This is just an update. For more complete information please read the annual report of September 2001 and the reports that are linked from there, as well as the "Latest News" of my time spent in Nepal during autumn 2001 and Nepal during Spring 2002.
(To be read from bottom to top!)
22.9.2002: I returned to Germany one week ago and I should "finalise" this report about more than four months in Indonesia:
My departure from Lombok was quite mooving. Never before I had been there for 7 weeks without interruption and I was very close to many of the children who had been visiting me daily. Most of them were crying the last evening; and the morning of my departure many of the mothers came to thank me and say goodbye.
I was quite satisfied with what we had achieved regarding the schooling of so many. And never before so few children had been sick and I had to go to the hospital so rarely.
On the contrary my arrival on Bali was quite a shock: I visited Kadek and was very disappointed with the results of the surgery. The hand healed well, but the remaining two fingers still cannot move well and hold anything. I took detailed videos of his hand and the possible movements; but in Denpasar I could not meet the doctor who had gone to Jakarta and would return only in October. - So only next year I will be able to meet him and get information about the further proceedings.
Here you can see some photos (though with german text) of the situation right now.
27.8.2002: Nothing happens. - That's why I did not write here for a long time.
The children go to school, come to my room for food, games and homework. I started training mathematics for some of them. Apart from that I spend my time at the computer, reading, writing and cleaning up many things that I have been wanting to do for months or even years.
Whilst I am happy that most of the time I can write good news on these pages, I don't want to keep quiet about some disappointments as well:
During the last couple of weeks three of our children quit school:
A girl of 12 years had been teased by her classmates all the time because she is quite tall and only in grade 4. Though she always had good results and promises me (crying) that she will continue to study at home, I could not convince her to go back to school.
Mukesh reports from Nepal
- A boy of 20 years quit school and disappeared - probably back to his village in the mountains. (He had worked as a porter for one of our trekking groups when he was 14 years old. And some people from this group had paid boarding school for him for many years, where he was excellent and jumped class nearly every other year.)
- A boy of 16 disappeared. Later he came back, he had been with his grandmother in the village. He does not want to go to school anymore and works with his father now in a workshop sewing bags. (His brother and sister continue schooling at our expenses.)
Ravi Maharjan is dead.
I learned only yesterday (11.8.2002) by e-mail
that he died in a cycle-riksha accident two weeks ago.
He was nearly 15 years old.
I liked him very much and we were pretty close. - As his parents were divorced, his mother working, he stayed with me most of the time whenever I was in Kathmandu. He was one of the most sincere and reliable kids I'd ever known, and only this spring the countinous talking of myself and his mother convinced him to finally go to school again. - I was so happy ...
11.8.2002: I was very busy at the computer during the last few days, typing more than 30.000 caracters to work out a group programm for Tibet.
Otherwise not much "special" happened; the kids are fine.
News from Germany tell me that the guidebook that I translated during the last 7-8 months is already out of the printer's and will be in the shops very soon.
7.8.2002: It's been more than two weeks since I arrived back on Lombok. Time is running, these days are full - but they are relaxed and I enjoy them.
The school in this village does not have enough rooms, and not enough teachers either. Thus grade 3 and 4 go to school in the afternoon. That means that nearly any time of the day there are children at my room. The smaller ones from 8 in the morning until about 11.30; the older ones coming at 1 p.m. for lunch and staying the afternoon. At 5 p.m. the afternoon-pupils come "home" (to my room!) to get a late lunch.
In between all this I work on my computer, clean wounds, help with homework; and use my motorbike to rush to town to buy ever more stationaries and pay the school fees.
Amir yesterday had his last check up at the doctors after the surgery of his leg. And I phoned Bali and was informed that Kadek's hand is doing well.
Nothing spectacular happens and I am enjoying my time - as the children are.
23.7.2002: Kadek's hand is doing very well and he left the hospital Saturday morning to stay with his relatives who will care for him and take him to the doctor for the next couple of weeks.
