Just back from the trip to Pokhara and Ghachok Village. This trip was such a highlight of all my time in Nepal for the scenery (which I think I was starved for) and for the experience of working with and just enjoying people and the lovely place they call Home.
After an easy, uncrowded, 7 hour bus ride from Kathmandu I was met by my dear friend Menuka Basnyat near Lakeside in Pokhara. Also along for the trip was an environmental lawyer from Boise, Idaho - Kristin Ruether who I got to know over a masala dosa (a good one I will add!). We spent a night in a musty, moist guest house on Pokhara's New Road and left for the village the next morning. This entailed a typically dusty dirt road in a 4wd vehicle, packed with folk and luggage, but only for an hour and a half. The drive led us up a canyon and then plateaued out into the cultivated portion of the village of Ghachok! The view moved me to tears...really. Machupuchare to the left and Annapurna 4 to the right, Seti River below...I felt so privileged to be in this place.
We had been on the cultivated ground for all of 11 minutes or so, when I asked when I would be doing my teaching. My teaching... is why this whole entourage of myself and several Bird Conservation Nepal coordinators and the former CEO Hum Gurung and a TV documentary camera crew and a few guests were all there! This day was the start of a bird education training that would focus on local teachers and youth. Ghachok is targeted because of the presence of the "Vulture Restaurant". I will have a whole entry about that next...but basically it is BCN's answer to the problem of vultures disappearing due to the existence of a veterinary drug given to cattle called "diclofenac". Cattle (when dead) are the main food of the six resident vulture species in Nepal and the threatened vultures ingest the cattle who have been given the drug, it causes deadly renal failure in the vultures.BCN has been working with the villagers around the "Vulture Restaurant" sites to educate them about birds and conservation of birds. They are also teaching these residents to be homestay hosts. More about this later...
"Immediately" was the answer to when I would teach my prepared lessons, so we were escorted into a classroom full of waiting teachers from Ghachok area - after a delicious Nepali lunch at one of the homestay houses - and I started teaching! My subject matter was all about how to connect students with birds and get them excited to learn as much as they can about the 871 species of birds in Nepal! I taught them some of my own techniques as well as some classic outdoor environmental education games adapted for their unique ecosystem. We had a really good time!
Most of the participants were teachers who are very involved in the Vulture restoration and are members of BCN. It was fun to have some student leaders from the local schools participating too!
After most of the day at school...we got to walk through the village
and to the upper plateau where my homestay was.
I found the view most pleasing.
Here is the man and the child of the home...with Menuka. Didi was making our amazing dal baht while I talked with Baherendra about his time spent working for the US army in Iraq. He showed me his photos...surreal experience.
The family was so sweet and took such good care of Menuka and I, we felt like part of the family!
Next morning was bird walk training day led by Hare who works for Tiger Mountain Lodge Pokhara. He was a barrel of laughs and a darned good teacher! The local youth who chose to get up early were treated to a great show of birds and a really educational time with a great role model!
...and again, the scenery!
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| Guess this one! |
we stumbled upon an 84th birthday celebration and were fed a bowl of some delicious food! We couldn't stay long, but it made me want to take in more people off the street and just feed them! The hospitality and graciousness of people always warms me and makes me want to be a better person. Makes me want to be a scholar of Nepali cooking too! My spirit is so nourished.
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