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The inspiration for this trek
came through wanting to find a different way to raise money for
a purpose built residential home which our charity, The Nepali
Children’s Trust, is committed to providing for the children in
Kathmandu. My hope was to bring together people from my own
community in the UK with the children from the centre, and to
give everyone an unparalleled opportunity to share a special
experience together.
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Judy, Jamie,
Fran, Sunil, Janice, Di, David
Sujan, Manab,
Sarmilla, Bishma, Puste, Resham
Rich, Ezra (film
crew) |
| We
trekked with 7 physically challenged children from the New Life
Center (DNC) with varying degrees of disability. All the
children at DNC badly wanted to do the trek and it was difficult
having to choose a small group. In the end we chose the older
children, and of those, the ones who clearly had a disability
but who we thought would nonetheless have a good chance of
managing the steep terrain. Two years previously I had seen how
the older boys at the centre had relished the chance to go rock
climbing for an afternoon. I had seen the intense, gritty desire
to prove themselves physically, and to test their limits,
despite their considerable disabilities. Like all teenagers
these were also children who had started to become increasingly
self conscious about their bodies. But for them, the awareness
of their physical differences and the impact this was likely to
have on their lives after finishing school and leaving the
centre, was especially undermining of their self confidence.
Many of the boys had been going through a difficult period in an
attempt to assert themselves and to express some of these
anxieties. They could sometimes be a bit uncommunicative and
challenging but were very eager to join the trek. They all knew
that they were being offered a once in a lifetime opportunity,
and that people from England had worked hard to raise money for
the new building and to take them with us to Annapurna.
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| We also took one
of the girls from the centre with us. Girls are often
not encouraged to be as demonstrative or to expect as
much attention as boys. This is in part due to living in
a culture where boys are favoured because they are
expected to care for their parents when they grow old
and take responsibility for the rest of the family.
Fourteen year old Shrijana was one of the few girls at
the centre who was physically able to do the trek and we
were delighted that she wanted to come. One of
Shrijana’s feet is badly disfigured from a burn injury.
She was accompanied by a lovely young member of staff
from the centre called Sharmilla. |
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On
October the 26th our sponsored trekkers, children,
one staff member, two film crew, our guide and eight porters set
off by coach together for the 6 hour journey to Pokhara.
Everyone was full of anticipation and excitement. As the coach
lurched along the busy, pock marked main road towards the
mountains of Annapurna, there was lots of singing and even some
dancing in the aisles. Puste, who was born without his left leg,
his right femur and several fingers, is a talented artist. When
I first met him he had no art materials and used simply to draw
with sticks in the dirt. Nowadays he paints water colours of the
Nepali countryside and often of the famous mountain in Annapurna
called Machapuchre. The scenes he paints come from a combination
of books, other paintings and his imagination. So, as we neared
Pokhara he was delighted to see Machapuchre, the subject of so
much of his art work, for real. He took his small drawing book
from his pocket and started to sketch from the window as the
coach jolted along the highway. When we got to our guest house
in Pokhara he spent the rest of the day on the roof top drawing
the mountains, refusing even to come down for food.
Pokhara
sits on a beautiful lake reflecting the peaks of the Annapurna
Massif which soar above the town. For the children, this trip
was a first experience of traveling for pleasure in their own
country. It was their first visit to the mountains and their
first time in Pokhara.
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following day we set off from Pokhara on trek. Descending from
the bus we saw a path veering steeply up through woodland which
I think most people half hoped would not be our route. It proved
to be a challenging start to the trek as we huffed and puffed
our way up. Most of the children sprang on ahead despite their
false legs and crutches, determined to get to the top first.
After an hour or two so we found ourselves walking through
beautiful rice terraces, then after another stiff ascent we had
an exhilarating view across to the awesomely beautiful mountain
of Machapuchre – also known as Fishtail Mountain; a mountain
that has never been climbed and is regarded as sacred. It was a
stunning and emotional first close up view of the high Himalaya.
That evening we stayed over night in Pothana; a small and very
simple village where we watched the sun set over the mighty peak
of Annapurna South. After dinner, everyone in the group,
including all the porters, took turns to introduce themselves.
In my own mind this was the first time we had a real sense of a
whole group embarking together on a special journey. |
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Our
second day on trek took us to the lovely village of Landruk
perched high on the slopes of a steep valley. Earlier in the day
we had watched families harvesting rice on narrow terraces and
using oxen to trample and thresh their crop. The precipitous
terrain makes it impossible to use any machinery, so that all
the work of producing food is done by hard manual labour with
the help of animals.
| Along the way I
had a chance to talk with one of the children called Manab which was filmed and recorded
as we sat together overlooking the steep terraces and watching
birds of prey soaring above our heads. It was a poignant
interview in which Manab talked about how his parents had
abandoned him when he was still very young because he had been
born with a badly disfigured leg and without some of his
fingers. He went to live with his uncle where he was deeply
unhappy. The doctors told him his leg was “worthless” and it was
accordingly amputated. He was blamed for much of the misfortune
that befell the family because of his disability. He was
generally regarded as bad luck and often punished as a result.
