The Post With Many Pictures of Toby

Aaack! What happened to the last 2 months? Chalk it up to a bit of procrastination and a heavy workload. I have rarely felt like I could string 2 coherent sentences together in the evenings lately, and when I have energy in the mornings, Toby and Noa demand a lot of it. They wake up soon after 5a.m., and now that they are sleeping in a regular bed, they climb out of it (as long as they don't get their feet caught in the mosquito net) and come into my room. And so our day begins. We make a banana milkshake (Toby is a creature of habit; his day isn't complete without one!), feed Kusi, read stories, do some colouring, water the basil, parsley and mint, help Pradeep tidy the garden, talk to Grandma and Grandpa on Skype, have breakfast, get dressed... By the time I get to work after 8:30, it feels like I have done enough for half a day already.


Work is pretty busy right now. Actually, since I started my new position in January, I think there has been 1 week during which I have been able to focus on long term ideas. Otherwise, it has been a string of field visits supporting the surgery project, field visit to show colleagues from HI Afghanistan our physical rehabilitation project (this was a treat for me as Jawid, my project assistant from Herat came), recruiting for various positions, supporting our advocacy project manager start up the new project, and reviewing proposals and reports for technical and English quality control.

As we head into summer, staff changes will be demanding more of my time. We are losing a project manager for mainstreaming disability into disaster preparedness and haven't hired a new one yet, so I will be looking after that one for a month, plus our new inclusion project manager had to return to Afghanistan to finish his job there before joining us permanently, so I am now acting manager for that one. We have a consultant in mine victim assistance coming for 6 weeks and as I was responsible for recruiting him, I will also be his focal point while he is here.

One big drain on my time is finishing this week. I have been coordinating a visit for a study team from the International Society for Prosthetists and Orthotists, who wanted to assess the outcomes of a certificate course for P and O technicians. I planned visits to 4 different P and O workshops between Monday and Thursday. We started in Kathmandu on Monday and of course there was a bandh. Ajay and I cycled to the team's hotel, then he walked with 4 of them while I escorted the other 2 in rickshaws to the rehab centre about 3km away. Usually in a bandh, bicycles are OK but any form of motorised vehicle is stopped. I left at about 12 and it took me twice as long to go back to the office because I had to walk my bike at every intersection and everywhere there was a gathering of people waving the Maoist flag and carrying sticks. I was lucky- Kavita and Ram, our surgery project staff, were returning from the field and had to walk the 8km from the airport to the office.

Tuesday and Wednesday were relatively uneventful but I was anticipating a few wrinkles for Thursday. The plan was to fly to Biratnagar, in the south east of the country. I knew that an indefinite bandh had been called for the Terai (south) and started on Tuesday, but I wasn't sure how strong it would be on Thursday. Fortunately for us, there was some confusion that morning and we were able to hire a couple of minivans to take us from the airport to the centre but by late morning it had tightened up and clients were having trouble reaching the centre. We managed to return to the airport in the afternoon thanks to the centre's president lending us her car and driver, who knew all the back roads- he saved us a 40 minute rickshaw ride!

The best part of Thursday? On the flight to Biratnagar we saw Mount Everest! One of Toby's favourite movies is the Imax one called Everest, which we have on DVD. He calls it the Mountain movie (as opposed to Monsters or Nemo or Lion King), and he can now say 'Mount Everest.' But Noa seems to be the climber of the two:







She is starting to talk more, but still refers to herself as 'Nanu' or 'Nanu me.' And she calls Toby 'Boby.' In a familiar place she is an independent little soul, traipsing off outside in the mornings as soon as she has had her vitamin and a drink, to greet Pradeep and play with Kusi. She can play happily by herself for 10 minutes, colouring or cooking or just putting things in and then taking them out.

Toby prefers to stay close and be read to, but at 5 a.m. I have managed the odd time to tell him to read by himself while I keep my eyes closed for a few more precious minutes. In a book called Dear Zoo (thanks, Rachel!) he turns the pages, saying which animals he 'sent back' to the zoo.

They are enjoying the warm weather, looking for any opportunity to take off their clothes and run around the garden.

