Flight Home

I live directly south of the Mansfield VOR beacon. It is a reporting point for western and northern (polar)  inbound air traffic to Pearson (CYYZ). In the summer  I watch planes approaching the control zone from my back yard. With today’s technology I can instantly find out the Airline, type of plane, where it originated, when it took off,  track its completed route/speed/ altitude, and even find out what runway it’s going to land on. 

Many times I look up and wonder about the people on those flights coming in from long haul Asian points of origin. This time one of them will be me.

If we take the same Great Circle route back to Toronto as the way we came, we will climb out and start our long Asian trek over mainland China over Hunan Province, onward to the Yin Mountains; over the Mongolian and the Central Siberian Plateau; then we will head out over the Arctic Ocean. We will dissect the western side of Greenland and enter Canadian airspace somewhere between Baffin Bay and the Davis Straight.  Our last southerly leg to Southern Ontario will take us over, or beside, Hudson’s Bay . 

That is if we follow the same track home. Our route may be entirely different depending on the jet stream and a prediction of mor favourable tail winds. We are just as likely to take an entirely different route arriving on the North American continent  over the Alaskan Panhandle (or even more farther south).

Either way I am reasonably certain that we will start our descent to Toronto somewhere just north of the Bruce Peninsula. After 20-25 minutes and at an altitude of 10,000 feet this plane will be crossing directly overhead Mulmur Township where I live. Another fifteen minutes (plus/minus)  and we will be at the gate with that all too familiar sound, click click click…,click,,, (seatbelts).

Home.

(Robin track my flight for status and pick up thanks).

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CPA826/history/20121208/0845Z/VHHH/CYYZ

The Lottery of Life

If I was born a cow instead of a human I think my choice of residence would have to be Kathmandu.

By far I have seen more cows in Kathmandu than I did on all my field visits of dairy cooperatives in Makawanpur and Lalitpur.

Consider this; as a cow in Kathmandu I am free and I am sacred. I have seen cows travel in packs, and on their own. I have seen them happily stealing from market stalls and restaurants. On one memorable occasion I saw two of them racing through an alley way, the lead cow with some sort of packaged box hanging by a string from its mouth, and behind  them the rightful owner chasing them with a stick; a lost cause for him once they entered the crowded thoroughfare. They seem to own the place.

As a cow I am not chained or fenced in here. So far as I can tell I am free to roam the entire Kathmandu valley, an area that is almost precisely the same geographic foot print of a standard sized Ontario township.

Being a ruminant my preference would be grains, hay, silage I suppose. But in Kathmandu I have seen cows feasting on a variety of food sources. In fact as a cow, I think Kathmandu would be the pinnacle of food diversity and sophistication. They are most often seen rummaging through heaps of garbage that is piled everywhere (and anywhere). From a cow's perspective this is a magnificent 'city-wide buffet' of sorts really.

And there is every variety of cow in Kathmandu (although the predominant breed appears to be a hybrid jersey of some sort). I don’t know their age expectancy or if they reach their maximum weight potential. But to me they appear healthy – far more so than the rib, bone and skin version you see in central America. Whether a result of pedigree or not, it is true they are not nearly the size of prize cattle you would see at any typical  fall fair. They kind of look and act like large pets.

I swear they are smiling.

Above all as a cow I am safe. Although there are more than 100 reported vehicular collisions a day in Kathmandu, very rarely is a cow involved. Motorists are keen to dodge them. Its not the physical damage (every vehicle here has dents and scratches). Rather, there is a reverse onus of liability owed to the owner of the cow if its damaged or destroyed. And this is something that could cost a relatively large sum to the average Nepalese.

Where the per-capita income annual income is less than $500 per year; in a country ranked 145^th out of 153 countries on the UN’s 2008 Human Development Index; where a quarter of the population lives on less than a dollar a day and more than one in twenty children die before they reach their fifth birthday…, In a strange paradoxical way it makes you think about who won the lottery of life.

