morrisfamilyblog

2009-09-25T02:01:00.006+05:45

This has been a big week for us. We've committed to leasing our own house with mixed feelings - it will be great to have a place of our own, but we've been really spoiled by Pamela's (the friend we have been staying with) kindness (and swimming pool!).

Work is going well, getting budgets done and plans for the coming year completed.

Here are some pics from the last week.

Jude looking very grown up

Evie pulling some big moves on the rope swing

Pizza's on the beach.

Portrait by Evie

Jude developing some good habits.

2009-09-25T01:57:00.004+05:45

We had an outing to the zoo last week

Evie and Jude narrowly escaped from a fierce koala...

A 10 week old Asian elephant

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2009-08-30T17:12:00.004+05:45

We are coming to the end of our third week here, but it seems a lot longer. People have been very friendly, the weather is still great (but people keep warning us that winter is going to make a come back) and we are not getting lost quite so often. Here are a few recent pics:

Jude's hair is still refusing to lie down.

Evie doing some rock climbing

Evie, Elle and Jude making their way to church along Manly beach this morning. Evie is very proud of her new bike which Elle got from a charity shop - knocked down to $6 because the tyres needed pumping up!

Elle and Jude on Shelly beach near Manly. Beautiful spot, but still quite chilly for swimming

Evie on Shelly beach, in full sun protection gear.

2009-08-30T17:07:00.002+05:45

We had INF's annual conference yesterday. About 100 people came from all over the state and it was great to meet a lot of faithful supporters. Elle and I spoke to introduce ourselves, and I also gave a short talk about the organisation's vision: a bit presumptious having only been there two weeks, but had some ood feedback. These pictures show the conference hall, and a couple of Nepali dancers who performed there.

2009-08-12T06:51:00.003+05:45

Nealy a year and half a world away from our last post, Phil, Elle, Evie and Jude find themselves in Sydney, Australia, where Phil is due to take up a new role as Development Director with the International Nepal Fellowship (INF Australia).

We have recieved a great welcome and here are a few pics of our first outing.

Phil and Jude coming into the harbour on the ferry.

Elle, Evie and our host, Pamela walking in the botanical gardens.

Enjoying great views over the harbour despite the very English weather.

2008-12-19T19:55:00.006+05:45

'Interesting' times for us. Firstly, great encouragement from the Doctors during a recent hospital check up for Jude. They are very happy with his progress, and although we still need to be careful about infections, they are confident that he can develop normally. That leaves us slightly confused about our future - Phil is looking for work and we are trying hard to use this time together productively.

The following is a copy of our Christmas newsletter:

Dear friends and family

It has been quite a year for us, with our plans and fears rarely keeping up with events. Our verse for the year is probably Proverbs 16.9: 'In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps'. Here are a few of our steps from the last year...

We came back to the UK in June, and Jude arrived five weeks early on 18^th July 2008. We were so grateful for the excellent NHS care and for so many people from around the world praying for us. This picture shows Evie meeting her little brother and realising that life will never be quite the same again!

What a change four months make – Jude is now three times the size and just starting on solid food. He has a problem with his bladder that prevented us from going back to Nepal, but he is otherwise developing brilliantly. He will continue to have regular scans to keep an eye on the condition.

Evie is growing into a fantastic daughter and a loving big sister, learning new things every day. One of our favourite Evie sayings is 'I am the best me in the world'!

We have really enjoyed this summer, settling back into life in the UK and spending time with family and friends while continuing to support INF. Jude had his first foreign holiday in September, when we drove over to the Netherlands for a family wedding.

Phil went back to Nepal in early November to hand over work and sort out our house. The picture on the left is the sign that greets visitors toKathmandu airport. It was a hectic couple of weeks and saying goodbye to friends was hard, but reinforced our decision to stay in the UK.

The chickens we were keeping in Nepal had been eaten by time Phil went back. Apparently they were ekdum meeto (very tasty) so at least the 4.00am alarm calls the rooster used to give us weren't in vain!!

Nepal is an incredibly beautiful country: this view of the Annapurna Himalayas towering over Pokhara and INF's Greenpastures hospital will always stay with us. We have a lot of friends there and would love to return.

Our future is still uncertain – Phil is looking for work and job applications have so far been mailed to Glasgow, Sydney and many places in between – but we are so grateful for what we have: family, friends and the knowledge that God has a plan for us!

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us. Your prayers and support continue to mean a huge amount and the last two years have been a real blessing for us.

We hope that you have a peaceful Christmas and an exciting new year.

Love from us

peej

2008-11-29T03:20:00.006+05:45

We are experiencing our first proper UK winter in three years (and Evie's first ever...!), and I am convinced that we are losing not just daylight. It seems that there are just not enough hours in the day any more, or maybe we are missing the slightly slower pace of life in Nepal.

So, not much text, but here are few a pics we have taken recently...

We are all well. Phil is job hunting and still doing some INF work

Jude is developing brilliantly - he has even slept thought the night a couple of times recently. We go back to the hospital in a couple of weeks for more scans, but right now all is well - PTL!

This is Evie's staged 'angry face'. They do get on really...

As well mastering the potty, Evie's great leap forward has been the ability to lie down in the bath, making hairwashing much less of a battle!

2008-10-27T01:06:00.004+05:45

The Morris' family plans have gone through a rapid re-think over the past month, and the header at the top of this blog will have to be changed...

We are all well and Jude seems to be developing brilliantly, but he has a bladder condition that the doctors want to keep a close eye on, so for the moment we are UK residents once again. This has come as a shock and a disappointment to us, but we are confident that He has a plan fo us, and are now looking forward to settling down for a while.

Here are some recent pics...

Jude is the star of every show - very laid back and contented most of the time. Now able to hold his head up, look around and enjoy spending time with his big sister.

We have been having some fantastic weather, and have really enjoyed being close to the sea.

This was a walk along the beechfront last week - some bright sunshine and probably the last swim of the year...

Evie is great fun as always, although often testing our parenting skills. Her comment today: 'you're not a real daddy, you're a monster'....

Monsters in Petwork park...

...and a picnic near Arundel.

2008-08-19T18:31:00.004+05:45

A day of celebration and thanksgiving in the Morris household today as Jude reached his O'st birthday - the day he was supposed to arrive! He is now 4 1/2 weeks old and doing brilliantly, putting on weight and staring to take note of what is going on around him.

Evie is also on good form: now speaking in long and complicated sentences, and very keen to help look after her little brother. We also managed to get her first bike at a car boot sale. To date, she is mostly a passenger, but bunnyhops and wheelies are not far off!

His health seems excellent - we go back to see a specialist next month to get his kidneys checked, but all seems to be well.

Here are few recent pics.

We don't have a TV, bu Evie has discovered DVD's and Bob the Builder!

Jude with Grandad and Great Granny

Evie helping to feed her brother

2008-07-28T23:42:00.004+05:45

It has been a rollercoaster week, but with a great ending. Our little man was released from hospital last Friday and the Morris family are now coming to terms with being a foursome.

His name is Jude and he doing brilliantly: feeding, and most importantly peeing, regularly.

He will need regular check ups to make sure his kidneys are working, but the worries raised by previous scans have not materialised - a real answer to prayer.

Many thanks to all who prayed and have been in touch.

These are some pics from the last week:

Elle, Evie and Jude at Southampton Hospital where we went for some tests.

Evie checking up on her little brother while he gets a sun tan...

We were able to go for a picnic on the downs with both sets of Grandparents, plus uncle, aunt and cousin.

Back home!

2008-07-19T02:26:00.005+05:45

What a week!

As it says in Proverbs 16.9, In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Or as someone else put it, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans!

After planning the next month in some detail, there was no keeping the little chap in and he arrived 5 weeks early after Elle had a c-section this morning. She and he are both doing really well, with early tests suggesting he is much healthier than feared.

We are so grateful to God and to so many around the world who prayed for us.

More details to follow...

2008-07-02T02:23:00.008+05:45

It was a shock to see that just a month had passed since we last updated this page - it seems like a lot longer!!

There are some complications with Elle's pregnancy. We left Pokhara slightly early after scans showed a potential blockage in Bod's waterworks. We are very grateful for people praying all around the world and, ahead of further scans later this week, are quite relaxed, confident that He has a plan.

We are now back in the UK, staying with family and just loving being at 'home'. Although we have missed friends in Nepal, we are not missing the monsoon, and are getting very used to cool weather, blue skies, cars, the sea and cheese made not made from yaks milk!

Here are a few photos of what we have been up to.

Evie is keen to learn to drive

Seagulls and sunsets

Watermelon is available in England, but has probably travelled a bit further than the ones in Nepal

Elle and Evie near Tintagel in Cornwall

Family meal out in Port Isaac, Cornwall

Evie and Esther

A family portrait taken just before we left

Gwynver beach in Cornwall

2008-05-16T21:39:00.007+05:45

Paragliding is popular for the tourists here in Pokhara, and this is a picture of Evie practicing her freefall a while back.

Actually this is a photoshop special....

Quite convincing though.....

2008-05-16T21:25:00.005+05:45

Evie's Birthday

Greetings from a hot and sticky Pokhara. It has been a while since we posted anything here, but today is Evie's birthday so it would be rude not to. Many thanks to all who sent things for her - very generous.

Elle took a cake down to the school where Evie enjoyed even more attention than usual. She is on great form - very loving and affectionate most of the time, but also developing a good line in scowls, tuts and 'chaina's' (Nepali for No) - definitely two going on 16!

2008-04-24T07:41:00.007+05:45

Summer has well and truely arrived here in Pokhara and the temperatures are starting to get a bit uncomfortable. The seasons here are marked by the fruit that is available and one of the most eagerly awaited events in the morris household came a couple of weeks ago - the start of mango season. They are expensive and not very tasty to start with, but they soon become dirt cheap and very tasty and are served with almost every meal! Watermelons are also brought up from India and are one of Evie's favorites.

It was great to have Dave and Susie Kretchmer to stay last week as they take a month off from their work in South India to do some travelling. We had hoped to go trekking with them, but Bod is starting to make his presence felt and we decided to have a relaxing weekend instead.

Elle and Evie have both been a bit unwell recently, but right now we are all well and happy. Evie's potty training is making progress, but still a bit sporadic. She is learning to count, but struggling the confusion of two languages at once.... 1 to 5 usually goes something like this: one, dui (Nepali for 2), twee, four, nine. She also loves singing, with her favorite song being a mixture of Baa baa black sheep, twinkle twinkle little star and Aajaako din (this is the day that the lord has made in Nepali).

2008-04-24T07:26:00.004+05:45

You may have heard the news about the canyoning disaster in New Zealand recently: six children and their teacher died when the river they were in flooded suddenly.

It was shocking news for us because the teacher who died, Tony McClean, had recently spent five months with us here in Pokhara. He was a great guy and in the short time we knew him he was a running partner, guitar teacher and good friend.

It is so hard to know why this happened and what good can possibly come from it, but we have to trust that somehow God will be able to work through this.

2008-04-10T22:01:00.005+05:45

Today is election day here in Nepal and has been a holiday, with all roads and most shops
closed. All has been very peaceful here in Pokhara which we are grateful for. These are a few pics from the polling booths...

This is Pokhara's main shopping street normally crammed full of buses, motorbikes and street sellers. Today even the stray cows seemed to have stayed away.

A happy voter: nost people seemed excited to have the chance to vote and were optimistic about positive change coming from the process.

Polling started at 7.00 in the morning and this was the scene by 8.00 - quite different from the ghostly quiet village halls I remember from voting in the UK!!

Many people queued for three hours in hot sun to cast their first vote in nine years. One quote I heard was 'we are not worried about the election process - that is fine. It is the results that will cause trouble'!!

People were keen to cast their votes and then get away from the crowds just in case there was any trouble, and by mid afternoon all the polling stations I saw were empty. Just as well that the roads were closed - this station was in the middle of a normally busy junction.

There were plenty of bystanders, including armed police....

... and 'independent observers' - apparently there were over 100,000 of them around the country.

Evie doing her own election monitoring with finger paints....

2008-04-08T22:58:00.006+05:45

While the UK has had late season snow, we have had some fantastic bright sunny weather in the last couple of days, with incredible views of the mountains. These are a few of the photos we took this morning.

Evie is on good form, learning new words every day. She has also started singing a mixture of Nepali and English songs. Elle is growing fast, but keeping well. We borrowed a little scanner last night and managed to track down the baby's heartbeat - very exciting, but I guess you had to be there!!

2008-04-08T22:40:00.003+05:45

All well here in Pokhara. Election fever has been building over the last couple of weeks as it finally dawned on people that the planned polls were not going to be cancelled yet again. There has been little trouble in this part of the country, but not much peace - taxis have been driving up and down the roads tossing leaflets out of the windows and urging people over a loudspeaker. There have been a series of rallies held by each of the main parties with crowds of people bussed in from the surrounding villages to show their support. This photo is of a Maoist rally near our office. Other parts of the country have not been so lucky with many outbreaks of violence between supporters of different parties.

It seems that monitoring elections is big business. The election commission have licensed 28 international organisations and around 150 national organisations to monitor the poll. 700 international observers and 100,000 from national organisations will be deployed to make sure the polls are fair.

What they actually hope to achieve is not clear. The Maoists have stated openly that they will win the election, and that if they fail to do so it will be because of fraud. If they claim to have been cheated out of a fair result, there are fears that serious violence will return to the country. Even people who do not support the party hope that they will win just enough seats to keep them in peaceful dialogue. All roads will be closed on election day and there have been bans on the sale of alcohol and carrying of knives, and there have been rumours that the phone network will be shut down all in an attempt to prevent trouble breaking out.

Election posters

2008-03-26T16:40:00.007+05:45

All is well here in Pokhara, and we are feeling refreshed after a long Easter break. The weekend included around eight hours over three services in church, a lunch and a swim at a local hotel to celebrate a friends birthday, and a trek up Sarangkot hill to see the sunrise over the mountains.

The seasons have changed markedly over the last couple of weeks. While the UK has had a dump of snow, temperatures here are rising rapidly and the number of insects in the kitchen seeming to double every night. I also had my first leech bite of the year - much earlier than expected and meaning that some of the best running trails are virtually off limits until October...

