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Environmental awareness, Volunteer program in Nepal
Added: (Sun Aug 07 2005)
Thulo Bharku Village Report
July 2nd – 16th, 2005
Background
My initial purpose in Thulo Bharku was to provide elementary health education to villagers. I committed myself to an oral hygiene and hand-washing initiative; a more comprehensive health campaign, involving the assistance of a doctor and the dispensation of medicine, came across as a spendthrift endeavor since the nearest health post was 2 hours away. Thus, I went into the village of Thulo Bharku with instructions to provide rudimentary health care education for the local population. However, while in Thulo Bharku, Asim empowered me to tackle the various needs of the villagers as I became aware of them. With funds from INFO Nepal and the support of the villagers, I set in motion several different projects ranging from toilet building to English education. In the following report, I will underline the different projects, large or small, that I was able to start or accomplish in Thulo Bharku.
Projects
1. Toilet Building – With the exception of a few houses, the vast majority of villagers did not have proper toilet facilities. The common toilet was the “end of the road.” My host family was without a toilet as well; I brought that issue up with Asim when he visited me three days into the placement. He immediately allocated funds for a toilet for the host family, with the aim of building many such toilets for other families in the future.
The total money allocated by INFO Nepal for the toilet project was 4200 rupees; the family paid a total of 2460 rupees on their part. The work for the toilet was wholly arranged by the family with the help of friends and family in the village. INFO Nepal’s initial projections for the total cost of the toilet were between 3000 – 5000 rupees, but the actual cost was higher. With a total cost of 6660 rupees, there was a cost overrun of almost 1600 rupees. However, this can be accounted for higher material costs in Dhunche as compared to Kathmandu; by the fact that the family decided to construct a kitchen area above the toilet as well.
I saw that the toilet was completed in a timely and honest manner. Consisting of a 1-meter deep sceptic tank, stone walls, a toilet pan, a showering area and windows, the construction of the toilet was finished in eight days, and I accounted for all the materials bought and all service charges paid (from the use of a truck and the work of carpenters).
What remains to be done is an outreach to other villagers who desire to build toilets as well, and a continuation of INFO Nepal’s financial assistance with regards to toilet building. INFO Nepal’s future funding should be fixed through the implementation of a 60:40 funding program and the standardization of materials used in the construction of toilet. Standardization of materials are important to the continuing success of this toilet program, as the variation in materials used in the construction of each individuals toilet could unnecessarily make accounting difficult and allow for a significant discrepancy in the quality of one toilet against another. By drawing up a specific list of materials supported by INFO Nepal’s funding, INFO Nepal may be able to achieve more manageability and equality in this project.
2. Volleyball Court Upgradation – For the first time in its history, the village of Thulo Bharku participated in the annual intra-village volleyball tournament in Dhunche. This was a momentous occasion for the village and I was lucky to catch this historic event on tape. When discussing with my friends in the village their training schedule leading up to the tournament, there was an overwhelming response that indicated that the current facilities in Thulo Bharku were seriously lacking. Volleyball has become the sport of choice for villagers in Rasuwa district, especially since there is minimal flat land available for land intensive sports such Football or Cricket. With these thoughts in mind and with an objective of keeping the youth of Thulo Bharku away from criminality, drugs and alcoholism, I recommended to Asim that the existing Volleyball court located at the Shri Bhimsen Primary School be widened and resurfaced. In its existing condition, the court is suitable only practice and not for competitive uses. The court is rocky and is too narrow to be safely used in competition. Thus, my discussions with Asim centered on how and when the court could and would be improved.
We came to a mutual consensus that during my tenure in Thulo Bharku, which happened to coincide with monsoon season, construction would be difficult and inefficient. Thus, INFO Nepal has made the provision that a future volunteer will help oversee this project after the rainy season ends. However, I have made for a formal agreement between INFO Nepal and the Youth Club of Thulo Bharku providing for the future up gradation of the village’s volleyball facilities. However, this assistance is conditional upon the multi-purpose usage of the volleyball court, with the students at the primary school being able to access and utilize the court for other sports and activities during its disuse.
