Notes from Nepal - Vegetables & Buffalo

by Rob Rose

[Rob Rose, his wife Gina and son Carey are on a Rotary Club trip coordinating the installation of 100 computers into four Kathmandu, Nepal, area government schools, with the assistance of Emerald City Rotarians and Nepali Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Patan. A group of students from Garfield High School will soon be arriving and doing the installation. In addition, a group of volunteer Rotarians will be arriving to participate in hands-on volunteer projects in the Kathmandu area. Rob and his son will be sending back their impressions of the area and the impact of their projects.]

On Wednesday, February 18, after meeting at our base of operations, the Hotel Himalaya, we all rode out to the Nandu-Maya Self-Sustaining Orphan Home in the village of Phutong, about an hour’s drive outside of Kathmandu. In addition to preparing and planting a vegetable garden, we were also presenting a milking buffalo, courtesy of grant funding from Bellevue Rotary Club! At this small orphanage with thirteen children, the goal is to become self-sustaining through the sale of excess vegetables, milk (from the new buffalo) and even honey from bees that are being raised. All of the Garfield kids and their teacher, Bob Wilson, were along to help, as well as most of our Rotarian volunteers, Susan Sola, from University Rotary Club, and her sister Mary, Bill Poole and Warren Crane, from Emerald City Rotary, my wife Gina and I, our son Carey, and Terry Posner from Bellevue Rotary Club.

The drive out to Phutong was an adventure in itself! I rode in the far back jump seats of the Toyota Land Cruiser with Warren Crane. As we left the city, the roads (which were never that great anyway) became less like roads and more like a series of never-ending bumps and holes. If you didn’t keep your balance in the car, you ended up hitting your head on the windows as you were jostled and jumped and bumped around. Besides that, we were stopped every 50 feet or so by groups of small children demanding candy or a few rupees in honor of a Hindu holiday, Shiva Ratri, that was happening on that particular day. The kids would put a rope or long stick across the road to impede our progress. We gave out some candy that Bill Poole had, fortunately, brought with him. Susan Sola suggested that it was a bit like trick or treat on Halloween!

The village area was beautiful, with fresh, clean air and green, terraced farmland all around. We were met by my friend Dipendra, who was our Rotary contact for this project from Mt. Everest Rotary Club. Also tagging along on the path were some of the orphanage children who were so excited to meet and greet us. Dipendra told me that the orphanage was sited out of the city on purpose, due to the pollution-free, healthy environment for the kids.

After meeting all of the children and the husband/wife couple who managed the orphanage, Rotarian Dipendra acquainted us with our gardening tools. These didn’t appear to be anything we had ever used in our own home gardening. They looked like something from ancient history, something a prehistoric cave person might have used, but you know what? They worked quite well! The day was warm and the company fine. We all got started breaking up the dirt, preparing it for the seeds. We cleared and prepared quite a large area ... even some of the orphanage kids worked alongside us.

Some of us started planting potatoes, while others were still breaking up the land. Terry Posner worked straight through the morning. Before we left Seattle, he told me that he came on this trip to work, not just to sightsee. That’s true Rotary spirit! The Garfield kids and my son Carey were hard-workers as well. It’s difficult to choose one of them who worked the hardest , but I think everyone would agree that Thu Nguyen, from Garfield, takes the award. She consistently worked every project with determination and attention to detail.

We broke for lunch and enjoyed singing and dancing with the orphanage kids. One of the kids even threw in a couple of jokes in English, no less! They enjoyed our attention, as we were surrounded by their love and attention. As they held our hands, they touched our hearts. Our kids sang whatever songs they knew and Dipendra danced a traditional Nepali dance that looked a lot like Russian dancing, with his arms crossed and his legs kicking out as he jumped up and down.

After lunch it was back to work as we planted various seeds — pumpkin, soybean, corn, some flowers — and more potatoes. We are all so excited to see the results of what we planted. Dipendra promised to email a photo to us when the garden is fully grown. Some of us also worked in the new buffalo shed to put down planks of wood for the flooring (no Pergo, just planks).

Our final event for the day was to present the milking buffalo to the orphanage. I had already given 3,000 Nepali rupees (about $50) to be used as down payment on the buffalo, one I assumed that would have low mileage and good tires! The owner of the buffalo was present and assured us that this was a high quality animal that would produce something like 8 liters of milk per day. It came with a baby buffalo, which I think is around to help motivate the mother buffalo to produce sufficient milk. The big moment had arrived — the house mother got a bucket and gave a couple of pulls on the appropriate parts of the buffalo and lo and behold, milk started flowing into the bucket!

Before we left we gave out candy, toothbrushes and toothpaste, art supplies and toys. We then made our way down the path to the cars. We piled back into our respective vehicles for the bumpy ride home, tired, yet fulfilled. Warren Crane chose to ride with Dipendra on his motorcycle. If you’ve ever met Warren you know that he spends half of the year in India, that he’s retired, and must be around 70 years old. So seeing him bounce down the road on that motorcycle in his traditional Indian garb was a treat!

Our day was a grand success, a tribute to Rotary, to our visiting Rotarians, and the Garfield kids who pitched in to make a difference at this orphan home.