Our memories of Giran Chaur and the Dhurmush Suntali Foundation: What I witness! #experiences #wisdom #Sindhupalchowk #Tamang
"ए डोल्पाको तपाईंहरु !" : #धुर्मुस
म: "हजुर दाई ! हाम्रो गाउँ त अझ सदरमुकामबाट पनि चार पाँच दिन हिड्नु पर्छ!"
#धुर्मुस: "ए, तेस्तो बिकट छ है !... खै फोटोहरु छ डोल्पाको ? उ कस्तो राम्रो रहेछ, आहा !!! ल शूटिंग को लागि जानु पर्यो एकचोटी ! एकचोटी औन्छौ हामी! ल धेरै धेरै धन्यवाद यसरी आएर सहयोग गरिदिनु भयो राष्ट्र निर्माणको निमित्त"
"Oh, you guys are from Dolpa!": Dhurmush
I: "Yes. Our villages are atleast four to five days away from the district headquarter, Dunai."
Dhurmush: "Oh, that's how remote your region is!!!... Do you have photos of Dolpa? (after showing some) See, how beautiful the place is, aahhh!!! Ok, have to go for the shooting once there! We will come there once. Ok, thank you very much for coming here and helping us voluntarily in the state making work".
We three, Lhakpa Tsering, Pema Gurung and Myself, agreed, met and took our bus from Koteshwor by 12 pm. Before that day, we had already contacted Arun Singh ji about the voluntary works and our interests and how we could assist the work. The bus nearly took four hours to reach Sindhu Khola, where a small market exists to buy daily basic items. Though Pema bought some vegetables before hand, Deepak (the Lead Field Volunteer Coordinator) suggested us to buy some tomatoes. We quickly ate some noodles as our lunch. After walking nearly for fifteen minutes following the turn to Giran Chaur while entering the 'red' gate, I was happy to meet an old person, who also followed the same path to his village, Bhote Chaur. After briefly exchanging our conversations, I asked him, 'What are his thoughts about the works done by Dhurmush Suntali Foundation?' Though his village is not included in this reconstruction, he quickly said, 'What they are doing are just great. Don't have much words to say. They have also helped to build this road within few months, which the district politicians and governments have failed to even open properly and have continuously neglected.' That conversations further motivated to follow that path, which ultimately led to few days of wonderful times.
There are few things which I think I should, therefore, share about the project. Below are some of them.
1. The Community of Tamang
Giran Chaur is atleast one hour walk away from the highway, which connects Melamchi market. Giran Chaur falls within Bhote Chaur VDC of Sindhpalchowk district. According to a local, a local leader met and convinced Dhurmush to work on the area, where more than 50 Households of Tamang reside and one of the highly affected areas of Sindhupalchowk. Most of the houses were destroyed including some of the houses next to Giran Chaur, where mainly Brahmin reside. Nonetheless, Dhurmush and his team also wanted to focus their project in one of the marginalized communities of the country and also of the area. In general, Tamang community and the people are still marginalized indigenous communities of Nepal in comparison to mainly Hill Brahmin and Chhetri communities. Besides this, the local leader convinced Dhurmush and his team to implement their plans in the area as they were also highly regarded and welcomed by the community. These reasons also helped the Dhurmush and Suntali Foundation to specifically construct many (65 approx.) houses in the area, where many houses were also destroyed in comparison to other non-Tamang communities living next to Giran Chaur. This also further helped me to understand how the marginalization of Tamang especially after the April Quake played a key role for the operation of the project led by Dhurmush and Suntali.
2. The Involvement of Tamang People
The 'ambitious' project which tried to complete the construction of 65 houses within 5 (approx.) months also required many laborers. These laborers were, then, supplied also by the community itself. Most fo these laborers are still very active including both men and women of the community. In most of the cases, I did find women much more active even in such labor activities. For instance, on the day when the project was hit hard by heavy rain and thunderstorm, Dolma, nearly 20 years old, rushed in and emptied the Vehicle carrying heavy blocks. When most of us ran away from the place to keep us away from getting wet, Dolma continued and completed the task. Besides her efficient task, the villagers relentless pursuits to continue the task till late 10 pm night were also exemplary. Their sweet exuberant noises coming out from the task acted as a symphony to our ears as we lived close by in a tent. Anybody could easily sense their strong commitment to the task.