  

Flying High

After returning to Kathmandu, my next set of meetings are not for a couple of days in nearby Lalitpur. I have been working non-stop (weekends included) so I have taken a couple of days to fly over to Pokhora - 200 ks on YetiAir.

Pokhora is a city of 300,000 very close to the base of the Himilayan Mountains and world renowned for its trekking opportunities (it is the picture on my blog in fact.)

A colleague told me if I got the opportunity I should definitely powerglide Pokhora. I am not a paraglider but I took up his advice. Wow.

After a treacherous jeep ride up to a 3000 ft peak, the take off area is a downward slope of about 15 degrees, then a drop of 500 ft to the tree canopy.

“Jeff, the most dangerous part is the take off, just keep running and don’t sit down or jump, just keep running.” Over a cliff. The pilot speaks very little English but it is clearly obvious he has rehearsed this part many many times.

Waiting for a favourable headwind, waiting, waiting, waiting. Ok Go Go Go!!!! I ran and ran. (Eyes closed).

The MOST HAIR RAISING AND SCARY EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE.

My son insisted I take his Go Pro camera and glad I did. I have a movie that I will cherish forever. In the meantime here are some pic’s I took preparing and aloft.  



At this point I am petrified





Aloft!

 


Annapurna Range, with Fishtail Mountain in center view (Max the HD footage I have is AWESOME!!!) 



Workshop

  

It’s embarrassing to recall that I once jockingly mocked my mother in law who knit countless mittens for children in developing countries; ‘Mavis, even if you knit until the cows come home you can’t possibly hope to make a dent’. My wife told me that she felt her mother made mittens because every time she saw an impoverished child in a picture or on TV her fingers got cold. I think what she did was simply driven out of something in her heart; if you could make one child somewhere happy by providing them with a pair of mittens, you had changed that single person’s life in a positive way. And there has to be something good about that.

Most experts on world poverty believe that the social and economic inclusion of women and disadvantaged groups is a key enabler to improving local communities and ending the cycle of poverty.  Although descrimination against certain castes and women has been legislated against in Nepal, in much of the nation outside Kathmandu a rigid and ancient social order retains its stubborn grip*.   Working in rural Nepal I think I have been on the very frontier of this issue. And sometimes I wonder if I have really been successful at making a meaningful impact.

Yesterday I hosted a workshop for 25 local cooperative representatives which focused on how to bring access to insurance programs to small farmers. Following a report by the World Bank in 2009, there is a pressing need to bring technical skills and knowledge to "scale up" mutual insurance schemes in the agricultural sector of Nepal. Even without many of the things we take for granted in Canada, like a stable political and legal environment, Nepalese have a burning desire to build their own capacity and find ways to collectively protect themselves against loss. 

It is a monumental and daunting task, but I guess the workshop for members of the local cooperatives in the Hetauda region is a start.  

DCMPU Workshop- winners of a Canadian Toque in the Nepal/Canada Dairy Knowledge Quiz



* More about what is the Caste system at; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_Nepal

On the face of it...,

I have been stationed in Hetaudu with Praveen since last Thursday. We present a workshop tomorrow (Sunday) then Monday we return to Kathmandu.

Before coming to Hetaudu the CECI staff briefed me on a few things about where I would be staying, including the fact that there will be very few foriegners. They were right. In fact for the duration of my stay in the gated hotel where we reside the only people of non Nepal descent are Chinese nationals. There were a couple of French people in the beginning for one night but I think they were lost.

Particularly in the rural areas surrrounding Hetaudu I am a novelty. I was advised there is no ill intent and by the smiles I get I know this is true. I have amassed a lot of photographs and video, but with the unreliable internet here (even in the space of these three paragraphs I have had 10 various warnings), I can only post a few here.

While the city of is not a tourism mecca by any stretch, it does offer easy retreat to rural Nepal. The contrast between the rich colouHetaudu rs of the Nepal countryside and the beautiful faces (and smiles) is a memorable experience. 









This boy followed us for at least a kilometer. In Nepal, people know how to smile!





