From Baby Buds To Mighty Mountains
After patiently waiting three weeks, at last, fruitage arrived in the form of the smallest
, most delicate, light green shoots of the sal (shorea robusta) tree with two baby buds at the top of each tiny shoot. The moment was savored by Felicity Lee, who recently volunteered with Rustic Volunteer and Travel in southern Nepals beautiful Chitwan National Park. Here she had placed rows and rows of seeds that were gradually transforming into trees.
It was amazing. When you look at a sea of weeds, then look closer and see the buds, its very special. Just a few weeks ago they were seeds! They grew into living things!says Lee, an ever-cheerful 24-year-old Chinese-Canadian.
From so dainty a start, the life-forms in years to come become sturdy, fair-looking and tall trees. Their wood is prized as timber. Their leaves are eaten by buffaloes. I really like working with my hands and being able to plant trees helped me see concrete results. I really like being outside, says Lee about what inspired her to get involved with planting seeds and reforestation, a line of work in which she also active in back in Canada for three years from the planting season from May to July.
Her eight weeks in Nepal was an adventure on many levels. It was amazing for me coming from Canada to this village with no running water where I had to pump my own water from a well for brushing my teeth and bathing. We ate on the floor, says Lee. Overall it was a really good experience. But just like anything there were ups and downs. In the beginning I thought it was kind of disorganized.
But she is quick to add that My host family was very welcoming. My host family sister was very kind and said if I had any problems to let her know. Sometimes she would have friends over and invite me to her room and we would talk about school, life and boys.
On one special day that well reflected the inclusiveness extended to her, Lee was asked to join a womens group that went on a picnic a three-hour drive away in a spectacular setting. The women sang and danced all the way along on the bus that took them there.
Besides sal tree seeds, Lee also planted seeds for turmeric and pumpkins. Before the seeds are planted, a shallow trench in the dirt is dug by a stick. Then the seeds are planted one by one a few centimeters apart (except for the pumpkin seeds, which are planted in pairs). Finally, the dirt taken out when the trenches were made is gently laid back in the trench atop the seeds. After planting, compostbuffalo manureis shoveled over the ground above the seeds. Some hay is scattered on top.
Weeding for the delicate turmeric plant was an important job for Lee as well. This required her to pull up both plants and weeds, carefully disentangle the two plants types, tossing away the weeds and gently replanting the turmeric plants in the same plot where they had come from.
They would come up to here! says Lee, gesturing with her hand to a height about half a meter from the ground.
The conservation-project was right near an orphanage; Lee spent much time interacting with the children. It was a five- to 10-minute walk from the center and orphanage to the host familys home.
The kids were always friendly. They always said Hello Sister or Namaste. I think about how these children dont have any parents. They were happy and kind to me. Its amazing to see how there are so many kids living their lives and are so happy all the time. The orphans have only one set of clothes. In the mornings they went to school and for the rest of the day they help me pull weeds. They really help out. They were well-behaved for sure. They would always ask me How long are you staying here?
They also brought Lee fresh vegetables grown in the orphanages garden, including tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, eggplant, cucumber, carrots and sugarcane.
Her host family also has a garden ensuring fresh tastes at mealtime. They grew cauliflower, lentils, spicy peppers and more. Milk for tea was provided by the familys buffalo.
Lees days started early. Planting/weeding took place from 7 to 10am and 3 to 6pm. This provided for a long siesta during the intense heat of midday in Chitwan.
Lees supervisor, Bhairap, has worked here for more than 10 years. He knows a lot about trees and how to grow them, and during their long hours in the fields shared some of his insight with Lee, deepening the worth of her time in Nepal, and making the monotony of some aspects of the job slip away.
After one week on the project, she embarked on the popular 12-day long Annapurna Base Camp trek, which she describes as nothing short of miraculous, not least of which for its breathtaking 360-degree views. After the trek she returned to Chitwan for the final three weeks of her time at the conservation center.
Annapurna was amazing. When I first saw the Himalayas I didnt expect the feelings and emotions that brought me to tears. It was so beautiful. The thought ran through my head that was that I wished that my friends and boyfriend were here at the top of the word to share the experience with me.
Of course there are hard moments on the trek, where youre going up thousands of stairs in between villages, but when you finally see that mountain range, or look over that valley and see the vastness of the landscape with rhododendrons and homes built on the sides of mountains it kind of blows your mind.
I was brought up in a Christian family. I went to Sunday school every week. But I finally came to understand why some people believe there is a God because of these mountains.
In this range of the mighty Himalayas, Lee found solace and inspiration. The reason I came to Nepal was for the mountains. Ive always felt that mountains are a source of strength and grounding. I feel protected when I am near them. I really felt that nothing compares to the Himalayas.
I feel that volunteering was absolutely the right decision for me. Ive learned so much about myself. After you feel you cant do something such as adapting to a new country, you realize that you can. Living in rural Nepal, you have to adapt to whatever the situation is. So I think that whatever the situation, you kind of find a sense of joy.
by: Carleton Cole
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