Stairs are poured, roof setting up nicely

Hello from Nepal, here is the latest update from Dawn;

The roof is setting up nicely. The contractor is working on building the back pillars for the next story and will start on the back retaining wall in a couple days. He should finish that just in time to take down the Kaat ( bamboo posts) and work on the interior. The stairs were poured 2 days ago so things are progressing and I'm holding onto hope that if we have the funds in hand we can push this through to completion yet before I leave here on the 15th of June!

The jail ministry went well last week! We now have a total of 5 new be-liever-s there! 2 women including the 17 year old girl and 3 men. This week I sang more songs and just had fun with them... their faces lit up when we came! The 3 men were so excited to have fellowship with the 2 men we brought on our team and are hungry for the Word. We did find a small Hindi NT here to give the Indian beli-eve-r!

This week I have promised them all cookies! Alec and Sam from the Restless team want to go this week too, just to see what the inside of a jail is like here!

Yesterday we did a community outreach taking tracks to many nearby villages. I went to Mallum the one past the bus park and along the ridge and all the way down to the school. We hit 3 villages and then hiked up the back of that hill. definitely the steep way! Nearly killed me! They put me in the first truck when we hit the road at the top and sent me home! The rest of the 5 on my team took their time walking back and passing out tracks and talkking / sharing wityh anyone who would listen!

It has been blistering hot here this week... most unusual for Dadeldhura! Coupled with the water shortage it has been trying! Today we had 2 hours or rain and I actually had to find my sweater tonight! Sweet relief!

Well all for now!

Dawn

The ROOF has been RAISED!!!!!!!!

Hello All, It feels great to be back in Dadeldhura agasin after 10 or more days on the road. Some of you didn't even know we left as our internet was spotty here with the power being out so much. I thought we could get it in Kathmandu but they had password issues there when we arrived. We left a day later and went to Pokhara ( Kaski) but the hotel there also couldn't get their internet access so we used a "cyber cafe" briefly twice to check our emails and then we were back again in Kdu to discover a huge fire a block over knocked our power out for 2 days followed by a huge rain storm that had it out again the day I left!

 

So back home in Dadeldhura again as of last night I finally have it at the moment and will catch you up!

 

I think I wrote that Diane got word her mom had broken her back in 8 places! She felt she should go back early to be with her and I fully endorsed that. So we got a private vehicle and made the trip down the mountain to the dhangadi airport. It rained and poured off and on and depending on who you talked to they said it was the start of the monsoons. Whatever... the wind howled and banged windows all over the airport. then there was this virtual explosion that sounded like a gun went off two feet from our heads... a clap of thunder shorted out a florescent light and that was the resulting sound. My heart had just returned to normal sinus rythym when another explosion occurred right above our heads. This time it was a short in the wiring of the fan and as the 10 or so security gards stood around contemplating the fried wires and resulting smoke I nearly went into sinus arrest! They decided someone really should go turn off the electricity to the room and subsequently dispatched a peon to do so as we caught our breath and gathered our senses! 

 

Our flight was actually on time but I was concerned about us taking off in such high winds but we managed just fine and got to K-du with only minimal turbulence but a few bruises. Huh? you ask? oh it was the 4 year old girl on the lap of her obese Nepali mom that kicked me continuouisly for the first half of the ride till she conked out and fell asleep!

All this was on Sunday,

 

Monday we got up bright and early and made our way across town to the Korean Air office to see what could be done to change our tickets. Diane asked for the next flight out and was told there were only 2 flights per week in May and the next 2 were full. The first seat available was for the following Monday, May 20th so we booked that for her, next I asked for my ticket to be pushed back a fedw weeks and was told for the month of June there is only one flight out per week! And as the only seat available was for June 17th that is now my new departure date... which means I'll be back at SeaTac on June 18th at noon instead of the 4th. The reason is we have had so many delays and challenges that there is no way the building will be ready for the paraplegic girls by my original departure date. I'm hoping by extending it for the 2 weeks we might yet get them in. In case it is not possible I am organizing everything to require minimal stress and challenges to those who might have to do the transfer on my behalf after I leave. I sooooo want the project to be complete so I can leave with them tucked in and peace of mind that all will be in order for the monsoon season!

