2001 Mission to Beni
The medium to long run objective behind the creation of go2kathmandu.com is to develop a bridge to help close the digital and economic gap between Nepal and the outside world, tapping into the advantages offered by information technology. However, in the shorter term, we are committing 20% of our surplus revenues to worthwhile causes in the rural areas of Nepal. This began in April 2001 with a trip to Lokdeep Secondary Boarding School located in Beni - about 4 hours' drive from Pokhara.
Our first visit was postponed because the road to Beni was blocked. A few days later, we set off from Pokhara in an elderly Toyota saloon which had taken a lot of punishment and with an engine which stopped every time the revs fell to idle. As we left tarmac roads behind and carried on along rubble and dust tracks Sushil Poudel, from Pahari Travels, expertly managed to drive the car up steep mountain tracks, over loose boulders - whilst bump-starting the engine every time the revs fell too low and with a remarkably expert way of maximising our speed in the low gears. Because the starter motor stuck, Sushil had even developed a knack of restarting the car by key - which regularly fell out of the ignition.
At one stage, a vast TATA truck broke down in the middle of the track where it forded a river. At first we thought that this meant we'd have to turn back but very soon a small crowd collected around the truck and after some effort in digging up boulders with an iron bar and moving others, the road - or enough road - was rebuilt, enabling smaller vehicles to make their way around the stranded truck. Fortunately for us, Sushil was undaunted by the challenge of driving through a river on two lines of rocks, some of which could be seen and some of which could not. One wrong move and the floor of the car would have become wedged on projecting boulders.
Although Lokdeep School had recently moved to a new site and its new buildings were largely complete, the students (aged 4 to 10 years) were short of sports equipment. We were delighted to make a donation of sports equipment - enabling the students to enjoy games of football, volleyball and badminton - as well as a trophy, to encourage students in their endeavours.
The visit was a first for the school (as well as for us) but we were treated to a very warm welcome - personal introductions, flowers, drinks, lunch and a rendition of the Nepali national anthem by students. Besides the satisfaction of seeing a practical outcome of new technology in areas where IT has barely taken root, we were privileged to meet the staff whose dedication and commitment lay behind the establishment of the school and the great work it is doing for the people of Beni.
For the students, it was strange enough that a group of outsiders had turned up with games equipment but the arrival of a digital video camera to record the event was too fascinating to ignore. Wherever we filmed, a large audience immediately formed behind the camera of people fascinated to watch moving images on the lcd screen - especially of themselves and their fellow students.