TRAVELING THROUGH NEPAL – DAY 1

The past 5 days were spent making a whirlwind trip through Nepal. Our first stop was Pokhari Bhanjyange to check on the water system that we worked on last year with the Waterfall family and more importantly for me personally, to see Bharat and his family. I knew that Bharat has had a difficult year having spent the better part of it in the hospital in Pokhara recovering from surgery for bed sores and ongoing infections. I was not quite sure what to expect when I saw him, but honestly I had spent much time during our drive preparing myself for the worst. As we made our way up the long dirt road to the village I had time to reflect on the experiences I had last year traveling to the village to assess the project, then returning with the Waterfall family to live in the village for almost a week working, eating, dancing and laughing with the villagers.

It was Megan who had first met Bharat through his wife Ganga. Megan came to her husband Ben and I asking us to help carry Bharat down to the campfire so he could participate in the night of dancing and singing. In the end he was not feeling well enough to join us, but the connection was made and the friendship was formed that has now spanned over the last year.

After the Waterfalls returned home I had the opportunity to return to Pokhari Bhanjyange several other times to bring items to Bharat that he could use to build his upper body strength and to hopefully improve his quality of life. He was constantly battling urinary tract infections from chronic catheter use and the bed sores were growing rapidly and getting infected. It was during one of these trips back to the village that we had the opportunity to sit and talk with Ganga, who is an amazing lady, and to ask her questions about how they were doing as a family. She told us of her struggles to plow and then plant and harvest the crops, to feed and care for the animals, to care for her two boys and then in addition to all this she cared for Bharat who spent the majority of the day in bed. She told us of how prior to the accident where Bharat had fallen out of a tree and ended up paraplegic with a significant decrease in upper body movement and strength as well. The long months in bed had only worsened his condition and he was literally wasting away. He could barely move his right arm and had no movement what so ever in his left.

It was during the return trip to Kathmandu that Ramesh, the Topham’s and I began brainstorming about ideas of ways that Bharat’s family could have an income while his wife was able to spend more time caring for him. It was then that the idea of the store was born. It made perfect sense that if they were able to run a store out of their house, she could have more time to look after the boys and Bharat.
I wrote about Bharat on this blog last year and several people quickly volunteered to donate money to help build the store. Almost immediately the wheels went into motion and within a month there was a new store built on the front of their house.
As we slowly walked up the narrow trail to Bharat’s home I anxiously looked ahead up the trail to see if perhaps Bharat was sitting out in front of his house in his wheel chair which is always a sign that he is feeling well. Sure enough there he was sitting with his back to us as he watched his wife perched high in the branches of their orange tree picking the few oranges remaining as the season comes to a close. He did not know we were coming, when I walked around the corner and came into view a huge smile came across his face. I knew immediately that he was doing well….very well. We talked with him for a few minutes and he told us how well he was doing. He informed us that he was doing his exercises and he was much stronger. He then raised both hands above his head and smiled. I quickly grabbed my camera a snapped a few pictures of him. It was incredible to see his excitement for this seemingly small, but truly amazing accomplishment.

Ganga climbed out of the tree and came and spent the next hour talking with us about how well Bharat is doing and how her boys are doing in school. We talked about the store and sales and what else could be done to improve their income. The time to depart came all too quickly, but we had to get on the road to make it to Bandipur where we were going to stay the night. We said our goodbyes and started back to the car. On the way we looked at several of the new water stands that were constructed last year when the Waterfalls were here. They are in a low rainfall part of the year and they have plenty of water even in the furthest tap stands. It was such a great feeling to know that such a difference has been made in the lives of these villagers.

As we headed back down the narrow dirt road leading back to the main highway we once again discussed how we might help improve Bharat and Ganga’s situation. We now have this idea of expanding the store. It would not take much money, but could have a significant impact on their income.

I am grateful to all those people who donated money last year to purchase medical equipment for Bharat and to build the store. I cannot tell you the profound impact you have had on this family’s life. I will add some pictures as soon as I get time to download them.