3. Library Project – In Thulo Bharku, an organization named the Community Learning Center had been given a sizeable grant by UNESCO to make a library and training center for the village. However, not a single person had used or had access to this building since its construction besides the chairman of the CLC. In the interest of the youth of the village, I requested to Asim that we make use of this building and build upon the library already present in the village. The headmaster of the primary school gladly provided us the keys to the facility, and with these keys, tooth brushing and English classes were held in the building in order to make use of and familiarize the villagers with it. However, the problem of conflicting interests between the CLC and INFO Nepal seemed to loom in the horizon. The need for a library outside of the control of a non-profit organization and in the hands of villagers, vis-ŕ-vis the youth group, became a top priority in my mind. The way in which the Chairman of the CLC, Lhakpa, unilaterally decided that the students who were showing up at the community library building for classes run by myself were “dirtying” up the facility and had to be moved to the basement was a little unnerving. Thus, I saw the potential for subversion of our future plans to facilitate a functional library in the village. In discussion with other youths in the village, I also realized that nobody was responsible for the opening of the CLC community library center; this was the main reason that it was closed at all times.
In looking at all the possible difficulties that could stem from working with the CLC and from villagers not having a voice in how the existing library was to be used, I decided that it might be best to have a library independent of the CLC for the village. Coincidently, as these thoughts were running through my mind, the youth club approached me about finding a new office for themselves in which they would host a library. The obvious advantage to this strategy would be that the opening and closing of the library would be automatically delegated to the youth club. Secondly, the decisions made in regards to this library would be made through the democratic mechanisms of the club. After returning from Thulo Bharku to Kathmandu, I had a conversation with Asim in which he agreed with this new plan. Funding for a future youth club office/library was approved under the condition that utilization of the library would be monitored and the performance of the youth club in this regards would determine the availability of funds for the continuation of this project from INFO Nepal.
4. Health Education – A program aimed at education youngsters in Thulo Bharku about the virtues of tooth brushing was one of my original objectives coming into the village. However once in the village, I found out that the vast majority of youths had already adopted a dental care regime. Thus, my work in this field became oriented towards re-educating children and re-enforcing their good tooth brushing habits. A few children had long been without toothbrushes and toothpaste, and I was given funds by Asim to provide these vital items to them. All in all, in Thulo Bharku there was no pressing need for educating youths about brushing daily, but I hope that my time with them went towards ingraining tooth brushing into their psyche.
On the other hand, I spent one afternoon in Sanu Bharku, and it became clear that children in this village were not aware about the benefits of tooth brushing. The two hours in which I gave out many, many toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes and stressed the importance of brushing felt as if it had gone a long way in educating and convincing the children about positive nature of tooth brushing. I feel as if future volunteers could continue the tooth brushing program in Sanu Bharku but should skip over Thulo Bharku.
I also think that a campaign to have residents of Thulo Bharku boil their drinking water would be great benefit. In general, the children and adults suffering from illness often display the symptoms of water-borne illnesses such as worms. A future de-worming of the village would also be a good investment of time.
5. English Classes – Classes were conducted at the CLC-run community library. I structured the classes so that I would be teaching conversational English to children who are only exposed to the theoretical aspects of English in the class room. I hoped to give these children, many of whom might find future employment in the tourism industry, a practical footing in conversing with foreigners. With the help of youth club members, the types of questions one would find in casual conversation such as one’s age or background were reviewed daily. I found the best way of teaching these kids in particular was to call on random students and reward correct answers and good effort with candy. However, it was difficult to overcome the overwhelming shyness that the students had towards strangers. Once I had become well-established in the village and the children were used to seeing my face, I found that the students became more enthusiastic and learned more because they started to think less of me as an outsider and more of me as just another villager.
Continuing the language program in Thulo Bharku is of high importance. Since many of these children may find their future employment as trekking guides, hotel managers or porters, it is critical that they be able to converse fluently with their clients. Forming a solid base of conversational English for the children of Thulo Bharku will go a long way in helping them in their future search for employment.