Harvest time

The fall has come and that is the time for harvesting. Fields of gold are being cropped; this year there is so much work to do as it has been such a good year. That is what Norbu, our beloved neighbour, proudly says. With coming fall and lower temperatures there are fewer tourists passing Lungnag valley everyday. The life in Kargyak village is slowly coming back to its own pace after an eventful and demanding summer. Most of the villagers are now working in the fields. During the upcoming month we can’t expect much help from them in the construction site. The very much expected labour from Manali turned out to be not of much help. They lacked any professional skills and experience and on the top of everything else, the willingness to work in the elevation of 4200 meters. After three days they went back to Manali. This happened to be the main reason that forced us to reschedule the date of finishing of the school. The three workers from Assam – Raju, Prem and Dev have been with us since May. They have worked very effectively and we greatly appreciate their performance. These days they are finishing another terrace below the school where we are planning to plant new trees. We have also managed to reshape the slope above the site. The terraces are now safer and ready to stop the ground from sliding to the foundations. In the end, we refrained from building the outside walls this year. The cold weather is coming and we won’t be able to complete the building including the construction of the roof and front glass facade. Without the full completion, the clay-stone walls would be seriously damaged by the frost, wind, water and snow. That means we can only get ready the material for winter and store it properly. The bricks, wooden logs and other materials for isolation need to be transported with yaks and horses to the sheltered place next to the site. After the harvest time this will be done by the villagers and their animals. In the greenhouse we managed to design the instruction booklet for the villagers how to plant the seeds. We also taught the kids in the school the proper way to take care of the plants in the greenhouse, the importance of watering and ventilation. We have a new teacher, Tenzin Kango, who came from Darcha and will be staying during the winter. She will be joined by a monk, Lama from Kuru village. Karolina, Lenka and Gabi have left the village. For now, Tennam and Tenzin took over the class and teach the children at school. And furthermore, Tenzin and her sister will also be teaching starting April next year. Our team is currently focusing on the task to make the temporary winter classroom as comfortable as possible. We’ve made simple furniture such as chairs and tables for the kids, we painted the walls, insulated the windows, installed the stove etc. There will also be a bedroom next door for the teachers who stay thru the winter in Kargyak. We have the blackboard, books, notebooks, pens and other things ready to be used for the teaching. Gabriela, Honza and other volunteers from Czech and other countries are now in Kargiak in lower numbers then in July and August. At the end of September and October there will be only few of them, Honza, Tennam and rookies Blanka and Mirek. Gabriela and Michal are leaving to Manali to complete the registration process with Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association. Together with Sheila and Jita, Jara is already in Prague where he is taking care of all NGO related work. The rest of the people are leaving Kargyak these days to all different directions to follow their own duties and enjoyments. We really appreciate everybody’s help either in Kargyak or in Czech. The big, big THANK YOU goes to all the people who cared for the project and believe in its success. We wish everybody all the best and good luck, especially to Jirka in Ostrava Hospital in the Czech Republic. He is recovering from the unfortunate accident that happened to him in July. Anybody who wishes to cheer him up can leave a message on the discussion board. We wish him to recover soon and sending him all the good karma. Thank you once more for your support. And stay with us in next weeks and months as well. Yours SURYA team

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