We are in Pokhara for a little while and a quick chance to check e-mail. This is the 'big city' near our volunteer experience. It was a 20 kilometer, one hour bus ride to get to town. About a hundred other people were on the little bus, and for the hour, I was in direct physical contact with no less than four people at a time. Did I say crowded?
We are working hard with our work camp. There are just three of us, the other being a recent college graduate from Japan.
Our project is to help the local village repair a dirt road that leads to it. It is up a steep hill and the local cattle had ruined a section of rock wall holding up the road. So we haul lots of rocks. The grading on the road is uneven so we are hauling loads and loads of dirt. At home, of course, we would be considered human bulldozers. It is hot, and physically demanding, and sometimes I feel like a teenager at summer camp, displaying intermittent energy, sometimes laughing, sometimes grumpy. Sometimes it all makes sense and sometimes it seems rather silly, because I suspect that the first rains of monsoon will wash away all of our work.
But mostly, I find I am learning a lot about the culture's approach to work and leisure, and my own attitudes about the value of sweating. Today was our fourth day and I could feel that some of my muscles are getting stronger. As we carry loads of dirt and rocks up and down the hill, I feel like I am in training for our upcoming trek in Tibet!
I have tried to engage some of the local children in our activity. I get the impression that this kind of work is not something that these children would normally participate in, but with a few smiles and giggles and some non-verbal joking around, I convinced a girl, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, to haul rocks with me. By ‘dancing’ and initiating ‘follow the leader’, we successfully move many loads. As with most 8 year olds, she has tons more energy than I, and bores when I changed back into energy conservation mode of plodding, one foot in front of the other.
Another entertaining moment was seeing the cattle as they were herded down the road after we had repaired their ‘shortcut.’ The four legged leader stopped at our new stone wall, looked around, and I am certain he grumbled his frustration of having to walk the long way now. For three days, he made that stop, unwilling to accept that his new fate required a longer walk to the pasture. It was interesting to note that many of the humans seemed equally annoyed by the new wall that replaced the short cut path. With more dexterity than the cattle, the people just grabbed onto the rocks, found footholds and hauled themselves to the top. I can tell that if the monsoon doesn’t destroy our handiwork, the lazy insistence of man and beast will!!
Though every moment isn't exactly fun, all is well, and I'm glad we decided to do this work camp.
Sincerely,
Liz
