Day 6 - Building a Spring Box
It was another exhausting, but great day. We skipped breakfast and left the hotel at 6AM with a goal to be in Kabilash by 8AM. Even though we made a few stops, we arrived by 8:30AM. Each time we head out of Kathmandu we see people gathered around pubic wells fetching water, similar to what we see in Haiti and Honduras. Today, we stopped to buy some fried Nepali-style doughnuts across the street from a public well. We decided to do a water test. The crowd of people fetching water in brass or aluminum canisters immediately took an interest in what we were doing. Rick sampled the water, Jeff took notes, Cordella took GPS points and photos, and Madhav explained the water test to everyone. It was also an opportune time to explain the importance of sanitation and clean water. The locals said no one had ever tested the water for them. The test came out fine and then they asked us to go down to the bottom of the hill to test the well at the small water plant that supplies most of the area. We asked permission from the manager and then we climbed to the top of the tank and tested the water with our hydro lab and we took water samples. The water had high calcium which makes the water hard but, other than, that it tested fine - no contaminates. Our 10-minute stop for doughnuts turned into a 30-minute water test. Back on the road, we climbed the mountain road to Kabilash. There is one particular point where the road is dirt. At this point, the road was flooded, muddy, and difficult to cross, but our skilled driver made it without too much difficulty. Nevertheless, it's still a white knuckle 4x4 experience next to a 300-foot cliff. We continued the rest of the way to Kabilash and then stopped to buy some supplies. The hardware vendor sold us 300-feet of pipe. Finally, we had some water pipe! We continued on to the village, but first we stopped for breakfast at the mayor’s house. This was a very important visit. We shared a cup of hot Masala milk tea. We thoroughly enjoyed the delicious breakfast made for us by his wife. We were offered a second helping of breakfast which Cordella was more than happy to accept. Nepali's, like many other cultures, take pride in offering a meal to visitors. Greg Mortenson's book, “Three Cups of Tea”, explained the Baltistan custom of sharing 3 cups of tea: transitioning from stranger to honored guest to “family”. While it is not a literal three cups of tea that catapult a visitor from “stranger to family”, symbolically it emphasizes the importance of time investment to learn about the culture in which you are a visitor. And they, in turn, learn about you.
After breakfast, the mayor gave us the wire frame, ready as promised, to use in constructing the concrete spring box and then we climbed the last bit of dirt road into the village at the top of the mountain where a crew was waiting. We laid out our plans and hiked to the water source. Men carried water pipe, cement, corrugated metal sheets, the wooden frame for our concrete spring box, and our backpacks. The hike to the water source takes us about 45 minutes. The final part of the hike is climbing the rice terraces to a spot about 50 feet above the trail. The men quickly got to work removing rock and building a small earthen dam to divert water away from where we were working. As the ground dried, they installed the wooden and rebar forms for the spring box (the villagers call it a “catman”). Jeff led them on how to place rocks, gravel, sand and additional rebar to ensure a strong box. Then they mixed concrete by hand-mixing cement, gravel, sand and water. They hand carried each load, carefully dropping it into the form, and over 2 hours the work was completed. We expect it will take 3 days for the concrete to fully cure, at which time they will remove the form and begin connecting lengths of pipe we hope to have delivered in the next few days. After completing the box, we celebrated, took pictures, and then started walking back to the village. As we walked, Madhav pointed out other villages in need of help. Overall, there are 6 village projects affecting the drinking water for more than 3,000 people in the area. We are a small group with limited resources but we will scope out future efforts we hope to be able to assist on over the next year. We walked back to the village, handed out a few gifts we brought: t-shirts, flashlights, and candy. The crew wouldn't accept payment for their effort, but we managed to give each man money to buy dinner. The men we are working with are very hard workers, they take pride in helping their community, and we try our best to observe local customs. We thought we were finished, but Madhav had one more item in the plan. Madhav and Cordella walked to the house where Madhav was born, while Jeff and Rick walked to another water source and observed a community in need of assistance. It was one more exhausting walk through 3 terraced rice fields for Jeff and Rick. At the end of the walk, after taking water samples, they stopped at the home of one of the men. His wife had prepared masala milk tea, which was very hot. Despite us being tired and sweaty, the tea was very refreshing. We shared a cup of tea and then Jeff and Rick walked down several more rice terraces to meet up with Cordella and Madhav. The four of us walked further down the hill where the driver was waiting with the SUV ready to head back to Kathmandu. The 2.5 hour drive went by quickly and we were back to the hotel by 9:45PM. We paid the driver for 3 days work, ordered dinner, ran to our rooms, and came back down to the dining room for a very late dinner. Our legs can barely move, we ache, but we feel good about what we accomplished. Tomorrow we’ll sleep in for the first time since arriving in Nepal. But not for long – we need to take a taxi into the city to purchase the pipe and arrange delivery. Then, we head out for a 3-day adventure to the higher elevation of Mustang Valley. Upon our return, we hope to make one more drive to Kabilash to check on the progress and delivery of the pipe.Food Notes:
1) Breakfast at the mayor’s house: dal bhat (dal: soup made with black lentils, bhat: rice), tarkari (vegetable curry ⇒ spinach/pumpkin greens/green beans), chutney (delicious and only a little spicy), masala milk tea, and black tea
2) Madhav noted that it was a big compliment to the mayor’s wife that Cordella had a second helping of breakfast. One helping is sufficient (and expected). Having more is an indication that you really like the food and that you acknowledge the work in preparing the meal.
You've read this far so you must really be interested in knowing about our experience in Kabilash - thank you. In addition to the earthquake, the sudden death of our son Eric was inspiration for this project. Eric was adventurous and quick to make a meaningful friendship. He would have made so many friends in Kabilash. While Cordella and I stood in the rice terrace adjacent to where the springbox was being built, we paused, cried and remembered Eric. I took out a golf ball from my backpack, showed it to Cordella and then tossed as far as I could. Jeff has mentioned more than once how incredible it would be to play a round of gold from some of these beautiful green terraces. Well, Eric can now claim he had the first lost ball in the Kabilash.
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