Rural Nepal especially at this time of year offers some of the most amazing colours and contrasts



Camion Pour Lait

C’est le camion DMPCU qui transporte le lait. Il a fallu plusieurs jours pour recueillir la quantité de lait nécessaire à le remplir. Le lait provient de nombreuses coopératives laitières disséminées dans les collines et les régions qui se trouvent autour de Hetauda et il a été transporté à la main depuis la ferme d’origine, puis par petits véhicules ou en moto jusqu’ici. Il a été maintenu réfrigéré pour son dernier voyage sur le marché de Katmandou.

Compte tenu de la distance parcourue et le temps qu’il a fallu pour produire ce lait, il est déjà précieux. Et son voyage ne fait que commencer…

Le chauffeur de camion ne prendra pas la route plus courte de 3 heures par les montagnes. S’il le faisait, le temps qu’il arrive à la première pente, le lait serait déjà caillé. Au lieu de cela, il prendra la route dans la direction inverse pour aller vers l’ouest sur l’autoroute Est-Ouest en passant par Basamadi et Ratnanager. Au bout de 2 ou 3 heures, il arrivera à Bharatpur et c’est seulement après qu’il se dirigera vers le Nord-est pour « rejoindre », nous espérons, sa destination dans les 6 heures prévues. Dans la plus grande partie du Canada, ce trajet pourrait être fait en 45 minutes, une heure – ou même plus vite si vous ne respectez pas la limite de vitesse indiquée.

Que ce soit à pied, en voiture, en camion, à moto ou en rickshaw, les Népalais utilisent le terme « atteindre » chaque fois qu’ils parlent de temps et de distance, comme si on devait décrire le temps qu’il nous faut pour arriver quelque part ou l’heure à laquelle nous espérons y arriver. Je trouve de plus en plus que cette façon d’utiliser le mot relève d’une intelligence convaincante. Le mot « joindre » implique pour moi effort, contrainte, obstacles et dangers à venir, et la réelle possibilité que vous ne pourrez pas arriver à votre destination à l’heure où vous pensiez y arriver, ou que vous n’y arriverez même pas du tout.

De son point culminant de près de 9.000 mètres à son point le plus bas de moins de 100 mètres d’altitude, la topographie du Népal offre quelques-uns des plus étonnants paysages montagneux. Néanmoins, elle présente également ce qu’on devrait considérer comme quelques-uns des plus grands défis d’économie et d’infrastructure connus de l’humanité moderne.

Milk Truck

This is the DMPCU Milk Truck. It has taken several days to collect the amount of milk needed to fill it. Milk has come from a number of primary dairy cooperatives scattered throughout the hills and regions surrounding Hetauda, brought by hand from the original farm, then by small vehicle or motorcycle here. It has been kept chilled for the final trip to market; Kathmandu.

Considering how far it has travelled and what it took to produce it this milk is already precious. And the trip has just begun.

The driver will not travel the shorter 3 hour route we took over the mountains. If he did, by the time he got to the first incline the milk will have been churned to curds. Instead, he will commence by travelling in almost the opposite direction westbound on the East West Highway through Basamadi  and Ratna Nager. After 2 or 3 hours he will pass Bharatpur and only then he will start making any real directional progress back north east, to “reach” his destination, hopefully within the anticipated 6 hours. In much of Canada this trip can be achieved in 45 minutes to an hour- faster if you disobey the speed limit.  

Whether by foot, car, truck, motorcycle or rickshaw, Nepalese use the term “reach” whenever discussing the measure of time and distance, the same way we would describe how long it takes to get somewhere, or when we expect to arrive. Increasingly I find its use has a compelling intelligence about it. Reach implies to me effort, strain, overcoming obstacles, hazard, and the very real possibility that you may not get to your destination when you thought you would, or even at all. 

From its highest peak of nearly 9000 meters, to its lowest point less than 100 meters above sea level, Nepal’s rich topography provides some of the world’s most stunning mountain scenery. However it also poses what must be some of the most daunting economic and infrastructure challenges known to modern mankind.

