Day 3: Part 1: Oasis

Today was the first day of big adventuring and left me in awe of the beautiful country and people of Nepal. Steven, Cara, and I left the house at 10:30am for Patan, a village two microbuses away from Chabahil, where we live. There was a strike going on unfortunately though, and all of the microbuses were not running, so we had to wait until noon when they were to start up again. The streets were so quiet in comparison to normal, and only a few cars and tuk-tuks zipped along. We went to the grocery and department store while we waited and looked at underwear, none of them marked with sizes, and most above the belly-button. We then hopped on a microbus at noon and arrived at Ratna Park within 20 minutes for the change-over to the next bus that would take us to Patan.

Arriving in Patan we walked a short distance to the purpose of our journey, a restaurant called Cafe Cheeno, owned by a woman named Rita, a sort of friend of a friend of Stevens. It was a beautiful little cafe, almost felt like something of America with its coffee machines and high-stooled bar. We were then led through a beautiful garden, hidden from the street with a high cement wall, painted pink, like many buildings in Nepal. We were then called into Rita's house, a woman of about 60 handing us cups full of mango nectar and telling us to make ourselves at home. Within no time at all we had met her whole family and were being fed a big Nepali lunch with a side of deep thought. We sat for hours in her beautiful western-style home, speaking of the charities she has founded and careers she has had that have brought her to live in this immaculate home. I had not sat on couches such as hers since arriving in Nepal and admired the beautiful Nepali art that hung on her walls and wood carved furniture that decorated the space. 

She told us about how she used to work for the UN and had the one grant given out a year from the university she attended, but felt that something just wasn't right about the way she was living. She had it all, the fancy house, business trips all over the world, nice clothes to wear, but she knew that what she had wasn't pure, and wasn't actually helping her country she loved so dearly.

"Why be privileged if it is not helping the people you love? I believe that the privileged should take it as their responsibility to help their country and its betterment."

With the loss of her husband she decided to drop it all and restart. She then took the strength she saw in Nepal and its people and started Twa, a Nepali-funded charity for women empowerment. With her help women would now be able to start their own businesses and take control of their own destinies. She chose to call it Twa, the nepali word for 'support' so that those in need would know exactly who they were and where to go. Her drive and selfless care astounded me and left me speechless. The incredible hospitality to us strangers and foreigners non-the-less, gave me a comforting warmth I needed so dearly in this strange, new land.

With that we were on our way, with her number in our phones and replenished souls we snapped a picture together and were off. I feel comfort in knowing their are people like her out there, leaving us with the offer of a good meal and a warm conversation any time we are feeling overwhelmed by this crazy city and its dusty streets. 

an article on Rita:

http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/womans-place-nepal