Wonderful Chimkhola

We are back from Chimkhola and it was an incredible few days.  We had a good day climbing up there, fortunately it was cloudy so we did not have to deal with the hot sun.  It took us seven hours plus a long lunch at the village of Dagnum.  The Annurpurna Rotary were also with us and we all arrived at the village around the same time.  I was anxious to see Mann's granddad who is entering his 90the year and the oldest person in the village.  When he saw us he shed many tears.  Mann showed him his Rotary award which was quite a moment.  On Saturday we attended the closing ceremony of the matching grant Rotary program, there were so many flower malas and children all waiting in line.  There was three hours of speeches and the sun was very hot but it was a most memorable occasion.  A marble plaque was carried up by a porter and was unveiled by the Annurpurna Charter President Dev Raj and myself.  Everyone said in their speeches how grateful they were and what a change there has been in the school and in the village.  There was dancing and food and a tour of the school.  I really was impressed with the medical clinic which was part of the project.  Two ladies were trained for a month and they were very proud of the clinic, they took my blood pressure and got out the scales so we could weigh ourselves.  They would not take the scales out of the packaging though which I laughed about.  Just after we left the clinic a child fell and broke his arm so they had their first patient.  They wrapped it and put it in a sling.  The next day the mother had to walk the down the mountain to Beni 8 hours away but they could not fix it so then she had to take the bus to Pokhara 4 hours away.  The elbow I think has been dislocated.  We looked at all the project material such as desks, science lab, water tap, office etc.  Most important change in this village in the three years since I first went there is the fact that now the caste system has virtually been eliminated here.  I was told this a few times.  Mann is Dalit caste which is the lowest.  The fact that he has brought this improvement to the school by bringing first me there and then the Rotary is has made him revered in this village.  Now they tell me that everyone is equal here and this was proved by the fact that we were asked to eat in so many homes and the morning we left we were asked to a high caste home for breakfast where as little as two years ago Mann would never have been allowed inside.  They told him that he was welcome there anytime.  This is an amazing change for the whole village.  Also they said that we have motivated everyone and now many people want to help even a village man now living in the US who was there at the ceremony shook my hand and said he wants to help.  Nothing could have made me happier than the success of this project.  I have much more to tell and the second day I will leave till later as I am hungry for breakfast.  The second was as good as the first so check back later for that news.
For some reason the server will not let me upload photos now so will add later.