Elaborate interior of truck- very typical.



Prepping Milk and Testing Equipment




Milk comes and goes in extraordinary forms of transportation- whatever works, I guess



Its all Nepalese To Me - इट्स ऑल नापेलेसे तो

थिस इस द नपोलिसे चोन्त्रच्त इन्फोर्मेशन तहत वे हवे तो ट्रांस्लाते इन ओर्देर तो चोम्परे इत तो द चनादियन कोन्तेक्ष्त इत इस फुच्किंग बोरिंग। तहत इस फोरे सुरे

(This is the Insurance Regulation and information that we have to translate in order to compare it to the Canadian context. Workshop with Coop board members and management next week. Its all Greek, I mean, Napelese to me).

A Long Way to Go

A key aspect of my mandate is visiting small rural remote Milk Cooperatives throughout the catchement area of Hetauda. Over the past three days I have been travelling with Praveen (Intern) and Niraz (Accountant for the central Coop). I am stared at constently. I am told that everyone who sees 'that foriegner' travelling up into the hills is talking about it at the dinner table that night. The upside is seeing parts of a country that are not frequented by outsiders. I have learned a lot about milk production (and food production) in Nepal. Adequate infrastructure is a recurring theme (more on that later).

 

Small motorcylces and South Central Asia are like peanut butter and jelly. Its hard to have one without the other. Its a prime means of transport throughout this entire continent, and Nepal is no exception. A typical scene is a man (with helmut) and a female, one passenger, and baggage. The law requiring only the driver to wear a helmut is bizarre; before the Maoist insurgency the law was universal. However to avoid covert transport of militants and to bring transparency, the law was reversed for passengers. It has not been reinstated. 

Overseas workers in Southeast Asia are discouraged from using motorcycles, and public transport in general. Frankly with my mandate and where I am stationed that is more or less a joke.


Me and Niraz's bike (he is nervous I think)



Praveen takes a selfee on route- there are three of us on this by the way (Robin- I am driving, wearing the helmut). Only in Asia.



Until the Nepal market was flooded with cheap Indian made wannabe Honda's and Yamahas over the last 20-30 years or so  (ie less than 500cc- that's the law in Nepal) milk transport was the old fashioned way- by foot or by mule. The good news for highland food producers is that its all down hill from here.

Coming home from a visit to  Chandrasurya Milk Producer Cooperative

Its 4:30 AM. There's a guy that starts singing at the top of his lungs

Every morning, at about this time in a low droll. He wakes up the roosters.

Its really annoying.

Praveen tells me he is a local cleric of some order bestowing important religious messages for the coming day. Yesterday I asked him what is he saying. Even though his room is right beside mine, he says he doesn't know; he can sleep through it.

Sent from my Blackberry Wireless Handheld

Friends in High Places

Friends in High Places

The southern third of Nepal is known as the Terai. It is the fertile flat plain below the Himalayas that constitutes the northern edge of the Indian continent. It can get hot in the Terai and absent of a winter freeze cycle the climate is sub tropic. I have travelled to Chitwan National Park, a world heritage sight for its wildlife, including elephant tiger, rhino, croc…, Its hard to imagine that a few days ago I was actually cold in Kathmandu.

The General Manager of the Cooperative partner organization I am working with is Kumar Dahal and he says he ‘knows someone’ who can get us good lodging and advice. We take him up on it.

Basu Bidari is Kumar’s cousin and has been associated as a guide in the park for over 15 years. ‘You don’t have much time but if you want tomorrow I will take you hiking on a good trail to see some birds’. Not as exciting for Praveen but I am a budding birder so- good for me! Later we spin by the Elephant birthing center and on arrival find that a wild male has broken into the compound to mate with one of the females. These animals can be incredibly aggressive when they are courting, and everone provides adequate space.




Guards for Poachers- a problem in Chitwan for illegal harvesting of Rhinos used in Chinese medicine.

