April Team Update Nepal 10th APRIL

Friday is rest day and after this week it was a welcome break. The team took time to wander the Stupa and search for souvenirs and trinkets. Boudha road shops have been packed in the lead up to next weeks new year celebrations. People buying and selling livestock for party meals, helium balloons, decorations and masses of religious figurines. The Stupa is also having a fresh coat of gold paint on its highest points.

Brooke checking out some jewellery.

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Gordon ordered a traditional Nepali mens outfit from a nearby tailor earlier and today it was ready. Here he is doing a quick catwalk for the team. It looks amazing on and we thank Netra for his expertise in the finer points of correctly tying it all together. We did wonder how it would look as in all seriousness two people could easily fit into the pants prior to Netra's nifty nip n tuck.

Nepali Gordon

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Ruth and Vivienne have had another great week of training. The TESOL programs are a vital and ongoing part of the preparation for our seniors wishing to study in Indonesia. While Vivienne's work with the school leadership is seeing many new concepts in planning, strategies and logistics becoming a part of daily school life. All these improve our staff and the delivery of an excellent Christian education to our students in Nepal.

Ruth and her class.

The leaders and Vivienne.

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Each day a massive amount of thought, preparation and effort goes into feeding the team. This job intensifies as the group swells in number. We have been blessed with wonderful meals and an efficient and easy system of clean up and we ALL wish to say a HUGE thank you to our amazing chefs. DahnyaBaht Lyn and Gloria.

Another epic meal, thanks ladies.

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"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news..." comes to mind, but then these are some unsightly and grubby specimens. Trekking the dusty lane ways in and around NayaBasti leaves your feet less than beautiful. Yuk!

Nasty...

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Too cute not to photograph. School holiday games.

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Saturday is church day and Gordon and Poppy have been invited by Pastor Raju to speak in two of the HCM satellite churches. We will start early in the morning with a two hour bus trip through some gorgeous country side on the main road to China. We will split into two groups to visit the churches before we rejoin to inspect the work going on at the new training centre. Then on to Miracle Cafe for lunch on the way home. Post some photos next time.

The sun setting on another week through the dry season dust.

Till next time.  

Friday 10th Lashio Water Festival

We arrived in Lashio yesterday after one hour forty minute flight north from Yangon.  It is a city of 400,000 but doesn't have  anything particular to commend it.  We are to plan starting a school.  There is a couple of acres , we plan to meet with the engineer today checking contours of the land.  There is already teacher training under way here with two of our trainers repeating the training done earlier this year.

Above is a photo of the water festival.  It is a huge part of the Myanmar festive calendar.  For four days the business close,  Huge platforms and stages are built along the sides of the roads, and people with hoses drench everyone in the street.  or throw buckets of water.  All over the country this goes on for four days.  It is a ritual cleansing of sin and at the end, they go to the temple to begin the New Year.  no one is safe from the drenching, consequently we are well out of town  when the festivities begin.  

As I mentioned this is a land of golden temples.  I was told yesterday, that a temple in Yangon has 73 tons of gold on the roof and in the ornamentation.

This morning we are going to meet the 54 orphans that are up for sponsorship, and later I am meeting some ladies who have been rescued.  I am really looking forward to meeting them and telling them about our ladies

Robyn

April Team Mission - Nepal Wednesday 8th

One of the hardest things faced when traversing through impoverished areas is the people reduced to begging to scrounge out an existence. The poverty and hunger that put people in this predicament leave these poor souls in a wretched state. Each time we spot people begging it wrenches at the heart and the desire to assist is intense. Learning the ramifications of misdirected assistance can be frustrating and disappointing to hearts filled with compassion. We have talked about this subject as a team this week and we each have had to learn again to keep focused on the tasks, the ministry and the peoples we are here to help. This lines up the head, but the heart still aches when we see these destitute folk.

Street family

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Today the training continued for Ruth, Vivienne and Gordon while the rest of us trekked into the back alleys around Tamhal in the search for merchandise items. 

The merchandise range that TtN offers at our Awareness events forms a vital part as an income stream to assist raising funds for the ministry. 

This year the Freedom Tour is travelling for three months of concerts and school visits and the merch will be an integral part of this fund raising venture. So procuring stock for the next few months is key.

Keshav and Prasamsa

To aide our search for wholesalers we enlisted the help of a long term friend of the ministry, Keshav. Keshav runs many businesses in and around the merch industry. He and his wife Prasamsa operate in a key market that greatly assists us to locate and export merch in a timely manner.

Today he took time away from his work to travel with us and show us the locations and haggle the best price for items. His help was invaluable.  

Inside Keshav's store

The team on the hunt

    

   

Modelling the stock

Catching up with one of our regular wholesalers.

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Another wonderful treat when visiting locals in this amazing country is their hospitality. As guests the respect and honour given to us is a somewhat overwhelming and often misunderstood by first timers. Along with this comes the ginger tea, we love ginger tea, and no trip is complete unless you have chugged on a few dozen cups of this sweet nectar.

The girls enjoying sweet ginger tea.

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When the Bunda was on, which was cancelled for today so traffic returned to its extremely erratic self, non motorised options for transport began to take on a certain appeal when compared to walking. Here is one option considered, however the riders could not be coaxed to travel from Tamhal to NayaBasti!

We saw a motorcycle swerve to miss hitting a vehicle on our taxi ride this morning. His evasive manoeuvres avoided a collision but were so violent it sent his pillion sailing through the air and crashing to the ground. In Nepal only the driver need wear a helmut and this poor lass hit the ground hard. She stood to her feet immediately and appeared shaken but not severely injured. She will have a very sore shoulder and some skin off but hopefully that is all. We watched this unfold through the windscreen of our taxi directly in front of us. We had to swerve to miss her! It was very close. 

