RK’s story

RK is the fellow whose picture was the last posting. He is the office administrator for the project, and is a very kind and pleasant fellow. I presumed from his facial features and manner that he was Tibetan, and therefore Buddhist, but no, he is Hindu, which I learned from asking him about the necklace he wore. Later in the afternoon he showed us a blackberry that his brother in law had sent from Florida. The purpose was to see if RK could sell them. I asked why the brother in law was in Florida, and it was to make money. He had been a driver, owned his own bus, and let the insurance lapse about 3 days before it tumbled down a hill and was totalled. So this brother in law was out of work, in debt, and disabled in some way, and just hung around the house and did nothing for a year except knit for some factory, for which he made enough money in a nights work to buy some rice. So he went to India to be with the living god, who has a multi-syllable name that starts with S, and he hung around the living god’s place for three days, when they finally made eye contact, and then his brother in law came home and applied for an American visa, and lo and behold he got it, because of the blessings from the living god. But he has been in the states now for 8 years, his wife and child are still in Nepal, but he does not yet have the right papers to bring them over. He is a cook at a restaurant, and saves his tip money to start ventures like selling blackberries in Nepal.

The lady whose picture is in this posting is the lady that brings me tea. She speaks not a word of English, but is very friendly. I asked RK to make a print of this photo, and she was soooo pleased to get it. She showed me a photo of her daughter.

This afternoon we met the secretary of the department of land management. This equates to deputy minister. What an impressive man. He was about 5 ‘2’’, wore the traditional Nepali cap, and met us in his office which had his desk, and seating for about 16 people in living room type chairs, each with a chair mat on the seat. An ancient man with a big smile served us tea, and then the secretary made it clear what he wanted from the final report – a document to tell them how to modernize, and that had the arguments to sell the idea to the minister. This fellow was very knowledgeable, had at one time been the director of surveys, and started a survey school while in that capacity. I don’t now how old he was, maybe mid 50’s, but had lots of passion and energy for his notion that land records should be modernized in Nepal. He said that if we put the right words in the document he could sell it to the Minister, because they listen to white people more than to Nepalis. Like us believing consultants from Toronto I guess.

Supper tonite was squash soup and mo-mo’s, which are little dumplings.

The power has been particularly finicky today. I hope the internet comes on so I can post this.