 



Basu the birder and me

 



Bull that has broken into compound- very dangerous in this state



Money Matters (?)

This morning I am woken with an urgent text from the bank. There is a possibility that my financial accounts have been compromised. Oh no! The thought of trying to manage a financial issue half a world away.., concerning and stressful for sure. I phone the number that they have given me and begin what I am sure will be a long drawn out process. Good news, between my wife and I in a matter of minutes the problem is solved. Phew.

Today we work on policy documents and Napelese contract law for several hours, then we decide to travel to Chitwan National Park this evening to stay in the Terai* for Saturday.

Praveen, a 25 year old CECI Intern and a graduate of Tribhuvan University with a Masters Degree has been asssigned to work with me on my mandate and is living with me in Hetaudu. He has been my translater, interpreter, guide, secretary, writer. He has taught me about Nepalese norms, etiquette and negotiated finding everything from the right restaurant, to where is the nearest western style washroom (with toilet paper).  On at least three occasions he has saved me from certain collision with crazy Napel road traffic. Strict Nepalese discipline requires that he pay respect to me on a superior level, however, I have convinced him to somehow treat me as his level friend and colleague.

In a rikshaw on the way to get the public bus to Chitwan he is anxious that we don't overspend and we only stay in one hotel room. I tell him don't worry I will pay- but he still feels compelled to save the money. I smile and jokingly ask him, "when you go to heaven do you take your money"? He and I both have a chuckle. He says that in his culture there is a belief that  when you have money - yes- it can be good, but it also, it can be bad because you may end up loosing sight of humanity and be guided only by the money.

An interesting contrast in perspectives I guess.

 



 
*More on the Terrai later.

My First Day at Work

An introduction into an organization in Nepal is quite different than anything I have experienced in Canada. On arriving in Hetauda we had an appointment at 2:00 to meet the Chairman, Secretary, Accountant, and some of the employees of the dairy cooperative.  I am anxious for my CECI handlers to get me to the meeting on time. They take a more casual approach but adjust to my anxiousness and we arrive at two. But the meeting starts much later than that.

The dimension of time is different in depending on culture. In North America we view time in a "Linear" way, meaning there is a beginning and an end and the importance of a time framework, like meeting times. In other cultures time is "Cyclical" placing much less focus on a beginning and an end. What can't be done today can be done tomorrow*.

Niether is better or worse, what needs to get done gets done, just at a different pace. With rolling blackouts and a myriad of other hurdles that face the Nepalese it helps to explain their tolerance and amazing resilience that I am finding so pervaisive in their culture.

I am presented with a Tikka and a gift, welcoming me into the work family. The most common Tikka is red powder applied with the thumb, in a single upward stroke. It is a blessing and honour bestowed on a person entering the working family of an organization in Nepal. 

*For more about understanding the difference between cyclical time versus linear time go to http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt44267.html

Catching a Ride to Hetauda

Hetauda is a small city in the south of Nepal, close to the India border. It is the headquarters of the District Milk Producer Cooperative Union where I will be for the balance of my mandate, 8 days. It is 42 kilometers between Kathmandu and Hetauda, which is exactly the distance between Orangeville and Guelph as the crow flies.

Sashi loaded the jeep at 8:15, to pick up Babina  (Assistant Program Officer) and Proeveen (intern and my translater for the next 8 days). We get to Hetauda just in time for lunch.

The one lane road between Katmandhu and Hetauda is swolen with vehicles full to the brim with people (and sometimes tops of vehicles too) including buses, vans, motorcylces, and things that resemble the three wheel English postal service vehicles from the 1950's. Katmandhu has exploded in population over the last 10 -15 years- by almost twice its original size, and today people are returning from visiting their friends and families from the festival of lights the week prior to this. This route is seldom used by anyone other than the local Napalese travelling between the two cities. I thought Kathmandu was crowded when I arrived there two days ago. I can't fatham what it will be like when I return.

