Nepal, airport delays and yak butter
Posted under: Another day, another airport. Today I am in Kathmandu, Nepal.
I have been stuck at the airport for hours with no end in sight. The weather has been somewhat dismal in Nepal this week and the combination of fog and pollution is making it impossible to fly. Having resigned myself to a long wait, I head to the little (and only) coffee shop in the airport to seek comfort. The barista serves a simmering cup of coffee – what a relief. I go to take my first sip and realize a lump of yak butter is floating on top! Oh well, anything will do right now.
The airport is abuzz with positivity. Most people are on the way to their trekking destinations and in a relatively buoyant mood. I see fleece jackets and sherpas all around.
I’m on the way to Pokhara and the airline of choice is Yeti Air (What’s in a name? The other choice was Buddha Air. Note to self: beware of airlines which believe in reincarnation! ). I have just checked with Childrens Welfare Scheme and they tell me that if the airport is not open in another two hours from now, they will send a vehicle. Great – seven hours in a car, rocky mountain roads, nice curly bends, oh, and let’s not forget about the fog! I’ve done it before so I know what to expect. Luckily I love this part of travelling. Nothing ever goes according to plan.
Child Welfare Scheme (CWS) and RICE have been working together for several years now, together with an organization called Star Children. Star Children supports children infected and affected by HIV/Aids.
The first time I met them I was blown away by the boundless energy of the founder, Ramesh Acharya. As those things go, Ramesh was a tourist guide in Pokhara, but his heart was with his people. When he shared his worries one day with a couple of tourists, they asked him how much he would need to get started. And that was that. But unfortunately a great heart is not the only thing that counts when starting a NGO. Project management, budgeting, strategic thinking, team building, and of course social work skills are needed too. With the number of children with HIV/Aids increasing, and with the expectation of a boom in the near future, Ramesh knew that was he was doing wouldn’t be good enough.
CWS is specialized in capacity building. Present in Nepal for 15 years, Douglas MacLagan has not only built several health clinics, but most importantly, has invested in people. His team is magnificent. And so it was decided, that over a period of 2 years, with RICE funds, CWS would support Ramesh and his team, building them up to be able to cope with the growth of the organization.
Year one passed successfully and we are now in year two. I am here to follow up and see first-hand the changes that have been made. I’m very excited because I haven’t seen the team in a year. However, we speak on Skype regularly and they’re monitored quarterly through their reports. I know they’re on the right track to making positive change.
But to see them in action is the best way to really judge if the money RICE has invested has been used in the most effective way.
I’m now through my yak butter infused coffee and I’m almost ready for a second when I receive an SMS from CWS. “Keep your seat!” it says. “It will start to get busy!”.
I guess I’m here to stay for a while…
TessaBoudrie@thericefund.org