University of Wyoming in Nepal

Church is on Saturday in Nepal. So one Saturday at church we met Nikki Baldwin who is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming. She is on the far left of the above picture. Every other year she takes a group of education students and grad students to Nepal. They spend several weeks working in schools. We met Nikki and some of the students for dinner one evening. The above picture is of that the group at dinner. 

During our dinner one of the girls wondered if I knew her father since I was a retired banker and her father is a bank president in Wyoming. To my great surprise I found out that her father is Scott Estep, Scott is the president of Wyoming Community Bank in Riverton. He is a former boss and always a friend of ours. Above is a picture of us with Emma Estep, Scott's daughter. Last time we saw her she was probably in grade school. 

Bubba's BBQ Nepali Style

Lear is from Texas and we have spent a lot of time driving through that great state. One of our favorite things to do when driving across Texas is to stop at out-of-the-way barbeque places. These places are often called Joes BBQ, Bubba's BBQ or something like that. Many have been very good. A few have been not so good. On occasion we have gotten sick, probably because of the lack of sanitation. Of course the lack of sanitation often makes these places good.


On our recent trip to southern Nepal we were traveling with Rakesh Hamal. Rakesh is the head of  the National Rehabilitation Society for the Disabled. NRSD is the primary NGO (non-governmental organization) that we partner with in Nepal. It was early afternoon and we were driving between cities. Rakesh asked if we had ever eaten wild chicken. In Nepal they have a breed of wild chicken that inhabit the forests. Although they look much like domesticated chicken they are a separate breed of animal called Red Junglefowl.  We said that we had not partaken of this unique Nepali cuisine. We came to the top of a mountain and there was a group of tin sheds. Each tin shed was a small restaurant with chicken carcasses hanging in front. It was Bubba's BBQ Nepali style.


The chicken was GREAT!! We were careful to drink a soda from the bottle.

This picture shows Lear pretending to cook over the wood oven. The chicken is cooked inside the oven on kabob skewers and spiced with some a secret spice known only to Bubba.  

Wheelchairs For Southern Nepal

One of the worldwide initiatives of Latter-Day Saint Charities is to provide wheelchairs to disabled people around the world. On May 20th through May 23rd we went to the cities of Bharatpur and Butwal located in south central Nepal. This was one of the most heart-warming things that we have done!

This is Bikas. This is his second LDSC wheelchair. This one is a tricycle version. You can make it move by pushing and pulling on the steering wheel. Bikas has actually had this chair for 4 years. It is in mint condition. He uses it each day to travel 4.0 miles each way to and from the hospital where his is employed as a computer technician.

This man was injured in a motorcycle accident and is now a paraplegic. He is still recovering and this is his first wheelchair. He will probably get 2 to 5 years out of it.

This is Rebika. She is shown here with her husband, daughter and son. She is suffering from kidney failure. They have had to relocate from their village to the city of Bharatpur as she needs dialysis twice a week. Her husband is a farmer. He is working as a construction laborer in the city. He makes 500 Nepali Rupees per day (about $5).  We also gave them some crutches so she could get into the toilet.

A view of some of the people gathered for the distribution.

This guy was my favorite recipient. He is Tikka. Tikka is a banana farmer and has been disabled for many years. He has a GREAT attitude. He earns a living from his banana farm and also has a copy/lamination business. He a member of several local committees and was getting ready to travel to eastern Nepal to speak at a program about people with disabilities. He is 38 years old. I asked him if he was married. He said that it was hard for a disabled person to find somebody to marry them. He said that he had married an "older" woman 2 years ago. His wife is 24 years old, well past the age of marriage in rural Nepal.

This 14-year-old blind girl was given a walking cane to help her become more mobile.

The above two pictures are of Sunil. Sunil is 28 years old. The first picture shows him crawling into the conference center in Butwal, where the distribution was held. The second picture shows him in his new tricycle wheelchair. About an hour after the program ended we were driving down the street in Butwal. This was about a mile from the distribution site. Sunil was rapidly wheeling down the street with a BIG smile on his face.

Roofing For Schools

On May 4th we went to Charikot in the Dolokha District to deliver roofing material to 25 schools. All of these schools were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake last year. The roofing material was needed to repair the roofs prior to the monsoon.

This is a picture of various officials along with our NGO representatives. You will note that we are wearing silk scarves. The silk scarves were given to us by each of the 25 schools. A silk scarf is a traditional greeting gift for an honored guest at an activity like this. It is not easy to keep 25 silk scarves around your neck for 2 hours! As a part of the ceremony we are expected to give a speech. In this case Scott gave a short speech.

This is a picture Jivan Karki. He is the principal of Jana Jagriti Primary School in Ghyangsukathokar. He has 60 students and has been conducting classes in temporary facilities for the past year. He is a career educator serving in the public schools for 23 years. His school is in a remote village. He needed to get the roof repaired before it starts to rain and rain and rain.