On the other hand, while making one person from one household of Tamang community as a labor mandatory, the Foundation also hired laborers from India. Most of these laborers are from Uttar Pradesh including Bihar. It was really interesting to see how these people were committed in the construction of these houses. Most of them and the laborer from Tamang household worked till 10 pm too. This might also increase the work rate and might also finish the construction work on time as estimated by the first day (Ghatasthapana) of Dashain.
3. You just need that will
Once we reached Giran Chaur by 5, we three immediately started the work though other friends, Deepak and Jarina, who have been there for last 3-4 days suggested us to take some rest for the day. But, we three asked them what we could do and they guided us to the project and suggested us to work on the Block 3. Meanwhile, they clearly suggested us that it will be our own responsibility to find whatever we can do, lifting and carrying the blocks (nearly each of atleast 10 Kg), sand filter, preparing, putting the mixture of sand and cement in Karai and carrying those to the laborers, passing the mixture to others or the empty Karai and many others. So, we just continued what we could find in those few days and we know that we did our best. Later, we did realize that we only needed that will to complete those tasks comfortably.
4. The Conversation with Dhurmush Dai
Dhurmush dai always stayed with his own team though he monitored most of the construction activities. His activeness were also evident during the nights when laborers continued their tasks. So before our last day, we only met him twice. Nonetheless, once when we met him and requested him if we could sit and take photos alongside him, he happily agreed and later even thanked us for our tasks. He is known for his friendliness, which was also apparent the way he carried out himself and the way he talked with his 'workers'. On the other hand, his excitement over our acknowledgment about our own remote community 'Dolpo' was not to be missed. Not only he was happy to know that we belong to that community, he also asked us few questions about the community and also asked us his team to manage a shooting in our remote region. Hence, his happiness when he saw some photos of the community were clear.
Above points might also illustrate how delighted we were to join and complete the voluntary work. Though it is always a challenge to leave your busy schedule suddenly and pursue that will to help others more, the experiences we gained from this learning will always remain with us and will remain helpful for our future activities.
म: "हजुर दाई ! हाम्रो गाउँ त अझ सदरमुकामबाट पनि चार पाँच दिन हिड्नु पर्छ!"
#धुर्मुस: "ए, तेस्तो बिकट छ है !... खै फोटोहरु छ डोल्पाको ? उ कस्तो राम्रो रहेछ, आहा !!! ल शूटिंग को लागि जानु पर्यो एकचोटी ! एकचोटी औन्छौ हामी! ल धेरै धेरै धन्यवाद यसरी आएर सहयोग गरिदिनु भयो राष्ट्र निर्माणको निमित्त"
"Oh, you guys are from Dolpa!": Dhurmush
I: "Yes. Our villages are atleast four to five days away from the district headquarter, Dunai."
Dhurmush: "Oh, that's how remote your region is!!!... Do you have photos of Dolpa? (after showing some) See, how beautiful the place is, aahhh!!! Ok, have to go for the shooting once there! We will come there once. Ok, thank you very much for coming here and helping us voluntarily in the state making work".
Those are the last conversations we, three of us from Dolpo, shared with Dhurmush dai (out of respect for what he has been doing). Dhurmush and Suntali were appreciated and became most of the nation's household names after their appearances in the Nepali TV serial, 'Meri Bassai'. After few years of working together in the serial, few would have imagined that the couple would come together and start a foundation, Dhurmush Suntali, to design a village for the 'victims' of April Earthquake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=n11MmAeVknk AND http://dhurmussuntali.com/ AND https://www.facebook.com/dhurmusuntu/).
We three, Lhakpa Tsering, Pema Gurung and Myself, agreed, met and took our bus from Koteshwor by 12 pm. Before that day, we had already contacted Arun Singh ji about the voluntary works and our interests and how we could assist the work. The bus nearly took four hours to reach Sindhu Khola, where a small market exists to buy daily basic items. Though Pema bought some vegetables before hand, Deepak (the Lead Field Volunteer Coordinator) suggested us to buy some tomatoes. We quickly ate some noodles as our lunch. After walking nearly for fifteen minutes following the turn to Giran Chaur while entering the 'red' gate, I was happy to meet an old person, who also followed the same path to his village, Bhote Chaur. After briefly exchanging our conversations, I asked him, 'What are his thoughts about the works done by Dhurmush Suntali Foundation?' Though his village is not included in this reconstruction, he quickly said, 'What they are doing are just great. Don't have much words to say. They have also helped to build this road within few months, which the district politicians and governments have failed to even open properly and have continuously neglected.' That conversations further motivated to follow that path, which ultimately led to few days of wonderful times.
