Some recent experiences

These past days have almost become a blur with all of the activities we have done. During it all, I have been amazed and inspired by visiting some amazing nonprofit organizations like Women for Human Rights and Maiti (pronounced like mighty) Nepal and seeing how one person’s dream can make a dramatic difference in people’s lives. Take for example the remarkable woman Anuradha didi. She recognized that something needed to be done, and she started something that has changed the lives of many Nepali women. Nepal is home of some major Human Trafficking. It is incredibly sad. We met with her and her office today and they have rescued almost 32,000 people. To put that in perspective, that is just below the population of Cedar City Utah. She has shown us that if you are passionate about your ideas, good things can happen. 

The other organization that showed that actually isn't linked above. I was impressed by the orphanage we visited that is across the street from where we are staying. It is called Ama Ghar. The lady that runs this orphanage is Bonnie. She grew up in Nepal, worked in the United States and has since retired and moved back to Nepal and set up this orphanage. She currently has 50 children with her. We asked her if she has had any of the children adopted and she emphatically replied "NO! They are my family!" And they really are a family to each other. We took some candy with us to give to the kids and it really was a family. The older ones were helping the younger ones, and everyone was pulling their fair share. What really impressed me with this organization is the fact that in this part of the world they are trying to make sure they are clean. Example: they take their black water (sewage) and has it flush to a holding tank where it sits. They are then able to harvest the gas from the tank and use it for fuel for their stoves. The water continues on to a filter flowerbed. This flower bed has a variety sizes of rocks that break up anything big and the plants roots go deep into the soil killing any bacteria that is present so when the water exits to the stream it is clean.I am so impressed with these guys.

I am loving this experience. It is making me more and more appreciative of what I have at home. I am currently missing: water pressure, toilets that can flush toilet paper, ice, washing machines, and tap water.

I want to finish with a story about what happened last night. We had just finished our day and I decided I would do some wash really quickly. As we walk in the front door there is a huge spider near the ceiling (it was currently a record amount of rain that Nepal was getting, 1.3 meters). We originally were going to let it be but we found another spider on the screen door. Drew and I decided we would take it upon ourselves to kill these huge creatures (sorry i forgot to get pictures). Drew killed the one on the screen door with a toilet brush, and we decided that I would kill the other one. Drew got the floor squeegee and knocked it onto the ground where I tried to kill it. I finally got it after 5 stomps, it was a quick thing. We felt accomplished and kept calling ourselves "Nepali Men". After a while we were in the sitting room and another surfaced. After much searching, couch moving, and stomping we got that one too. It was a good day.