5:20 I wake up from rattling pots, I fall asleep again but I wake up again from various other sounds.
6:00 I fix breakfast and today it’s Saturday so it will be aluxury breakfast! I got 2 eggs yesterday from the woman who had sprained her foot and I boil them for breakfast and eat with crisp bread while I drink pineapple juice and coffee. I realize how much I missed eggs!
7:30 Shyam and I go off on a motorcycle to find the Home of Hope child Number 13. She is called Samshana Tamang and she is 12 years old. She lives in a neighbouring village along the road on the way to Everest; it takes about 20 minutes to go there on the motorcycle. The house she lives in with her cousins is completely destroyed. They now live in a shed with earth floor which is about 8 square metres big. There are 5 people who live there and I see that they use all the material they received from us, and it feels good but the accommodation is pitiful. She says that she was with her friends when it happened. They ran and hid under a large tree a good distance from any houses. She will also be happy to hear that we will build the orphanage again! We are about to go when Shyam sees some incredibly beautiful banana plants in their “garden” and we asked if we could buy some plants for the Home of Hope’s garden. They say they would like to give us some plants when everything is finished; it was very nice of them. Shyam and I have come to the conclusion that it is very important to have a lot of fruit trees on the orphanage grounds so that children can ingest plenty of vitamin C. We have got up to 4 fruits that can be grown in the village that we can get hold of: banana, clementine, peach and mango. We can get all of them except for mangoes in the near area.
8:30 We are still in the neighbouring village where child no 13 lives. We stay for a while and talk with some villagers, and we find out that there is a great need for medication here as well. Some children play with “cars” in a large soil mound next to us, but there are no cars without stones. They are very dirty, happy and they wear quilted jackets – in the heat!!!
9:30 “Home” in the tent again. I make some coffee and look at how they “thresh” dried corncobs. Villagers often have corn cobs hanging to dry in the sun along their house walls. So those who have managed to save last year’s harvest are now taking care of it. Removing the tops and putting the dried corn cobs in old empty rice bags, tying together the bag and starting to hit on it hard with a board, turning the bag on every other side and continuing. Then pouring out the contents of a tarpaulin and last are done by hand. The corn is then used in stews, porridge or corn flour.
10:00 Shyam goes to fetch his brother Prem. I walk around the village documenting and photographing for our upcoming book. I take it easy as I am feeling pretty tired today. The last two weeks of hard work and everything I have seen and experienced so far starts to catch up a little bit.
13:00 Now I’m eating a nutritional bar while drinking coffee and water for lunch.
13:30 A large meeting in the village takes place and people gather. The purpose of the meeting today is to inform that an Israeli aid team wants to come and help in the village at the beginning of next week. The Israelis want to contribute to the building of better shelters and tents. They want the villagers to be around and help with the construction and the villagers think it sounds very good and they vote yes. I am very happy when I hear this as I now know the support won’t end when I go home. There are apparently 5-8 people who will help out and I think that will be super. Villagers continue to receive support and 5-8 people can really make a difference for the people here in the village. I think it will help to keep spirit going in the village. This news feels so great!
15:30 Shyam and I go around the village and photograph. Prem has brought a camera with him from Kathmandu, and with it, we will document how it looks in the village. If I understand correctly it is so Israel can help the team prepare with the assistance that is needed, but also the government has asked for pictures of how it looks in the rural villages in order to initiate the right service.
16:00 We are back at the Home of Hope and carrying stone. Shyam has managed to put together 10 men and together we work. Work continues for cleaning up after everything crumbled. Prem had three workers from Kathmandu with him so this will help us a lot and the last of the stone work should have time to be cleared within the coming days. We are also working to shore up where it is needed so that the risk of damage decreases. Handling rock when it is both heavy and hot. We start a long chain.
18:00 There will be a storm, rain starts coming and it looks like really dark sky is approaching. Not so much stone work left now. All the workers want to get home before the storm breaks out, so I go and wash myself and my clothes at the waterfall. It takes about 5 minutes to walk down to the waterfall and 10 minutes to go up again.
18:30 Back in the tent again and now there is a lot of thunder, lightning and rain. It flashes and thunders quite a bit more than normally at home in Sweden. It feels as if the thunderstorm is quite far away, even if it is very powerful. I crawl into my tent and start cooking. I think of how relieved and grateful I feel that the new aid team is coming to the village, it makes me feel I can leave here with a good conscience.
19:30 Sophie is calling now! We talk about the day’s events, and I tell her the news about the new team that is heading into the village. I also tell Sophie how nice I think it is going be to come home soon! We decide that I should go to Kathmandu on Monday so I have Tuesday and Wednesday in place to sort out all financial transactions with Karma, the Bank and the auditor. On Thursday next week I fly back to Sweden. I long shade, something cold to drink and I long for Sophie as we have not seen each other in almost a month. She went to the United States before I went to Nepal so it will be really great to see her again. We say goodbye and now I’m going to go to sleep and I have a good feeling I will sleep well tonight!