 

Well since Diane had another week to kill in nepal, we decided to go to Pokhara for 4 nights and 5 days of R&R. Besides it was blistering hot in k-du and stuffy and polluted and crowded blah blah blah. We thought being by the lake would at least be scenic if not cooler. So that same day we juggled our luggage and left most of it at the Utse Hotel and packed just what we needed for 4 days and off we went to find a "micro" ( a minivan) that leaves every half hour for Pokhara. We thought we got good seats but the van stopped frequently and this necessitated every body either climbing over Diane or making her get out of the vehicle to let them out! With her knees ( recent surgery) this was a huge inconvenience for her. I was stuck a row behind her with the same people crawling over me and an old man hanging onto my seat and leaning on me. With the heat and no AC it was not a comfortable thing to be stopped at any location and only marginally tolerable when the vehicle was moving. Somehow saying "YO NEPAL HO" didn't make the trip any more pleasurable. 

 

The scenery was amazing though... the road was the same we had taken on the AC bus last month for the first 4 hours then winds along another river and into the hills to where you can see the Fishtail mountain and the Anapurna range for the last hour of the trip... a total of 6 hours... Just beautiful! And it had recently rained and though still cloudy, the snows were peeking through and the setting sun highlighted them as if the Lord was taking His paintbrush to them for our exquisite benefit!

The next morning we got up at 0430 and got a taxi to the ridge ( Sarankot) hoping to see the snows in all their glory but they were all socked in. Just as we were leaving we had a momentary lift of the cloud cover and got a brief but amazing view a little after the sunrise. 

 

The next couple days we did a lot of shopping... some in the tourist area of Lakeside and some in the heart of the local beat after taking the local bus about 30 minutes into town. We bought umbrellas as the heat was really draining. One day I took 3 naps... the heat just really sapped the energy out of me!

We had a lovely little boat ride where the driver informed us there were green snakes in the forest that dropped out of the trees...and that it was a steep 2-3 hour uphill hike to the little white stuppa and an hour and a half down... that kind of nixed it for us. Diane was still game to go but she was afraid of the green snakes. Me? the snakes  didn't concern me but uphill and steep in the same sentence coupled with heat was enough to deter me! we resolved to go the next day. Well it poured rain just as we were planning to go ... truly a sign! We napped instead... then went for chinese!

 

Back to Kathmandu on Friday, this time in the air-conditioned tourist bus! Diane obtained the tickets on her ownand sprung for the both of us! I did not object! 

 

I woke up nauseous that morning and struggled through the first half of the 8 hour trip. Someone was praying though cause I began feeling better even though the winding road actually got worser as we went along.

 

2 days in K-du to wrap things up and complete our shopping and packing brought us to Monday and time to say goodbye. I made sure Diane got through at the Korean air counter and knew where to go through immigration and security ( there are few signs and it is very confusing!) and heard that she made it safely to Seoul and was having a lovely time at the Hyatt there. Her update on her mom said she is improving and doing fairly well with rehab and may even be able to go home in another week or two if she can learn to do things without trying to bend.

 

I left K-du a few hours later on the AC night bus with Nancy DIdi, my mothers best friend fromTeam Nepal days in Dadeldhura! The trip was actually very comfortable this time... and as it was hot as blazes and humid we were VERY greatful we got good seats and it had airconditioning! We covered the same bad road I had done twice before this week and again a month ago. So I am done with this road!  18 hours later we arrived in Dhangadi and had brunch with our lifelong friends there. A quick shower helped but we were sweating within minutes again.

 

Becky Didi arrived on the Yeti flight and we rented a private car to take us up the hill. We had a slow but careful driver this time and arrived at the bakery just at dark. S**** had dal bhat waiting for us!

It was great to discover the roof had been poured on our facility in my absence! PTL! It was poured a week ago so now has to setup a total of 22 days. It has rained here 2 days in a row so that is great to keep the cement wet while it sets up. 

 

Sadly the handover at the hospital never happened as it was supposed to The 2 men are still being held in custody and HDCS has neither arranged for their release nor accepted responsibility for it. They have also not paid any of the staff or given them their pensions. The Head hancho refuses to come and is pressuring folk ouut here to do the handover for him, threatening them in fact if they don't. It continues to create a real hardship for all the staff. The last of the staff have been told by the gov they must be out by Saturday, off hospital property. Police were to be checking those folks houses today but didn't show. Some are being escorted by police to bajang tomorrow to retreive any supplies that were sent there and go through them... supposably. There is rumored that anybody who has a computer or cameras or equipment that ever belo9nged to the hospital must return them or be charged with stealing. It just gets uglier all the time! Pray for a rapid end to all these problems... it appears greed is at the root of most of the current challenges and cowardice and irresponsibility are dragging the situation far beyond what it should be. 