Pokhara is a popular place for paragliding, and while walking the other evening we saw some kids who had made their own gliders from sacking material. Their technique was excellent and they were having a great time running with their chutes behind them and leaping off a wall...

2008-03-26T16:15:00.006+05:45

Yak-Attack 2008

First of all – thank you! Through your generosity, INF's Greenpastures Hospital in Pokhara now has an extra £1,200 that will make a big difference to people suffering from leprosy, spinal cord injury and other forms of disability in Western Nepal. Nepal is one of the few countries where leprosy has still not been 'eliminated' and people come to Greenpastures from all over the western half of Nepal to get treatment and for rehabilitation from the disability that leprosy so often causes.

In Nepal, many people are injured in accidents, especially falling out of trees while cutting fodder for animals, and also from burns. Greenpastures is one of the few places in Nepal where reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation treatment are available.

I have been back home in Pokhara for just a week, but already it seems like months ago that Ed Lewis and I set off to Besi Sahar to meet the other competitors at the start of Yak-attack 2008. Ed had been very tired and quite unwell when he first arrived in Nepal and was not looking forward to the start. Apart from the two of us, there were only two other westerners involved: Matt, a fitness trainer and one of the main sponsors of the event, and Phil, founder of Extreme World Challenges and one of the organisers. The other 20 participants were Nepali, most of them Sherpas from the Everest region. They were a great bunch – very relaxed, friendly and encouraging.

After a fanfare from a local band, we set off in bright sunshine along the Marshyangdi river valley that we would follow for the next four days. On jeep tracks initially, the bikes scorched into an early lead while us runners did our best to limit our losses. We soon started to criss-cross the river on narrow suspension bridges, and as the track narrowed and turned uphill, we started to overtake some of the bikers. After a steep final climb one other runner, Phudorje, and I popped out into Bahundada and to our surprise, discovered we were the first to arrive.

This became the pattern for the next week. Get up early and pack bags; send the porters off at 7.00; grab some breakfast; race start at 9.00; run hard for two or three hours; spend the rest of the day eating, drinking and trying to recover. We would eat together most evenings, swapping stories and getting the results of the stage.

Day two was supposed to be just 7km, and I set off hard thinking it would be all over in half an hour. After 5km, the path turned uphill, and assuming that the finish was almost in sight, I emptied my water bottle and upped the pace. It turned out that a '1' had been missed off the distance, and that 17km was one of the hardest two hours I have run – constantly up and down over very rough ground. The only consolation was that the cyclists would have had to carry their bikes almost the whole way, and they started to turn up looking rather the worse for wear over an hour after the runners had arrived.

The porters arrived a further three hours later and brought bad news. Ed had twisted his knee and was pulling out. He had stopped in a village an hour back down the trail and I walked back to meet him and see if he could be persuaded to carry on. The knee had already started to stiffen up so it looked like he had made the right decision to stop, and I walked back up the hill feeling very lonely.

Day three was when it started to feel like we were among the mountains, swapping rice paddies and fields for prayer flags, cliffs and forests. For a while we left the river and climbed high up the side of the valley. I found that I could keep with the Sherpas while the going was gentle, but as the altitude got higher, they left me standing as soon as the trail went up. I miss-judged the amount of water I should carry on this stage and although I caught Phudorje with about 5km to go, I knew I was running out of energy. Those last few km seemed to go for ever and in the end I had to stop and get some water, eventually finishing around 1 minute after the winner and second overall. We were building up a good lead over the bikers though and were confident we could hold them off for another few days at least.

Phil the organiser was doing a great job – usually setting off before the racers to catch photos of them on route. He was armed with an amazing array of technology and as soon as the bags arrived, he would unpack his laptop, plug in camera and video camera to download pics of the day, and then set up a satellite link to beam reports back to civilisation.

At 30km, day four to Manang was the longest so far, and as we got over 3000m, the altitude combined with my tired legs meant that every climb reduced me to a stumbling march, and even running on the flat was hard work. The scenery was fantastic, with huge cliffs towering over the valley to start with, before it widened out to reveal amazing snow capped peaks behind. In last years event they had been running through snow at this point, but the trail were clean and dry for us. This was the first day that the cyclists were able really ride their bikes, and they raced off into the distance. I wasn't able to keep up with the other runners either and spent most of the stage alone, fighting my way past the many donkey trains and trying to force my legs to go quicker, wishing I had more time to enjoy the scenery.

I was using a Garmin GPS and heart rate monitor throughout the event. It is a great tool for training, but there were times during stages when, after slogging up hill for what seemed like hours it told me that I had traveled only a handful of metres, I was very tempted to throw it over the nearest cliff!

Manang at 3,500m was a very welcome site. I had lost a lot of time to the bikers, but was pleased to be only 15mins down on the first runner, and still second overall. Manang is a town with a split personality: the old half is a maze of narrow cobbled streets that probably hasn't changed in two hundred years, while on the lower side of town, hotels have been built and there are bakeries and internet cafes to cater for the 10,000 trekkers who pass through here each year. We stayed two nights in Manang to try and acclimatise to the altitude. It is in the rain shadow of the mountains and is very dry and barren – a complete contrast to the green meadows and forests of yesterday. It was a good opportunity to explore a little bit, and I would love to spend more time there.

On Thursday morning we had to move again. As the race started, I tried to take a 'short-cut' through the twisting streets of the old town, but took a wrong turn and had to scramble down a couple of 10 foot terraces, rejoining the main path in last place. It didn't get much better, as although the path was not steep, I just could not get my legs working and it felt like I was getting no-where. After a steep initial climb, the smooth path snaked gradually up the side of the valley – a beautiful trail that would normally be great for running or biking, but as we climbed above 4000m, the altitude was starting to bite and running was only possible on the short downhill sections. The final 2km followed a narrow path balanced precariously on a steep scree slope. Keeping your balance and moving forward was hard enough without trying to scramble past trekkers and porters, most of whom were very supportive and gave a cheer as we inched past gasping for breath.

The Thorong phedi lodge at the foot of the pass was a very welcome sight, and despite the altitude, we sat outside in the warm sun drinking tea and enjoying the scenery. As evening approached however, clouds rolled in and it started to snow! By 9.00, six inches of fresh snow had fallen, and the path leading up to the pass had disappeared. I had a headache from the altitude, and having set my alarm for 3.30, was not in the best of moods when I went to bed.

I woke feeling much better, and although it was still snowing lightly, felt positive about the route ahead: probably the toughest day of the race with a 1000m climb followed by a 2800m descent down to the comforts of Jomsom. As the start time approached, I was just finishing my breakfast when I heard a whistle blowing outside, and they were off! I grabbed my bag and set off into the darkness, following the chain of headtorches up the hill. To start with following the footprints was straightforward, and although I was gasping for breath, my legs felt good. As I slowly worked my way past the groups in front, ducking under bikes and around backpacks, the trail got less and less clear, and an hour after starting (about half way up the climb), I caught up with the leaders who were breaking the trail. By now the sun should have risen, but a slightly lighter shade of grey was the only evidence that new day had dawned. Visibility was around 50m, but in the fresh snow it was difficult just to see whether the ground under your feet was sloping up or down. There were occasional marker poles showing where the path should have been, but they were often out of sight and we stumbled along,taking turns to lead the way and sometimes having to re-trace our steps. I was just wearing trainers which were soaked through and very cold by this stage. Worried about frostbike, I was constantly wriggling my toes to keep the blood flowing.

Near the top there were several cruel false summits and when we finally reached the pass it was hard to believe that we had made it – 2 hours 45 minutes to travel just 3km!! We had worked well together and it was a great feeling, but after a brief photo stop we saw a cyclist, marching along with bike on shoulder, emerging out of the gloom and realised it would be hard to stay ahead of the bikes today - the race was on again.

The path down the other side was much clearer – still covered in snow, but visibility was improving and the route was easy to follow. The four of us stuck together and just an hour and a half later we emerged beneath the snow line to reach Muktinath at around 3,200m. There are rough roads here and after a week away from internal combustion engines, it was quite a shock to see, hear and smell motorbikes and tractors on the trail. We stopped briefly for biscuits and a cup of tea (not quite as civilised as it sounds) and took off our cold weather gear. Now that the route was clear it was every man for himself, and Phudorje raced into the distance, quickly descending to the valley floor to meet the Kali Gandaki river that we would follow south to the finish in two days time. The final 5km were into a headwind along the flat river bed, and my legs were starting to complain. To make matters worse, the first two bikers came effortlessly flying past on the smooth roads, and I started to question the wisdom of running this event rather than riding it!

Jomson was a very welcome sight and seemed amazingly civilised (my hotel room even had a TV!!) and the afternoon was spent drinking proper coffee and eating apple cake – not the best recovery foods, but definitely what I wanted!

With two stages totalling 70km to go, the race situation was finely balanced. Phudorje was first, and I was about an hour behind him in second. A bit further back was Kaji, the first cyclist, with Pasang (also on a bike) not far behind in fourth. The cyclists were going to fly for the next two days, and it would be tough for Phudorje to keep his lead, while the best I could hope for was to hold off Pasang for third. We were well ahead of last years schedule, and it looked like the bonus for the first person to finish in under 24 hours would be taken.

At over 40km, the stage from Jomsom was the longest of the race and although it descended over 1,500m, there were enough little climbs to remind your legs of what you had been doing for the last week. At the start it was dispiriting to see the cyclists blast off into the distance, but I settled down into a comfortable pace and was soon running alongside Dipak and Sonam, and we jogged together for the next hour or so – I was a bit quicker than them on the flat, but they could easily out-pace me on the climbs. We were able to follow donkey tracks along the wide river bed for much of the way, avoiding some of the twists and turns of the road above us. This is reported to be the deepest valley in the world, and there were stunning views of 8,000m peaks on each side.

Much of this area is being developed and tracks for vehicles are rapidly being blasted up into the valleys. I was glad to have been able to visit this area now, as in a couple of years, you will probably be able to drive most of the way around the circuit. The sections under construction are still open to foot traffic and as I scrambled through the rubble and machinery, workers above were dislodging boulders while those below were hammering dynamite into cracks in the rock – Health and Safety is not a well understood concept here, and gave me fresh energy to get off the building site as quickly as possible!

Elle, Evie and a friend had come up to meet me. I sometimes get quite emotional during long races, and when I caught site of them across the valley, I burst into tears! It was great to see them, but poor Evie was a bit concerned to see me dirty, sweaty and bearded!

By this stage I was on my own. I had walked this route last year and knew the finish wasn’t far, so swallowed the last of my drink and upped the pace. About 2km from the finish I saw Phudorje ahead, but despite sprinting through the narrow cobbled streets of Tatopani, I couldn’t quite catch him. Back to an altitude that he was was used to and able to actually ride his bike, Matt to a stage win. Phudorje was still in the lead but only by 15 mins, while I had dropped to third, with a 28 minute cushion on the fourth placed rider. After a wash and some food I walked back up the trail to meet Elle, and we had a very relaxing afternoon in the hot springs that Tatopani is named after.

The ‘short’ final day was still a half marathon. A rocky downhill start meant that the runners could stay in touch for a couple of minutes at least, before the cyclists took off again. I was also feeling much more comfortable at these lower altitudes, and ran with Phudorje for most of the stage before edging him out at the end. By now the cyclists had been finished for some time and were relaxing in the sun when I came sprinting into the finish, where I was told I had missed out on third place by 2 minutes!!

It was a good feeling as we sat and chatted in the sun waiting for porters to bring our bags down, the snow of two days ago seeming like a different world. After packing up the bikes, it was a 4 ½ hour bus journey back to Pokhara, during which my legs started to seize up and by the time we got home, I knew I had been in a race!

That evening there was a presentation ceremony at a local hotel and I arrived just as the speeches were starting. In true Nepali style, the speeches went on for ages, and it wasn’t until the results were actually announced, that I realised that there had been a mistake in the timings, and I was promoted to 3rd! Over the last week I have been absolutely knackered and spent most of the time eating or sleeping. After a good break (and lots of chocolate) over Easter I am starting to get my energy back and thinking of going out for a run. My kit held up brilliantly over the 200+km, and the only damage physical damage I suffered was the loss of a couple of toenails.

All in all, a great event and an amazing experience. Thanks again for your support!

2008-03-12T08:38:00.003+05:45

Good morning from Manang, a beautiful village behind the annapurna mountains where the yak attack race caravan pulled in yesterday and rests today. There are incredible views of mountains looming on all sides and the trails on from here - always uphill - look daunting.

Manang is an amazing contrast of old and new - subsistence farmers doing backbreaking work to scratch a living from the dry soil versus internet cafes and bakeries that serve he 14,000 tourists that trek through here every year.

The last four days have been hard work but great fun. I was gutted to lose Ed after two days when he had to pull out with a bad knee, but otherwise all has been going well. The last words of my fitness guru Jon Key were 'go out hard and hang on'. I have managed the first part, but the second will be more difficult! The first three days over very broken trails definitely suited the runners, and I just about managed to keep in touch with the Nepalis - almost of them Sherpas. On some beautiful rolling trails, yesterday was the turn of the bikers and the next couple of days should be pretty even. Altitude is starting to have an effect - we are 3,500m here and I get quite out of breath at anything above walking pace!

That's all for now - I'll try and log in again from Jomsom in a couple of days. Thanks
for all the support!

2008-03-11T20:28:00.003+05:45

Hi
news from Manang is good. Phil is well and safe and still going strong! Apparently it was a cyclist's day today with the lead being taken by one of the mountain bikers. Phil said he came somewhere mid-field.
Tomorrow is his rest day (so I'm sure he'll find something energetic to do) before heading up to Thorung Phedi and then the snowy Thorung Pass.
Many people at work are now following his progress with interest on the Yak Attack website - ahem! in their break times of course...

The picture shows some of the Annapurna he's running around with Dhaulagiri (8167m) in the centre.

Bye for now.

