Lighting up a village in
Epilogue
The remainder of the lights were installed by Kumar within a week of our departure. A women’s committee has been formed and they have many ideas for income generating schemes. ( The village will be given a loan for projects chosen by the group later in the year.) Choosing the school for the site of the panels has had the added advantage of providing a meeting place, lacking, or at least not used previously.
Mera, Netra’s cousin and second
teacher, wrote in her first report (received immediately upon our return):-
“I found the children are exciting to
learn new things using white boards and all those reference books. I’ve
kept all those things safely while the reading period is off. We have been
running two hours class in Friday evening, which is more useful for the young
generation and esp children.”
“I’ve translated 27 books till now.
Some of them were translated by Kumar too. I’ve been teaching them in one
period every day too. On Friday, they read and discuss each other about the
meaning and sense of the lesson.”
“Nowadays, the principal, (Bhupa Mani Rai)
is also happy with the cooperation. The villagers also come in the school to
know about their child education.”
Children are now able to do their homework in an evening after finishing their chores. Kerosene doubled in price just after we left, now money can be spent on the food stuffs they badly require.
Muni, a rather portly , middle aged
gentleman, made the journey to Norung ,as promised to make various adjustments
and to take 10 more lights for families that had divided and not been
counted in the first estimate. Here is an exert from his recent email:-
“ The travel from Lamidanda to Norung was
really enjoying. I climbed hill with all my legs and hands near Kol Danda and
Norung. The heart bit was 144 per minute I measured while we were stopped for
breathing. In the late evening even after 3 hours of rest it was 120. It was a
real experience in my life. Thanks god, I came home alive. It was really
difficult as I did not have habit climbing.”
Thank God indeed!
Sadly, we hear that Sarina lost her baby at the
end of January. One can’t help but wonder if with the level of care we
enjoy here, this might have been avoided.
Anyone interested in visiting this beautiful area (where trekkers are extremely rare) to take light to a neighbouring village, email faith@luxtreks.com