We are all looking forward to coming to Vancouver in August. Hopefully I will manage a couple more posts before then!

Love
C T N

Now we are 2!

Toby can say 'Happy Birthday, Noa Toby' in a singsong voice. Noa squeals with excitement at the sight of presents and knows how to open them. For their 2nd birthday, we invited some friends over: Ilse with Dominic, who is one month younger than the twins, Marie from work with her daughters Angelina (2 1/2 yrs) and Fleur (5), and Dina with her daughter Namrata who is 4. Shirin and Clare, Priscille and Christophe also came to celebrate. We marked up one wall with all the kids' heights, blew bubbles, and did a lot of colouring. The kids gobbled up prawn crackers, popcorn and juice before we brought out the chocolate cake and sang Happy Birthday. Toby and Noa capped off the afternoon by cavorting around in their birthday suits. And the day ended with a massive thunderstorm!

Thanks to all who sent birthday wishes and presents! We will be in Nepal until 2011 so unless you come visit in March 2010 for their 3rd, we will look forward to sharing their 4th birthday with you!

Love
C T N

Trekking in Helambu

For a very long time I have wanted to go trekking in Nepal. This past week we passed a milestone as Toby, Noa and I finally went! It involved 2 extremely patient, kind, knowledgeable (and did I mention patient?) friends, Mads and Clare, and Poorba, our porter. Poorba carried the kids' and my gear, Mads carried his and Clare's, Clare and I each carried a toddler. We left last Saturday (March 7), drove to Sundarijal, which is just on the northeast edge of Kathmandu and then started walking. Up, up, up from the 1500m of KTM, through forest and sand to Chisapani at 2300m where we stayed that night. We woke up to a breakfast of porridge and Nepali tea, great nourishment for a day of trekking.

That morning started Clare's and my custom of having wet (but clean) diapers draped over the backpack carriers, ensuring they would be dry by the time we needed them again. As most of you know, I tryyyy my best to be careful with the environment, but I do put the kids in disposables for night time as it prevents them waking up. Well, my biggest concern leading up to this trek was how I would deal with the diaper issue. As it turned out, it wasn't a big deal to wash the cloth ones each night- or during a rest stop if it wasn't going to pollute the water supply to a village- and dry them on the packs during the day. And yes, Poorba was carrying 12 dirty disposable diapers on the last day, the cumulation of 6 nights x 2 children.

From Chisapani we walked down to Talamarang, which is at 940m. That was a long day walking down for the first half and then along a landslide\ riverbed for the second half. But the weather was beautiful, if a little too sunny. We took advantage of the warmth and the water and stripped the kids off for a rinse. Toby loved it, kept wanting to get back in and sit down. Noa as usual was more cautious but enjoyed dipping her toes in the cold water. The water became the best attraction\ distraction for Toby. We could always get him chatting and happier (if he was tired of being in the pack) by talking about the water and looking for 'boats' to float in it. He then talked about saying bye bye boat and by Friday he could say that we 'need' good water for boats, not just a shallow stream filled with litter. Even boats made of corn husks and bamboo have their standards, you know.



On Monday we left the mill town of Talamarang and walked up the road, then took a crowded bus to Kiul. From there we walked on the road again crossing in to Sherpa country. We had a good lunch of dahl bhat by the river, watching goats and putting 'boats' in the water. We planned to stay in Thimbu but it didn't look very child-friendly, so we made the hard choice to go uphill for the afternoon from the 1580m of Thimbu to Kakani at 2070m. But it turned out to be well worth the climb, especially when Mads produced mango juice boxes from his pack with an hour left to go. We stayed in a little lodge on the top of the hill, next to a stupa and surrounded by grass and a cliff view.

Tuesday was the Hindu festival of Holi, where people throw coloured water or coloured powder on eachother. The goal had been to reach Buddhist country by then so we wouldn't have to deal with it so we were successful! The villages here were mostly Sherpa, so welcomed visitors with rough brick, lichen covered stupas at the entrance to the village. Some had brilliant white stupas, with additional features painted in bright colours. In Nepal there is a lot of mixing of Hindu and Buddhist symbols in each religion, and here it was still evident. People still understand Nepali but also speak their own dialect.

