image

This trip is a first in many ways, my first return to Nepal since the devastating earthquakes earlier this year, my first trip to Nepal without Rene, and it is the first time my sister, Cindy, has been here. In the midst of all of the reconstruction of the country there has been an unoficcial blockade at the  Indian border that has brought the country to a standstill. They do not have petrol for transportation,  nor to cook their food. Initially, trucks were not bringing food across the border as well.  Since many fields were damaged or destroyed the farming had dwindled since the earthquakes, the food supply has been compromised, and the people are suffering.

Flying into Kathmandu on Sunday evening, the first thing that I noticed is that the city appeared to be dark. I was hoping that this was not a sign of what was to come.

We met with our team on Monday to map out the plans for the vitamin camp and of course there are a few glitches in the plan. Due to the fuel shortage many of the families who had left their villages to celebrate Dasain, were not able to return due to the fuel shortage, so we might end up training the teachers and leaving the vitamins with someone to distribute.

The afternoon was spent touring the historical sites that had been badly damaged, and it was shocking to see the devastation. Nepal is rebuilding, but this is going to take a long time. All of the work is done by hand, no bulldozers or cement mixers.  Brick by brick, slowly the heratige of the Himalayan Kingdom is being preserved.