Driving 3 hours to Dhandkhola with Dr. Komal in his 27 year old motorcar eliminates any and all need to go bungee jumping!

We started our trip to the Roadside-Clinic yesterday, taking the “Highway” towards Tibet (whatever you might be imagining, well, it’s worse). But the region is gorgeous. In the early hours I could see the Himalayas in the distance. Fantastic! Because medical attention is particularly sparse in rural areas, the Roadside Clinics are specially important. People in need sometimes have a 2 day foot march through the mountains before they reach a facility. At the clinics, which are quite new to the area, a full-time nurse is stationed there permanently, while the doctor (my Kamikaze-Driver for the day) comes twice a week.

This particular clinic has five beds, a small laboratory, an x-ray unit, and a store of medicines. What’s still needed are an ultrasound unit for pregnant women, and a dental chair – just in case you have something of the sort hanging around in the garage…

Had I known how one comes to the small school New SADLE built nearby, I might have answered differently when asked if I wanted to see it. You’re not going to believe me, of course, because right then my camera decided that a nap was in order until I found electricity again. All we had to do was just cross the river … on a 150 foot high suspension bridge in good old “Indiana Jones” fashion. Great, just don’t let on that you’re scared!

Well, I survived. In the late afternoon I met with another agronomist who is developing an organic certification program for Nepal, and is also – very interesting! – an expert in reforestation. I spoke with him about the possibilities of reforesting clear-cut woodlands near a very remote village. Nepra e.V. maintains a small clinic in this village, which I have yet to see, as it lays a day away on foot from the nearest road. I’d like to visit it someday, though.

Maheswar Ghimire has some exciting concepts in the field of reforestation. But we also spoke about the prospect of cultivating organic cotton in Nepal, which would fulfill an old dream of mine. We agreed to look into it, in any case. It could really work, as the region has experience in cotton cultivation.

I’m tired from the drive, but I also feel fulfilled. It is a beautiful country and I am always meeting new people here who struggle through such adverse conditions and still manage to keep a good sense of humor about it. A drive with Dr. Komal is an adventure fit for Hollywood. A load of fun with the sweat of pure terror pearling on your brow! And how does the good doctor so aptly describe his own driving style? “Here comes Komal!”

Tags: New SADLE, organic cotton, sustainability

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 11:05 am and is filed under Environment, Material, Production, Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.