Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2013

With our love

Jude, Steve, Amy & Paul



Below are a few photos from 2012

March: extension completed on our house in Farnham

Easter: fantastic holiday in the north catching up with family and friends in Yorkshire, the Midlands and Scotland. This photo was taken on the beach at Gairloch in the Scottish Highlands

Loch Maree

July: watched the Olympic cycling at Box Hill with Jude's sister and family

Team GB

31 July: arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal

October: walked in the high hills during Dashain holiday

Visited Bhaktapur

November: acquired an egg supply

December: evening view from our rooftop

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him (1 John vs 9). 

Thank you for your interest, prayers and support

Steve's travels

Steve has just returned from a week in the mid-western hills of Nepal, visiting Tearfund partners and projects in the districts of Surkhet and Dang. Below are a few highlights of the trip.

I took the early morning Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, for much of the way flying parallel to the majestic snow-covered ridges of the Himalayas which were crystal clear in the low morning sun.  

In Nepalgunj I was met by staff from Tearfund partner, International Nepal Fellowship (INF) – Kamal, (the driver) Pratibha and Sajeeta. Pratibha is INFs outgoing Donor Liaison Officer; my main contact person in INF for the last four years. Sajeeta, a recent graduate whose studies have been supported by Tearfund as part of our professional leadership development programme, is taking over her role.

Three hours in a landrover took us to Surkhet where we had meetings with staff from the community development project that Tearfund supports. We discussed ways in which INF could better measure the impact of their work, and help encourage a more reflective ‘learning culture’ among staff.  I also carried out some spot checks on the INF office’s financial management systems.

Surkhet valley

For the next two days I went further into the hills with project staff and Sajeeta to visit some of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed as part of the project. In these poor rural communities, villagers are quite fatalistic and tend to wait for outsiders to come and solve their problems. They don’t generally work together to resolve community issues. INF helps the poorest in the communities to organise themselves into SHGs, and over a period of time their whole attitude changes regarding what they are able to do without outside help, and how they can work together as a community to achieve it.

Meeting a SHG

The SHGs I met were beginning to work together to make improvements to the steep hillside paths (the only way into/out of many communities), clean out dirty water sources and improve basic household and community hygiene - all things they had identified as being the most important issues for them.

Yavraj Sunar, one group member in the community of Laskare said 'We have had NGOs in this area before but they come with their own agenda that they want us to work to. You [the Tearfund-supported INF project] take a different approach and help us to follow our agenda. This means that we all really believe in what we are doing, even if it takes longer for us to see the end result.'

Path to the village of Maikal

After staying a night in one of the communities we headed back to Surkhet and then I left for Dang to visit Tearfund partner 'Community Awakening and Transformation Society' (CATS), a much smaller, younger partner than INF. The format of the trip was the same as before – a day in the office discussing technical issues, checking financial systems and meeting the CATS Board – followed by a day in the communities. 

I first visited Ghorahi, the Dang District HQ, four years ago. It was a depressing experience. The town centre was filthy - full of rubbish, cows wandering freely and defecating in the streets, virtually no greenery - and the small overgrown central park was fenced off as it had become the preferred hangout for local alcoholics and drug addicts. But over the last few years there has been a dramatic transformation. So much so that last year, Ghorahi was awarded first prize in Nepal’s Cleanest Municipality competition!

I met with the Town Council to find out more about this dramatic turn around. They told me 'We always had the idea of cleaning up the town, but it was CATS and the local churches that spurred us into action.'

CATS has been mobilising the churches to carry out mass cleaning campaigns and the example of the minority Christians in their predominantly Hindu society has clearly had a huge impact.

Cleaning up the streets

Out in the countryside I visited Ramana church in the village of Gurje.  The church had previously been busily doing things for the community but the pastor had been getting very discouraged because the community never seemed interested or appreciative. CATS helped the church leaders to analyse the situation and the church decided to take a different approach – working with the community on community-identified priorities, rather than working for the community on things the church had identified. 

The result was a dramatically changed church-community relationship and they are now working together to improve access routes and repair the damaged community water system. The church has been raising funds from its own congregation to spur the local government and non-church community members to make their own contributions towards tackling these community needs.

Chitra, one of the Hindu community leaders, said 'Whenever the church initiates something with the community, it always holds together. But if the church isn't involved, it tends to fall apart.'

October adventures!

We've had a fantastic October - two birthdays, a house move and three weeks off school for the Dasain holiday. 

Dasain, Nepal's biggest annual festival, lasts for 15 days. It celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the forces of evil (personified in the buffalo demon Mahisasura) and across the country thousands of animals (mainly goats) are sacrificed in Durga's honour. 

Freshly purchased Dasain goats!