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New relationships

The merch team

Scouring the back alleys

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We saw this gentleman totally "getting into" the reading of his newspaper, cracked us up.

Engrossed in the news of the day.

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Well that was today and the escapades of the team. We are all well, it is a good team and some wonderful relationships are forming. It is a thrill to see so many people committed to serving the Lord in so many vast ways to further the ministry and all that it entails. The students are furthering their skill sets and developing life traits that will serve them for many years thanks to the tireless work of so many wonderful volunteers both now and previously.

A special thank-you to you all.

The taxi drive home late this evening.

Till next time.

wednesdy 8 th April, Yangon

I saw this man with his fascinating little stall and wondered what he was selling.  He had leaves and was spreading them with lime (white powder not juice) mixed into a watery solution.  Then he put pieces of Betel Nut, powdered tobacco, and also tobacco leaf pieces soaked in some solution.  Then they are neatly rolled up in the leaf like a little spring roll.  After chewing this, they are in a very happy mood, with red gums, teeth and tongue.  They sell them everywhere, so they are very popular.
Above are two very cute little twins, the daughters of a couple we are working with.  One is a minute older than the other, and she is definitely the boss. Guess which one.

We will be taking over the  rent on the above house later this year as our base and office.  Aussie team plus our Myanmar coworkers and a Korean man who is also working with us.   Robyn

Tuesday 7th April. Kathmandu/Myanmar?????????????

I am wondering if there is some confusion about the blog. At present, Grahame and I are in Myanmar,  establishing a foundation for Christian schools, and doing our research on all that is involved.  Geoff and Gloria Parry are leading the team in Kathmandu in our absence.  We will be arriving in Kathmandu on 14th April.  So if you have been wondering which country you are in, and why there seems to be two countries involved,  now you know.

It is extremely hot in Yangon, and we have spent the day in a hot car in traffic trying to get to see land and to talk to people.  Our car broke down today, and then some team members we were having dinner with, got lost in the taxi, and were very late arriving.  Nonetheless, we are all in good spirits and loved the fellowship with our Burmese brothers and sisters, and also a couple from Korea.
Robyn

April Team News Tuesday 7th

Today was another amazing day for the team with everybody reporting wonderful progress at days end.
We farewelled Venus and Simon who have been impacted by the work of Transform the Nations and are interested in having teams from Hong Kong come and experience what God is doing in this part of the world.

Team member Poppy Parry continued 'business plan' training with Netra. These two are forming a wonderful cross cultural relationship as they bond over spread sheets, debtors, budgets and key drivers for business success.

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Ruth had another productive day with the older students. Today they prepared impromptu speeches and the topic today was someone who has influenced your life. It was pleasant for Ruth to hear many speak about becoming a Christian and the person who led them to that point.

The rest of the team had an amazing time with the pre teens and teens at another one of the hostels. 'Shaky dance' got another belting but this time with a very large group of enthusiastic participants ensuring the shrieking of children's laughter filled the building. The team were honoured with some singing and dancing and then got to share stories and sunday school songs with the kids.

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Unfortunately today and most likely tomorrow the city is ground to a halt with another Bunda (Strike) that stops the taxi's and most traffic from being allowed to use the roads which means the streets are all but empty. An eery quiet settles over the main shopping area of Boudha road and for the first time we heard birds chirping in the unusual stillness.
Children playing badminton where hundreds of vehicles would normally travel is a sight rarely seen. Without being able to move around in taxi's getting places requires looong walks.

With children either on holidays or unable to get to and from schools mums and dads put them to work in the family business. This little one could handle a sharp knife like a Samurai master.

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Each day the lanes surrounding the guest house are lined with merchants and pedlars selling everything from carpet mats to pots, pans and fresh produce. We enjoy fresh veges each meal, here is Lyn choosing this evenings selection.

 

A note from Lyn:

"What an absolute privilege to be back in Nepal. I think of this place as my second home and fit right back into the culture from the moment I arrive.
Today was a great day visiting Tusal hostel. After spending time yesterday with my sponsor child Ruth I had time today with my second sponsor child Durga who is Ruth's younger sister.
It is amazing to be part of this ministry and to be able to serve these beautiful people."

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Till next time.









    

April Team News Monday 6th

The last few days have continued to keep us busy. Team members visiting at CCS1 added an international flavour as we had a couple from Hong Kong, Simon and Venus, Robert and Raquel from Pacific Hills, and Gordon and Vivienne.

Training in Administration skills, IELTS and computing continued to up skill our students. It is awesome to have the technical skills of Gordon who among other things is installing ADSL in Block B at CCS. The frustrations involved in this type of work here are immense but Gordon handles it like a pro.

School holidays are on at the moment which is a little different to home as for students there are half days and full days still spent at school, and then days off. It is doing our heads in trying to keep up!

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The local monkeys are very adept at using the power lines to cross the busy streets to avoid becoming road kill. Not something we see at home everyday!

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Venus and Simon are interested in sending students on mission trips to Nepal and are scoping out the ministry to understand all that is entailed.

Pastor Raju paid us a visit this afternoon to ensure all is well. It was a lovely time with him as he shared many more exciting God stories he has been living in recent days.

The balance of the team had the privilege of visiting one of the hostels to share with the girls. This is a moving experience and brings to a stark reality the age of those impacted and rescued. The children sang and danced some traditional Nepali stories as well as some with Christian lyrics.

Interviews continue to glean information and current photos for our valued sponsors. These times are a lot of work but such a privilege to spend one on one time with these precious little ones and their carers. This trip we have been trialling an online interview concept that is saving hours of work.

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A visit with the young women at Sychar isn't complete without a round or ten thousand of 'Shaky in the house' We all had a turn but I am under threat of death if I post any of the other photo's!

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Till next time.