Saujanaya

Saujanaya
Gerkhutar, Nepal, November 5th, 2018

Saujanaya lives in Gerkhutar, which is up on the hill east of the main road when you are walking from Betrawati to Trishuli.

I had climbed the hill to see if I could find Prava and Pratima, a pair of sisters I had taken photos of many years ago (but it turns out, while I found their house, they are now both living in Kathmandu).

I met Saujanaya as she was in front of her house holding her report card printout from her school. She had almost all A’s and A+’s. I applauded her and told her how great that was that she did so well.

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Before I left, I asked if anyone in the family had an email address so I could send copies of the photos I took. Her father (or grandfather) pictured here, wrote down an email address in my photo journal.

I tried to email the photos to the email address, but I got an auto-reply message from Gmail that the email address was not good.

If anyone has an email address or Facebook account for the family, please let me know!

Aunt and her niece, cooking a meal

Aunt and her niece, cooking a meal
Janakpur, Nepal, October 21st, 2015

Urmila (in orange) and her niece Ram Kala work to prepare a meal.
Urmila is one of my friend’s maternal aunts, and Ram Kala is a cousin.

With the punitive months-long Indian blockade of fuel and supplies, cooking gas is almost impossible to come by and so meals are cooked over wood fires. Because of the smoke inherent with wood fires, families try to cook outside if possible. Cooking times are lengthened, and with only one stove “burner”, each part of the meal (lentils, rice, tea, et cetera) must wait it’s turn to be cooked.

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Though the small rectangular stool in the lower-left is only a couple of inches tall, it can make all the difference comfort-wise when one is squatting by the fire for an hour or more.

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

Friends harvesting

Friends harvesting
Phutung, Kathmandu, October 28th, 2015

After Nag Pokhari [snake pond, so-called for the statue of a naga in the middle], there is a S-curved jog in the road with fields of rice on both sides.

In the field to my left, I could see the familiar face of Ramita (in the head-scarf), so I hopped down to the field (it's about three feet lower than the road) and walked over.

A tarp or canvas had been laid out on the ground and they were taking clumps of cut rice stalks and beating them on the ground to shake off the rice kernels. When the stalks were empty, they were handed to Siddhi who would arrange them on the stack.

I asked them if they wanted a group photo and they were up for it, so I politely told them basnush, basnush [sit, take it easy] and joked with them while I took a few photos. 

From left to right, they are Gita, Bishnu-maya, Ramita, and Sarlina.
Siddhi is standing on top of the haystack.

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

Family on the porch

Family on the porch
Manamaiju, Kathmandu, May 2011

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

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Guests at Sunita’s wedding

Guests at Sunita’s wedding
Dadagaun, Kathmandu, February 2005

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

Sisters, Ambika and Kopila

Sisters, Ambika and Kopila
Kathmandu, 11 June 2011

With an old 2005 photo of Kopila and Ambika in my hand, I asked around the neighborhood and was able to find these two sisters again. Looking now, at first I thought Ambika was laughing in both photos, but it was Kopila in the older photo.

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

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I ran across another photo taken on the porch of their family's house on the same day.

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And another photo of their younger sisters, I believe.

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Sushila and Sumi, friends

Sushila and Sumi, friends
Betrawati, 2002

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.