I have always enjoyed visiting the stone quarrey families. I have known them for some years now and always feel so relaxed in their homes. These families are among our poorest but wonderful people. The Lama family I have known the longest and they live in a tin and bamboo shelter and have no toilet. There is a river across the street and they have to use the river bank for their toilet. The landowner does not provide land for a toilet. Even so they have to pay 2000 rupees per month ($30 cdn approx) for rent for the land that they have their tin structure on. Recently they had to move it further up the road because of construction of a new building. they earn about a $1 per day each working making gravel by hand and filling the trucks. Amazingly the children always look so clean.
Another of our extremely poor families is Pasang's. His parents look old enough to be his grandparents. They brought Pasang to Kathmandu at the time of the civil war to save him from being taken by the Maoists to fight in the war. This is Pasang's last year in school and he is hoping to go to college later this year. His family live in a tin structure also and his father is a security guard for a construction site. Once the building is complete they will have to move on again. I gave the mother a coat and she was just so happy with that.
Photos top right is Juni Lama in a new jacket I gave her. Below is the Lama family outside their home and right Pasang mother outside their home in her new coat. Middle Pasang and his family and bottom children watching us. Wherever we go we draw attention and sometimes I look up and see the faces all peering in the door. These children all giggled when I took their photo. It is hard pasting these photos on here so please excuse the fact that they are not arranged perfectly. It has been another long day and travelling this city on a motorbike in the traffic is tiring.
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