The happenings in Phattepur, Banke

I woke up 6 am and was out of the hotel by 7 am for my trip to the village of Phattepur which usually takes 1-1.5hrs (depending on the condition of the road). Here are some of the things I did + my observations.... 

Crossing the Rapti River Bridge

The roads are pretty ridiculous and so muddy on the way to the village especially during monsoon season. Our motorcycle always got stuck in the mud and so we’d have to get off and push the motorcycle out. Ahh, good times.

 Oh and how can I forget…the best part…you’re driving your motorcycle and then the goats and the cows are chilling in the middle of the road, taking their time. Also, over the weekend while I was travelling to Kusum with my co-worker on her motorbike going 85 km/hr, the cows and goats are literally in the middle of highway. This is what I love about Nepal. It’s so relaxed and everything just slows down. No one is in a rush (except in the roads of KTM). It’s just so nice to not run after something, after something. You have room to breathe. 

    

Yes, mango trees and delicious mangoes! Oh how I missed them . The terai or the plains of Nepal are known for their mangoes. Whenever I went on fieldtrips into the villages on the motorcycle, I literally stared with amazement at these trees.

So many mangoes!!!

 Whenever we visited homes for the surveys and focus group discussions with the community facilitators and motivators (known members of the community that run the education workshops), there is not a time when they do not offer you something. I have so much respect for these people because they treat guests with such respect and kindness. Anyways, here’s a picture of a co-worker of mine, Parvati, who helped me out so much. This is us with the mangoes we got from one of the villagers in Phattepur. –organic and so local (this is as local as you can get..I mean it would even fall in the 1 km diet if :)) You see when you’re in Kathmandu, you miss out on these amazing experience of eating fresh mangoes that are picked right from the trees which are right behind the houses in the fields. Plus, you don’t have to worry about all those weird shit that gets injected in your mangoes by the time it reaches KTM to make it riper, bigger, prettier or whatever. 

At the village...

The cows chillin' on a hot day

This is me at a focus group discussion in one of the women's house. I've ran three FGDs to find out what they and their children have benefited from the FSI project interventions and future recommendations for Save the Children. I thought these women would be shy and wouldn't be willing to talk but they were so engaging and had so much to say. They seemed very thankful!

A  mother and her healthy-looking 4 month old baby. He was such a cute baby with the biggest cheeks and no signs of malnutrition :)

Another momma and her baby...he was 9 months old. Very healthy + well nourished. 

Sulochana and I staying away from the sun bc I've clearly gotten so dark.

Some of the views on the way back to Nepalgunj...

Animals grazing in the field 

Ready for planting rice...

The awesome road....of course

Anyways, this is probably going to be my last blog post about my trip to Banke. I'm leaving for Kathmandu on Friday afternoon and cannot wait to see my mom, friends and p-cake. I just have around 12 days there then I'm headed off to Rukum again -a hilly area in mid-west Nepal.
Oh btw, I know it's TMI but I think my immunity has gone up because I haven't had diarrhea from the water or momos from random shops. Let's not talk about the first week I got to Kathmandu....haha
Will update you soon muchachos!


Much love,
C