at Central Command introduced me to Hemu Adhikari, who was at the IDS talk, and also to his Uncle Hem Pun.  These connections have been essential in the work we have done.  Thank you Prem.  Enjoy the photos and I will try to get back soon.  Rob