Eventually he left his uncle’s house in secret and somehow made
his own way to Kathmandu where he was found begging on the
streets. I had known the outline of Manav’s story but, as with
many children at the center where there is so little space for
privacy, the opportunity to talk at length with any one child is
a rare privilege. After our interview Manav turned to me, and
very movingly and simply, said “Thank you for asking about my
life”. I think it may have been the first time anyone had really
listened to him and shown interest in his experiences. |
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A little
later in the day we passed a family who asked if we had any
medicines with us. The grandmother was suffering from acute
toothache. A quick examination showed a broken and infected
tooth that needed treatment but meant a minimum of 2 days walk
and a bus journey to Pokhara to see a dentist. It would also
mean a fee that was difficult to afford. We left some pain
killers and hoped her family would be able to take her to a
dentist as soon as possible. Most people living in the
mountainous regions of Nepal have virtually no immediate access
to health care. Common ailments that can quickly and treated
easily in the West may become chronically painful problems
leading to considerable long term difficulties and perhaps a
shortened life span. Our brief encounter was a reminder of the
many privileges we enjoy in our own culture.
| That evening
after dinner everyone sang and danced the night away to
the beat of drums under the stars. |
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In the morning a
family living close by had heard about our visit and
brought a young girl to see us who was unable to walk.
It was impossible to diagnose her condition but we
encouraged her family to bring her to Kathmandu where
she can be assessed by the centre to see what help can
be offered.. |
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After
breakfast a few children needed their feet and hands massaged,
bandaged and tended to before we set off on day 3. One of the
children, Sujan, walked with Judy who was suffering from a nasty
stomach bug. Sujan has a badly scarred arm and permanently
disfigured hand. As a baby he had been left at home with a
slightly older sibling while his mother was working in the
fields. When Sujan fell into an open cooking fire his sibling
ran for help, but by the time his mother got home Sujan had
suffered severe burns and the loss of most of his hand. With his
good hand, Sujan held Judy’s hand all the way down a steep path
into the bottom of a valley and to a simple suspension bridge
hanging across a rushing glacial river. |
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After
the bridge we had a long, hot and steep climb up to Ghandruk
where Annapurna South and Machapuchre tower above the
traditional houses and monastery of this beautiful old village.
That evening we all played silly card games around an enormous
table and laughed until we cried.
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following morning it was clear that several people were feeling
unwell with fevers and sore throats and some of the children had
sore legs and feet. In addition our film crew both discovered
problems with their cameras. One camera had stopped working
altogether and the other only worked when stationary. It seemed
important to stop and to assess what was going on. There seemed
to be a message somewhere about slowing down. The 2 film crew
had exhausted themselves running up and down the trail filming
everyone from behind and then dashing on to capture images from
ahead, as well as conducting interviews along the way. They felt
they were carrying a big responsibility to make sure that they
would do justice to the trek and to everyone on it. Perhaps in
an attempt to prove themselves, the children too had been
anxious to keep ahead and not to have help, and some trekkers
had felt concerns about walking too slowly and holding other
people up. We decided it was time to take it easy, to walk
together in one group, to take care of each other and not to
worry about proving anything. |
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The
atmosphere changed immediately, and everyone relaxed as we
walked together at a much gentler pace down trail to Syauli
Bazaar. Syauli Bazaar sits at the bottom of a wide valley
alongside a lovely river – a perfect place to play, bathe feet
and for hardy people to swim in the icy cold water after a long
hot day. That
evening was the last night on trek and a chance to tip our
porters and buy them all drinks. Someone set up the sound system
and everyone got into the party mood. We whooped, laughed and
danced late into the night with lots of hugs and appreciation of
all we had shared together over the past few days. Shrijana and
Sharmilla joined in the dancing with more confidence and
pleasure than I had ever seen before.
Our last
day took us along the river to the road head at Nayapul Along
the way we walked by a huge waterfall. Clambering up rocks, some
children being carried up, we sat in a rainbow haze by a pool
into which water fell uninterrupted from a height of about 200
feet straight over the cliff edge above. The temptation to strip
off and stand under the torrent was too great for some people
…..
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After
our trek we had one day of site seeing together in Pokhara with
boating on the lake, a visit to caves, and relaxing in cafes.
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It was clear that strong relationships had been forged
during our trek. For the most part the expectation had
been that we would be helping the children. But often it
was the children who had helped us. The issue of
disability was dissolved by the sharing of our mutual
vulnerabilities, the chance for everyone to get to know
one another and a great deal of laughter. For a few days
the differences of age, gender, nationality and ability
had melted away. The boys that had previously been
uncertain about themselves and their relationships with
others were queuing up for hugs, bursting with ready
smiles and a new found confidence. |
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After
our return to Kathmandu we had a huge party to celebrate with
all of the children at the centre and it also happened to be the
65th birthday of one of our group; a birthday I hope
she will always remember where she was garlanded and blessed
many times over, and showered with small gifts from the
children. |
A few
days later we organized a small exhibition in a local restaurant
of the children’s paintings and photographs from the trek. It
was a great success. The children decided to give 50% of what
they had earned from the sale of their work to be divided
amongst all the other children at the centre; a generous gesture
that I personally felt demonstrated a growing sense of
responsibility towards their DNC family and a feeling of being
able to pass on some of the warm heartedness they had received
from others on the trek.
| One
of the last interviews we conducted after our return from
the trek was with Bishma who has a badly disfigured
leg and foot from a serious burn injury. I asked him
what he felt he had learnt from the trek. He said
" At first we thought this trek would not be possible
for us, but we found it was possible. Now I think that
for people like me, things are not impossible and we should
not be hopeless in life but always hopeful." |
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Finally,
I cannot thank everyone on trek enough for the enthusiasm of
their participation and great generosity of spirit. That goes
for all the trek staff as well as the trekkers, film crew and
children. To me, our time together was a wonderful celebration
of life and a complete joy to be a part of. My thanks also go to
all the many, many sponsors who so generously supported us. The
children are now back to school, our trekkers and film crew have
returned to the UK, our porters and guide are away on another
trek – and I am lucky enough to be here in Bali for a few days
writing this to you.
Namaste
to Everyone.
Fran
McGowan
November 2009
| All
the funds raised from the trek will go towards our new
building for the children |
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