NEWS
April Health Campaign
19.04.10
On 17th April a general health camp was held in Chitepani.Tika tells us that 110 people attended from the village and mountain community for routine health checks.
FUTURE PLANS
11.04.10
Ann and Tika recently discussed the hopes and aspirations of the people of Chitepani. So much has been achieved with the hardwork of the people and the help of the Trust but there is still much to do.
THE VILLAGE SCHOOL.
This is the highest priority.
We need to improve the children's environment and the quality of teaching....otherwise the government will close the school.
The teachers all need to undergo training to provide them with modern teaching skills.
We need new furniture for the classrooms and stimulating teaching aids.
Repairs need to be done to the inside and outside of the building. The play area needs to be made secure and fenced off.
Many of the children have never ventured outside the village. They would love to go on an outing, perhaps to Lakeside in Pokhara and the Mountain Museum.
A plan to develop a small library is in the pipeline.
HEALTH
In April, one of five candidates for the female health worker will be selected.
FURTHER HEALTH CAMPAIGNS are planned
for women and children
a general health campaign
one concentrating on eye examination
FARMING
The farmers are requesting training in organic farming methods.
WATER SUPPLY
The water supply to the health clinic needs to be improved.
Four houses in the village need access to water.
ELECTRICITY
The electricity supply to the home of Teknath Dhakal needs to be connected.
GALLERY IMAGES EXPLAINED
30.03.10
1. Paddies growing mustard seed.
2. Chitepani terraces
4. Rishi Ram Poudel with some of the billy goat's progeny
5. A view of Chitepani
6. School children lining up to sing the National Anthem
7. The gabion wall, built to retain the hillside where the landside occurred.
8. Rukbina and her goats.
9. The new billy goat
10.Not everyone finds school exciting!
CHITEPANI'S NEW BILLY GOAT
30.03.10
If you look in the Web Site Gallery (Gallery Image 9)you will see a photo of the new billy goat that The Trust has purchased for Chitepani. He is a very fine specimen and already a proud father many times over.
The goat originates from Bandipur...a small, almost medieval town about two hours away by road. I asked Tika how the goat was transported to Chitepani...I had this vision of it sitting in the back of a taxi (not so unusual in Nepal!)
I was told that he travelled on the local bus..the normal adult fare was negotiated! I could just imagine this huge, smelly creature on the bus...but despite my concerns, he apparently travelled on the roof and dozed for most of the journey.
Since then he has woken up and most of the female goats in Chitepani have received a visit from him. In the gallery you can also see some of his progeny.
A RECENT VISIT
03.03.10
Ann, our UK Co-ordinator, has just returned from Nepal. This is an account of her visit to Chitepani.
It was almost twelve months since I last visited Chitepani. I felt a real sense of anticipation as Tika and I, with Joy and Jan, two UK volunteers made our way steadily up the mountainside. We stopped frequently to take in the view. The mountains were so clear, despite the heat and I was curious to see what was happening in the rice paddies and terraces.(See Gallery image 2) Maybe some of my Chitepani friends were working there. Sometimes there are monkeys helping themselves to crop stubble. I have walked this route so many times over the years and it never fails to fascinate me. I think it is my favourite walk.
We were hot and tired by the time we arrived. The Mothers Committee met us at the edge of the village and it was good to see so many familiar, smiling faces. Namastes exchanged (along with one or two shy hugs from these normally very reserved people) we headed for the Health Centre for ginger tea. On the way, I saw with relief the newly built gabion wall which looks very substantial and able to withstand most things. (See Gallery image 7)
The thought of a further landslip had often kept me awake at night. After tea we were all anxious to visit the school and meet the children. They were obviously prepared for our visit and the arrival of Joy and Jan, who were going to stay in the village and assist at the school. As soon as we arrived we were offered garlands of marigolds and bougainvillea made by the children or their parents. We were given generous welcoming blessings with red powder 'tikas' in the middle of our foreheads, so generous in fact that we ended up with red noses for the rest of the day. The highlight of our visit came when, at a word from the head teacher, the children divided into two rows in front of us and, hand on shoulder of the child in front, shuffled into two straight lines, the tinies interspersed with the older children. (See Gallery image 6) Then, standing very still and straight, they sang the several verses of their National Anthem. It was difficut not to smile...they all looked so appealingly serious. In response we decided to sing a quite reasonable rendition of 'You Are My Sunshine' for them. I was able to sing along, confident in the knowledge that Joy and Jan could sing in tune and would probably drown my efforts. The children seemed to enjoy it but I did wonder afterwards if they thought it was our National Anthem!
Whilst Joy and Jan stayed to spend time with the children and to introduce themselves to the teachers, Tika and I went off to visit Rishi Ram Poudel,a sight impaired villager. When we arrived, he was climbing some bamboo scaffolding. He amazes everyone with his dexterity and determination but it soon became obvious that he had very little sight. Nontheless, he wanted a photo of the little herd of goats he now has as part of the Chitepani Trust's agricultural programme.(See Gallery image 4)
It became clear during my visit to Chitepani that the provision of goats or buffalo to every family has been greatly welcomed and with the sale of offspring to neighbouring communities, has the potential to raise income above subsistence level. Everyone is very proud of their goats, Rukbina Subedi in particular. (See Gallery image 8) As she cuddled her goats, she insisted that Tika and I acknowledge them as the best looking goats in the village! We decided to sidestep that particular minefield!
Tika later took me to see a sick and quite elderly couple who have no electricity. He promised them that an appropriate technician would visit the village to see if the situation could be rectified.
