CUPID SHOT HIS ARROW (Feb. 14)

Shortly after breakfast, the driver (aka Mario Andretti) brought the car around to the front of the house and Basu and I were driven to Rotary House – the building where the various clubs meet in Biratnagar and which is owned by them. There is only one Rotary Clubhouse in our district and that is in Boothbay Harbor, so I was interested in learning the Rotarians in Biratnagar use this common meeting place for their weekly gatherings, as well as eye camps and health clinics throughout the year. It was a pleasure to meet so many new friends, and to have them explain how they waited and waited for me to arrive the night before. Basu explained my difficulty in entering their country at all, so they were a little easier on me. There were some other Rotarians from California attending the meeting, as one of them has helped to raise funds for a women’s hospital that should be completed in two more years. Both Carol and I were invited to speak to the members of the two clubs gathered. There were also some Rotarians, who were surgeons by profession, who are working with Carol to offer cleft palate and cleft lip reconstruction free of charge to the neediest of people throughout the country. I spoke with them following the meeting and told them about our district’s participation over the past ten years in Rotaplast.

Following the meeting, Basu and the incoming presidents for the two clubs met with me to discuss why I was here. I had already explained during my remarks to the general membership about the NID – Work Project Groups I have had the honor of leading for the past five years and the one I am leading this year. I told them I was interested in learning about potential projects in Nepal where I might bring a team in the coming years. I further detailed the projects over the period from 2007 to the present in Chahalka. I indicated it made good sense to begin with a small scale project and build upon that to establish a sustainable relationship with the village over a period of three or four years. We agreed to meet after lunch and to visit a few areas where Rotary might be able to make a difference.

As we were driving along, it seemed everyone was on his mobile phone – with Basu sometimes speaking on two mobile phones simultaneously. I am beginning to catch a few words and phrases in Hindi, so when one of the incoming club presidents was speaking over his mobile, and told us he had been speaking with his wife, I figured out that we were all going to his house for lunch and that he expected his wife to prepare a luncheon for five hungry men, and “oh, by the way, we will be there in five minutes!” We in fact arrived in about three minutes, because there was virtually no automobile traffic, and we met his wife who had prepared lunch in the minutes before she had to leave for her own Rotary Club meeting. I told him it is lucky his wife is also a Rotarian, so at least she understood. However, when lunch was served, I was astounded at what was placed before us – plate after plate and serving dish of one VEG dish or another.

Following lunch, we all piled into Basu’s SUV and off we went to a remote village where the children are suffering from dysentery. There are about 150 people in this village, and once I took a walk about, I saw one of the chief reasons the kids were getting sick -some of them had died in the past few months. The location of the hand-pump tube well was literally five feet from the toilet. Even though I was also told not many people use the toilets because they do not have sides and a roof to provide privacy and shelter from rainstorms, you could not prove it by me. There always seems to be the telltale stench of stale urine which assaults the nasal passages of those not accustomed to such odors. Such was the case here. The toilets were comprised of a porcelain plate – about two feet square, with places for one to place one’s feet and an oblong hole in the center. Beneath the hole was a scooped out hole with a possible capacity of two or three gallons. Trust me, these were bring used, and recently too!

As it turns out, one of the Rotarians with us told us his father had given this land to the villagers and had actually deeded each tiny parcel to the person who was then allowed to build his house and enjoy it with his family. There was also common land for gardens and area for pens for goats and chickens. We asked about education and were told nobody goes to school because they must stay in the home and work at farming. Some of the teenaged boys did work in local factories. In speaking with the Rotarian, I discovered that if asked by us (meaning by me and those in future groups) he would be willing to deed additional land to the villagers who would build and maintain a proper bath facility – perhaps a tiny scale of what we are presently doing in Chahalka.

Since I was leaving the following afternoon to fly to Kathmandu, I wanted to view as many potential projects as we could in that afternoon. We visited a larger town and across the road from where the townspeople were celebrating a religious holiday (I think there are more Hindu holidays or holy days than in any other religion) we visited a government school for boys. At present, about half of the rooms are being used, while the others remain empty, unproductive and stinking. After some discussion with the teacher (who was also incidentally a judge for a contest or competition across at the holy day celebration) we determined we should be able to have the government deed over to us one double room and one single room, in exchange for our creating a computer training center, much the same as we had done with the derelict building in Chahalka this past year. The small room would be converted into an efficiency studio apartment for an instructor, whom we would have to hire and pay wages for them. Basu and I walked from the small room over around the veranda to what would be the best location for a computer lab, so to speak. As we turned the corner, he pointed out, “That is the toilet room” and as quickly as possible, I informed him he did NOT have to tell me where the toilets were located – I could and had already smelled them several yards prior. As we spoke with the instructor, about two- dozen of the boys who are students at this school, began to gather round us to hear what we might be able to plan for the future. They all seemed very eager and promised if we were successful in mapping out such a project, then they were going to study harder so they could get into the school and excel in computer training classes. It was heartening to find out how enthusiastic they all were to improve their lives. We departed from the school and headed back to Biratnagar. Basu wanted to drop off the other Rotarians, meet another one, and show me the hotel accommodations our team might enjoy if we were able to put a project or two together. Basu seemed to have his finger in a lot of pies – being a sponsor of one of the local banks, being a sweater manufacturer, being involved in the plastics industry, being a part owner of the hotel, etc.

That evening, we were to meet some folks from New Zealand and the UK, who were visiting SHELTER BOX projects nearby. First, however, Basu and I were to attend an event hosted by the local ROTARACT Clubs. This was a JUNIOR PRINCE AND PRINCESS BEAUTY AND TALENT CONTEST, being held at one of the vacated government buildings. I think I mentioned previously, perhaps in an earlier posting the visible lack of automobiles on the roads in and around Biratnagar. When I questioned Basu about this and why we seemed to always be driving down back alleys and side roads, he explained some of the locals were upset with the government for not paving the roads which are located directly in front of their homes or businesses, creating clouds of dust with every passing car or truck. He assured me this was not an unusual occurrence but that I should not be concerned. Famous last words…

We did, in fact attend the event. Basu was driving us. We had stopped at the home of another Rotarian to have him join us for the Rotaract event. There are laws both in India and Nepal that state if one is caught driving while using a mobile phone, the person can be arrested and forced to pay a sizable fine to the government. I guess Basu was not too worried, though, because evidently a law had yet to be written where it states the punishment for someone talking on TWO mobile phones at the same time, all the while driving using both of his elbows for steering! We arrived at the function and the auditorium was packed – both with Rotaractors, as well as families and friends of the contestants. The decibel level of the PA system was anything but healthy. I mean to say, the eardrums were assaulted and in some cases may have even burst. If a normal decibel level for loud music is 500, then this had to be at least 10,000. That is no exaggeration. I could not even hear what was being sung, let alone what the man next to me was trying to say.

MORE ABOUT THIS LATER... am off to catch a plane, but will return to BLOG soon.