 

Well I have likely bored you all so will turn in here. Nancy andf Becky are staying with me till Sunday when they return to K-du on the Yeti flight. Pray for Becky as she felt horrible today...

also please pray for water... we get so little each day now and it must stretch for the Bakery, P*** family of 6 plus their 3 guests and the 3 of us! Also our toilet is broken between the tank and bowl! Yo Nepal Ho... but we have internet:)!

 

Pray for the expedious completion of the construction on the building and enough water daily to keep that cement wet and setting up propperly!

 

That should give you all plenty to pray for on our behalf!

 

What can I pray for you for? Though I will not be twiddling my thumbs the next 2 weeks I should be able to lift you up as well! Time enough to fit in prayers between what God has called me to do!

 

Oh pray for us as we visit those in jail again tomorrow! 5 have now believed since we started visiting them at Easter! 

 

Off road now!

 

Toodles

Dawn Didi

2 Timothy 1: 7 and John 14 :27

Peace!

 

 

Pushing Progress . . .

Tomorrow Diane and I will be on the move bright and early! We need your prayers as we travel unexpectedly to Kathmandu as Diane got word that her mother fractured 8 vertebrae on her back and is in a brace in a rehab unit in Texas. She did not fall- apparently this is a spontaneous fracture.... but she is in a lot of pain and Diane feels she should get home and assist with her care. Can't say I blame her... it has been great to have her here supporting and encouraging. She has been a great help to Sundari in the bakery and has taught several newbies to crochet! She has also played endless games of Scrabble with our landlords teeenage boys and outfitted several needy with new clothes, shoes and bookbags!
We have a flight from Dhangadi to K-du at 2:20 on Yeti airlines tomorrow( a glorified tin can of an airplane!) and have booked our own transport down the 4-5 hours to the airport. It is a good thing as we heard there is a bhundh ( block) so hopefully they (those that block the road) will allow 2 white older females on their way to an emergency" in America to get past any obstacles they may have put in our path. Trusting in God Almighty and His mighty angels to get us through. Of course it has to be an adventure and can't just be a ho hum journey... there has to be some great story in all this!
Speaking of obstacles... met a few more on the building project! The wood never came on time... our workman have sat and twiddled their proverbial thumbs waiting for it to arrive. The wood man came yesterday and informed me he had delivered it and he wanted his last 500 NRS. I believed him and paid him. 30 min later our contractor met me and complained the wood still wasn't delivered! I hit the roof! I just paid the dirty liar! We tried to hunt the woodman down. We finally caught up with him 7 hours later when he showed up to our site.. still without the prepaid rented wood beams!
3 of us gave him a piece of our minds and let him know in no uncertain terms that he better show up with the wood by morning or else his business in this community was over!
The wood arrived this morning but it will now take the workman 3 days to prepare the ceiling to pour the concrete roof! And then 22 days for it to set up! Then we can lay the electric and plumbing and plaster the walls and then paint and think about moving the girls in! Oh and of course we can't forget digging the septic!
I plan to extend my ticket home another 3 weeks in hopes I can really get these girls in their new place.
I am thrilled the Lord has brought me Thirtha Pant(soon to be jobless!), the hospital maintanance man, to be our plumbing and electrical contractor! He is very knowledgable and experienced and I can't think of a Nepali more qualified to do the job. We spent several hours these last 2 days discussing how to make this all handicap accessable and user friendly for them considering heights and placements of everything from lightbulbs to toilets and sinks. He could, if needed, even transfer them from their current location to the new house when all is done as he has a working knowledge of how to dismantle their metal beds and empty and refill their water beds. He is a believer and willing to do the tranferring pro bono and the contract work for a very reasonable wage! Praise God!
We had another visit to the prison on Thursday! We had 41 men and 5 women all wanting to learn to crochet at the same time with the 9 hooks and 4 balls of yarn I brought! I was expecting a prison fight to break out! Actually they were all very well behaved and didn't kill themseves or us with their metal knitting needles! The guards did decide they would remove all sharp objects from them at the end of the day however!
I sang them all a local Shoo Shoo geet ( Dotiyali song) and got a standing ovation from them all which involved alot of hooting and hollering. Then Diane and I sang them " She'll be coming round the Mountain" and eased into some Nepali Xian songs! We all had a really fun time all the while teaching/ learning crocheting!
2 of the 5 women prayed to accept Christ including the 17 year old girl that is in cause her brother in law raped her, got her pregnant, fled to India and several months later she had a miscarriage bleeding for several days. She is accused of killing her child so is in jail for 35 days to 3 months awaiting her trial! What a justice system! Huh!
One man claimed he has been healed since our last visit and another man says he is much better! SO we are encouraged with the "jailbird ministry!" The man who accepted Christ last week still wants a Hindi Bible so I will try to find him one in K-du this week! God is alive and well in Dadeldhura even in the strangest of places...like jail!
The handover for the hospital is due this week. The place is a ghosttown. Even the businesses here along Team Road are dead! So many vendours are crying as their livelihood appears finished along with the hospital. The staff are all in fear they will not get their final paychecks or pensions. 2 staff are still in prison and HDCS has done nothing to get them out. All the administrative staff have fled in the night at variopus points and the head hancho of HDCS called and asked a church elder who was let go from the hospital staff 5 years ago to please please handle the handover! What a joke! Today we learned the CDO ( Chief District Officer) also left in the night last night! He was a friend of the local hospital administrator... hummm what a disaster! They all need your prayers! Most staff have had their last few paychecks cut without being informed.... just shorted 5000 or 6000 on their checks and they discover it when they get to the bank and try to cash it!. The bakery tab the top brass ran up, hasn't been paid or the tab for the pharmacy meds for our paraplegics nor their monthly allowances for food and necessities... Guess I will have to make a visit to the HDQrts in K-du and see how I can advocate for the girls at least!
I hear a woman crying in the street below... I feel powerless. Can't tell in the dark where it is really coming from! Sounds like on Team Road right below me!
Well better get some sleep... it is likely going to be a long day tomorrow.
Tomorrow and Monday are both supposed to be Bhundhs according to the paper. Tuesday I hope to take Diane to Pokara for 2 days and then get her on a flight home maybe Friday. I will then return on the AC bus ... another 25 -30 hours??? so hope to be back here by Saturday or Sunday. The community all agree the building project will progress faster if I am here to push it along!
Pushing for progress!
Dawn Didi