From Kakani we walked up to TarkeGyang at 2590m. The net result was plus 500m but the route was what is called 'Nepali flat', i.e. up and down and up and down. We arrived in time for lunch and a relaxing afternoon playing on the grass and floating boats in the stream. The following day we had a rest day and took the kids to the village gompa where there was a puja happening. Each gompa has one day in the year where they have more celebrations than others, longer pujas, lama dancing (monks dance wearing big head dresses). We happened to arrive in time for Tarke Gyang's. Coinciding with this year's celebration, the senior lama was due to return to the gompa after 3 years, 3 months and 3 days in seclusion in a cave up the mountain. He hadn't returned before we left, but as we left the village on Thursday morning we met several people traveling to the village to celebrate his return.

Thursday night we spent at 2620m in Sermathang, surrounded by fields and small houses. Toby and Noa entertained everyone by dancing to the lodge owner's singing that night. What a hoot they are. And boy, we all slept well that night, snuggled up under a sleeping bag, for a final night of complete silence before returning to Kathmandu.

In between us and Kathmandu, however, was a descent to 1280m to Kiul, alongside the Melamchi Khola (river), which we had followed or seen from high above, for most of our trip. We walked down through pine forests, past rhododendrons in bloom, terrace upon terrace of wheat or barley. Lower down, some wheat was already being harvested, while higher up it was still green.Waiting for us on the dirt road at the bottom was a vehicle to take us back to Kathmandu.

It only took 4-5 hours but it had seemed like we were in a different world. A world of small villages, farms, and mills. Animals like cows, goats, chickens, buffalo, and even common langur monkeys in Tarke Gyang. Hardly any people unless we were in a village. Very polite children. Stupas. Water. Trees. Rocks. Hills. The Himal in the distance. And silence.

In addition to living a dream of trekking in the hills of Nepal (hopefully not for the last time, but how soon will the twins be toilet trained??), I also really enjoyed the time I spent with Toby and Noa. This seems to be a time of rapid development in speech and thinking and spending days with each of them, rather than just evenings after work and busy weekends, was incredibly valuable to me. I had the time and energy to go with Noa when she took my hand and pulled me for a walk along the edge of fields in Sermathang. I could listen and talk to Toby in the backpack as he practiced new words over and over again: he said 'Noa' for the first time, as well as need, good, (pine)cone, dood (milk), panni (water), dahl, give, and penis(!) They are really cool kids, and I was lucky they put up with my need to be away from home in Kathmandu for a bit. They are very happy to be back among their toys, in their own beds, having baths again.

Until next time.

CTN

Meet Kusi

Meet Kusi. She is about 12 weeks old now, the only female in a litter of 5, born to a street dog who had been adopted by the previous tenants of our house and then adopted us. Didn't realise she was pregnant at the time! Mommy dog has a really calm temperament; I have only seen her bark at crows who come into her air space, cats who walk along the fence, and a man who was begging at the gate (But by that point he was being rather annoying and persistent.) I chose Kusi because she has been the most social of all the puppies and because she has some spirit. She was the first to learn to climb down off a foot-high concrete barrier in the garden, thus giving her almost complete access to the rest of the space. Kusi means happy in Nepali.

We are still trying to find homes for 2 of the pups, Tiger and Sleeper, and in the meantime all 3 have started on their medicines and vaccinations. Once Kusi is the only one left, she will be allowed to come into the house, but until then she is bunking with the other two in the garden. Mommy dog has been trying to wean them completely so she only visits once a day but it is still good to see her then. I am not sure we can keep her inside; even when she is well fed she seems to need to get out. Maybe she just needs to get away from the kids!


I don't know why he's climbing in there. I don't think he knew either. Then he had to figure out how to get out. It was much harder after Noa closed one of the cupboard doors!

Toby and Noa are doing well, except for a couple of nasty colds recently. On January 14 Nepalis celebrated the coldest day of the year. Now we are apparently in spring! And really, it feels warmer! Both kids are talking more, but especially Toby. His newest word is book, to add to: bus, hot, up, down, tractor/ doctor, duck, juice, cookie, cracker, car, ball, numnum, and Nanu, which is Nepali for little sister and it is his name for Noa. Noa is much quieter (a surprise to all who have known her since birth!) but I have a feeling she will talk in the same style in which she walked: no trial and error, she will begin by stringing 2 words together.