2008-03-10T20:27:00.005+05:45

Hi all

well day three of Yak-Attack saw another miscommunication of actual distance. They said it was going to be 17km but it turned out to be 24km. Phil 'blew up' in the last few km but once again did a phenomenal time and again came in second - just one minute behind the leader. The race report is below.
Ed is now here with me back in Pokhara feeling a little the worse for wear but doing ok and is planning to head home soon.
Well once again - no photos of Phil in race mode so you get another Evie snap. This was her this morning in her current favourite activity of digging and wriggling her toes in the dirt... bath day came early this week!

Race report from Yak Attack website:

Day 3 Taal to Chame / 22km / 1677m to 2691m

A 1014m gain in overall altitude awaited the participants of Yak Attack on Day 3.

The trail followed the banks of the Marshangdi river as it left Taal, a route that would be virtually impossible in the wet season, and then climbed rapidly up to and past Danaqu.

Due to the rapid rise in altitude, the advantage was once again with the runners and, as on the previous days, the lead was fought out between Peregrines Phudorjee and Uk runner Philip Morris.

The latter part of the course was much more suited to biking and Kaji Sherpa and Chandra Chhetri worked hard to try and catch the elite front runners but all to no avail as Phudorjee arrived in Chame some 31 mins ahead of the closest rider. Again Philip Morris put in a great effort and stuck with Phudorjee for most of the race, but stopping to to up his water cost him valuable time and he finished exactly 1 minute later.

Yangdi Sherpa (Darrin Crosby Builders) was once again the fastest female runner finishing in 3:10:48. Nirjala Tamrakar (Fluidforce) the only female rider found the going tough during the carry sections but did well to finish in 5 hours and 1 minute.

UK rider Matt Hart (Torq) finished midway down the order. “Carrying my bike on my shoulder, past trains of donkeys loaded with bags, is not something Im used to, and needs working on!! But at least I got to ride my bike today, which is always a bonus” said the former elite rider.

Results for Day 3

1. Phudorjee Lama Sherpa( Peregrine +First Ascent) 2:22:14

2 Philip Morris 2:23:14

3 Dipak Raj Rai (HeatmaxUK) 2:30:00

2008-03-09T19:57:00.006+05:45

Hi again

it's day two of the round Annapurna race - no news yet from the Yak Attack website but I've spoken to Phil twice today which is great! When I spoke to him first thing he was saying that they were both doing well and how today should be quite easy as it's only 7 km but that it was a fair climb.
When I spoke to him this afternoon he had thrown his remaining energy drink away at 5 km thinking he wouldn't need it for the remaining 2km and then found out that the race today was actually 17 km!!
What can I say - he still came in second place just behind the man he drew with yesterday - the race is on!

Ed has been suffering with a 'welcoming' Nepali bug or two since being here and has now found the terrain too much for his knee so sadly is coming back down tomorrow. Hopefully some rest and relaxation can see him back on his feet.

The photos show the Annapurnas around which they've been running - mind blowing. (Sorry they're so small - anything bigger won't upload.)

Myself and Evie have in contrast have spent a very relaxed day trying to find something to fit around my ever expanding waistline - they don't really do maternity clothes here but fortunately the customary long top and baggy trousers seem to be able to fit round most things!

Don't really know what to say about the 6 nations results :-( Although I'm sure the Scots among you have plenty to say .... and undoubtedly Gatland is pretty vocal about the Welsh successes too.
Oh well - there's always the cricket ..........

Hopefully more news about the men as I find it out.

Bye for now - Elle & Evie

2008-03-08T19:09:00.003+05:45

Hi all

yes it IS true Phil has come joint 1st on day one - you could say I'm slightly biased but he's amazing! Beating bikers and all he ran his 20 km, 1050m ascent and stormed over the day one finish line in 1 hour 38 mins along with fellow runner Phudorjee Sherpa. Below is the race report from the Yak Attack website. I haven't spoken to him yet so I don't know how Ed got on today but I'm sure he's done alright. Will update when I have more news.

I've naturally also included a picture of Evie: our friend Sukmaya carrying Evie round the garden in the basket we use to keep the baby chickens under!

The picture below of the start of the race is from the yak attack website and is a bit hard to make out - I can't tell which ones are Phil or Ed - answers on a postcard ...

Day 1 Besi Sahar to Bahundanda / 20km / 798m to 1295m / Total Ascent 1050m

After a prolonged opening ceremony, conducted by Lamjung District Office and accompanied by a local band, the Berghaus Yak Attack 2008 got under way.

True to his word, Matt Hart, riding for Torq Fitness, went off hard from the start. By the halfway stage he had built up a formidable lead over the next athlete, but unfortunately he missed a turn onto a suspension bridge and went 2km off course. By the time he had retraced the trail he had lost his lead but still came in a very respectable 12th in just over 2 hours.

Philip Morris, celebrating his 34th birthday, kept the British flag flying by finishing in joint first place with Phudorjee Lama Sherpa (Peregrine and First Ascent), in 1 hour and 38 mins which, in the hot conditions encountered today, was extremely impressive. Phil, a regular London marathoner, recently came 10th in the Pokhara marathon and seems to be on top form.

The first mtb'er over the line was Biprendra Bajracharya in 1 hour 41 minutes, followed very closely by Kaji Sherpa. The only female rider Nirjala Tamrakar (Fluidforce) unfotunately had a collision with a pedestrian on the way out of Besi Sahar which scuppered her chances of a top placing. Luckily she avoided any major injuries and will be able to continue tomorrow.

Its also looking like being a runners day tomorrow as, although the trail starts with a 500m descent, it's then a gruelling 6km 1000m climb.

Results for day 1

1st Philip Morris (runner) 1:38:40

1st Phudorjee Lama Sherpa (runner)1:38:40

3rd Biprendra Bajracharya (biker) 1:41:54

2008-03-07T07:55:00.003+05:45

I've been waiting for this day for the last five months, but now it's here, I want to be somewhere else!

Ed arrived in one piece last Sunday and has been adapting to Nepali time and and the local bugs for the last week. We head off on a four hour bus journey to Besi Sahar today to meet up with the other people foolish enough to enter the Yak attack race. I think there are phones at some of the villages we will be staying in, so we'll try and send some race updates to Elle who will be here in Pokhara for the next few days.

Thank you so to all who donated via our justgiving site - the total is now up to £1,200 which will be much appreciated by the team and patients at Greenpastures hospital.

And here is the regular Evie photo spot....

2008-02-21T20:48:00.002+05:45

Elle has just returned from a week in Nepalgunj and Surkhet down in the mid west where she was giving a training course on performance management. This is something that is not really in the Nepali work culture and is difficult for many managers to carry out. Feedback from the course was good though, so hopefully they will be able to follow it through. Elle was fortunate to make it back as trouble erupted in Nepalgunj over the weekend and the town has been under curfew for several days.

There has been disruption throughout most of the south of the country for a couple of weeks now (http://www.nepalnews.com.np/archive/2008/feb/feb20/news06.php), although Pokhara has been very peaceful. Elections are planned for April, and each of the main political parties and their rent-a-mobs are now jostling for position. Roads into Nepal from India have been blocked for the last week, meaning that very little fuel can come into the country, and combined with around 8 hours of power cuts a day, it is a miserable time for many individuals and businesses in the country.

It has been a good time home alone with Evie, but it is great to have Mum back!

Saturday was Pokhara marathon day, and I was pleased with the results on a day that was perfect for running. I came in 10^th and picked up my first running paycheck – at £5 not quite enough to go professional, but a nice surprise!

This was a warm up to another event that is coming up in three weeks– the yak-attack! This is an 8-day stage race around the Annapurna Himalayas that follows a popular trekking route to the North of Pokhara. When it is clear you get fantastic views of these mountains and it is going to be great to get in amongst them, but the route is pretty fierce and it is going to be hard work! A friend, Ed Lewis, is coming out for the race, but apart from us, the competitors are almost all Nepali and surviving is going to be hard work, let alone keeping up with them!

I am trying to raise support for INF through this event. If you are able to, please give money here: http://www.justgiving.com/philmorris1 You can find out more about the yak-attack from their website: (http://yak-attack.co.uk) and I’ll try and post updates during the event…

2008-02-21T20:42:00.002+05:45

It is hard to keep track of Evie’s development - she is growing so quickly that new things appear on a daily basis.

She usually knows exactly what she wants and is developing a good range of strategies to get it. One of the first is a desperate ‘pleeeaase’, and if that fails, throwing something at you or unraveling the toilet roll is usually a good way to get attention to her cause. Sometimes she cannot understand how her parents can be so thick, and when English doesn’t work, switches to Nepali instead.

She loves being with people and is very interested in everything that is going on around her. These pictures show a group of boys who were playing cards near our house and were quite happy for Evie to come and watch – there is no such thing as personal space in Nepal!

She also loves animals. She knows the names or noises of most that you see wandering in a typical Nepali street and calls them out as she sees them – moo, miaow, cooka (chicken), gog, duck and ai (buffalo) are the common ones. Unfortunately goats are also plentiful. Evie knows them by their Nepali name – bakra – but doesn’t pronounce it quite right and happily shouts out “bugger, bugger” whenever they appear.

2008-02-12T21:34:00.000+05:45

Additions to the family....

One of the things we were sad to give up when we left the UK were our chickens, and despite a lot of press about the spread of bird flu in India, we finally got around to replacing them.

Having always bought laying chickens in the past, we decided to get some younger ones and watch them grow, so we have just bought four little week old chicks. The first few nights we had them were very cold and we were so worried that they might catch a chill that we rested their box on a hot water bottle.

Evie loves them and wants to check on the 'kookas' first thing each morning (kookara is Nepali for chicken) and often wants set them free from their little enclosure. They seem to be thriving despite the attention and are due for inoculations in the next few days.

2008-02-07T22:04:00.001+05:45

Last week was cold - so cold even some of the goats were dressed for the occasion! Being cold is not a problem if you're active, or there is somewhere you can go to get warm, but on some days last week the sun never broke through the cloud and sitting in front of a computer in a unheated office was hard work. We don't remember it being this cold last year, and someone from the UK would probably find it quite pleasant, but we seem to have got aclimatised to hot weather and have been suffering!

The last few days have been much better, and the weather seems to have turned a corner, giving us some superb views of the mountains.

This week we have mostly been taking pictures of Evie.

2008-01-24T22:38:00.000+05:45

We have been spoiled by great weather for the last three months – cool temperatures, bright sunshine and blue skies with great views of the mountains – but that has all changed in the last week. A haze has settled over Pokhara and with it, the temperatures have dropped. In reality, it never gets really cold here, but buildings here are generally designed to lose heat rather than retain it, and don’t have any heating in them. As a result, when the sun doesn’t shine, sitting at a desk for eight hours a day becomes a chilling experience and lots of layers plus a good supply of coffee are essential!

The latest proposed date for elections here in Nepal were announced last week, and immediately, the political tension has risen, with lots of obscure political groups planning blockades and strikes. Two of the most important references for everyday life at the moment are the load shedding schedule, that tells you when electricity will be available, and www.nepalbandh.com/ a website that lists when strikes have been planned and when you might be able travel.

Nepal’s electricity is all hydro-generated, but unfortunately, around 80% of the rainfall arrives during the summer monsoon resulting in flooding and voltage surges, while in the drier months river levels fall and there is not enough electricity to go around. Add to that, rapid development and growing demand for electricity, and an aging infrastructure that is not being invested in, and there are bound to be problems and load-shedding is applied nationwide. At the moment we are without power for around six hours a day, but at least with a schedule you can charge up batteries and get the candles ready!

Bandhs are a part of everyday life here. For many poor people, blocking a road seems to be the only way to get the government to listen to their concerns and actually do something. For others though, bandhs are also a useful tool, and are used by political parties and other vocal minorities to cause disruption and force their opinions onto the majority. Yesterday was a good example: the price of gas and kerosene went up (in reality, the government just reduced its subsidy) and so a group of students blocked the roads with burning tires near our office, trying to protect their ‘right’ to cheap fuel. The police feel powerless to do anything – if they tried to restrict the protesters’ ‘right’ to protest, the situation would probably just get much worse. As in the UK (and elsewhere), people are much more focused on their ‘rights’ than their ‘responsibilities’.

Bandhs do force the government into some incredible muddles. A group of petrol retailers held a strike to protest that they were not always getting the amount of fuel they were paying for from the importers – the Nepal Oil Corporation (because the tanker drivers were stealing some of the fuel). As a result they are now allowed to dilute their fuel with up to 20% kerosene (which is cheaper) to recover their profits: genius!

2008-01-24T22:31:00.000+05:45

Last week INF hosted a visit from a group of young Australians, and Phil traveled down to Nepalgunj in the southwest of the country to help the team there plan and manage the visit.

We took them to see an area where INF is just starting a new community development project. Although quite close to Nepalgunj, it lies in a bend of a large river that floods badly during monsoon, meaning that flood waters arrive from three sides at once, completely cutting them off from the outside world.

The only way across the river was on a large barge that is punted to-and-fro by hand. The boat is used by thousands of people each day who collect firewood in the nearby forest to sell in the town. On each journey it can carry a hundred or so people and bikes, but we wanted to get two vehicles across, which was a different matter entirely!

Despite a previous agreement, it took the boatmen about two hours to get the first one across, and then another hour for the second. The return journey took a further two hours. I was very grateful for an extremely patient group, who graciously accepted that this a good example of the problems that can be faced by development organisations working in Nepal!

We spent some time in one community where most of the people did not have rights to the land they were living on, there were no toilets or proper health care and access to markets was very difficult – problems enough without the fact that their village was underwater for several months of the year. INF will try help them work together as a community to identify the causes of the issues they face and agree what they, the community, can do about them.

Another project the group visited was INF’s Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation Centre (DARC) who work in Nepalgunj to raise awareness about drug addiction and HIV, and work with drug addicts to help them reduce the harm they do to themselves and hopefully give up drugs. We spent some time with current and previous clients and their families. The group were all impressed with the standard of care that is given, and amazed at the honesty of all involved, and their willingness to talk to a big group of strangers about what must have been very painful aspects of their lives.

2008-01-24T22:23:00.000+05:45

All is well in Morris towers. We are keeping fit and well, and Evie is on good form. Here are a few recent pics…

2008-01-08T21:34:00.000+05:45

One event that happened last month that we haven't shared was the Golden anniversary of INF's Greenpastures hospital. The story of how the hospital came to be and slowly developed over the years is an amazing one and we feel very fortunate to be part of the organisation now.

