Training workshops and water supply

Sun, May 28, 2017 - 10à00 am, written by Alexandra, published by Frank

Opening of the training workshop near Banepa, Nepal

THANKS to ALL our friends in Europe and Nepal!

"Friends help Friends" is a movement that cannot be stopped ... 

Here you see our friends from Nepal in the newly built workshop.

With your donations, FriendCircle WorldHelp has financed and implemented the complete project (e.g. building materials, wages for craftsmen to support the villagers with the construction of the building, sewing machines including fabrics and accessories and the initial equipment with metal and tools for the villagers).

This is the beginning of a better future for many families and the beginning of the end of a stigma, since with FriendCircle WorldHelp the "caste of the untouchables" is replaced by "friendship"...

Our friends in Nepal, especially Mingmar, Nawang, Dolma, Subash, Madam Ji and ALL those who have made this great project come true earn our deep respect!!

In the photo album you will find the latest photos, which have reached us from Nepal and which show the workshop "in action".

Fri, May 11, 2017 - 10:00pm, written by Katrin & Alexandra, published by Frank

Women’s project in Uttarakhand, India

From Kathmandu, Nepal, Katrin and Ludmila fly to Delhi, India. Their next goal is Guptakashi in the Himalayans.
Together with Venu they start at four o’clock the next morning and drive eight hours over India’s „fast roads“ to Rishikesh.
Our friends Negi and Manju are already waiting there to strengthen the team and to help them with the purchase and delivery of materials such as sand, cement, stones, etc. to build a workshop, a project of FriendCircle WorldHelp’s for the support of 100 needy women and their families.
The next stage of their trip takes about seven more hours driving along winding roads through the valley along the famous Indian River Ganges and high into the mountains. In Guptakashi our team moves into a simple hostel to spend the night.

The next morning when Katrin, Ludmila and Venu arrive at the "construction site" many women are already busy carrying large stones which are then crushed by other workers to make them suitable for the foundation. Others are carrying the building material delivered from Rishikesh from down the raod up the steep mountain. Ludmila and Katrin immediately start participating in the work.
While the construction of the workshop gradually progresses, Manju, the caretaker and one of the women who will be involved in the project at an appropriate moment shows how the small herbal cones are manufactured.
Local herbs and branches such as rosemary and basil collected by the women in the mountains are used for the herbal cones. Crushed and mixed with a special paste, essential oils and some water, the mixture is kneaded and then pressed into a metal mold with conical bulges.
The small incense cones are then dried in the hot sun. Later they will be packaged in small portions and sold on the market. For the women involved in this project this means a big step into a „better“ future. Although from our point of view it may seem very little, an additional income of 30 to 40 Euros per month represents a new financial basis for the whole family which will allow them to buy e.g. food not available from their own garden or the often very scanty agriculture, or materials such a pens, blocks, etc. for the school education of the children.

On the last day of their stay in the Himalayans, Katrin and Ludmila inspect the place where the next Medical Camp with Michael, Alexandra, Jürgen und other friends, scheduled for the next tour in June 2017 will take place. Venu and Alexandra had selected the place in advance since the area is particularly remote and medical assistance is mostly unavailable or unaffordable for most people.
The path leads higher up into the mountains. The roads are increasingly deteriorating, there is no more cell phone coverage.
The Medical Camp is planned to be held in a school. When meeting the headmaster, he kindly greets our friends but seems a little skeptical pointing out that the weather in this area is frequently changing. He also reports that the local paper says that more than 6,000 relief organizations are active in this area, but that so far he has not seen any. When Katrin explains that we are working according to the motto "friends help friends" and generally paying the travel and subsistence costs privately, he shows more conciliatory saying "If your group comes from so far and you really want to make your promise come true, I will support you with all my heart!"

Fri, April 28, 2017 - 10:10pm, written by Katrin & Alexandra, published by Frank

Training workshop completed

Since April 8, Katrin and Ludmila were traveling in Nepal on behalf of FriendCircle WorldHelp.
On their trip from Kathmandu to Banepa where they spent the night they bought, together with our Nepalese friend Mingmar, who had already in advance organized a lot of necessary things, solar cells for electricity generation in the training workshop and basic foodstuffs for the field kitchen for the catering of the construction workers.
The rest of the construction work which had been started during the last stay took eleven more days until the long-awaited inauguration ceremony could be held.  
Despite some adversities such as the usual power cuts, the work progressed rapidly. Many men temporarily replaced by their wives, participated with a great deal of enthusiasm. Even some boys tried to be helpful when returning from school..

At noon there was rice and lentils for all in the kitchen tent and in the afternoon tea and instant coffee. From time to time Ludmila and Katrin distributed sweets and bananas to the delight of all.

Together with Mingmar, Katrin and Ludmila also had a look at the water pipe built by FriendCircle WorldHelp including several tanks and pumps, which is a great support to the villagers for the supply of drinking water for man and beast and partially even for field cultivation. Until the building of this water pipe about one year ago every bucket of water had to be carried several hundred meters up over steep mountainous terrain due to the subterranean shifts of springs following the devastating earthquake in April 2014.

Our friends also visited various huts to examine the already purchased sewing machines and the raw metal which was stored to be protected from the rain. The dim light and the narrowness of the rooms would make working very difficult not to mention the fact that others could get involved in the training.
The solar cells in the new training workshop will provide proper lighting and there will be enough space to learn together and afterwards sell the manufactured products on the market for the benefit of all families.

On the last day of their stay, they visited also Methinkot. In this village FriendCircle WorldHelp had financed in August 2016 a well drilled by a laborious method (completely manually). The completed well lined with cement rings provides fresh water for about 300 people. Only the old pump had to be replaced by a stronger electric pump to increase the water pressure. The old pump is also urgently needed at another place in the village.

When talking to the villagers Katrin and Ludmila learned how happy these are about the water. Some of the inhabitants even wanted to have a sign with the instruction „friends help friends“ to show who helped the people here.

In Bacch Pokhari where the new training center will be located, the young men wanted to express their gratitude by producing jewelry from the metal and the women clothing to give to our friends. However, Katrin told them that it is our greatest pleasure to see them start work with enthusiasm, learn and then be successful. This way they would become independent and create a better future for themselves.

When writing this report, the construction of the training workshop has already been completed and we are looking forward to the reports of our team on their next tour ;-)

Sat, April 22, 2017 - 11:20am, written by Alexandra, published by Frank

First photos from Katrin and Ludmila

Katrin and Ludmila are currently on their way back from India. In the last two weeks, they have continued to build workshops for the training of women and adolescents in Nepal and India. A focus in Nepal was the support of a village with people from the "caste of the untouchables".
First photos have already arrived, more information and pictures will follow ...