Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V. looks back at the past year 2022

Looking back is obligatory in the last days of a year. This is also the case for Nepalhilfe Beilngries. This time, the focus is on the two-week lasting trip in November, which took place for the first time in three years.  In their luggage, the quartet had a jumble of talking points, pre-set appointments, relief supplies and orders. 

Two full weeks

It had already become clear in the run-up to the visit that, despite the multitude of modern communication possibilities, there is no substitute for a personal conversation, a handshake or a hug. They are an elementary component of close and efficient cooperation. This realisation was confirmed by more than forty meetings in the various regions of the country where Nepalhilfe is now present. For the First Chairperson Manfred Lindner, Roman Meier as well as Karin and Oliver Stahn, it was often not the appointments themselves that were the challenge, but the paths and roads before they reached the people they were talking to. Pre-programmed short stays became time-consuming and nerve-wracking tours.

This report will not, as usual, deal with the opening of newly constructed buildings or the handing over of relief goods and vehicles. Instead, the focus will be on the involved people. This begins with Oliver and Karin Stahn, two new members of the Nepalhilfe Beilngries team, for whom it was their first working visit. Both had already gained experience in Nepal before, which helped to avoid various "surprises". As they freely confessed after their return, their heads were spinning every evening with the multitude of school names, people and places they met.

The people behind the projects

Further the people in Nepal themselves whom should given  a platform here. On the very first day of the visit, a group of four from the Humla region in the far west awaited the people from Beilngries. They had taken a five-day journey to meet the visitors from Bavaria, who are currently financing two new school buildings in their remote homeland. Afterwards, they travelled by intercity bus and on foot back to the village of Tanjakot, almost 900 km away.

This was followed by a three-day trip to the Sindhupalhok district where most of the facilities financed by Nepalhilfe are located. In Thulosirubari, the 17-year-old student Prakriti Dulal took the opportunity to make a well-prepared speech in which she asked for a donation for the school trip that had been cancelled three years ago. Spontaneously, the guests handed over 800 Euros. 

During the visit to the Kubinde health post, which was put into operation a year ago, they met 75-year-old Shree Bahadur Nepal, who had donated half of the 1300 m2 area. He was literally bursting with joy and pride on this special day.  There are about 500 patients a month for whom the Health Post is a contact point that serves as a model for the region, as the local politicians explained.

Then there was Sima Bandari, the pricipal of the Samaj Bikash School in Khale, who could not hold back the tears during her speech because of the knowledge that the newly built school could be realised with the support from Germany. As the 32-year-old said, 180 boys and girls are currently being taught there. Manfred Lindner also used this visit as an opportunity to point out that the population is responsible for the future maintenance of the building. A criterion that has already been addressed in the past with regard to the large number of building projects that have already been completed, but which unfortunately does not always find resonance. 

In southern Nepal, there were visits in and around the city of Kawasoti. For example, at the Madhyabindu Campus. The school is attended by 3200 boys and girls, more than half of them girls. At the handover of two school busses, 17-year-old Purnika Gurung spoke from their ranks and emphasised how important these means of transport are for her and her fellow girls in terms of feeling safe. Because of the two-shift school system, they used to have to walk in darkness to or from school in the morning or in the evening. This has come to an end with the use of the busses. Beside of this, the catchment area to the campus has been extended to 40 kilometres. 

The future district hospital, which is currently under construction, is the only drop of bitterness  during this trip, because the structural deficiencies and inadequacies in the planning are so glaring that, in consultation with all partners involved in the construction, a temporary construction stop was agreed.  While still in Nepal, thanks to the long-standing connection with Shyam Dhaubadel, the director of the Siddhi Memorial Hospital in Bhaktapur, initial contacts were made with a competent architectural office in Kathmandu that explicitly deals with construction measures such as those in Kawasoti and which has already started corrective measures. 

Moving moments at the day care centre in Lubhu

A moving and certainly lasting moment for the group was the visit to the day care centre for people with mental and/or physical disabilities in Lubhu. Here, the hand over of flowers and presents from the hands of the cared-for people had a special significance, as Roman Meier candidly admits. Since December 2021, 17 people between the ages of 5 and 35 have been receiving daily care there under the alternating care of their parents. The intention is to take in another ten. In order to expand the catchment area, there will also be overnight accommodation in the house in the future. Rajan Suwal will take care of the individual therapy options. The former resident of the Shaligram Children's Home, which is only a few hundred metres away, has established himself professionally in Kathmandu after completing his training as a physiotherapist in India. He still feels closely connected to Nepalhilfe Beilngries, which opened up all these opportunities for him. In the future, he will give something back.

In the Shaligram Children's House, mentioned above, the 21-year-old Radha Devi Maka and 24-year-old Pasang Sonam Sherpa are preparing for their work in the catering industry in Beilngries. The hotel "Die Gams" would provide them with an apprenticeship. At the moment, both are learning German at the Goethe Institute in Kathmandu in order to start their apprenticeship this autumn after successfully passing the exam. 

Finally the focus is on the future. With the proven and close cooperation with Sunil Shrestha and Shyam Pandit, which was once again demonstrated in the planning and coordination of the two-week trip, they will continue to realise  upcoming challenges. Both have been supported by Gupta Bahadur Bandari and Sakar Lamichane for a year now. For further information, please visit www.nepalhilfe-beilngries.de.