ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

Dear Tyler,

Namaste from Nepal! Just wanted to send an update on our project and lives in Kathmandu. ALL goes well, despite the political and social uncertainties going on.

We are in the middle of a 4-day nation-wide strike called by the political parties, the King has called a day-long curfew today, and the Maoist rebels continue their widespread guerilla attacks on government facilities from remote villages to city posts. In the meantime, people live day to day, doing what they can. One of many problems with the strikes called by the political parties is the people who live hand to mouth every day, depending on that day’s work and income – it doesn’t effect the political leaders who call these strikes, in the name of the community.

The nation-wide strikes are about a monthly occurrence, and have been for some time. After my work with Peace Corps in City Hall’s in Nepal, I learned how work and projects operate in Nepal: plan ahead for your windows of opportunity, cultivate relationships of support from the grass-roots and key stakeholders, and when your window of opportunity is open, make the most of it with as much work achieved as you can. It might be a while before the window opens up again.

With this approach our first two phases are moving forward flexibly, and effectively, realizing some things are completely out of our hands. These two phases are the foundation and heart of our project and efforts, and having achieved these, we can call the entire effort a “success”.

Our goals for the project are simple:

1. Personal Growth: Restoring the power and energy of our student’s touch; Internal growth; Opening; Restoring Dignity; Learning new social, interpersonal, life- and work-skills.
2. Social Statement: Everyone is equal; Building bridges; Bringing people together.
3. Financial and Social Empowerment: Providing credible work opportunities both inside and outside of Nepal to empower themselves, their families, and their community.

Phase I is our massage therapy training for our students. We have a blended mix of students from diverse backgrounds, with 6 from our target group of “Untouchables”, and 6 from so-called “higher castes”. It’s an experiment and an achievement in and of itself. The student’s are more than 2 months in to their training, 6 days a week, and they have really started to open up and bloom. Several have that extra “light”, and I can see them unfolding as real healers in the years ahead.

They still have 6 more weeks of training to go, and then it’s time to work in the community clinic before being ready to go abroad to work in resorts and spas.

Our curriculum is the most extensive and credible in Nepal, and we are all learning as we go.

Once we are able to establish credible linkages with quality spas and resorts outside of Nepal for employment of our students the project will achieve financial self-sustainability, and will be able to support itself (up to this point Sharmila, myself, and our families, along with some small-scale fundraising and donations, has financed the entire operation).

The set-up for the training program is a micro-credit approach, as our student’s come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. We provide an in-house micro-credit loan to our students in exchange for a “good-faith” deposit from each student, according to their individual backgrounds. This can run from 50 rupees to 7,000. Following training the student’s have agreed to repay these loans, but at a ratio that provides enough funds for 2 more student’s training for each 1 student that repays the loan.

Our main goal is finding quality employment for our students so that can move forward on their own financially.

Phase II is our community clinic, which we are now preparing to open in May. Our clinic has a community focus, and is modeled off of the Chatrapati Free Clinic which Sharmila’s grandfather founded in Kathmandu 50 years ago. Her Uncle still directs the clinic, completely for free.

Discounted massage therapy treatments are provided Nepalis and international volunteers, and fair rate is provided the ex-pats, tourists, and government officials who live and work here, with the knowledge that this is a social-entrepreneurship: all of the funds are reinvested in to the overall Himalayan Healers project. A profit sharing model is also in place so that 33% of each month’s profits are divided evenly among the student therapists and staff, 33% is reinvested in to the clinic, and the remaining 33% is invested in to the overall project goals.

It feels GREAT having our first 2 foundational phases moving towards self-sustainability, and we are now working towards the more long-term goals of purchasing our land and building our massage therapy school. We will also be ready for international volunteers and student/teacher exchanges by January, 2007, as we are scheduled to break ground and begin constructing our school!

If anyone in Ojai is interested in:

* A student/teacher exchange;

* International volunteer service on our school construction site, along with community service projects in the village;

* A small-scale fundraiser or pay-it-forward effort to fund future student’s trainings;

* Or assisting our students find quality employment outside of Nepal

Please let us know at your earliest convenience. Sharmila and I are doing great, and the adventure of building a project like this in Nepal, amid the current conditions, is something else. We both are learning a great deal through the process, and will be learning the Tibetan massage and Newari infant massage techniques next month along with our students. Once we’re back in Ojai we’d be happy to share these techniques with anyone who is interested.

Until next time, Health, Happiness, and Peace,

Rob
www.HimalayanHealers.org
www.NepalDirectEffects.org
email: himalbuckley42@yahoo.com