Trouble for Hosipital Staff, Evacuation encouraged

Hi and Namaste, Jai Masi!

The trio from USA ( New Mexico) left this AM. They had a great time here the last 12 days. I spent much time and energy showing them around but they were very appreciative and fell in love with Dadeldhura as so many of us do!

The situation at the hospital has gone from bad to worse. The HDCS people that were here ordered one of the peons to return all the pharmacueticals to the shop in Dhangadi where they were purchased and get their money back. A man was arrested for "Stealing"even though he was ordered to do it, HDCS has done nothing to get the man out of jail!

2 nights ago the HDCS men and P*** a hospital admin, all disappeared in the middle of the night ( ran away). Later police checks of the guesthouse revealed a tin trunk of hospital supplies stored in their room. Now all staff taking anything off the property, even personal stuff, are required to undergo an inspection and all have to inventory everything and have the Gov sign off on it. Rumors abound about more trouble coming this week for staff still on the property and K*** told me today HDCS is notifying all remaining staff to vacate as soon as possible as they think the gov will hold people to try to get HDCS top brass to come out here... could get ugly so please be in prayer for this place!

Our new building is coming along but I am told they will pour the roof this next Saturday. Then it needs 22 days of drying before they can apply the plaster to the walls and 15 more for that to dry before we can install plumbing and electrical. I am discouraged about the time line so am thinking and praying about sending Diane home as planned and changing my ticket to extend for a few more weeks! What a decision- but if I dont get these girls in their new place, who will do it? And what would become of them under the new gov management if they don't get moved soon?

Kooyie!

We had a really interesting time visiting the local jail on Thursday.We had a taste of what it was like to be incarcerated in a Nepali prision for several hours. A team of 3 drs and 5 others, Nepali and Bideshi, went and did medical evals on all who were sick and we saw about 40 men and women all knitting already! with metal knitting needles! They knit till they run out of yarn then rip it out and do it all again! We took a puzzle and tooth brushes for everyone! That day one of the inmates prayed to accept Chr-st and requested a hindi Bible as he is from India! Pray I can find one. He read a tract that was given to him at Easter by the team from our ch-u-ch that visited them the first time.!

A Day later, a lady from the ch-u-ch who is a pharmacist filled all the perscriptions and she and I delivered them to the jail again and instructed each inmate how to take them. We plan to visit every Thursday while I am here and pray the Ch-u-ch will take responsibility to keep up this ministry in my absence.

Thanks for all your prayers for us here. It is a time of great uncertainty!

Well time to go for lunch so all for now!

Dawn Didi

Diane is better , Praise G-d!

K***s mom just showed up.. they and 4 others are leaving now not tomorrow as planned!