Saturday afternoon we collected his shoe and prosthesis that we had given for repairing. And the specialist had taken up my idea and instead of these "shoes" that nobody can repair in Kadek's village, he had made "feet" that fit into ordinary shoes. Now the specialist's parts inside the shoes should be protected much better and last much longer. And the shoes, when they are worn, the father can buy in any ordinary shop or market.
Sunday I moved to Candi Dasa and on to Kadek's village to return home his brother who had helped me so much during this week of taking care of his younger brother.
After spending the night in Candi Dasa, I took the ferry on Monday and returned to Lombok: Amirs leg is doing fine and all the children came to tell me the news of the village and their schools that had started a week ago.
19.7.2002: Yesterday I was happy as for the first time I had two surgeries done on one day, and both went well and will hopefully bring improvement to the patients:
On Lombok the splint was removed from Amir's thigh bone that he was wearing for some years after a car accident. Surgery was done in the morning at the cheap government hospital - but by the best orthopaedic surgeon of that province. His younger brother, with whom I had left sufficient money in his savings account, waited for him.
When I (on Bali myself) phoned them after 4 p.m. at the hospital, Amir was well enough even to come to the telephone himself!
On Bali Kadek was taken to the OT at about 2 o'clock and came back to his room at 3.50. The small central finger oft his little, immovable left hand was removed, so hopefully the remaining two fingers will be functional and for the first time enable him to hold anything with this hand. (More photos - though the explanations are all in German language - you may find here on Kadek's own page.)
He recovered amazingly fast, was eating by 6 p.m. and did not vomit at all. He did not cry very much and slept well through most of the night. After breakfast the infusion was taken off and now - just 20 hours after the surgery - he sits next to me at the computer and is sulking a bit because I am writing this update but he would like to play.
14.7.2002: Yesterday I picked up Kadek from his village for the next visit to the doctor and the surgery of his left hand. As his father is busy, his brother accompanied us and will help me and stay at the Hospital together with Kadek.
Kadek is happy with his shoes and "fake leg" and can walk and even run very well. - But I am quite disappointed to find them in this state after only four weeks. I will have to talk to the people in the workshop to find some stronger materials to make it last much longer.
(On the small photo one can see the grey sock that covers the foot of the short leg, that rests on the upper part of the prosthesis.)
13.7.2002: Yesterday evening I arrived in Bali after a week packed full with work for the Lombok-kids. Wednesday morning I had 4.5 Million Rupies in my pockets; yesterday evening after a Pizza and a beer there were 15.000 left! One day we chartered a car to take most of the kids to town, to buy uniforms, bags and shoes for 16 and have 9 of them their hair cut.
Now 22 children are ready to start their new sessions this coming monday: 9 in elementary school (grade 2 to 6), 8 in lower secondary (7-9), and 5 in higher secondary schools (grade 10 to 12).
Now I have to take care of the 6 children on Bali and the surgery of Kadek's left hand.
7.7.2002: Today I started the shopping for the pupils:
I put 4 children on my motorbike (!) and took them to the city. We bought new uniforms, shoes, bags, socks. (I give them 2 sets of dresses, one pair of shoes and one bag every year. As these things are not very strong, this actually is not really sufficient - but it makes planning much easier, as I can just buy everything for everybody once a year.)
Then we bought more then 350 exercise books of different kinds, and together with pens and pencils that I had been given from German friends, I spent the afternoon distributing much of this.
I shall be busy buying more and more clothes for the next few days. Those children that change to schools of a higher level, only on Wednesday will be informed whether they have been accepted at the respective school; only after that I will start to spend any money on them.
Yesterday yet another child was introduced to me, whom I happily accepted: Promoted to 2. grade as the best one in his class, with all the marks only good and excellent. (His father is a landless and mostly unemployed farm-helper in a small mountain village.)
So now, together with this boy and one new child that Mukesh accepted in Nepal (after asking my permission by e-mail) we pay the schooling for a total of 90 children.
