Lingtep field visit - Day 1

Day one of our trip to Lingtep village in Taplejung (Dhirendra's birth place and where he spent his childhood until the age of 19) began in the early morning darkness of Kathmandu. In the interest of time and money, we decided to hire a 4WD vehicle and driver who Dhirendra knows through his frequent work field visits. Uttam (our friend and driver) picked the team up just before 6am. Beyond Uttam, an essential team member, it was the two of us and Dipendra Nalbo (Dhirendra's immediate older brother, best man at our wedding, and intimately involved with the Taplejung School Project). We had an extra seat in our vehicle, so we offered the spot to a cousin who was returning to the village after two years working in the Middle East. It's better luck to travel not in a group of three, so we were happy to have an extra family member along for the three day trip to Lingtep.

Our drive out of the Kathmandu Valley was particularly memorable with the sun rising over the Himalayas north of the capital. The skies were crystal clear (as they often are this time of year) and we all agreed that traveling out of Dhulikhel was a great idea.

The day's drive was long - nearly 16 hours!! The new road JICA (the Japanese development agency) is building impressed us all. We later found out that it was US development efforts a few decades ago that actually was the brain child for the highway, but that's a digression. Along the highway, the afternoon was highlighted by a lunch of tasty rice and curry home cooked by a friendly family we happened upon. There was a beautiful mountain stream in the back of the home, where we freshened up.


The day brought us from Kathmandu, through the mid-central hills (most recently Maoist strong-holds), along impressive river beds in deep valleys, dusty desert dry village roads and recently constructed "pitch" highways with Japanese construction vehicles and men in hard hats, to southern Nepal (the eastern Terai), past pockets of Nepal's small Muslim communities and Bhutanese refugee camps, into the area where many lowland (Madeshi) ethnic movements find their strongest roots, and back north into the foothills of eastern Nepal. Phew! Finally, well into the night, we made it to Illam - Nepal's tea capital - for a delightful night's sleep.

Eastward Bound

After much waiting, the time has arrived for us to finally make the journey to Taplejung after many years. Despite competing professional pressures, we've carved out two weeks from our schedules to make the long-awaited trip to Lingtep, Taplejung. Prior to our departure, we're trying to meet up with a friend who has extensive experience with school building projects in Nepal and the associated community development that goes hand-in-hand with that. The goal of this trip is to do the preliminary needs assessment on.

Our starting point is an understanding that either we pursue building onto the Lingtep primary school, so that kids in the surrounding villages will have local access to education through grade 10 - or 'high school' (pre-SLC level) - rather than having to take up boarding in a regional school OR we pursue building from the ground up a new primary school in an area where village children are simply unable to attend any close schools. Our hunch is that we'll see there is a strong need for both.

Holiday Generosity!

We are overwhelmed with the generosity of friends and family over the past month. Thank you all for your thoughtful contributions to the Taplejung School Project. Every little bit moves us closer to finalizing the land purchase, securing building materials, creating a parent teacher association, and eventually providing more accessible education to young children in rural eastern Nepal who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity. For this, we thank you. We will keep posting updates as we get them. May you all have a very happy and healthy New Year!!

Turtle and the Hare

The question is raised, why are there always delays? I suppose it is because we have full (plus) jobs we tend. We're still chugging away and building our financial base. As always looking for more contributions and getting some great fundraising ideas from friends. If there is a marathon in Bangladesh over the next year, Meg will be first to sign up and all will be expected to chip in for the school...and sports drinks! This is one hot country. But we digress.

The planned scouting trip, which was intended for October of this year, will now likely take place in April, 2011. Between major activities at work, changes in personnel in both of our offices, and struggling to find time to simply meet up ourselves, we've needed to wait until the Spring for our scouting trip. This gives us time to build rapport in order to take the full two weeks off of work required to get out to Taplejung.

The great news is that a new advocate for our school has joined us - a baby niece was born October 1st (daughter of Dhirendra's brother, Dipendra)!! We are happy to report that she looks really smart and promises to be a great addition to the Taplejung School Project team.

Back in the sub-continent

Ten quick months later and we’re back on track. Over the past many months, much has changed. We moved from Washington DC to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Just yesterday, Dhirendra moved again to Nepal to start a new journey with the International Crisis Group (one of the leading conflict analysis international organizations in the world!). Although the heartache of living temporarily apart burns, we are rewarded by new opportunities. With daily flight to/from Dhaka/Kathmandu, we will be able to make serious headway with the Taplejung School Project. This October, we are planning our first scouting trip to Taplejung since birthing this dream just over two years ago at our Colorado wedding.  Before heading to Taplejung, we will spend the next few months preparing, planning, and networking. Stay tuned!!

Slow but steady progress

We are seeing that not being based in Nepal and working on the school is a challenge. Dhirendra’s now back from his recent two-week trip to Nepal.

 

After a week and a half project in Dharamsala, India with the Tibetan Government in Exile, Dhirendra spent two weeks in Kathmandu. The trip was productive in many ways. Of course, he was able to spend time with family and friends – an opportunity that is few and far between. He also made notable progress in an upcoming project with his organization – the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) – on post-conflict reconciliation. Among other notable figures with whom he spoke was the Prime Minister, Mr. Nepal. The conclusion on all sides was overall consensus that the project is necessary. With adequate funding, the plan is to move forward this Fall.

 

Last, but not least, Dhirendra made key contacts for the Taplejung School Project. He met first with Mr. Dambar Dhwoj Thumbahanphe, one of the political representatives for the Taplejung constituency. He will be important in the latter stages of gaining political support in the district and for guidance on regulations and ordinances within the Ministry of Education. Dhirendra also spoke with villagers (visiting Kathmandu) and discussed possible properties centrally located within Lingtep village whose owners might be willing to partially donate the land. Finally, a young woman by the name of Kopila Langwa agreed to coordinate a needs assessment this November. Kopila is a Limbu from Taplejung who is currently studying in Kathmandu for her graduate degree in Education. She will act as our eyes and ears, gathering information and evidence from both Lingtep and Changa (Nalbu) villages on the challenges of the youth (both girls and boys) in attending school. She will also report back on the local politics of the villages on this issue.

 

Our immediate challenge is gathering further information and developing a strategy on building the school, costs of materials, and curriculum development. 

Dhirendra's work in Nepal

Dhirendra's been in Nepal since June 14th. In addition to visiting family and doing work (for the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy www.imtd.org), he's been talking with villagers from Taplejung that have been in Kathmandu. We'll put up a post with more details after he returns to the States in July.