"Today is the most interesting day of my life". Quoted from a young Nepali volunteer.

What can he mean? " Today is the most interesting day of my life". As I talked to Simon about this quote on Facebook the answer began to dawn. What do you think?

Anju and Manoj. Smiles to remember.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to set off for a long clamber up the hillside with these two lovely young people. Anju is one of our new Community Mobilisers and Manoj a Youth Volunteer with our Dfid Emergency Education, 3 month, project. We were heading for the village of Khache, high up on a hill surrounded by dense jungle. We were going to look at a little village school who need some help. 

A well camouflaged lizard darted across our path.

The heat of the day, 30 degrees in the shade, and a humid atmosphere, about 80% relative humidity, soon had me dripping but it certainly encouraged a lot of butterfly activity. Most were too hard to capture, but with apologies to Colin (a professional wildlife photographer friend), these might give you a little idea of their beauty.

Courtship gave me a chance to get closer. Sadly I could not catch them in flight. The colours are almost dull when still!

Territorial dispute?

Thank goodness that there is so much to see on the way up these arduous slopes. The goats come from an intensive pallan (farm), certainly by local standards. I cannot understand why goats are not milked here. I am told that culturally Nepali people do not like goat's milk. The forage is perfect and the potential for cheese making would provide an ideal source of good protein especially in these isolated villages. Not everyone can afford a buffalo, or have the space, but most families have a few goats. Perhaps they should try!

As we passed, the goat herder picked up his wooden flute. A wonderful mystical sound.

As we got nearer to Khache we came upon a square structure that I thought must be some kind of kiln. However there was no sign of pots or bricks. 

There were signs of a big fire, now cold.

This poor chap had been fast asleep until Manoj climbed up a ladder to have a better look!

Any ideas? This next photo might give you a clue? Although not obvious to me at first.

At the bottom of this lush little dell was cardamom. 

Cardamom has been recently planted in this area and has given an excellent cash income for local farmers. I hadn't realised that the cardamom plant is a root with pods full of seeds. I think that this is black cardamom which is the longest and productive variety with many positive properties and usages.

 Nearly three and a half hours from Besishahar, and 2 hours or more from the river, we arrived at the village. I have long been intrigued by the little holes that give honey bees access to houses. I asked Manoj if he would inquire if I could go in to see what lay within.

The bees entrance on the side of a house.

And the hidden hive from inside. A wooden board has been removed for a closer look.

A close-up for Emily. Amazingly calm bees, thank goodness!

Downstairs there was cheese drying. 

 The cheese is made from buffalo milk which is very high in fat. Some of this is dried, cut into small cubes for further drying. The result a very smokey hard cube which you have in your mouth for some time. Full of energy I am sure but a bit of an acquired taste.

We carry on up. Schools are usually high up above the villages. Flat spaces are at a premium although most are not designed for ball games. We arrive and this strange old bideshi woman gets a few suspicious looks.

Friend or foe? They don't take long until curiosity wins the day!

 I am so impressed with this school community and it's resilience. While many people have been slow to make their schools safe from potential falling stones this Tamang village has gone one step further. This was a two storey building. They have taken the top floor down, lowered the roof and filled in the holes with mud plaster. This has made a safe, if tiny, space to continue with school activities.

The rear wall with a large crack.

Hard to see in this photo but as I looked in I felt as if this classroom was on the move downhill.

Manoj pacing out a potential space for a new semi-permanent classroom.

.....and enjoying a good session of brick work!

Head, shoulders, knees and toes goes down well.

The Hokey Cokey was a huge success!!

The laughter was caught on video.

The only train in Nepal!!

 As we left the school for the long, and knee testing, downward walk we had time to talk. This little community certainly deserve some help. The Dfid funded short term project has been set up to build semi-permanent classrooms in damaged schools and provide teacher training, learning resources and psycho-social support. There will be some challenges here. One significant one is access. At the moment the little track is inaccessible for the tractor that we will hire to carry the material. The climb of 2 to 3 hours from the river below would be a huge problem for transporting the steel frame and roofing materials. As we passed a local farmer I encouraged Manoj to ask his opinion. In a months time it might be possible, when the worst of the monsoon is over and the locals can fill in the ruts and remove landslide debris. The timescale will be very tight but where there's a will there's a way!

Time to reflect on this bit of easy downhill. Most of it needs all of my concentration.

Another school to visit on our return to the valley. Plenty of work here to prepare the site for a classroom.

To return to my introduction and sharing with Simon. Why had Manoj described this as the most interesting day of his life? Well, he has just joined us for this short-term project, straight from school. There is little problem solving in the Nepali educational system, although he has been to one of the best in Besishar. He and Anju had certainly helped to do that. He had been given the opportunity to really think about the challenges of this little Tamang community and was full of admiration at what he had seen, from a relatively privileged position of fortune (not monetary). He had worked alongside not only this old while lady but also a dalit (lower caste) lovely young lady.
The good humoured banter and laughter had been a bonus. Speaking English and bit of Nepali tuition and testing another extra!

Certainly a wonderful day for me. What a privilege to work with such enthusiastic young people. Thank you Anju and Manoj.