There are few things which I think I should, therefore, share about the project. Below are some of them.
1. The Community of Tamang
Giran Chaur is atleast one hour walk away from the highway, which connects Melamchi market. Giran Chaur falls within Bhote Chaur VDC of Sindhpalchowk district. According to a local, a local leader met and convinced Dhurmush to work on the area, where more than 50 Households of Tamang reside and one of the highly affected areas of Sindhupalchowk. Most of the houses were destroyed including some of the houses next to Giran Chaur, where mainly Brahmin reside. Nonetheless, Dhurmush and his team also wanted to focus their project in one of the marginalized communities of the country and also of the area. In general, Tamang community and the people are still marginalized indigenous communities of Nepal in comparison to mainly Hill Brahmin and Chhetri communities. Besides this, the local leader convinced Dhurmush and his team to implement their plans in the area as they were also highly regarded and welcomed by the community. These reasons also helped the Dhurmush and Suntali Foundation to specifically construct many (65 approx.) houses in the area, where many houses were also destroyed in comparison to other non-Tamang communities living next to Giran Chaur. This also further helped me to understand how the marginalization of Tamang especially after the April Quake played a key role for the operation of the project led by Dhurmush and Suntali.
2. The Involvement of Tamang People
The 'ambitious' project which tried to complete the construction of 65 houses within 5 (approx.) months also required many laborers. These laborers were, then, supplied also by the community itself. Most fo these laborers are still very active including both men and women of the community. In most of the cases, I did find women much more active even in such labor activities. For instance, on the day when the project was hit hard by heavy rain and thunderstorm, Dolma, nearly 20 years old, rushed in and emptied the Vehicle carrying heavy blocks. When most of us ran away from the place to keep us away from getting wet, Dolma continued and completed the task. Besides her efficient task, the villagers relentless pursuits to continue the task till late 10 pm night were also exemplary. Their sweet exuberant noises coming out from the task acted as a symphony to our ears as we lived close by in a tent. Anybody could easily sense their strong commitment to the task.
On the other hand, while making one person from one household of Tamang community as a labor mandatory, the Foundation also hired laborers from India. Most of these laborers are from Uttar Pradesh including Bihar. It was really interesting to see how these people were committed in the construction of these houses. Most of them and the laborer from Tamang household worked till 10 pm too. This might also increase the work rate and might also finish the construction work on time as estimated by the first day (Ghatasthapana) of Dashain.
3. You just need that will
Once we reached Giran Chaur by 5, we three immediately started the work though other friends, Deepak and Jarina, who have been there for last 3-4 days suggested us to take some rest for the day. But, we three asked them what we could do and they guided us to the project and suggested us to work on the Block 3. Meanwhile, they clearly suggested us that it will be our own responsibility to find whatever we can do, lifting and carrying the blocks (nearly each of atleast 10 Kg), sand filter, preparing, putting the mixture of sand and cement in Karai and carrying those to the laborers, passing the mixture to others or the empty Karai and many others. So, we just continued what we could find in those few days and we know that we did our best. Later, we did realize that we only needed that will to complete those tasks comfortably.
4. The Conversation with Dhurmush Dai
Dhurmush dai always stayed with his own team though he monitored most of the construction activities. His activeness were also evident during the nights when laborers continued their tasks. So before our last day, we only met him twice. Nonetheless, once when we met him and requested him if we could sit and take photos alongside him, he happily agreed and later even thanked us for our tasks. He is known for his friendliness, which was also apparent the way he carried out himself and the way he talked with his 'workers'. On the other hand, his excitement over our acknowledgment about our own remote community 'Dolpo' was not to be missed. Not only he was happy to know that we belong to that community, he also asked us few questions about the community and also asked us his team to manage a shooting in our remote region. Hence, his happiness when he saw some photos of the community were clear.
Above points might also illustrate how delighted we were to join and complete the voluntary work. Though it is always a challenge to leave your busy schedule suddenly and pursue that will to help others more, the experiences we gained from this learning will always remain with us and will remain helpful for our future activities.
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