There were three days of events to mark the occasion – a church gathering where God was praised for all that had been achieved through the hospital, an official programme where dozens of VIP's including the state minister for health went on a tour of the hospital and then took it in turn say their piece at the microphone, and a private gathering to reward the current staff members and thank them for their involvement. At the official event, there was a large tent covering a seating area, but there wasn't room for all who came and a big group of staff and patients spilled out of the back of the tent and sat in the on grass or in their wheelchairs in the sun.

There seemed to be three main head coverings of choice among the crowd: the traditional Nepali topi for the men, the scarf for women, and the pink woolen hat for either sex!

It all went off very smoothly in the end, which gave no indication of the amount of stress involved in the build up... There is a procedure for planning events in Nepal that requires nerves of steel. Nothing seems to happen until the very last minute, but somehow, things usually seem to come off! The guest list for the official event was a case in point. Although we knew the dates for the celebration, we hadn't actually been told if we were supposed to be coming.

About a week before the event I had a conversation with the chap in charge that went something like this.

Are we invited?

Yes, of course

Will we get an invitation or should we just turn up?

You will get an invitation, but we can't send them out until the chief guest has been confirmed. The Health minister should be coming from Kathmandu, but she has been invited to two different events and hasn't decided which one to go to.

So you won't send out any invitations until she has confirmed?

When will she confirm?

Some time this week....

The events went very well. These celebrations gave us a real sense of the history of the work that we are involved in, and the pride that staff so obviously took in that was hugely impressive.

2008-01-02T21:42:00.000+05:45

A couple more snippets from life in Nepal....

Pokhara has a stadium. It consists of a grass football pitch with a dirt running track around the outside and a couple of concrete terraces. The running track is packed with a certain red soil that is chokeingly dusty in dry weather, while in the rain it turns into a mud bath that very effectively stains any clothes you are wearing an attractive shade of brown – this same soil is used to paint many traditional Nepali houses. Despite its drawbacks, it is close to our house and I try to use the track every week or so for training.

Often it is really busy. One of the most popular career choices here is to get into the Gurhka regiments of the British or Indian army, but they have very tough physical entrance requirements and competition is stiff, so any given morning or evening - from before dawn to after dark - there might be 50 lads on the track, either running on their own or with one of several training schools.

It is free to use, there don't seem to be any rules, and no-one monitors what is going on on the track – with the result that it is often chaotic. Every other running track I have ever seen is run anti-clockwise, but here people turn up, and set off in whatever direction takes their fancy – groups and individuals, some walking, some jogging, some doing intervals weaving in, out and around each other, somehow avoiding collisions.

One evening it was getting dark, and after narrowly avoiding a couple of collisions, I asked one of the 'coaches' why people were running the wrong way around the track. 'But that is the way they like to run' he replied, and it dawned on me that of course most of these kids had never seen an athletics meeting, but they just liked to run, and after all how could there be a right or wrong way to run round in circles?? 'Do people not realise how dangerous it is?' I asked. 'Este ho' was his reply – that is how it is. He then called to a couple of other coaches and they all set their grounps running in the same direction, creating some kind of consensus.

The next week it was back to normal.

There is a lot of road building going on at the moment, with a lot of tarmac being laid. Some of this is a combination of repair work to roads that were damaged during the last monsoon plus some new roads being paved during the dry season before they get damaged in next years monsoon. But most of the work seems to involve filling in holes caused by general wear and tear – the layer of tarmac they put down here is so thin, and I guess the foundations are not good enough, that they start they start flaking and holes appear again within a couple of months.

Almost all of the work of preparing and laying tarmac is done by hand, mostly by people who come up from the Terai in the south of Nepal. Stones are broken and chipped by hand, piles of gravel are shoveled onto big metal trays held over a big fire where they are heated before tar is poured on and it is mixed, again by hand. It is then dragged off the fire and carried by wheelbarrow to where it is needed. If they are lucky there might be a compactor to flatten the mix into shape.

You can see - and smell - where these road gangs are working from the fires. Incredibly, the fuel they use is mostly old car tyres which burn with clouds of thick black smoke. The people working the fires have no protection, apart from a scarf wound around their faces and the effect on their health, not to mention the environment, must be horrendous.

2008-01-02T21:32:00.001+05:45

So another year has been and gone... It has been a bit subdued in our house recently and it was all we could do to see in new year at Australian time before falling in to bed.

Christmas was a good time - we were treated to a four hour Christmas programme at church where our friends danced, sang, acted to roars of laughter (much of which was entirely lost on us) and spoke. There are a few poor pictures copied below. After this we were ready for our dhal bhaat. On Christmas eve Elle had helped prepare some of the vegetables needed to feed the anticipated 1000 people - last year they had cooked for 800 and this was not enough!! All cooked over fires in giant pots in the field behind church and all really tasty.

Being here in Nepal and with INF's work gave us a new insight into the real meaning of Christmas. One of the major causes of infant death here in Nepal and one of the key focus areas for INF's community health work is the tradition that childbirth is unclean and therefore women cannot give birth to children in the home. In rural areas childbirth often still takes place in the animal shed, mothers are often alone and unsupported, and if they survive, mother and baby must stay in the shed until they are 'clean' again, a period of up to three weeks.

It only dawned on me recently after a trip to Mugu where we saw plenty of the filthy, dark, stinking animal sheds under many of the houses that these were the kind of conditions where Jesus was born. Forget the clean straw and smiling faces that you see in the Christmas cards and nativity plays. His birth must have been dirty, frightening, dark and humiliating, captured well in the song by Tim Hughes:

King of all days, Oh so highly exalted, Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came, To the earth you created, All for love's sake became poor

Evie has been suffering with a really nasty stomach bug, but is fortunately now almost fully mended. She is normally so healthy and full of energy it was horrible watching her suffer and not really being able to do anything to help. It is great to have her back – thanks for many of your prayers.

2007-12-23T21:07:00.001+05:45

There is a children's ministry based near us here to the south of Pokhara, and the family who run it have become good friends. Yesterday they held their annual Christmas programme, a day long event that has two main aims: firstly to share the Christmas message and a good meal with around 600 local kids of all ages, many of them very poor and some homeless, but it also marks a bonding and learning opportunity for the team of around 30 teenager volunteers who lead the ministry throughout the year.

They had been practicing music, dramas and dancing for weeks, but preparations for the event started in earnest around 24 hours before the event was due to start when the buffalo that had been bought specially for the event was butchered, and the mammoth task of preparing vegetables went on for most of the night. The children were very well behaved, sitting on the ground during the two hour programme, but you could feel the excitement rising as the time for food came.

The food was all cooked in massive vats on three open fires about 50 metres away from the main meeting ground. The 30 leaders were running backwards and forwards delivering food as fast as they could for around half an hour until it had all gone and plates licked clean – 150kg of rice, 150kg of buffalo plus untold tomatoes and a few handfuls of chillies.

When the last of the children had left, the leaders then got stuck in to cleaning the whole compound, taking down decorations, sweeping the floor and washing up before relighting the fires and cooking their own meal – a hugely impressive group of very dedicated young people.

2007-12-23T19:57:00.000+05:45

This time last week we had just got back from a few days in Kathmandu, having said good bye to Ursie after a good two weeks together. She phoned from the UK on Sunday evening, about 24 hours after leaving Kathmandu. It was strange thinking of her half a world away so soon after leaving us, and made us feel a bit closer to home.

The time we had away was good and included a trip to Baktapur, a town just outside Kathmandu that has been less frantically modernised than the capital. It has some very famous temples and beautiful squares crammed with shops selling piles of tourist tat, but behind the main streets are a maze of quiet little cobbled alleys with tall brick built houses that look like they haven't changed in 200 years. The whole place has a damp, decaying feel to it (a bit like Venice) and seems to be just waiting for the next earthquake to flatten it all.

Probably the highlight of the trip was an invitation to the the British Embassy for their annual carol service, followed by drinks and mince pies at the ambasadors residence!

Another good reminder of home have been the many packages and cards that so many of you have sent – many thanks!

2007-12-11T22:11:00.001+05:45

All well with us here in Pokhara. Elle, Evie and Ursie have had a relaxing time shopping and seeing some of the local sites. I had a couple of donors visiting and had to arrange a series of meetings with people around the organisation that they wanted to see. It was the first time that either had been to Nepal and when one of them turned up in a Hawaiian shirt and a very relaxed attitude I was worried that they had actually come for a holiday. It turned in to a very useful time however, with them asking some very good questions about INF and making renewed commitments to our work.

We went on a two day trek over the weekend to try and give Ursie a feel for the mountains, going up to Gandruk, a village with fantastic views and some lovely little hotels where we were very well looked after.

We also came across this group of kids who were delighted to play up for the camera.

As well as paying a lot of money for park entrance fees (~£12 each) we were also stopped a couple of times at Maoist checkpoints and asked for a 'voluntary' contribution to their cause.

We managed to get away without paying anything, but on arrival back in Pokhara we read about another trekker who had got into an argument with Maoists about not paying fees and had received a nasty beating for his efforts - we felt very grateful for a safe return.

There are some worrying signs in the rest of the country with the alliance of parties in government unable to agree on anything and seeming to lose interest in trying. The response from ordinary Nepalis appears to be either apathy or anger, with a growing sense that something is about to happen. Events in Pokhara reflected this mood - this week two students were killed in a motorcycle accident (rumours say that the driver of the bus they hit reversed over them to make sure he didn't have to pay hospital fees) and the town centre has been closed off for the last two days while students burn tyres and clash with the police.

2007-12-02T19:39:00.001+05:45

Ursie (Elle's sister) arrived safely and it is just great to have her here. She flew in to Pokhara yesterday - despite not having had any bad experiences with internal flights here in Nepal, it is still a pleasant surprise when anything happens to plan and on time!

She came loaded down with presents and goodies - thanks to all those who sent things out!

We've had a little Casio point and shoot camera for that last few years, but it has been getting a bit rickety recently and finally died a couple of months ago - possibly one drop too many... We have just invested in a new little Olympus camera that claims to be water and earthquake proof (sounds incredible, but the instructions tell you to clean it by holding it under the tap...), so hopefully this will last a bit longer!! We'll let you know how we get on with it, but so far, so good - these are a couple of pictures we took this morning.

2007-11-30T22:12:00.000+05:45

Coming to the end of another flat out week, we realise that we've not yet managed to lose our Western habit of burying ourselves in busyness - in comparison to Nepali friends and colleagues we seem to be constantly rushing from one thing to another, without necessarily achieving any more.

This is a picture of the sun rising over Fewa Lake here in Pokhara.

INF had a week long conference here in Pokhara which was a great time to meet new people and catch up with old ones. Unfortunately Elle was organising the whole thing and was constantly arranging details and fielding questions, while I had a couple of guests here who needed to tour projects and meet people, so it wasn't the most relaxing time for either of us.

This weekend is the start of a series of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Green Pastures hospital, the INF leprosy and rehabilitation centre. It is amazing to be part of a project with such a history.

We have been spoiled with lots of visitors recently - after Phil's parents and sister in October, two separate groups from churches have been out, and still to come, Ursie (Elle's sister) should be in the air right now...

The weather has been fantastic recently, with bright, clear days giving great views and it is areal treat to actually feel slightly cold in the mornings. It does feel most unlike the kind of weather we got used to in England at this time of year, and it was a real shock when we sang Silent night, Holy night in Church last week, and realised that Christmas is just four weeks away! Understandably, Christmas is not such a big deal for most people here, and without the piles of mince pies and wrapping paper in every shop window, it can creep up on you.

We are all on good form - there have been a few bugs in the air but nothing serious. Evie is still great. Although she hated it at first, she now loves going on the motor bike, and sometimes puts her helmet on and runs around the house going brmbrmbrm...

2007-11-10T16:18:00.000+05:45

By most measures, the UN Human Development Index (HDI) being the most common, Nepal is the second poorest country in South Asia and 138th out of 177 in the world. Nepal has 75 districts and and by some stretch, the poorest of these, again based on HDI figures, is Mugu in the North West of the country. It is an extreme place to live – remote and completely lacking in infrastructure, mountainous, dry, hot in the summer and cold in the winter – the kind of place the makes you wonder why people settled there in the first place. It's early history is hazy, but it is clear that people have lived here for hundreds of years, and this area is generally recognised as the birth place of the Nepali culture and language.

INF has been working in Mugu for the last six years, focusing on Community Health and Development, while also helping the government to grow its health services and supporting economic migrants. During the Maoist conflict, the remoter areas of Mugu were a haven for Maoist fighters and our work was restricted to the area around the district capital, Gamgadhi. Since the official ending of hostilities last year, the area has opened up again and INF is expanding its work into an area called the Soru belt: the poorest part of the poorest district of one of the poorest countries in the world, but what does that actually mean?

Last week we traveled there to meet the staff and experience life there at first hand to be able to explain the situation to donors, and we didn't really know what expect. Some of the statistics of this area are truly shocking: in 2000, the life expectancy for men was 41, while women could only expect to live to 36, and 60% of children died before they were five. The figures have been slightly improved since, but it is still a place here life is hard and often short.

One of the first things to strike you is how difficult it is to get to Mugu. There are no vehicles in Gamgadhi – the roads stop five days walk away. The town is balanced precariously on a ridge, and an airstrip has been carved out of the mountainside above it, that as we flew in, it looked no more than a slightly oversized terrace for growing rice. For us, Gamgadhi was just the start and the next morning we planned to set off for a two day walk to the Soru Belt, with the Programme Manager and several of his staff. Between us we had a few bags and were also planning to carry some teaching materials for the programme and we quickly hit a problem: this was harvest time and everyone who could walk was fully employed frantically bringing in the crops and planting the next crops before winter came. It took half a day and a considerable amount of money to persuade three gentlemen to help us. These pictures show Mugu's airstrip and airport departure lounge.

We walked down the steep hill towards the Karnali river that we would be following for the next two days. The bridge over the river had been destroyed by Maoists and ongoing political in-fighting meant that it had never been repaired. Although extremely frustrating for the local population, it provided someone with a business opportunity and for 10p each we were hauled across, swinging on a crude seat suspended from a metal rope.

