As soon as we had left our stuff in Hotel Washington, we went to take a look around the village, we stumbled across a maternity and health centre which CARE part funds and I got a little over excited about the thought of a birth!! New life just felt like the most positive thing I could experience in this situation so I made Pavan ask them if anyone was in labour, about to be in labour or had just given birth...and I was in luck! A lady had given birth yesterday to a little boy and they lived a few mins walk away, so off we all trotted to go and say hi....just what this poor lady needed was me rocking up at her door!! but none the less I bounded in and cooed over the gorgeous baby, took a terrible photo as the light was bad and then let the woman get back to bed...yes that's right she got out of bed to see me!!
Because I am here with CARE, I am invited to visit some of the local wards and after arriving in Barpak 3 meetings are set up for me for the following few days.
The first community is the lowest caste in the area and their homes and land were completely destroyed by the earthquake and landslides. The land is unsafe to live on again and therefore they can't build back their houses there. As you can imagine, these families don't have a big savings account to raid, or insurance to claim and even if they did there isn't loads of spare land sitting around waiting for them to buy it. Over the next few days, i come to realise this is the biggest challenge of all and it is the main reason reconstruction for many hasn't begun yet (that and lots of other reasons!).
This community were able to build temporary shelters on a small patch of government land, and families are living in either a tent or a tin shed, they are all living, cooking and eating in one room and the biggest family I met in one shelter was a family of 12 (see pic on right, the light was really bad so not great pic!). I spoke to one of the guys about his temporary home which was a tent, and for those of you who are familiar with camping/festivals you will understand the frustrations of how cold it gets at night but then how hot it gets as soon as the sun starts to rise!! Now imagine living in a tent about 2x4 metres max with 5 other people and not being able to go home after the fun and games/holiday is all over!
I was welcomed at a meeting called in my honor, and i'm not going to lie, it was extremely intimidating as over 50 people crammed into the temporary structure they have for their 'village hall' to meet me. Most of which were hoping I wasn't just another one of those westerners who had come to find out how they are doing but unable to provide any solutions; and unfortunately I pretty much was.
A few of the people who came to meet me!
I soon realised I was also the chair of this meeting, and had to pull out of the bag an introduction, some questions (I had only prepared ones for individuals rather than a forum!) and a closing, all of which were translated for me. This turned out to be less difficult than I first thought, aferall I have so much admiration for their resiliance, courage and strength that for once in my life I left the jokes at the door and focused on sincerity and not crying (who knew there was some emotion in there somewhere!).
We had some really good discussions and I heard about their worries as the winter approaches, it will snow and get to -3 degrees from November - January and their temporary homes are not suitable, i felt pretty bloody helpless, but was delighted with Pavan announced the news that CARE will be delivering them winter packages to them soon with blankets, matresses and cash to buy warm clothes for their families which was met by claps and cheers.
People are feeling helpless (myself and Pavan included), they really are cut off from so much in the mountains and they feel like everyone has forgotten about them! But they also made it clear that life has to go on, so they are getting on with things.
I spoke to them a bit about their experience of the actual earthquake and it was really clear that they coped so well because they are such a tight knit community who look after each other. They worked as a team to survive the initial experience, but also to move and build the temporary shelters. They are living on top of each other, sharing one bathroom with no privacy, yet there is no tension or arguments! My neighbours regularly fall out over bike parking and rubbish so I think if my block of flats fell down and we all were moved into a campsite together it wouldn't be the same story! When I asked one elderly man (see pic below, apparently he is 66, but I suspect he doesn't really know his age!) where he wants his new house to be, he told me that it didn't matter where it was as long as it was with his neighbours (heart melted...!).
I am here planning a trek for fundraisers to Nepal over the coming 18 months, and before I had arrived we had an idea of the itinerary which would include trekking around the Annapurna region, then travelling to Barpak for a few nights. However even though I have only been here for a few hours, I already know that this place is so much more special than the Annapurna cirtcuit (which is lovely) and deserves more than just a few days of the groups time! Back to the drawing board :-)!
Because I am here with CARE, I am invited to visit some of the local wards and after arriving in Barpak 3 meetings are set up for me for the following few days.
The first community is the lowest caste in the area and their homes and land were completely destroyed by the earthquake and landslides. The land is unsafe to live on again and therefore they can't build back their houses there. As you can imagine, these families don't have a big savings account to raid, or insurance to claim and even if they did there isn't loads of spare land sitting around waiting for them to buy it. Over the next few days, i come to realise this is the biggest challenge of all and it is the main reason reconstruction for many hasn't begun yet (that and lots of other reasons!).
This community were able to build temporary shelters on a small patch of government land, and families are living in either a tent or a tin shed, they are all living, cooking and eating in one room and the biggest family I met in one shelter was a family of 12 (see pic on right, the light was really bad so not great pic!). I spoke to one of the guys about his temporary home which was a tent, and for those of you who are familiar with camping/festivals you will understand the frustrations of how cold it gets at night but then how hot it gets as soon as the sun starts to rise!! Now imagine living in a tent about 2x4 metres max with 5 other people and not being able to go home after the fun and games/holiday is all over!I was welcomed at a meeting called in my honor, and i'm not going to lie, it was extremely intimidating as over 50 people crammed into the temporary structure they have for their 'village hall' to meet me. Most of which were hoping I wasn't just another one of those westerners who had come to find out how they are doing but unable to provide any solutions; and unfortunately I pretty much was.
I soon realised I was also the chair of this meeting, and had to pull out of the bag an introduction, some questions (I had only prepared ones for individuals rather than a forum!) and a closing, all of which were translated for me. This turned out to be less difficult than I first thought, aferall I have so much admiration for their resiliance, courage and strength that for once in my life I left the jokes at the door and focused on sincerity and not crying (who knew there was some emotion in there somewhere!).
We had some really good discussions and I heard about their worries as the winter approaches, it will snow and get to -3 degrees from November - January and their temporary homes are not suitable, i felt pretty bloody helpless, but was delighted with Pavan announced the news that CARE will be delivering them winter packages to them soon with blankets, matresses and cash to buy warm clothes for their families which was met by claps and cheers.
People are feeling helpless (myself and Pavan included), they really are cut off from so much in the mountains and they feel like everyone has forgotten about them! But they also made it clear that life has to go on, so they are getting on with things.
I spoke to them a bit about their experience of the actual earthquake and it was really clear that they coped so well because they are such a tight knit community who look after each other. They worked as a team to survive the initial experience, but also to move and build the temporary shelters. They are living on top of each other, sharing one bathroom with no privacy, yet there is no tension or arguments! My neighbours regularly fall out over bike parking and rubbish so I think if my block of flats fell down and we all were moved into a campsite together it wouldn't be the same story! When I asked one elderly man (see pic below, apparently he is 66, but I suspect he doesn't really know his age!) where he wants his new house to be, he told me that it didn't matter where it was as long as it was with his neighbours (heart melted...!).
I am here planning a trek for fundraisers to Nepal over the coming 18 months, and before I had arrived we had an idea of the itinerary which would include trekking around the Annapurna region, then travelling to Barpak for a few nights. However even though I have only been here for a few hours, I already know that this place is so much more special than the Annapurna cirtcuit (which is lovely) and deserves more than just a few days of the groups time! Back to the drawing board :-)!