2.7.2002: Today the last children brought their reports and I am a bit proud to report that ALL of them are promoted to the next level. None of them has to repeat class. Ratings are quite good; out of all these children only two have "not sufficient" in one subject each. Best of all is (as usual) a girl that was rated fourth in her class.
For those who finished 6. or 9. grade respectively, admission to the next level of schooling started yesterday. Up to Thursday I have to finally decide who I will accept as new children; and probably by Saturday the schools will decide, who they accept or whose ratings are too bad so he or she has to apply again at a school of lower standards. As soon as this is decided, I will be very busy paying all the fees, buying all the uniforms, etc. before I shall leave for Bali on 12. July.
We fixed the date of surgery for Amir on 18. July; the splint has to be removed out of his thigh bone after that accident some years ago. - With the help of his wife and his brothers (and our money) he should be ably to have this done even though I will be on Bali at that time to have the surgery on the left hand of Kadek done nearly the same day.
27.6.2002: FINALLY ... I concluded my work of translating the guide book that hindered me from so many things during the last 6-7 months. My work is done; the last questions are answered and corrections written. By the end of this week the whole book will go to the printers.
Once again I have to APOLOGISE for stopping to update the information on these pages. - I will try to do better in the future. - And I shall start right here, trying to summarise the last few months:
Usually I open at 1 p.m. and give them
the vouchers for their lunch.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS many children were waiting when one day I was
late from the hospital and arrived at 1.20 p.m.!
Nepal: The 2½ months there were quite successful and satisfying; three surgeries, many new contacts, interesting visitors. Towards the end I had a group and a nice trekking in warm and pleasant weather up to the holy site of Muktinath at 3800 meters above sea level.
During this trekking the children finished their examinations and started re-admissions into the new classes. Most of them passed and only very few (out of a total of 65) have to repeat their class.
So my last week in Nepal was FULL!!! as I could never have imagined: Finishing reports and accounting of the group, packing and preparing to leave, writing the guidebook - and every day from about 4 p.m. the children returning from school (and many of their parents) were queuing behind my computer to report and bring bills, to receive money and to give me the receipts of yesterdays money...
Since my leaving Nepal, Mukesh once again takes care of all this, meets the children every Saturday.
I left Nepal to spend only 5 days in Germany, just rushing through only the most important things that had to be done. - Though every day I really took my time to enjoy my mother's food and cakes!
In Indonesia I relaxed a bit; at least I got sufficient sleep. But again I spent my time at the computer to work on the guidebook. After one week seven friends arrived and we toured a part of this huge country for the next three weeks. It was a good time and I enjoyed very much to return to some areas where I had not been for years.
Children:
This is not news of "our" children - but I am very happy anyway: On 13. June a healthy boy of 3,7 kg was born to my brother.
On Bali right after the departure of the group I met the crippled boy Kadek. He can walk very well on his half-prosthesis - but it was too short already and was very worn and torn. So we waited some days in Legian while this was repaired and a new shoe was made. And we saw the doctor and arranged for surgery of the left hand after 15. July.
Then I brought him home and went to Lombok. From the moment of my arrival my room was full of children. They were in the middle of their final examinations and should get their results by the end of this week. (I am waiting eagerly for this as there are quite a few children who should finish their respective schools and have to change to more distant and more expensive secondary education - and I wait for the best ones to take responsibility to pay for this.)
All are healthy - except for the usual lice, scabies etc.
The father of one family died about three months ago. Their children have been regular visitors for many years, but were financially well off and I did not have to care for their schooling. That changes now, as the mother selling some vegetables is the only earner.
Amir has a second son since December, big and healthy.
- I shall report again as soon as we have the school results of all the children.
Links to external pages are meant as information about their existance only. I do not take any responsibility for their contents.
The layout of theses pages is optimized for Internet Explorer 800 x 600.
© Copyright Jürgen Dahm 2002 all rights reserved.
Homepage
Mail
Last updated: October 2002