Dodging oncoming vehicles, animals, pedestrians, on hair pin curves with cliffs 500+ meters (and no guardrails) Sashi tells me the trip takes 3 hours even at the best of times. His driving is a lesson in precision, but it must be tiring. Sometimes paved, sometimes strewn with bolders the size of small small dogs, in some areas because of shifting earth and landslides it is a beaten down track.

The scenery is absolutely stunning; terraced rice padies of the most vibrant colour green, ancient villages with original mud brick houses, souring vistas of the distant Himalayas beyind the Kathmandu valley, thick sub tropic tree canopy.

Nepal is beautiful.

Namaste!

Napalese great eachother by joining their hands together and saying Namaste!* I have begun to be comfortable with this ritual already,  because it is used all the time, including the numerous occasions I was introduced to many many people today.

While it was pitch black coming to the Passage House last night, this morning it was bright sun. How does one describe their first impression of Kathmandhu? hm..., blooming flowers everywhere, dust and grime, dogs, busy people, road side stores and stands on every street, children and more children.

First order of business was going to see the Doctor. No, I haven't gotten sick (yet). Its a requirement for international development work. On the way to the clinic I could definitely get a sense of the city's electrical infrastructure - and one of the reasons for mandated power outages.

While the electrical grid makes it appear its chaos everywhere, it is not. It is simply coped with. Napalese and particularly the people I have been working with at CECI have a resiliency and tolerance that is undeniable. And, frankly, enviable.

After debriefing on CECI's role, Uniterra program, touring the facitlities and a meeting with Kesheva Koirala the CECI-Nepal Country Representative, its out for dinner with a couple of ex-pats staying here for 6 months, and home to bed because..., tomorrow I leave for Hetaudu.

(*"Napalese believe that there is a God within each human being. Namaste is saying: I pay respect to the God within you".)

Airport in Kathmandhu

While Hong Kong's transportation runs like a charm, Kathmandhu is a little different. A good flight in and then a crash landing into airport bureaucracy: first a line up for to pay for a visa, then a line up to present the visa, a line up to get baggage (I will never complain about Pearson again- promise), then a line up to go through customs.

Out in front of the terminal I find Sashi driver for CECI in a sea of cabies peddling for fares.  He guides me to the Toyota Jeep and in with a smile puts a yellow scarf around my neck "welcome to Nepal". Wow.

Everything is dark. A scheduled rolling black out. 8 kilometers of twisting lanes and impossible inclines we approach our district. Uh ho, a pack of dogs and two cows are feasting on a pile of garbage. A couple of beeps, a dart with the press of the accelerator, animals scatter and we are down the road to the Passage House. Its 12 AM. No sleep for two days. Here now.

You can live a life in a day in Hong Kong

I arrived safely today in Hong Kong after a 15 hour uneventful but cramped flight from Toronto. Hong Kong airport and transportation runs like a swiss watch. A quick shave, wash and change of clothes in immaculate washroom facilities and before I knew it I was whisked downtown and was exiting Hong Kong station- 7:30 AM- Rush hour-  Hong Kong style. A very fast city. Wow. Warm and humid (25C) and very smoggy. Its not uncommon to see people wearing a mouth protector. But the architecture - holy smokes- unbelievable. 

First stop was The Peak which is 1400 feet ascent on a rickety trolley train built in 1886. The city from this vantage point is clouded in smog- pollution from mainland China. Back to Central Station, a quick lunch and then caught a ferry across from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. The ferry driver's big task is negotiating through a myriad of small and large craft. 

Kowloon is a labyrinth of tiny streets selling everything you can imagine. I could get a suit made in 5 minutes if I wanted, to a foot message for 5$ HK (very popular!!!)...,

On my return it's easy to see how this city got its reputation - as in  "made in Hong Kong"- containers and containers as far as you can see. Factoid- of the 10 largest container ports in the world, 6 of them are in China and Hong Kong ranks third (running up next to Singapore and Shanghai (#1) (National Geographic).

On my way to Katmandhu. In the meantime some shots taken;