“On a Mish” #421 Changing Lives – Mine Most of All. 2023 Ganesh Himal Charity Trek (Part Two). Khule School, Nuwakot (Nepal). 31.10.2023. Walked up and down hill for a while before reaching Khule school. This is where our library is, so it was amazing to see it for ourselves, and a very emotional experience. Has a wee cry when it was my turn to talk because it felt like such a privilege to have been able to help. Mark presented the headmaster with a copy of his book which has a photo of the school in it. He was already in a lot of pain but soldiering on and the people with us were incredibly supportive. Had some tea and soup in Khule then headed off again…
Bit of a grunt up numerous steps to get to our stop for the night which is in the grounds of a monastery – a very special place. Met the rest of the team who hadn’t been in Gogane. There are more than forty people taking caring of us! After another awesome dinner they made a fire and danced and sang with great enthusiasm. Apparently, that was just a taste of what to expect on the last night.
Next day we headed for Salme which is the school in Mark’s book. On the way some of the braver travellers had a dip in a lovely – but very cold – waterfall. Today’s walk was beautiful but quite challenging with a lot of climbing up and down over large rocks, some of them very slippery. We stopped partway through and had soup which Arjun had brought with him. A bit later on, poor Mark had a fall and landed back down right on the bent top of his water bottle. He didn’t need that – he’s been sore walking everyday but coping incredibly well. I’m so impressed with him.
Later we arrived at Salme which is a school that has been rebuilt since the earthquake. Mark couldn’t believe how much work had been done since he was there four years ago. Here we did our first clothing distribution which was a very heart-warming (not to mention chaotic!)experience. I gave out most of my knitting here – some of it better received than others! Then there was an awesome game of cricket between some of the team and a lot of the local kids.
As we are staying on the school grounds, we have a few more creature comforts here like an indoor dining area and – wonder of wonders – a western toilet! Tonight’s dinner was pumpkin soup, chicken and awesome home-made pizza…