At this time of year, Mugu is stunningly beautiful. The sky was cloudless and a deep blue that was matched by the river. The hillsides, covered in grass or pine forests were steep and dramatic. The sun shone every day and the temperature was almost perfect. It reminded me of the south Island of New Zealand or maybe Corsica - the sight and smell of human faeces on the paths leading into and out of each settlement reinforced the impression that we could have been walking along a popular hiking route in France.

Arriving in the first village on our trail gave us a brutal reminder of why life can be so short here. A naked baby was crawling through the accumulated filth on the floor, covered in muck and flies and crying loudly. With all able bodies working flat out in the fields, child care is often delegated to a brother or sister who might only be a couple of years older, and who probably has their own jobs to carry out. In most homes we also saw the dark and dirty cowsheds where many women are still forced to give birth, alone.

The villages are extraordinary – houses made of mud or stone are carved into the steep hillsides and appear to be piled up on top of each other. Rooms are small and dark. Most life seems to take place on the flat roofs that are used for drying and pounding crops, eating, sleeping and rowing with the neighbours. Access to the roof is usually via a wobbly ladder carved out of a tree trunk, or via a narrow gangplank to the roof next door. Fortunately Evie soon got the hang of these...

Mugu is recognised as a food deficit area, meaning that they cannot grow enough food to feed themselves all year round. There also very few jobs in the area, meaning no incomes and no way to get food once their own crops have run out. Migration is therefore an essential survival strategy, and in the winter at least one male from each household will travel to Northern India to do menial work for low wages.

When INF first starts working in a new area, it carries out a listening survey: just encouraging people to talk about their lives, their problems and their aspirations. The aim to make sure that they want INF to begin working there, and also to see if there is a consensus about what needs to be done. In Bhi village, there was consensus: people didn't talk about the need for roads, for education, or for electricity. The hierarchy of needs was at its most basic and people wanted to know where can we get drinking water from? Where will our food come from? There are fresh water springs not far from Bhi, but many of them dry up in the summer, forcing the young girls of the village into a backbreaking 4 hour round trip down to the river each day for all their water needs. These pictures show the view above Bhi village, the public meeting taking place, and the register for the meeting - those who couldn't sign their names added a thumbprint.

This situation persuaded INF that it should consider installing a water system for the village that pipes drinking water in from a reliable source around 10 km away. A public meeting was held while we were there to confirm whether the people wanted INF to go ahead with the plans, and if so, whether they would commit to providing the manpower needed prepare the ground and carry materials. There was overwhelming support for the plans, but this was no easy decision – committing labour to the project meant that less men would travel to India to work, meaning less income and more mouths to feed. It will not be an easy year for them.

I experienced a mixture of hope and despair in Mugu. It was incredible to see people so determined to survive and even thrive in such difficult circumstances. It was inspiring to see the dedication of the INF staff – to live amongst these people and encourage them to work together to identify and solve their problems. But it also caused me to question what we were trying to do. The problems these people face are so big and so numerous that from my cosy western perspective with all that I take for granted, it was difficult to see their reasons for continuing to battle on day after day. What I started to see was that what these people did have – family, community, homes, culture – were truly important and worth fighting for, despite the hardship.

2007-11-07T12:20:00.000+05:45

Apologies for the break in communication – the last month has been a great one, but also pretty intense: a combination of family visits and work trips meant that we only spent 7 days at home during October. We were very grateful to arrive safely back in Pokhara yesterday and are now really looking forward to a quiet couple of weeks to try and catch up with work, correspondence and get Evie off her junk food diet and back into a regular sleeping pattern.

We'll share more details and photos here shortly.

2007-09-29T06:57:00.001+05:45

How is Evie?

She is having piano lessons and will soon be starting to learn French and Latin...

2007-09-29T06:47:00.000+05:45

A couple of things happenend this last week that might give you a bit of an insight into life in Nepal.

In INF, we are just getting stuck into another of our quarterly three-day management meetings involving programme managers, technical advisors and a couple of board members. The meetings are relatively hi-tech with several people working from laptops, and a beamer is used for giving presentations.

Phil is involved through his role in the Donor team and is also taking the minutes, for which he borrowed the FD's laptop. The job of taking minutes is complicated though by a family of little red ants that live somewhere in the machine. Every few minutes, a head would appear fom between the keys and another little fella would appear. Despite squashing them at regular intervals for a couple of days, they are still coming, so there must be quite a colony in there - Nepali wildlife is mostly small and harmless, but ever-present!

Secondly, we were woken up at 12.30 on Sunday night by the noise of a roaring crowd, that seemed to come from all directions and set the neighbourhood dogs barking, making the noise even louder. It was a shock and the reasons weren't obvious - had there been an earthquake or a break in, was it a riot or had someone died? The noise seemed good natured and soon died down, so we went back to sleep.

The next day we had forgotten about disturbance but the topic of conversation among Nepalis the next day was on one subject only - the Indian Idol TV programme - and it became clear that this was the reason for the noise.

Based on the Pop Idol programme, Indian idol climaxed on Sunday night and was won by a chap from Darjeeling - nominally in India, but mainly populated by Nepalis - a hugely popular result here. People spilled onto the streets after hearing the results, apparently causing drunken havoc in parts of Pokhara and Kathmandu until 3 in the morning. There is a whole class developing of young Nepalis who are well off, fashion conscious and face the same issues as kids growing up in Western countries - a fascination with celebrities, peer pressure, alcohol - and who are unable to identify with their parents or communities and have absolutely nothing in common with the huge numbers of rural poor here in Nepal.

2007-09-23T20:11:00.002+05:45

I feel a bit miserable for having whinged about the weather in our last blog - the truth is, we are healthy, happy and feel well looked after. We have been feeling pretty remote recently with difficult times for the family at home, plus groups of friends getting together reminding us just how far away we are - we're thinking of you all.

In the last week there has been a real change in the weather - the damp and rain that seems to have been here for months have lifted and the air has cleared, reminding us just what an awesome place we live in.

We went away for a night last weekend, taking a group out for a two day trek in the hills close to Pokhara. It turned out to be a really good time with everyone from the very mixed group coming back happy and not too sore. We had our concerns on route though as the weather was unsettled, the path was very slippery in places and the leaches were ferocious - we tried a combination of dettol, deet, salt and tobacco to ward them off but we all got bitten at least once.

A Hindu festival was just ending as we got a bus back from the end of the trail and a lot of people were wanting to get back to Pokhara. We piled on the roof thinking that we were lucky to fit on, before they proceeded to cram another 50 or people bodies on and around us. Fortunately it was a fairly short journey on a very slow road, but we were delighted to get off in one piece.

We had a great time yesterday afternoon, somehow lining various bits of technology to hold a group telephone call with the INF conference taking place in the UK.
It was great to feel part of the bigger INF family and incredible to think that it was only at the same conference last year that we were meeting a lot of INF characters for the first time and learning more about the organisation - feels like a life time ago!

2007-09-14T07:37:00.000+05:45

The rain continues....

We had been told be lots of people that it stops rainng in early September, and were kind of hanging our hopes on that, so the fact that we still get a storm most days is a bit disheartening, but at least it has cooled down a lot. Apparently this monsoon has been longer and more severe than most, and the saturated ground seems to have had enough.

There has been a spate of landslides just around Pokhara - at one point last week all three roads leading out of town were blocked. One community just near the lake to the West of town has had a terrible time, with what looked like half the hillside crashing down on them during the night. Five people were killed and many are homeless with livelihoods destroyed.

The next day was a shocking sight - the hilside strewn with boulders and trees where previously there had been well tended rice paddies. I felt very helpless watching people leaving what was left of their homes carrying all their possessions on their backs.

There has been a wave of conjunctivitis affecting lots of people, but so far we have been spared that. Evie has had a cold for the last week, but has stayed cheerful almost throughout. She now understands quite a lot of what you say, but not to the point of being able to make you a cup of tea or do anything useful. She is growing up frighteningly quickly: she came home from creche with painted nails the other day and apparently had a crush on a small boy at the swimming pool. I am scared, very scared!

Counting down the days until our first visitors arrive in early October...

2007-09-08T09:44:00.000+05:45

Mountainbiking in Nepal: the article below was written recently for www.sussex-mtb.com...

Firstly a bit of background... Sussex was my home for 20 years, and during that time I spent many hours riding various bikes on the north and south downs plus many of the trails in between. Last year my wife, young daughter and I upped sticks and are now working for a Nepali Christian health and development organisation and living in Pokhara, Nepal.

We brought our mountain bikes with us, but the roads here in Nepal are scary. They are governed by many rules, although only two are important or adhered to. Rule 1: cows are sacred – do not mess with the cows. Rule 2: after cows, the big and the brave have right of way. I'm not actually sure there is a Nepali highwaycode, but if there is one, I am confident it does not mention bicycles - despite there being a lot of them around, they are at the bottom of the food chain.

Trucks, buses, taxis and motorcycles, not to mention children, dogs, buffaloes, street traders and cows all seem to lie in wait for cycles to approach before wandering aimlessly into the road. In all situations, rider beware: they will not get out of your way!

I have seen a couple of road bikes here, but you wouldn't want to be on anything with skinny tyres. The few tarmac roads are full of potholes, and when it rains you can't see how deep they are! Most people ride single-speed Indian or Chinese made, sit-up-and-beg machines that feel like they are made of solid iron with tyres full of concrete. I bought one recently to commute to work on. At £35 new, it cost less than a replacement chainring on my mtb, and it is a good bit of kit - for riding short distances in the dry on flat roads with no corners...

However, Pokhara lies at the foot of the 8000m Annapurna range, and there are more than enough trails and breathtaking views to make running the lottery of the roads worthwhile. There isn't much singletrack here – the footpaths tend to lead straight up or down the hills and are usually too steep to ride in either direction – but there are a lot of jeep tracks and from Pokhara there are big hills and great trails in every direction.

The tracks are rocky and rutted – similar to trails I have ridden in the peak district – but you can usually find a clean line. The heavy rains cause many landslides though and deep erosion gullies can rip through tracks, completely changing them overnight. The sheer scale of the mountains is awe inspiring – you can climb hard for an hour to reach a ridge that looks impressive from the valley floor, only to find another higher one looming above you and the snowy peaks seemingly getting no closer.

One of my favorite rides here is a two hour loop onto a ridge to the West of Pokhara that combines a mixed road and track climb with some some fantastic views and includes the best singletrack descent in the area. Setting off early in the morning, you can avoid most of the Pokhara traffic and taking the main road out of town, you quickly leave the noise and smell behind. Climbing gradually on a decent surface, it is a good way to get warmed up and gain some height. The tall ridge to your right shields you from the mountains, but looking back down the valley you get a good view of Pokhara, often shrouded in morning mist.

After about half an hour, you take an indistinct track up to the right (route finding is often more by luck than judgement and can be very time-consuming: the maps are criminally inaccurate, there are no signposts and many dead ends), the work rate rises up a notch and you need to concentrate: the surface is loose and quite technical. Following the stony track as it switchbacks up the hill you pass through a couple of small villages, much to the amusement of the local kids, and finally, after climbing up around 300 metres you reach a larger village just below the ridge line. There are a couple of tea shops here where you can buy a little glass of Chiya (sweet, milky tea) for around 4p, and sit and recover your breath.

From here you can see Pokhara in the distance, and it is all downhill! Heading East back along the ridge down a broad smooth track, the gradient is not steep, but you build up speed quickly, looking ahead all the time for gullies or animals that might interrupt your progress. We don't have dog walkers here in Nepal, but buffaloes take their place as mobile trail hazards – many Nepalis keep them for milk and meat and they are often free to wander during the day. Although usually placid and slow moving, they can get quite skittish when startled and several times I've had to make emergency stops or take avoiding action after coming face-to-face with one on a narrow trail!

Continuing down the track, you round a corner and cross over the top of the ridge, and suddenly the awesome sight of Machhapuchhare appears – a perfect 7000m pyramid of rock and ice, with the higher Annapurna mountains arranged either side of it. Down in the valley below is Fewa lake, with Pokhara jammed up on its eastern shore. If you can take your eyes off the mountains and get back on the bike, the trail runs through a couple of technical boulder fields, before emerging alongside a massive white stupa or Buddhist temple that is one of the best known landmarks around Pokhara. There are often plenty of tourists here who have come up on the bus and a cluster of teashops, but the descent to come has a stronger pull!

A short carry up some steps, a quick blast over some open ground, and then the trail narrows and drops down into the forest. The next two miles cover some of the best singletrack I have ridden – as good as anything in the Surrey hills: fast, tight and technical with a mix of corners and surfaces, and a few drops offs and rocky chutes to make sure you are concentrating. There are often monkeys in the forest, but if you do see them, think twice about stopping for a better view – during the wet season the forest floor is swarming with leaches – persistent little beggars that will give you a very itchy bite!

As Pokhara approaches, you start to hear the traffic below, and the trail takes a sharp turn to the left, dropping down a long flight of steep steps. Don't follow the trail but go straight on for a short off-piste run, finding your own path through the low undergrowth and over some small drop-offs, before emerging from under the trees onto a smooth track on the edge of a large rice field. Take a left, and you'll quickly find yourself back in the middle of town – the noise and dust a sharp contrast to the peace and quiet of the ridge where you were a few minutes before.

If you are interested in visiting, try and come between October and April. It warms up rapidly in May and during the monsoon, it is too hot to do anything energetic after 6.00 in the morning: you can get up a good sweat just brushing your teeth.

An MTB 'scene' is starting to emerge in Nepal. There are a couple of reasonable bike shops in Kathmandu plus groups who ride regularly and even occasional cross country races. As well as several firms that offer cycle touring holidays, the Pokhara Mountain bike club run some serious mountain biking trips. The club is run by a Frenchman who used to race at the top level. He came to Nepal several years ago for some high altitude training and never left. The aim of the club is to take tourists on guided trips – anything from a two-hour cruise around the valley to three-day downhill blasts starting high in the Himalayas – and also teach young Nepalis how to ride and hopefully train a future champion. You can hire a very nice Commencal Meta-5 and a guide to ride with you for ~£20 per day – a couple of weeks wages for many Nepalis, but peanuts by western standards. Get hold of a copy of the Commencal catalogue: several of the pictures were taken on the local trails and if they don't inspire you to get out and ride – nothing will!