Many businesses and shops close for all or most of the holiday and there is a carnival atmosphere as families come together and blessings are received from older relatives. Thousands of people leave the city to return to their home villages rendering the streets relatively traffic free (perfect for cycling!). Dogs, vehicles and cows are also blessed during the 15 days and receive 'tika' marks of red paste and garlands. Huge swings are erected at the entrance to villages and communities relax together, fly kites and enjoy a few days break from the daily grind.   

Decorated tractor

Village swing constructed from bamboo poles

October is the beginning of the trekking season so many of our friends headed off to the mountains but we decided to stay and explore the Kathmandu valley and enjoy the peace of the half empty city. 

Kathmandu valley was formed by a vast lake which burst its banks and drained away around 10,000 years ago. The valley was gradually settled and was an important staging post on the trade route from India to Tibet. It became the homeland of the Newars, a mixed tribe of Indian and Tibeto-Burman origin, and by the 17th century it was dominated by three rival kingdoms/city-states - Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. 

Each of these still has an historic Durbar (palace) square with magnificent temples, palaces and gorgeous architecture. Gradually the rice paddies and open spaces between the cities are disappearing as the population grows, but many parts of the valley still have a rural feel with free-range animals and the odd paddy field squeezed between partially constructed blocks of flats.

We live in Patan which is now only separated from Kathmandu by the rather smelly and extremely polluted Bagmati river. Patan is more laid back than Kathmandu and is characterised by narrow lanes with little shrines on every corner, temple squares and, in its historic heart, traditional Newari houses with intricately carved wooden doors and window frames. 

Bhaktapur is the best preserved and most rural of the former city-states and we took a day trip there during the holidays. It has three major temple squares surrounded by cobbled streets which weave between red brick buildings, joining courtyards and smaller squares peppered with temples, statues, cisterns and wells. Artisans weave cloth and chisel timber by the roadside and side-squares are full of clay pots, open kilns, crops drying in the sun and women winnowing rice and other grains. 

We also went for a 10km day-trek from Nargarkot (2,195m above sea level) down to the village of Sankhu. The walk starts in the mountains (with fantastic views of the high Himalaya) and then descends through woodland, terraced farmland and villages.

All in all a very good month! 

Thanks for your interest. SJAP x

   

A bit about our work...

We are here with Tearfund, a UK-based Christian relief and development organisation that works in about 40 countries around the world (www.tearfund.org).

In Nepal, Tearfund partners with local Nepali organisations and churches that are already working in some of the poorest and most marginalised parts of the country, helping communities to find sustainable ways to lift themselves out of poverty.

Steve's role, as Tearfund's Country Representative for Nepal, is to liaise with and strengthen local partners through the provision of funds, training and advice. This is the same job that he has been doing for the last four years but it is obviously a lot easier for him to meet with partner staff and travel to see projects now we are in country!

My role is to write reports, proposals and case studies for people in the UK who support Tearfund financially. This will entail some visits to projects and partner offices as well as the use of written information provided by the partners every six months. I'll also be accompanying any groups of supporters who come to Nepal and facilitating their visits to projects (the first supporter visit is scheduled for January).

To help explain what Tearfund's partners do, below is a case study from the desperately poor region of Mugu in the far north-west of Nepal. Access to the area is only possible on foot, by helicopter or by plane. 

The Human Development Index for Mugu is, at 0.16, one of the lowest in Nepal (anything below 0.5 indicates a low level of human development). It is a serious food-deficit area and suffers one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world, with 40 to 60% of children dying before their 5th birthday. The majority of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. However, a lack of cultivable land, the low agricultural potential of the area and limited agricultural knowledge mean that most families can only produce enough food to last them for four to six months.

One of the communities in Mugu

Testimony from Chaite Sejuwal, a member of Janasewa Community Group, Bhee, Mugu

‘Business life is the best for me’

‘I am 25 years old and I live in Thulagaun with my mother, wife and two children.

‘When I remember my past days, they were really bitter and we were deprived of a lot of things in life.  Many times, my family and I did not have food to eat. We always worked hard on the land but we could only grow enough food to last for three to four months each year. The winter season was the hardest time. We were either sick or hungry.

‘Many times I went to India in search of work but most of the money I earned went on eating and a room to live in. I was only able to save a little.

‘I had dreams for my family but could do nothing. I wanted to see my family happy. When I was home, I spent my days helping my family work in the barren field. I had a small area of land to cultivate and very few domestic animals. I spent a lot of time collecting firewood in the forest.

‘I had a strong desire to earn money and have more animals and land but I felt it was just in my dreams. But my life changed when the INF (Tearfund's partner) project started helping people in my community to create new businesses.

‘I participated in income generation training which helped me to understand business concepts. The community group chose who should get seed money for a new business, and I was chosen. It made me so happy and I felt that my dreams might come true.