So much has happened in Chitepani. It is so gratifying to see the impact that The Chitepani Trust has had. After a day spent meeting villagers, discussing problems, admiring goats etc, Tika and I walked down the mountainside back to the river where we would catch the bone-shaking bus back to Pokhara. We talked about the future and all the challenges we face. Just as we were leaving Chitepani and had said our farewells, one of the women called out in Nepali 'When will you come back?' I turned round and told her 'soon very soon'.
I plan to return in October.
Ann Armstrong. February 2010
A HOLIDAY VISIT
16.02.10
Ramblers Worldwide Holidays runs walking holidays in Nepal each year. Some of the groups visit Chitepani as part of their tour itinerary giving an opportunity to get close to life in the Himalayan foothills and to meet some of the people. After one such visit, John and Susan Revie wrote the following account for us.
We visited Chitepani in November 2009 with a Ramblers tour. This was for me (John) probably the most interesting of our lovely walks in Nepal because we had the opportunity to spend time in the village. Our Ramblers leader had been there before and had explained to us the interesting connection between Ramblers and this particular village. Tika Ram Sapkota had joined us as an additional local guide. He grew up in the village so could explain everything to us and answer most of our questions. I find it fascinating that the people who live with such hardship in these hills are so friendly and apparently contented. (In Scotland I work as a volunteer in a very run down town where most of our clients have existed on benefits for most of their lives. I find the contrast between these two groups of very poor people quite intriguing.)
We had lunch sitting outside the new health centre. As usual we had far more in our packed lunches than we needed and surplus quickly disappeared into the pockets of a hovering local boy.
The village has an electricity supply which, I think, was installed by a Finnish organisation. This provides a metered facility mainly for lighting. There was an empty room attached to the health centre and Tika proudly explained that it was planned to install an internet connection there with a UPS to stabilise the supply, and a mobile connection from a mast across the valley. At the time I felt that the internet was probably the last thing these relatively unspoiled people needed but I have since learned how it should help to make their lives better.
After lunch we were shown a bio-gas installation for a single house. Both human and animal waste are collected in a tank constructed beneath the collection facilities. The resultant(methane)gas is produced at a surprisingly good pressure - enough to supply a good sized single gas ring. The owner was clearly very proud to show us her cooking facilities and the rest of her house.
Tika has a dream that one day every house will have its own clean water supply. We discussed how that might be achieved and we have since corresponded on the subject. Other priorities currently indicate that simple improvements to the existing communal water supply will probably come first.
In the afternoon we moved down to the primary school where we met a young British couple who were staying in the village for a week to help. Many of our group were former teachers and had interesting views on what they saw in the school. Susan was one of these and this is her account.
As always we were impressed by the friendliness of the adults and the enthusiasm of the children who delighted us with a rendition of their national anthem. However, what disturbed us all was the state of the school. Each of the three classrooms had bare concrete walls with virtually no decoration - no wallcharts, no shelves of books and no display of pupils work apart from four small scraps of paper in one classroom. There were no pupil materials in the classrooms and when we handed out all our remaining pencils, rulers etc we were told by the British couple that these would probably be handed out to the children at the end of the day and would disappear into the community. It was not easy to see what was stored in the staff room but we did hear that the safe contained one calculator and nothing else.
We were all rather subdued when we left the place, most people comparing what we had seen with the resources in our own schools, with all the labelling and organisation, the play materials which we feel are essential for development, the beautifully prepared aide-memoirs, the modern furniture and a calculator for each child! Going even a small way towards that would give these delightful and motivated children such a boost and would be a worthy goal.
We plan to continue our association with Chitepani and hope to contribute towards the achievement of some of these worthy goals.
John and Susan Revie, Scotland.
NEPALESE CHILD SOLDIERS RELEASED
29.01.10
At the beginning of January, hundreds of child soldiers said goodbye to their comrades at a camp in Southern Nepal where they have lived since the communist rebels joined the peace process.
They were the first of nearly 3,000 children to be freed from seven camps where they have been confined since 2006. Most were angry at the government despite its offer of free education and vocational training via UN agencies. Some say that unless the government offers monetary benefits they will take nothing from them.
Nearly 20,000 former rebel fighters have lived in camps since 2006 when the Communist party of Nepal (Maoists) gave up their 10 year armed rebellion. UN monitors found that nearly 3,000 were under the age of 18.
As part of the peace process the rebels were to be integrated into the Nepali military but the army chiefs refused to do so. This caused a crisis and the Maoists - who joined mainstream politics and won most seats in elections last year- resigned from the government.
On release, the child soldiers, who were never to be enrolled into the national army, have been issued with ID cards that will allow them to go to school, take up vocational training and start businesses with government and UN agency help.
From a news article in The Guardian 8th January 2010
LAST YEAR'S ACHIEVEMENTS
25.01.10
2009 was a busy year for the people of Chitepani and the Chitepani Trust.
Health.
The regular running of the health centre continues with several health campaigns and the doctors' visiting programme.
Some of the poor patients have received medical support. A new room was built on to the health centre to provide additional facilities and to give the doctor a room to work in when he visits.
Education.
Some of the brighter children have received scholarships to attend secondary college nearby. Some money was given to help establish the new secondary college in Kalika where Chitepani children go when they leave the village school. At the village school the interior walls were plastered.
Agricultural project.
Financial support was given to a farmer whose house was affected by a landslide last year.A biogas unit and toilet was also constructed.
Buffaloes and some more goats were bought for the farmers.
A billy goat was purchased to help improve the village goat herd and provide marketable progeny.
General.
A substantial stone gabion wall was constructed to prevent further land slippage on the path to the health centre. See Gallery picture 7.