2007-08-30T21:22:00.001+05:45

Extended families are hugely important here in Nepal and each position in the family has its' own name relative to each other. Imagine our delight when we found out that my scatalogical younger sister is officially known as Evie's poo-poo.

2007-08-30T21:13:00.000+05:45

All is well here. Work is very busy for both of us and time is going by very quickly. It feels like we are keeping our heads down, waiting for the monsoon to finish.

Elle is working hard in her HR role - accomplising a huge amount of work in very short timescales. She is also developing a bit of reputation as a film maker, having recently produced a DVD of speech therapy exercises for the local hospital, and is now working on some short films for the INF conference in the UK next month.

With so much multi-tasking required she has perfected the Nepali art of carrying Evie around in a sling on her back.

Donor wise, this is also a busy time, as last years accounts have just been finalised after the end of our financial year in mid-july and we now have to send annual reports to several donors - all in slightly different formats!

Evie has been having a bit of a painful time - her enthusiasm often often goes faster than her legs and she has had a few crash landings recently. She just got this new dress through the post - many thanks Esther.

2007-08-16T20:53:00.001+05:45

Floods in NPG

Judging from the BBC website, it looks like the South Asian floods have slipped from the news headlines pretty quickly. The waters have receded from most areas here in Nepal, but leave behind a lot of destitute people and a high risk of disease. This has been my first experience of working in any sort of humanitarian activity that has been in the news, and it has been interesting to see how people react.

INF has a very good team based in Nepalgunj, probably the town worst affected by the flooding in Nepal. They are mostly involved in community development or supporting people who have been displaced from their homes. They have worked for years with some of the poorest rural communities in the area and have a deep understanding of the people and their needs. It is through this close personal relationship, rather than any systems or infrastructure, that they have been able to help people through the floods.

Fundraising is often a slow process: relationships need to be built, plans written, reviewed and discussed, objectives and measures agreed. In the last couple of weeks however, well over £30,000 has been raised for flood relief with hardly a question asked. People and organisations seem to relate to the immediacy of news headlines and the opportunity to save 100 lives now in a very different way to community education and development programmes that might save 1000 in the future.

Don't get me wrong, the money INF has received in the last week was badly needed and will prevent people dying. There will always be disasters that can't be planned for and large amounts of money will be needed to save lives in an emergency, but I can't help feeling that if people and governments had a longer term vision for their giving, some of these disasters could be prevented.

2007-08-16T20:39:00.000+05:45

Community development in Jumla

The highlight of my recent trip to Jumla was being able to get out on field trips to two of the community self help groups supported by INF. These were both physically close to the town of Jumla, but a life time away in terms of people's attitudes and expectations. INF's approach to community development is a slow process, and usually involves nothing more than talking, usually to the women of the village, making them aware that they have rights, that there are solutions to the problems they face every day, and that there are people who will listen to them and help them if they work together.

Before visiting one of these villages I found it hard to appreciate exactly what INF was doing. INF hardly ever actually gives anything away, and yet the people we met really seemed to appreciate what was being given: time, encouragement and advice. In one meeting we sat down on the roof of someones with eight community leaders who represented the 100 households of the village, and we were able to ask them about their relationship with INF and how they were developing their community.

They said that over the last few years, 15 different NGO's had come and gone: all promised something, a few had delivered something, but none had stayed. INF was different they said – "INF didn't promise anything, but they taught us how to think". Five years ago there were no community leaders, not even a real sense of community. Now there are recognised leaders in the village who organise the building of toilets and for drinking water to be piped in – several of those who were confidently answering questions about their village would previously not have dared to speak in public.

One group decided that educating its children was the highest priority and they have now organised a community school that teaches children until they are ready to go to the nearby government school. Another decided that income generating schemes were important and so each group member no contributes around 40p a month to a fund that then gives cheap loans to group members to start small businesses.

The villlage is still extremely poor, there are few jobs for the men, and many of the old problems still exist, but I found it very encouraging that now the people had a forum for discussing the issues they faced, and they knew where to go to get answers. To me it was a real life example of the old proverb "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day: teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime "

2007-08-12T20:58:00.000+05:45

Gratuitous Evie shot....

2007-08-12T20:47:00.000+05:45

After 4 weeks of rain we now have some much longed for sun which is enabling us to dry clothes and furniture. We have it easy though in comparison to a lot of you back home and to the people in the south of the country here.

We travelled down to Nepalgunj in the south a couple weeks ago in order to get a flight up to Jumla in the north west of Nepal to visit the INF projects up there. A road from Nepalgunj to Jumla has just been completed, but it takes four days in good weather, and with the amount of rain we have had, we were not taking any chances.

The journey to Nepalgunj by bus was quite nerve wracking as during the 13 hour journey we encountered landslides with alarming frequency. Fortunately none hit us and none held us up too long. The big landslides which completely blocked the roads saw queues of lorries, cars and motorbikes all patiently waiting for the hired help to dig through. One landslide site happened to have a mechanical digger nearby which meant it was cleared within 4 hours.

Once we arrived in Nepalgunj it was apparentall was not well. Floods were blocking most roads, and where we were due to stay the first floor was under water so we moved on through the water to a friends house. This was fortunately just above flood level – so a little haven for us as we waited for flights to go to Jumla albeit without power (meaning no fans or fridges in stifling 30deg heat and very high humidity).

People were losing homes and businesses as the water continued to rise and it was pretty filthy, stinky water! Right now there are about 130,000 homeless, 100 dead and many suffering with illnesses such as cholera, malaria and others. INF are not set up to be an emergency relief organisation but are carrying out emergency mobile camps to test and treat people and are giving out mosquito nets.

As it looked unlikely that flights would go to Jumla and even if they did, no guarentee we could get out again, I decided to cut my losses and head back to Pokhara with Evie. Phil perservered and happily arrived at his destination without to much bother and spent an enlightening week in one of the poorest parts of Nepal. He was invited on a couple of field trips to visit community self help groups that meet to discuss the issues in their village and agree on what do about them – from starting a community school to building toilets and roads. It was really encouraging to meet people from very poor, uneducated backgrounds who had big ideas about how they were going to improve the way of life in their village what they were going to do.

Not much is available in Jumla so many children suffer from malnutrition leaving one child of 3 about the same size as Evie. Most families only have land to grow enough food for six months of the year – the rest of the time they have to find work in order to buy food, or go hungry. Some high caste groups won't eat certain foods for religious reasons and so deprive their children of sources of nutrition which could have a big positive impact on their development. A nutrition project has just been started in the INF clinic is expanding rapidly.

2007-07-26T08:52:00.001+05:45

It has been pretty surreal listening to the news on the BBC world service recently, with floods in the north and west of England taking top billing.

Just so you know, we share your pain! Monsoon has arrived here with a vengeance - it has rained almost non-stop for the last week which on the one hand is nice as the temperature drops right down, but everything in the house is now damp and starting to smell a bit...

Pokhara is apparently one of the wettest places on earth with an annual rainfall of over three metres, nearly a metre of which often falls in July. We are lucky here as the rain quickly runs off into the rivers, which are in deep gorges and do not tend to flood. People down stream are often not so lucky, and there have been many deaths from flooding this year in Northern India and Bangladesh. The drains quickly overflow here though and flood the road, adding to the general filth and making cycling a dangerous business as you can't tell how deep the potholes are!

These two pictures show the Seti, the main river running through Pokhara. Most of the year there is a whole industry on the side of the river quarrying and sorting rocks and gravel - all by hand. The first picture shows the Seti in full flood after a big storm, filling its gorge. The second is taken from the same point two days later and shows the banks of the river re-emerging and people getting back to work.

Landslides are a major threat here and the local roads are often blocked. This picture was taken near by, where attempts to build a new road had destabilised the hillside, which came crashing down after a heavy shower, fortunately just missing houses on both sides.

2007-07-26T08:47:00.000+05:45

Evie pictures of the week.

Evie was recently given a little pushchair to wheel her toys around in but was very excited when she found she could fit in it herself...

2007-07-20T10:40:00.001+05:45

Just when we were thinking that we were settling in to life here and thinking that we understood what was happening around us, something happens that completely takes us by surprise and makes us feel very alien again.

There aren't many main roads here in Nepal, but those that do exist are homes and sources of income to a whole mass of people. The thin strips of tarmac or gravel are tightly hemmed in by a maze of stalls selling everything from Britney Spears T-shirts to goats, workshops, garages and shacks that have been built on every spare bit of land and are home to sick looking dogs, cows, buffaloes and children.

Of course there are rules governing who could do what on the road sides, but like most rules in Nepal, they were either just ignored or avoided through the odd backhander here and there. Then, one morning earlier this week I noticed groups of people standing around on my ride in to work, obviously concerned about something. Soon after that the police arrived, looking nervous. And then the bulldozers.

Over the course of a couple of days, a strip about 10 metres either side of the road main Kathmandu road was cleared, flattening houses, shops, walls and petrol stations, from the centre of Pokhara to the edge of town. It looked like the aftermath of a war, piles of rubble everywhere and people milling about – surprisingly they didn’t seem angry, just frustrated and confused.

We were angry - it just seemed so pointless and wasteful and prejudiced against the poor who had no where else to live and other way of earning a living. Many Nepalis we have spoken to are not nearly so concerned. Apparently everyone knows the rules and this clearance has been planned for a while.

Two days later, shacks are already starting to reappear selling clothes and vegetables, just waiting for the next round…

2007-07-17T14:36:00.000+05:45

Due a combination of our poor organisation and D*ll's (lack of) customer service we left home nine months ago without a lot of the software we thought we needed for our laptop.

Since then we have - legally - aquired almost all the tools we need without paying a penny. I have been amazed at the quality and quantity of programmes freely available on t'internet: OpenOffice for word processing and spreadsheets, Irfan photo software, Pegasus for email, Antivir virus protection, OnlineBible and Motzilla's web browser, not to mention google and skype. We are already using a few of these tools in the office and there is talk of trying to go completely MS free in the near future - for an organisation that has to account for every penny it receives, that would be big benefit.

One thing we are missing though is a calendar or scheduling tool that reminds you about deadlines and tasks that have to be completed. We used to find that the ability to link emails to tasks and set reminders was the main benefit of MS Outlook, and you can't do that with the tool we use.

If anyone knows of something that would do the job and is freely available, please get in touch.

2007-07-08T09:17:00.000+05:45

This is a painful time for Evie, with a whole host of injections now due. She's had five in the last couple of weeks with plenty more to come. Fortunately most of the vaccines we need are readily available here and we get good advice and support from the expat doctors.

She hasn't been her normal self for the last few days and has come out in a bit of a heat rash, but still smiles a lot and is great fun. One area we are struggling with is discipline – when she does something deliberately naughty like throwing her food on the floor, we try to scold her, but she just laughs at us and we then find it very hard to keep a straight face. We are suddenly very sorry for all the grief we gave our parents!!

2007-07-05T09:50:00.000+05:45

We covered a few miles last week. Elle had a good time in Kathmandu, shopping (why she really went) plus a little bit of working in the office and getting jabs for Evie (her justification for the trip!).

I travelled West, taking a bus to Nepalgunj down near the Indian border. Nepalgunj was hot – I only spent one night there, but it made me appreciate Pokhara even more! I picked up an old motorbike there that we are buying from some friends and travelled the 150km to Dang where I planned to help with some training. The bike is only 125cc and has a top speed of ~50km per hour, so it was a long trip!

The next four days were spent with the INF team in Dang, plus some local organisations that INF works with, trying to help them with fundraising and proposal writing. The aim was to give some teaching, but most of the time was dedicated to practical proposal writing. They seemed to enjoy it, and as ever, I was really impressed by the Nepali people's ability to stand up and talk, tell a joke or even sing in front of a group seemingly without any nerves. Trying to prseent in Nepali was hard work, and there were so many blank faces at the end of the first session that I reverted to English – fortunately there were a couple of people who could translate.

These local organisations were groups who campaigned for the rights of the disabled, ran awareness campaigns to prevent disability and gave training disabled people to help them become indenpendant. Most of them worked in very remote areas and were often the only source of hope for disabled people who are often seen as a curse and locked away out of sight. INF works with these groups and tries to develop them and help them to become independent, but it is very hard for them to raise their own money without proper access to the outside world and with corruption in local government taking away what little official funding they should get.

The ride home – another 250km – was spread over another two days. After the long straight roads of the Terai plains, it was great to get back onto the 'bango-tingo' (zig-zags) of the mountain roads and a real relief when Pokhara finally came into view. We are coming to the end of rice planting season here and the fields are beautifully green with paddies flooded and rice shoots coming through.

2007-06-22T22:58:00.000+05:45

Hope you've had a good week. It has been a bit stressful with work here, trying to catch up from meetings the week before and get ahead before being out of the office this coming week. I think the important stuff is covered...

Elle and Evie are off to KTM tomorrow morning to get some jabs for Evie and do some work
in the office there. I am going west to visit a couple of INF's programmes and try to do some
training. I'm also hoping to pick a motorbike so should be fun.

It will be the first time we
have been apart since Evie came along so will be tough.

Evie is on great form, walking confidently and almost running sometimes. She is developing a strong character and it is hard to dissuade her from playing with doors and eating shoes...

These are a few shots from our trek the other week, as we've not got round to organising them properly. You'll just have to come and visit!

2007-06-14T07:36:00.000+05:45

The general mood here in Pokhara seems to have changed while we were away. A combination of the weather and a spate of strikes seem to have withdrawn people into their shells and quietened the city down – even the dogs have stopped barking (alright, reduced their barking!)

The monsoon arrived on cue and for the last week the weather has been dominated by low clouds, grey skies and some incredible storms. In one night we had 60mm of rain, but most of the time, the low light and drizzle just reminds us of home! This is Elle and Evie sheltering fom the rain.

