Our last day of work! The masons were off work taking care of their own business this morning, but we continued to haul materials up the hill and to lay in the stone “pavement” in preparation for the cement pour. The village has been great in providing local volunteers to assist us, and we have to keep in mind that this is a very busy time for them as they bring in their harvest of rice and millet. The farmers are in the paddies from early morning until late in the afternoon, cutting and drying crops, stacking them then using harnessed cattle walking on the stalks to assist in liberating the rice grains from the stalks. Once the grains have been separated and collected, they are winnowed to get rid of the chaff and finally bagged for storage. All of this is done using manual labor except when using the cattle to separate the grains. We continually watch in awe as huge loads of grain sheaves and bags of grain are carried from the fields on the backs of people and it is often the women who do most of the carrying. Harvesting of wood for use in cooking is also done manually with loads of logs carried down the mountain on peoples’ backs. It’s humbling for me to think how easy we have it back home and how much simpler and more productive life can be with all of our mechanized aids.
We had transport arranged back to Pokhara for mid-afternoon but we were delayed by a broken-down truck on the road that had to be moved before our 4x4 Land Rover look-alike taxi could come to get us. Finally, we departed the village with many tears and promised to return as soon as we were able. Navin’s family and neighbors have really made us feel at home and for all of us, and especially participants Brad and Jen, it was a sad departure.
Although the Canadian contingent is no longer on-site, we are encouraged to know that we do have a significant part of our project budget still unspent and that Navin will be using these funds to pay for masons and other workers to continue the work on the canals.
Ralph Bullis
DWC Team Leader
Nepal 2010
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