Rice Flight

After two days of heavy rain, we had good weather today for flying and took rice by helicopter to the town of Jagart in the Gorkha district.  Or I should say Mahadev made the flight.  I stayed back to work on my SWU class which I am currently teaching from afar.  I was really torn because I would love to see the view but only one person can fit and 1. I don't speak Nepali so he is more useful., 2. I get sick on any kind of amusement park ride, 3. I sometimes have to fight irrational panic when my feet get to far off the ground. 

This area was the epicenter of the earthquake on April 25, 2015.  The remote area is barely accessible in the best of times and is now cut off except by helicopter.  The area is made up of very rocky steep mountains where people live literally on the side of a cliff.  In this pic you can see that the only flat spot is along the river.  Unfortunately, landslides have blocked the trail, used for trekking, that runs along the river so people can't even walk out with donkeys as they used to.  We have made several trips to this area taking 6000 lbs of rice each time.  The helicopter must fly back and forth two or three times to get all the rice delivered.  They fly to a certain town with the copter loaded with fuel.  The rice is brought by truck to the same town.  From there one hour trips are made up with rice going back and forth. The helicopter is taken as far as possible but even at this people hike for four or five hours to reach the meeting point.  The villages further into the mountains do not have a flat place for the helicopter to land so Jagart is as far as we can go.  If you flew about 1/2 hour more you could reach Tibet.  Each time we are met with shouting and dancing villagers.  Local pastors are on hand to help with distribution.  Even the Nepali military men stationed near the boarder with China (Tibet) have by thankful for our rice as they have not received any other assistance themselves.  We have been receiving a 90% discount from  Mission Aviation Fellowship for the flights.  This discount will only be available for two more weeks so we will try and get in two more shipments before the fee is raised. If one happens before I leave, maybe I'll reconsider flying.  Thank you for you generosity which has made this possible!

On a personal note.  I had a tooth ache shortly after I arrived.  Dentist visit with panoramic x-ray $5.  Two kinds of antibiotics and a pain reliever $2.50 (which my hostess thought was unreasonable so she ask the clerk if he was ripping me off because I was a foreigner).  Think I'll get a crown done and pay for my plane ticket in savings!

Food Relief in the Mountains

July third was spent delivering food stuffs to a remote area of Nepal in the Ramechhap District.  Because of landslides blocking the road, we were only able to go to a town shortly over the border of this district to meet the people needing assistance.  Each village sent several representatives to bring back the supplies of rice, lentils, salt and cooking oil.  These folks walked anywhere from one to eight hours to reach the drop-off location.  Not a simple stroll either but a hike over 2, 3, or 4 mountains at altitudes of up to 12,000 feet!  Sadly, all of these villagers have damaged or destroyed homes.  The rock and mud structures, with no foundation, crumbled under the power of the moving earth.  One village,  the one we slept in on our first trip to Nepal, was completely covered by a landslide and is no longer inhabitable at all.  It's 34 households are currently living in tents on a small bit of land provided by the government, but hope to buy a piece of land together large enough for everyone to build a small home on.

Metal roofing was also delivered by tractor to a school which lost it's roof in the earthquake (the May 12 aftershock of over 7 on the Richter scale was centered in this district).  The roofs are traditionally made of slate so they did not hold up well in the earthquake and are difficult to rebuild.  This metal roofing will allow school to resume soon. 


On the way back we had a flat.  It was all in all a 17 hour journey, most of that driving.  It was very hot and dusty.  With no AC you had to keep the windows open.  When I showered that night rivers of mud ran out of my hair.  In reality it's actually less hot here then back home in SC but with no AC it sure seems hotter!   If you want to see more pics check out the Nepal and India page.

July trip to Nepal

June 30 - July 14 I (Rebecca) will be in Nepal.  My goals there are

• Deliver aid 
• Assessments of at-risk families. 
• Pilot  project foster families
• Meet with New Hope Nepal board members and lawyer  
• Development of family strengthening and foster care programs
  

 I appreciate everyone's prayers for my journey.  You can follow this trip here, on newhopenepal.blogspot.com, or on the New Hope Nepal facebook page.  Also, don't forget to check out our website newhopenepal.net