Noa continues to be such a little helper around the house. She wipes the table or the floor whenever she has a cloth. (I know, I have to lighten up...) She carries her dirty dishes to the sink. This morning she brought Toby's clothes for him. And this afternoon when we arrived home she brought the shopping into the kitchen item by item! She understands a lot, and definitely sometimes chooses to ignore me! She can go down one step without holding on and can almost run. As you can see from the previous post, she loves to colour. The inside of their cardboard box playhouse is covered in crayon. She is a really good eater. No problem with a spoon or a fork and minimal spilling from a cup. Toby prefers his drinking box and even eats soup with his fingers but I am sure he will learn.

That's all for now. We have power cuts for 16 hours per day now so I am trying to take advantage of the internet when I can.

Love
C T N

Christmas in Kathmandu

Toby 'decorating' Christmas cookies.

Coming down from Sarangkot where we saw the mountains!

Playgroup Christmas Party December 13


Noa monopolised the tricycle. Good thing we didn't show her the cookie decorating table until the end...

The artist at work...

Merry Christmas, everyone! And all the best wishes for 2009!

Love
C T N

Field visit to Gorkha

Namaste

In the last week of November I accompanied two of my team on a field visit to Gorkha District, which is to the northwest of Kathmandu and as its name suggests is the original home of the renowned Gurkhas. One of our partners works in the district, employing 3 community disability workers who provide services and support to people with disabilities in 9 VDCs (a VDC is a subdivision of a district).

This is one of the CDWs explaining a poster to raise awareness of disability and the potential of people who have disabilities.


This is a typical house in one of the villages we visited. The village is a cluster of houses set on the northwest side of a hill. Very close knit, every one knows everyone else's business! I stayed in the little building on the right, slightly further away from the cows than I had been the previous night ( I woke up to the sound of one having a very long pee!)

This is a sweaty but very happy me having climbed out of the valley on our way out. (On our way in we had walked uphill for 5 hours...) Downhill from there! And what a view! The next set of mountains we could see to the west of these were the Annapurnas.

OK, it is now December 18 and I am way behind in posting this! Grandma and Grandpa arrived on December 2 and they and Toby and Noa have been enjoying eachother since then! We all went to Pokhara for a few days last week as I had some work to do there. And now we are preparing for Christmas! Very difficult to get in the spirit here- maybe we rely too much on the pervasive commercialism in North America.

More later!

Love
C T N

Nagi Gompa

We are going to miss Natasha when she leaves. Natasha works with HI. I am taking over her job when she leaves on Wednesday; well, officially I will take it over in January but as she is leaving this week I will assume some of the responsibilities while still doing my current job. Tash has been a good friend and toddler carrier since we arrived. She hasn't hesitated to walk with us up and down hills, to the European Bakery, through Thamel during Tihar, and she even did more than her share of vomit cleanup during that holiday.



Today (Sunday) Toby, Noa, Natasha, Bjorn and I walked north from her house to Budanilkantha and beyond, into Shivapuri National Park. Apparently there are leopards there but we didn't see any. We climbed up to Nagi Gompa, a Buddhist monastery and retreat where we had a picnic lunch watching the sun finally fight its way through the clouds. We walked down through the forest and onto a ridge to the east of the city, then down into residential areas and back to the main road. It felt good to move and to breathe fresh air. I felt ready to head back into the office for Monday.

The weather is definitely getting colder here. This morning I poked my nose out from under the covers and felt the different temperature. And the butter just isn't soft in the morning now. Toby and Noa don't seem to notice the cold but today I saw goosebumps on Toby's legs as we were walking. In the midday sun it might still reach 20 C but evenings require fleece. I understand that we will hold meetings outside in the winter because it is warmer than inside, and I can already imagine that: my office doesn't get a lot of sun and my fingers become quite cold when I sit for while at the computer.

I will keep this short as I am never sure how long the internet connection will last. Hope you are all well. Love Chris, Toby and Noa