David Laurence Drost & Ganja Ailina Trappitsch November 7, 2017; Tuesday 17:30 NST (Nepal Standard Time)
Living in Kathmandu
Let's start our journey at day one. After a little hick-up with a delayed flight we finally arrived in Kathmandu, an overwhelming city at first.
We were happy to stay in Patan (outside of the main city) near to the office, where the air is better and the streets are more quiet.
At first we lived at a lovely host-family for a month, where we ate some of the best local dishes of our stay in Nepal. Living at their place gave us time to acclimate in the new environment and to get familiar with the food, life and our work rhythm. The other two months we lived together with Nepali students in a flat with shared kitchen and living room, where we as, newly-weds, had a little more time and space for ourselves.
Getting to know the city
Lisa, from Germany (you know her from the blog entries before), was back in Nepal for about a month. She just arrived a few days before us. Thanks to her and Rashmi, a lovely girl who works for Formation Carpets, in the same office, we started to experience Kathmandu and Patan and went on fun day trips with some of the Formation Carpets' office-colleagues.
In general, most of the best experiences of our stay were with the people from the office (Hoste Hainse and Formation Carpets) as well as with Sulo's and Krishna's families.
Personal skills
We are a couple with very different skill-sets (Ganja as a Social Worker/Pedagogist and David as a Graphic Designer and Photographer); we decided in front to bring our Laptops and Davids Camera/Filming gear, to use our knowledge and experiences efficiently.
On spot we decided to do a small documentary about schools in Nepal and how the Hoste Hainse schools have an important impact on the villages and the children of the area. Next to other projects we wanted to help and work on things like a new company branding and a proposal for a new Income Generation Project in Sarlahi.
Being patient
During our stay we had to reschedule to go to Sarlahi to visit the Hosts Hainse schools, because of extreme weather conditions which caused landslides, floods. The local elections also forced us to change our plans. However, when you go with the mindset of: "Let's see what comes" it will be fine anyway. The good hearted and positive spirit of the locals around us kept us going with a smile.
Enjoy and hike
In the middle of our stay we had a some time for sightseeing. Elections and festival days were starting, so we spontaneously decided to do a three-week trek around the Annapurna mountain range (AC: Annapurna Circuit).
Without telling too much – it's always the better to experience it yourself – the Himalaya region is one of the most diverse and most wonderful mountain regions in the world. Our place is in the Swiss Alps but the Annapurna region is equally - if not more - beautiful.
Fun-fact about Nepali mountains: every peak underneath 5000 meters is considered a hill and has often no name.
Back to work
Back at the office after our trek and some days in Pokhara (a charming lake city), we managed (with a lot of help from the office team) to finally arrange our trip to Sarlahi.
One of the nice things about volunteering with Hoste Hainse is that they really take care of you. Even in small situations, like extending our Visa's, we realised how great it is to have a Nepali phone with several contact numbers of people on who we can rely.
Sarlahi
Ashika, from Formation Carpets, was sent with us for two days to translate. Next to her, there was Mister Binay, the one-site manager of HH in Sarlahi; he was waiting for us upon arrival.
With their help we managed to finish our tasks of filming and photographing, wile having fun, learning how to drive a motorbike (even through a river) and buying a Saree. The time we spent there with the local kids was amazing. They made us feel like celebrities: kids would push each other aside just to see who was coming to town. We will never forget how bright and wonderful the children were: always smiling, positive and extremely curious.
Back to work again
Back in the office we finished the proposal for the a new project and delivered it on time to the German Embassy. Writing such a document for the first time was for me (Ganja) quite challenging but educational. Through the researches, discussions and meetings with the involved parties, I got an insight view of how a project in a small NGO is realised. I was just in the middle of it all, inhaling all the knowledge and giving my best to make the proposal professional.
Situations you'll definitely have during your stay in Nepal:
You can eat the best food at little local (dirty) food-corners, where as a tourist, you normally would not set a single foot in.
You will train your taste buds with extremely spicy food when ordering, food you didn't try before (Be brave! You can always trust the girls from the office).
You will wake up in the night by an orchestra of barking dogs all over Kathmandu.
You will learn how to cross the streets in Nepali-style, meaning: you hold out your hands against all approaching vehicles like cars, busses, motorbikes, (sometimes) cows and just walk - hoping for the best. (If you are more stubborn than them, they will brake - most of the time...).
You will experience Nepal as it is, not as it's presented by tourist organisations and for us, seeing Nepal through the eyes of Nepalis is even more charming and worth working for a better future for the people hand in hand with them.
The documentary
At the moment David is still working on the documentary. Since this is our first film-project we were bound to make mistakes and having to correct those mistakes. Filming on location was amazing and soon you will see (maybe it is already at the front page) why it was so amazing to visit the Hoste Hainse school.
Goodbye! We will miss you all very much!
We will keep Nepal in our hearts as a home far away and the people from Hoste Hainse as family.
See you again!
David & Ganja
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