Helping Babies Breath (Neonatal Resuscitation) Nepal

The biggest project that we work on is the semi-annual Helping Babies Breathe. This is a program where LDS Charities brings in a team of medical professionals including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists. They teach a course on how to administer resuscitation to a new born infant within a minute of birth. Many, if not most, births in Nepal are at home. The at-home births are attended by skilled birthing assistants. No doctor or nurse is present and often a clinic or hospital is not close. The people that we train are then able to provide training to others, like the skilled birthing assistants. The single largest cause of death for a newborn in Nepal is asphyxia or not breathing. Most of these lives can be saved using the simple skills and equipment provided in this training.

The training team arrived on April 6th. We welcomed them with silk scarves which is a Nepali custom.

The first session was held at the National Health Training Center in Kathmandu. There were 43 students from over 20 hospitals and health units. There were eleven training tables and most of the trainers were Nepali. The Americans trained 3 tables.

This is Dr. George Groberg, a pediatrician from Idaho Falls, Idaho. The team was led by Dr. Rob Clark from Salem, Utah. Rob is seen in the background.

This is Bonnie Groberg, a nurse, training a Nepali student.  

This is Dan Woodhead, a respiratory therapist with an extensive background in Neonatal Intensive Care. He would spend 10 days working and training the staff in the NICU at a local hospital. That is in another blog post.

This is Dr. Clark, Scott and the Director of the NHTC presenting certificates of completion.

Each participating institution was presented equipment to do training at their location. Scott, Lear and Dr. Clark are shown presenting equipment to a hospital representative.

One of the doctors at the training was from Sindhupalchowk. We had been to that district in January delivering emergency food and blankets. This doctor told us that her hospital had been destroyed during the earthquake and they were working out of tents and a temporary metal shed. She and three other physicians share a single room for their living quarters. She is from Kathmandu and was glad to be back with family, friends and a hot shower, at least for a few days.

After the two-day training in Kathmandu we flew to Biratnagar in far eastern Nepal. This is a picture of the baggage handling system in the Biratnagar airport.

The next training session was held in Dharan at a health institute. Again we had over 40 students. Most of the trainers came with us from Kathmandu.

The training involved some role playing. Yes, the male Nepali doctor is pretending to be a woman in labor. He asked for more drugs to help with the pain and got a big laugh from everybody.  

Dr. Groberg, Dr. Clark and the vice chancellor of the institute present certificates.

This group of students wanted a picture with Bonnie Groberg and Dr. Clark.

Visiting An Ancient Hindu Temple

We hosted a medical team from the USA. For one of their cultural experiences we went to the Pashupathinath Temple complex. The temple is also called Pashupati by locals. The temple is one of the most sacred Hindu sites in Nepal. The first temple built on this site is believed to have been constructed in 753 AD.

This Hindu priest is sitting in a small shrine. The shrine had the blood of sacrificial sheep in and around. Our guide said that the animals were sacrificed and then the priest conferred a blessing on those worshiping at the temple.

This animal is tied up next the small temple with the priest. It is waiting to be sacrificed.

One of the purposes of Pashupati is to provide funeral services for the Hindu faithful. They can either be cremated outdoors on the banks of the Bagmati river or indoors in a modern facility.  This picture shows a funeral pyre being prepared on the river.

While we were at the temple site a funeral was being conducted. The funeral appeared to be for a high ranking military person. There were a lot of military people present. There were a large number of people both military and civilian.

The two pictures above show sadhu or holy men. Sadhu have left behind all material possessions and live in forests, caves and at temples throughout Nepal and India. The Sadhu is dedicated to achieving moksa which is the fourth and final stage of life through meditation. Our guide told us that only people from India could be holy men. Because they are Indian and not Nepali some people are suspicious of them. These Sadhu did request that we pay an alm of 100 rupies (about a dollar) for taking a picture.  

Near the top of the temple complex hill is a line of small shrines. Our guide said that people come to the shrines seeking prosperity and fertility.

On each of the small shrines is carving of the goddess Manasa or Mansa Devi. She is worshiped for the cure and prevention of snake bite, fertility and prosperity.

Holi Day (no, this is not misspelled!)

Today is Holi, or color day, a big Hindu festival day here in Nepal.  The schools are out and the citizens of Kathmandu are having a great time if the sounds we hear outside our apartment are any indication!  The festival is based on a wonderful Hindu story about a wicked king, a righteous son, a Hindu god and a wicked aunt.  In the end, the righteous son triumphs (with the help of the Hindu god) and the wicked aunt ends up in ashes.  It was originally tradition to celebrate the festival by putting ash on your forehead.  Now, however, it is celebrated by putting powdered paint in vivid colors not only on your own forehead, but on anyone nearby.  This morning we were visiting with our companion senior missionary couple, the Oliphants, in their apartment, when the family of our landlord invited us to celebrate color day with them.  Elder Weaver was the first one to cave to pressure; Sis. Weaver soon followed suit.  What followed was a rousing water fight between five adults and three adorable children.  Sometimes the water bags were filled with plain water; sometimes they were filled with colored water.  Sometimes you got drenched with an entire bucket of water and sometimes the perpetrator simply smeared a handful of yellow, red or green paint somewhere on your person. 

This is what we looked like when we finally beat a hasty retreat!  There are parts of our gray hair that are still a bit on the pink side.