Day 2 Kathmandu, Rob's Blog

I will say that my second day in this city was both amazing and trying.  I have been staying with my friend Lt. Colonel Bineya Rana, with whom I have been staying within his beautiful house with his wife Sahdhana.  He took me to the Durban Square, home of many of the kings of Nepal.  With his military connections we were given a special tour.  The architecture alone is outstanding and I have tried to capture photos of the positive and negatives of this city.  The old and the new and even the pollution in the air which you can see in photos that are hazy and the river that smells like a sewer.  The people themselves are disgusted and the government seems powerless to make any changes.  Right now power for the government is being contested by 2 political parties after a 7 years’ war.  I hope they can really learn to work together rather than spending all their time fighting for control.  Met with the community leaders from Bharse where we are planning our work.  Today I take a micro bus, like a van all day to the town of Butwal.  In the morning we will head up by jeep to this remote area and I am excited and a little scared of the challenges I will face.  I always believe you have to face your fears and then you have those I did it experiences that you build your strength from.  On a personal note I had dinner with Hem Pun who you will learn more about and his nephew my good friend LT. Col Prem Pun as well as the Rana's and some others.  There were times they spoke in Nepali and I just listened, and I also was still jet lagged and tired...  Prem who I played tennis with when he served at Central Command introduced me to Hemu Adhikari, who was at the IDS talk, and also to his Uncle Hem Pun.  These connections have been essential in the work we have done.  Thank you Prem.  Enjoy the photos and I will try to get back soon.  Rob