“On a Mish” #150 Adventures in Nepal (Part Four). Kahule to Salme. 5.11.2018. The earthquake in 2015 hit the area we were visiting very hard. The shaking not only knocked houses down but also sent huge rocks rolling downward toward where people lived. The destruction was heart breaking, and along with the near complete destruction of the villages, many were either injured or worse. The place needed help and that is what the Active Hearts Foundation does best…
We made our way from the smiling faces and laugher in Satdabato towards our next stop at Kahule, and the site of the Active Hearts / Directions Advertising Library. After my first trip to Nepal with the Active Hearts Whanau, my parents wanted to get involved with the amazing things the Active Hearts team were doing in Nepal. So along with their clients, they provided financial backing for a new library at the Shree Aiselu Bhume Secondary School, which suffered badly during and after the 2015 earthquake.
It was a hot day as we slowly made our way along the undulating, dusty mountain roads, and like at Shree Gosaikund School in Sarsyu, we could hear the buzz of the crowd of excited children before we could see the school. We made our way into the school to be greeted by organised rows of school children, and we excitedly hurried to our seats for the welcoming speeches.
After the speeches we made our way through the temporary tin and bamboo classrooms and partially built school to the new library. It was very cool to finally see the library, and after a check-up it was good to see the librarian was on top of his role at the school. In recent times the school has been recognized as a very important piece of the community. So, the government has stepped up with extra funding and now the school is the biggest in the area and even has a hostel for kids to stay while they study. All of this was thanks to the little library built thanks to the funding provided by my Ma & Pa!
After our warm welcome to Kahule we pushed on towards where we would be spending the night. A climb up what seemed like a never-ending staircase took us to our first campsite on the grounds of an old temple. The earthquake had damaged the building badly however due to the importance of the place the reconstruction was well underway. We were happy to rest our legs after a big day, and the giant meal and good sleep helped to recharge the weary bodies.
An early-ish start was needed the next day, as we had a lot of ground to cover to get to our next campsite at the site of a potential future Active Hearts project at Salme School. The hike to Salme took us deeper into the hills, and in the clear blue skies we could look over the Ruby Valley area at the endless mountains blurring into the haze of eyes vs distance.
We saw a large waterfall from a distance, and by the time we had arrived at the amazing water feature we were all ready for a dip in the cool waters. The team still had some distance to go, so we couldn’t play in the refreshing water for too long, so we pushed on now cooled and recharged after our swim.
We descended to a bridge across yet another mighty Nepali river, and then climbed on thin tracks over slips, back up to what was a road of sorts that had been carved into the mountainside. On one particularly narrow section our American enforcer John got a few inches too close to the edge of the track, which collapsed under his weight. Quick thinking by the team saved him from a nasty tumble down the mountain side into the river hundreds of meters below, nothing like a little bit of drama to spice up the day!
Now much wearier of our surrounding, we carefully carried on, arriving at the incredible location of Salme in the slowly fading afternoon light..