‘I received Rs.10,000 (about £80) as seed money and after a year I had repaid that money to the self-help group (this money will now be lent to someone else who wants to set up a business). With the money I opened a small retail shop in my house. I was able to save Rs.20,000 from the capital within a year.  Now, I have used Rs.25,000 as capital in my shop and I have lots of items to sell.

‘I’m very proud to be a shopkeeper here in this area and business life is no more in my imagination, it is the best and real for me.’

Proud shop owner, now able to support his family

This is just one of many, many stories of lives transformed by the work of partners like INF who are committed to working long-term with the communities in these remote and poverty stricken areas.

More soon

Jude, Steve, Amy & Paul

Settling in

Dodging the motorbikes!

We are beginning to get used to the sights, sounds and smells of this vibrant, seemingly chaotic city. (We are also getting quicker at moving out of the way of motorbikes and bikes as we walk through the lanes!) People are very friendly and we get lots of smiles, especially when Amy and Paul practise their Nepali - 'namaste' (hello) and 'dhanyabad' (thank you).

At 7am this morning we heard the whistle of the rubbish collector (a chap on a bike with a large box on the back) and rushed downstairs before he could cycle off again. For 100 rupees a month (about 80p) the collectors come round a few times a week and take the rubbish who-knows-where to (hopefully) sort it and recycle some of it. The rest is probably burnt or dumped so we try to keep our waste to a minimum.

Today we went to Patan's famous Durbar Square, which is about 30 minutes walk from here. The temples clustered around the square were built between the 14th and 18th centuries and are truly impressive.The highlight of the day was sitting in a roof-top cafe watching some traditional bands as they processed through the square, vying with each other to make as much noise as possible! The kids (with Mum's help) then had a go at bartering with the very friendly stall owners and proudly bought a couple of bronze cats!

Durbar Square and traditional band (under yellow umbrellas)

Paul enjoying a well needed drink

Religion is a corner stone of Nepali life and wherever you go there are shrines and small temples. Offerings of flower petals, rice, yoghurt, fruit and sweets are made on a daily basis. Each item is sprinkled on the deity in a set order and a bell is rung to let the gods know an offering is being made. Hinduism and Buddhism have mingled together in many ways and it is not uncommon for Tibetan Buddhists and Nepali Hindus to worship at the same temple.

We are off to the International Church tomorrow, which meets in Amy and Paul's school hall. We'll probably also join one of the Nepali Christian churches which meet on Saturdays so we can get to know more people.

Thanks for reading! More soon.

J, S, A & P

Arrived in Kathmandu!

After months of preparation we've finally arrived in Nepal!

The journey from the airport to the flat where we're staying reflected some of the various facets of life in the capital. As the driver struggled through the traffic with vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians turning left, right, crossing and stopping without warning, we passed areas of relative affluence, but also muddy streets with half-built or falling down houses. We passed the large Government parliament building then, as we crossed the river, we saw the recently bulldozed remains of 'illegal' make-shift shacks built by people displaced by the 1996-2006 civil war. We also saw that some people are starting to settle in these areas again because they have nowhere else to go. At this point the children both fell asleep - I think the sights, sounds and chaos were just a bit too much for them after the long journey! 

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. More than half the population live below the international poverty line and many lack access to clean water and sanitation, education or adequate health care. Tearfund's network of Nepali partner organisations work with some of the poorest communities throughout the country, encouraging and empowering them to identify their needs and take action to change the situations they find themselves in.

Eventually we pulled off the crazy road and turned into a small lane which twisted and turned in-between tall, colourful buildings, and under masses of wires, and came to a stop outside our flat. The area where the flat is located is far enough from any main roads that the usual city traffic noise is replaced by the sounds of cockerels, dogs (lots of these!), people chatting on their verandas and on the street and birds singing (crickets at night!). Definitely preferable to the city centre!

The flat is great with lovely views of the mountains, and it even has a small garden below with swings and a rabbit, much to Amy and Paul's delight! Water is delivered in bowsers and pumped into a tank on the roof so we have to be careful with it (eg saving water from the shower for flushing the toilet). Solar panels mean we can have hot showers - a luxury we didn't expect! Most days there are power cuts but a clever system of batteries means there are always a few lights working. Internet access has been good so far. Oh, and the local supermarket sells a version of Cadbury's chocolate! 

Below are a few pics taken from our windows:

Thanks for your interest, support and prayers. More soon.

Love

Jude, Steve, Amy & Paul

Off to Nepal!

On 29 July we're off to Nepal as a family for four years. We'll be working with Tearfund (www.tearfund.org); Steve continuing in his role as Country Representative for Nepal and Jude working part time in an information-gathering and promotions role.

We'll be living in Kathmandu and the children will be going to school at the Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC).

Nepal is a stunning, culturally diverse and fascinating country and we are really looking forward to living there. More about the country, and our work, in the next blog!