Several recent strikes have closed businesses and disrupted travel – as well as delaying our holiday, another strike meant that we had to come back a day early to avoid a long walk home along the road. During a secrutiy briefing yesterday a list of 25 different organisations was published who all plan to hold strikes in the coming months. They included political parties, trade unions, special interest groups representing specfic caste groups, ethnic groups and people living in different parts of the country.The list was long, varied and just showed how frustrated people are with their current situations, how little faith they have in the authorities to get things done and how powerless those authorities are to control law and order.

This week is busy, with one of INF's quarterly management meetings taking place when the leaders of each of INF's programmes meet with technical advisors and representatives from the board to review work and discuss plans for the future. I am taking the minutes. It is very interesting to hear the discussions as I still have a lot of learn about the organisation, but it is tiring work – plenty of coffee required!

We had a superb time trekking last week and will share more details as soon as we sort through the 600 odd pictures we took. This is a sneak preview - Fishtail mountain showing how it got its name.

2007-06-01T20:23:00.000+05:45

All is well here in the Morris household at the end of another week. Time is flying by, and it is sometimes difficult to remember what we do each day, but we're keeping busy. As ever, Evie is on great form, and gets more confident with her walking each day, although she came back from school with a big shiner after taking a tumble – first of many I'm guessing!

Life in the office is hectic as budgets are prepared for the new financial year, which starts mid July here in Nepal. Overall, INF looks in good shape, with most of its' projects fully funded, and with donors showing an interest in supporting new work which is planned in several of INF's programmes. A lot of INF's work is with treating and rehabilitating people who have suffered from leprosy and TB. These still cause huge suffering here in Nepal, but are beginning to fall off the radar of many donors, as these diseases have been all but eradicated in most parts of the world and it is a challenge to keep people interested. This picture shows INF Nepals head office in Pokhara.

We are taking the coming week as holiday, and plan to trek up to Annapurna base camp. This will be our first trip into the mountains and we're really looking forward to it. We were supposed to have left today, but a strike was called and the roads were all closed. Todays 'bandh' was a relaxed, good natured affair, with people playing football and cricket on what are usually busy roads (this causes new dangers on the roads, as I was hit by a cricket ball as I cycled in to work this morning!) but hides the frustration that people feel at not being able to get on with their lives.

This chap had a good way of keeping cool as he cycled on the deserted roads in Pokhara this morning.

Apparently they can predict the arrival of the monsoon with some accuracy, and it is arriving a week early this year – June 6th. We should still be walking then, so it could be fun...

2007-05-27T09:18:00.000+05:45

Politics is a pretty depressing business in Nepal at the moment, with an interim coalition government of 8 political parties (the former 7 parties plus the Moaists who recently joined) seemingly unable to come to a agreement on anything. Elections to decide the future structure of the country have recently been postponed, with each party blaming the other. Outside of Kathmandu, politics seems to be irrelevant to most people, who just want the freedom to get on with their lives. The police are often visible, but don't like to venture far from the safety of their vehicles.

Corruption is rampant – when questioned about bribary recently, the transport minister was quoted in a newspaper as saying 'I have instructed my staff to reduce their kickbacks from 60% to 30%'.

Politics is very left of centre here – apart from the Maoists, the coalition features a 'United Marxist Leninist' party and other communist parties. A bizzare example of the way the state meddles in everyday life is in the supply of petrol. The government fixes the price of petrol at an artificially low level – about 7rupees per litre less than in India (total price ~50p/litre). Now, all petrol in Nepal is supplied by the state oil company (NOC) and comes from India, but because of the low selling price, NOC loses money on every litre it sells. The government can't (or won't) make up the difference, NOC is racking up huge debts, and the Indian suppliers are understandably cutting back their shipments. There are currently severe shortages in some parts of the country, with long queues at the few filling stations that have supplies and no-one in the government will talk about abolishing the fixed selling price for fear of losing popularity. To cap it all, some of the fuel that does make it to Nepal, is then smuggled back to India where it can be sold for a profit!

Despite the Moaists now being in government, their youth wing, the Young Communist League have been making a name for themselves. When in a good mood, they help with directing traffic and clearing up litter, but get them on a bad day, and they are not quite so friendly. There have been reports of them seizing land, and they was a recent spate of statue smashing, as they tried to remove all references to the monarchy. They have long memories – these are before and after pictures of the statue of Prithvi Narayan Shah who ruled Nepal sometime in the 1700's and used to stand on a roundabout on the entrance to Pokhara.

2007-05-27T09:12:00.000+05:45

The other day we were invited to the wedding of Cowshiela's (the lady who looks after Evie) daughter. It was a Christian wedding, but was still an arranged marriage – as there are not many Christins here, it can be difficult to find a Christian partner, and so church and family both get involved in match making and negotiating details of the wedding. I don't know if this one was typical, but all the discussions seemed to be public property and for a few weeks we were given regular updates on how it was going. Apparently it was nearly called off at one point because the church leaders couldn't agree where it would be held.

The ceremony was loosly based on a western church wedding, with a service, vows and rings. It was lead by a very elderly pastor who, although clearly loved by the couple and the congreagation, didn't have much of a clue what was going on. Whenever he wasn't sure, he would whisper questions loudly into the microphone – which hand does the ring go on? and which finger?

One thing that was striking was that the bride looked absolutely miserable througout – keeping her head down and never smiling. This is a Hindu tradition – for a woman, her wedding signifies that she is leaving her parents to join another family, and to be happy at your wedding would be very disrespectful to them.

After the service we ajourned to a big tent outside for daalbhat – all except the happy couple who were sat under a separate little canopy, and generally ignored for an hour while the guests ate. They didn't seem to mind though, as both looked pretty happy and relaxed when we spoke to them later.

2007-05-19T08:34:00.001+05:45

May 16th was the first anniversary of a fairly significant event in our lives – the birth of Evie. A good chance to think back over the last year and give thanks for such a beautiful, easy going and patient daughter. It is just amazing to think what she has been through this year, and how she has developed into a little person who walks (in a slightly drunken fashion), talks (in her own language), and who has very clear ideas about the right time to go to bed, and what constitutes a proper breakfast!

This is her showing off a new dress from her Grandparents - thanks to all who sent her cards and presents.

She had a pretty action packed day, including two cakes that Elle made for her – one for the school where she is looked after and then another for a party we held at our house that evening. Around 25 people came and Elle had organised a 'pub quiz' that went down well – about as well as a quiz can without the 'pub' bit.

We have been keen to get Evie on two wheels, but at this stage have had to settle for three. She is very proud of her new wagon, and enjoys pushing it around as much as sitting in it.

The weather here is now quite hot and humid - I am guessing about 35 during the day, falling to about 25 at night – and any sort of physical activity leaves you dripping! The days tend to start at about 5.30, just as it is getting light, partly because that is when Evie wakes up, but also because that is often the most pleasant time of day. It has been raining every other day or so, which has apparently kept the temperatures down a bit lower than normal and for which we are very grateful!

2007-05-07T21:01:00.000+05:45

Great excitement here over the last week as Evie took her first steps. Well, really it was just prolonged falling, but there is definitely a lot of potential and we are very proud!!

2007-05-07T20:53:00.000+05:45

Last Tuesday was a national holiday here – the first anniversary of the peoples uprising that forced the king to reinstate parliament and led to the former maoist rebels joining the government. There is a sense of relief that the last year has been relatively peaceful, but it is mixed with real and growing frustration that the government has not been able to create a stable platform for real development.

We made use of the long weekend and went for a two day trek to Panchase, slightly west of Pokhara. At 2,500m it would be a mountain in any other part of the world, but here it is still just a hill. We hired a guide allowing us to get off the beaten track a bit and see a really beautiful area. He taught us two new Nepali words that sum up much of the trek: juka (meaning leech), and badal (cloud). The first day we walked for around 4 hours with a long break for rice in a little village at lunch time.The clouds were building all afternoon, but fortunately the rain held off until five minutes after we arrived at our night stop – a small hotel in a beautiful remote little village. It was a very peaceful spot and we were very well looked after.

The next morning was bright and clear, so we got up early and climbed to the top of the hill before breakfast. Setting off back towards Pokhara, we followed small paths through forest with occasional views back up to the mountains. A beautiful walk, but unfortunately perfect conditions for leaches.... In places you could see dozens of the little beggers desperately reaching up to try and grab your shoes. Every time you stopped walking it gave them the opportunity to try and bury into your socks – plenty enough motivation to keep going! Fortunately they are pretty stupid and as likely to chew your shoes as your feet, so we only got bitten once each. That second day we walked for around 6 hours before getting down to the road and catching a bus back to Pokhara – again five minutes before the heavens opened.

2007-04-27T21:01:00.000+05:45

The 20th of April marked the six month anniversary of our arrival here in Nepal which gives us an excuse to look back over the last half year and see how far we've come. We celebrated the occasion with a candle lit dinner – necessarily so as the power goes off every Friday evening.

Our time here has shot by very quickly, but it seems like an age since we packed up our home in Sussex and dashed for the airport. We are settled in a lovely house in Pokhara, far better than anything we imagined we would be living in here. We have made some really good friends already, both among the small group of expat INF'ers and in the local church and community. People have been so friendly and helpful - we have been made to feel very welcome. (photo: recent family portrait)

Life here is so involving, I have found that you quickly forget havng lived anywhere else and just take each day as it comes. Some aspects of life here are very uncertain – you really come to appreciate it when the electricity works, or there are no strikes and the roads are clear. Other aspects of life you can be sure of: if you drink the water you will get ill; things will not start on time; and if you have a white skin, you will be stared at and everyone will take a great interest in the smallest details of your life. As people who enjoy privacy, this has been one of the hardest aspects of life here to deal with.

Five months of full time language learning is probably enough to drive anyone up the wall, but that too has been a positive experience, getting to grips with a completely new script and language structure. We are in turns amazed at how much we've learned and frustrated at how basic our understanding still is. We will probably continue having one or two lessons a week for as long as we stay here. We have started work and enjoy the feeling of being able to contribute. There is so much that you can get involved in, the difficulty is restricting your efforts to where they will be most effective.

We have generally stayed fit and healthy, adapting to the local flora and fauna quite well, although between the three of us, we've been on four courses of antibiotics in the last six months.

We have got slightly more used to the idea of having help around the house. Getting anything done here involves huge amounts of manual labour, and our household is no exception, with one Didi working almost full time looking after Evie, another helping part time around the house, and an old one eyed fellow who comes round now and again to help with the garden. Collectively they have been great and are very protective of us.

Evie has gone from being a happy but underweight baby who stayed where you put her, to a huge bundle of energy who shows a great interest in everything around her. She talks constantly (albeit in her own language), can climb stairs and is on the verge of walking. She is very happy and outgoing, just loving the attention that everyone here gives her. The Nepali diet seems to be good for her and she eats almost anything in sight - a huge worry given the number of bugs about! She is sitting on my lap now and her contribution is j hhipn fxf4t6e4rwq3swz\/ -[.ok m,m, dddddddddddddddd3r2e2w.

Looking forward to the next six months!

2007-04-14T14:13:00.000+05:45

We are coming to the end of another week, and another year here in Nepal, as Saturday is New Years day. The Nepali year has 12 months, but they are about two weeks out of phase with the Roman calendar, and new year comes around the middle of April. This system was developed in India 2063 (now 2064 years ago) years ago, but I think Nepal is the only country that uses it.

Photo shows a spectacular lightening storm over Pokhara.

It has been another busy week and time is flying by. Elle has taught English to two groups of ladies from church who really appreciate her. She is also a temporary 'Expat team coordinator' and has been busy preparing accomodation for a new nurse arriving over the w/e. I have been trying to write a paper outlining INF's approach to 'community based rehabilitation' for a potential new donor and struggling to review the first half year's financial reports – not the most inspiring, but a good way to learn about what is going on around the organisation.

Easter was a great time – the Pokhara chuches got together and had a massive rally through the town. Then a group of us stayed the night at a viewpoint overlooking Pokhara and saw a fantastic Easter morning sunrise. Hope all of you had a peaceful break.

(photo: part of the crowd at the Easter rally)

By her own exemplary standards Evie has had a troubled week, sometimes waking at night and not wanting to eat anything but bread. She is still great fun though – we have a long bookshelf and her favorite pastime at the moment is rearranging all the books onto the floor. She can currently reach the bottom two shelves, and it won't be long before no-where is safe. In a failed attempt at an April fool gag I left some large plastic insects at strategic points around the house, and woebetide any real snakes or scorpions that got inside as Evie would now head straight for it and try to eat it.

A mulbery tree outside our house has been causing great excitement over the last week. As its fruit started to ripen it attracted kids from all over the neighbourhood and nearly gave our landlord a heart attack – whenever he saw them he would run out of his house waving a stick throwing stones at the kids who would run off shrieking with laughter. One time I went out and thinking I could reason with them in my broken Nepali respectfully asked them if they knew they were stealing. One pulled a moonie at me while the others made monkey noises - I think they knew who was boss. Lack of respect is clearly a global phenomena – and they haven't even got hoodies here!

p

2007-04-08T20:17:00.000+05:45

The ride into work the other morning demonstrated two sides of life on the roads of Nepal. The good side: I was late and jumped on the pedals to overtake a bus, when my chain snapped (no, this isn't the good bit!). Frustrated, I coasted to the side of the road and spotted a bike shop near by. The lad working there didn't have any proper tools, but made up for this with enthusiasm, and within 5 minutes had repaired it using a large hammer, a pair of pliers and a small screw. When I was charged 10 rupees, I felt a bit hard done by - until I converted into GBP: about 7p.

The bad side? Just after getting my chain fixed, a bus coming towards me hooting its horn pulled out into the middle of the road to avoid a bit pothole. A motorbike that was overtaking the bus, also hooting its horn, was forced into a collision course with me. I swerved off the road, and without blinking, the motorbike shot past still hooting its horn. No one will deliberately kill you on the roads in Nepal, it is just that if you are on a push-bike, you are at the bottom of the food chain!

As far as I can gather, the word for road - bato - is also used for a dirt track, or even a footpath, and people don't really distinguish between them. As a walker therefore (or as a cow, buffalo, or dog), you have as much right to walk on a main highway, as you do on the path that leads to your house. There is no real right of way on the roads in Nepal, and everyone seems to have (or assume that they have) an equal right to any piece of road. People pull onto main roads, off main roads, stop to talk to other drivers or overtake without a thought of others around them. However, despite witnessing some terrifying manoeuvers I am yet to spot anyone getting angry or frustrated – not a hint of road rage.

A question from the Nepali theory driving test (optional): The car ahead of you puts on their right indicator (assuming it works). Which of the following is the most likely message the driver is trying to put across. 1) I am turing right. 2) The road ahead is clear, you can overtake me on the right. 3) It is dark, my headlights are not working and I am letting the oncoming vehicle know how wide I am. 4) The light has been incorrectly wired and I am actually braking.

2007-03-30T13:59:00.000+05:45

It has been nearly two weeks since we added anything to this site, and it's been a busy time with a week spent in Nepal's Mid West region visiting INF projects there and I'm now coming towards the end of my first full week of work – this is no longer feeling like a holiday!!

The trip to Nepalgunj is 420kms but takes 10 hours if you're lucky. It is a fascinating journey with two distinct halves. From Pokhara the road climbs over and through Nepal's hilly middle regions with no straight sections longer than about 100m. Then you each Butwal on the edge of the Terai, and suddenly the land flattens out and the country takes on a completely different feel. The horizontal horizons felt a bit disorientating after six months in the hills, straight roads stretching into the distance teeming with rickshaws and buffalo carts.

INF's work in this region covers both urban and incredibly remote districts and involves treating people with complicated TB and leprosy and then getting them re-integrated into their communities, community development, drug rehabilitation and support for the government run health service. INF works in the poorest communities, often behind the scenes, helping people to work together to prioritise their needs and then either do the work themselves, or go out and find other sources of funding to carry out development. This is a slow process that can take several years, but as the communities are integral to it, and drive the pace of it, this way of working seems to develop a greater sense of ownership among the community, and developments are more long term and sustainable.

We also had some fun, meeting some great people and sampling life on three wheels. The owner of this rickshaw was nervous to say the least...

We visited the Indian border - seemingly open to anyone with a brown skin, but westerners need a visa. It was incredibly busy, with a constant stream of trucks, carts and cycles. Goods are cheaper in India than Nepal so many Nepalis travel across regularly to shop.

Unfortunately Elle picked up a nasty dose of amoeba, which surfaced while we were away. She was really laid low for three days, and is now slowly regaining strength. This has been our first real case of illness since we arrived, and has been sobering. Your prayers for continued good health would be much appreciated.

Evie has kept well and is on great form - now moving around the house rapidly from one dangerous situation to another!

In the last couple of weeks it is has warmed up dramatically and the day time temperature gets to ~30C and rising: at 8.00 in the evening it is still about 26C in the house. The approaching summer feels a little daunting!

I am now a full time Donor Liaison Advisor..... Working with a team of three Nepalis to ensure that INF's various projects are fully funded and that donors know how their money is being spent. After several years in an open plan office, I feel a bit lonely in a small office by myself. Other than that, my work is remarkably similar to what I have been doing in the UK: writing and compiling reports and presentations, communicating with donors (suppliers) and ensuring deadlines are met. Oh, and anyone at Eurotherm who wants to complain about the heat in the office is welcome to swap!

P

2007-03-17T20:51:00.000+05:45

Went for a quick spin on the bikes this morning with Ian and Marcel from Germany who has come to Nepal for four months to teach German to some of the INF kids. We took in part of the Royal trek route that Prince Charles trekked when he came to Nepal. As you can see, the views were ok....

No blog would be complete without a picture of Evie – happy as ever and getting in some climbing practice.

Strikes are still very much the order of the day here in Nepal as political parties and protest groups all vie for influence (Nepal's interim constitution was modified this week to take one groups concerns into account). However ordinary people have become increasingly disinterested and keen to get on with their lives. Ignoring strikes can be a risky business though and there have been riots in some parts of the country – fortunately not in the Pokhara area. Perhaps sensing that they were losing support for their strikes with ordinary people, one group has now announced a campaign of civil disobediance – locking up government offices and refusing to pay taxes....

Assuming no new strikes are called overnight, we travel to the mid-west of Nepal tomorrow to visit INF's programs in Nepalgunge, Surkhet and Gorahi. We'll be away for a week and are really looking forward to seeing a very different part of the country (where a lot of the political unrest has been) and seeing INF's work there at first hand.

2007-03-17T20:44:00.000+05:45

We are all well, although tired after a hectic week during which we have moved house and both started work.

Further to my previous post, we also had a spectactular lunar eclipse that was well worth getting up at 3AM to see.

Elle was involved in two days of interviews as part of INF's 'visionary recruitment process' that aims to attract talented Nepalis to the organisation and put them in roles where they can be trained and developed. I had a two day meeting with the INF donor team (three Nepalis, manager, and me) working out what everyone's roles are, what needs doing, and where I fit in. First impressions are that it is a strong team with a lot of experience and I have some catching up to do!

A couple of weeks ago was the Hindu festival of Holi. Not quite sure why, but this is a day when the whole country seems to get involved in water fights: pitched battles with coloured dye and water bombs can be seen on every street. We had several groups on motor bikes racing around the neighbourhood attacking each other and anyone who got in the way. It all seemed very good natured, but not a day to wear your best clothes....

2007-03-03T20:02:00.000+05:45

Same scene, different light.... I make no apologies for attaching another picture of the awesome Annapurnas, this time glowing in the light of an incredibly bright moon. I didn't get much sleep last night as after taking these pictures, I waited up for the lunar eclipse. Which is actually happening tonight....

Despite joining an interim coalition government here and officially ending their civil war, the Maoists are currently undertaking a nationwide series of rallies to maintain their profile and reassure people that they haven't thrown in the towel.

In preparation for their visit to Pokhara the town has been covered in red flags. This picture shows the statue of Pritvi Narayan Shah, the Gorkha king who united Nepal in the 1700's, now wearing a maoist banner and welcoming people to Pokhara with a new red flag.

We are all well. Full time language learning is over, and we are taking a weeks holiday before getting stuck into work. We'd be interested in your comments....

2007-03-01T22:18:00.000+05:45

Mid-week photo special....

We had a break in the clouds on Tuesday, giving a fantastic early morning panorama of snowcapped peaks along the northern horizon. I used the think the view over Worthing seafront from Highdown was good, but this is something special!

This shot from the south of Pokhara gives a view of Green Pastures hospital. The two storey white building to the right is INF's regional administration centre and where we have been having language lessons. The actual hospital is the low square red roofed building in the middle of the picture, and the other buildings dotted around include a laboratory, a workshop for manufacturing prosthetic limbs and an occupational therapy centre. Pokhara stretches off into the distance, with Machapuchare and the Annapurnas watching over the valley.

Of course the other main subject for photography in our house is Evie. Here she is, generally being great, with Sukmaya who helps us in the house.

On Wednesday, a national strike day was called by a group trying to promote indigenous people's rights within Nepal. Roads and shops were closed across the country, and in contrast to some previous 'bhands' there was a peaceful atmosphere in Pokhara hiding the frustration that most people feel at this disruption to their ability to work and get around. The roads crowded with cyclists and walkers rather than buses and tractors – maybe the UK government should try this to promote exercise...

2007-02-26T08:32:00.000+05:45

Last weekend saw Phil fulfilling his Springtime urge to slog along 26.1 miles of tarmac. As always he was 'not fit' and 'feeling very slow' and then proceeded to complete it in the amazing time of 3.05 hours coming 13th. Not quite London marathon organisation but very impressive. The race was run along largely main roads including the Kathmandhu road – so Tata trucks, buses, taxis, tractors and cows all charging past (well except the cows – those are obstacles to keep your mind alert). Officials at strategic points were trying to hold back the masses but every now and again they would lose the fight and traffic would pile across a junction whilst some poor runner tried to scramble through – does nothing for your PB time!

The last week has been frustrating. We were meant to be in the mid-west of Nepal just now visiting other INF projects but due to general strikes and a lot of unrest in that area it is impossible to travel and we have stayed put for now. Many people in the Terai, the strip of land to the south of Nepal along the boarder with India are feeling under-represented in the new governmental arrangements so are dealing with it in the only way they know how – blocking roads and threatening anyone who tries to travel. This quickly has a major impact: Nepal's gas and petrol come from India by road and blocking the roads quickly leads to shortages.

Evie is now crawling forwards in a kind of belly / commando style with associated grunts – not attractive but very effective. If sound effects are anything to go by, she'll make a great tennis player! It gets her where she wants to be amazingly quickly. She also makes her own way walking round a low table we have. She has put on a sudden growth spurt and I have now found it impossible to contain her quietly within a 2 foot square space at church.

The coming week will be our last in full time language learning. It has been a great four months, getting a basic understanding of Nepali, learning a whole new script, making friends and settling down to life in Nepal. There is a whole lot more to learn, we are happy here and really looking forward to starting work.

2007-02-19T04:48:00.000+05:45

It is Sunday evening at the end of what has been a really busy week. Our language lessons have been in the afternoon, in theory meaning that we had plenty of time for homework and admin in the mornings, but it often didn't work out that way...

One morning we went to renew our visas. Due to the changing political situation here in Nepal, the government is delaying the issuing of free visas to INF staff, meaning that we are still here on tourist visas that have to be renewed every 30 days. This means a cycle ride across town and an hour of two in the immigration office - they are actually very friendly, although disappointed that Evie wasn't with us!

On Wednesday morning we helped a friend pack up her house before before heading home to Switzerland. Sabin has become a good friend over the last four months and has been great at introducing us to Nepali life and biking trails. She is leaving after achieving a huge amount working for INF here, and is finding it very hard to leave good friends. In the evening we went to our vicar's house for dinner – a great time with a very welcoming family.

On Thursday we went to another office picnic, this time with INF Nepal's staff from the Simpani office who oversee all INF programmes across the country. It was a good opportunity to meet future work colleagues, play some silly games and eat good food, all in glorious warm sunshine.
We are thinking of moving house and went to see a potential new place. We are torn between staying here in the south of Pokhara, where we have friends and a good church, or moving further north to reduce the commute to work. There seem to be plenty of places available to rent, so we will see a couple more before making a decision.

Friday was Shiva Ratri, a Hindu festival that is a bit like bonfire night in the UK. Bonfires are lit on every street corner, and sticks of sugar cane are put into the fires. The canes are then smacked on the ground and explode with a huge bang, exciting all the neighbourhood dogs, who join in the din.

Elle has been a bit unwell for the last few days with a bug that has left her feeling very drained, so she tried to relax on Saturday and I took Evie ~ 6 miles down the road to a lake where our church were holding a baptism service. A group of about 20 people were being baptised, and it was a very happy occasion welcoming them into the church family – we felt very privileged to be there (picture: baptism in Begnas lake).

Today (Sunday) has been flat out. The Pokhara marathon took place this morning in beautiful bright cool conditions with fantastic views of the mountains, starting from the running track just up the road from us here. I had entered last week and it gave me a good insight to Nepali bureaucracy. I had heard rumours of a marathon for a couple of months, but no-one knew where or when it would take place. Then last week banner appeared giving the date, but it still took a while to find out where I could enter. When I found the office, I was told I needed a medical examination (some would say anyone who wants to do a marathon needs their head checking...), but when I turned up at the appointed time, the Doctor wasn't there, and still wasn't an hour later. I then found out that it wasn't compulsory after all and left... (picture: Phil and Sabin before the races start)

At a cost of RS300 (~£2.50), including running vest and lots of drinks stations on route it was great value. I haven't been doing much running, but was fine until around mile 18, when it started to hurt. The last four miles were all slightly uphill. I was reduced to a stumbling wreck, but Elle and others gave great support and I finished eventually in 3hrs5mins. We then went to a picnic to see off Sabin and a couple of others who are leaving, before going to the monthly ex-pat service which was a great time of fellowship.

(picture: 3 hours and 26 miles later...)

2007-02-15T19:28:00.000+05:45

We are all on great form here, generally staying fit and healthy. Evie had a bit if a fever a couple of weeks ago, but is now back on form and developing amazingly quickly. She is still putting on weight rapidly, eating anything within reach, and seems to be going on a bit of development spurt. She is becoming much more mobile but for the last three weeks, she has been unable to find forward gear, sliding backwards whenever she tried to reach out for something which was funny to watch, but she found it very frustrating! But then yesterday, she suddenly worked out how to go forwards, and I get the feeling life will never be the same again.... She is also developing more of a personality and becoming more individualistic – if looks could kill I would have died several painful deaths yesterday for trying to stop her sucking her thumb in between spoonfuls of breakfast.

The weather has been very English for the last few days - rain, then sun then rain again. We had our first proper downpour the other night, filling the ditches in minutes, and turning the roads into rivers. The picture to the left shows some kids making wading their way across what was a football pitch outside our house...

Language learning is going OK – we have another week and a half, before we head down to the south and west of the country for 10 days. This is where a lot of INF's projects are based and we are really looking forward to seeing more of the country. This area (called the Terai), is a strip that runs right along the southern edge of Nepal and is completely different to Pokhara in terms of geography, culture, even language said to be more like India than Nepal. It is also where there has been a lot of unrest recently, as the Madhesi's (people from that region) feel under represented in Nepal's new interim constitution, and protest in the only way that seems to get any attention here – blocking roads and rioting (search for Nepal on bbc website for more info). Following a speech from the prime minister last week it seems to have calmed down.

When we get back, we're taking a weeks holiday and thinking of going for a short trek, and then we start work.... Actually can't wait for this as the novelty of being back at school learning the language as worn off!

2007-02-09T06:40:00.000+05:45

Namaste!

It is 6.30 in the morning, it is just getting light, Elle is feeding Evie, the kettle is warming up and it seems like a good time to start a blog. The aim being to record and share some of what we are up to here in Pokhara.

Up to now we have been keeping in sporadic contact through email, but it has been timeconsuming and unreliable, so hopefully a blog will prove more effective (and we will keep it up!?).

This morning has dawned cold and clear - a real bessing after nearly a week of (very English) cold, damp weather that meant that no clothes would dry. Evie was down to her very last nappy and we had wet clothes hanging from every possible spot around the house!

The pictures show a couple of views from our house this morning.

Let us know what you think/what you are up to - feedback much appreciated!

phil&elle&evie (pee)