Auch der Veranstaltungsort ist dieses Mal ein anderer. Wir treffen uns nicht wie sonst  in Köln Deutz sondern in Bonn-Poppelsdorf  im Café Picasso, in der Clemens-August-Straße 7, nahe dem Botanischen Garten.

Das Treffen beginnt um 16:00.

Wie immer sind uns alle Freunde und Interessenten herzlich willkommen.

Arriving in Kathmandu is an emotional process, above all when you intended to stay in Nepal for five months. You probably didn’t expect the things you see, or you never thought about them before coming here. Some people don’t have just a simple life here but rather a difficult live, and this is negatively impressing.

After the introduction period with VIN I was happy to arrive in Kaule. The traffic doesn’t disturb you anymore, nor the local people do it. Life is still looking poor here, but not under the bad conditions the capital “offers”, and not with people in between able to enjoy Nepal as tourists and somehow provoking the locals to rip them of. Ok, I still felt like a stranger or intruder.

This feeling never dissapeared really, but while working, especially while working on some of the farms participating in the project, It feels easier and easier to live here for  a longer time. I got to know people from the village, most of them are really friendly and invite us into their houses for a meal.

The work I’ve done varied quite a lot and included somehow everything from teaching English to children and adults in the village to the more rough work like building a rain drainage out of cement. In between I planted trees, pulled other plants out, counted  nitrogen-lumps on roots while helping Vera on her research work, coloured wood, built up something out of it, and so on and so on. Most of the things I’ve rarely done before. That was one of the reasons why I went to Nepal, to live under different conditions and do something different from only mental work in school, what I will continue in university this year.

All in all, after my five months in Nepal I can say that it was a rewarding experience, even if I suffered from some illnesses in between, which sometimes really made me feel like flying home the next day. In the end, flying home was as emotional as arriving in Kathmandu, not because of what you see – I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but you were not surprised by the living conditions here any more – , but because you weren’t sure about going home. Somehow it just started to feel like a home.

Internationales Zentrum der Caritas in Köln

Stolzestraße 1, 50674 Köln

Anfahrt: DB – Bahnhof Köln-Süd, Ausgang Luxemburgerstraße

oder: KVB Linie 18, Haltestelle Eifelwall

“My stay at Kaule was both pleasurable and rewarding, partially due to the varied diet provided (something not common on Nepali volunteer programs), but primarily due to the community focused attitude of the program’s organiser. Hospitality is a trait that Nepal is famous for (even if the same Nepali would scathe you behind your back), however at Kaule village it is clear that the community is honestly greatfull for the work conducted by Kaule e.v.
I had initially planned to work at Kaule for just three weeks, before heading off to work on a month long project that I had organised in Western Nepal, however I was so happy with the work at Kaule that I returned after my months project and continued to work there for most of my five month stay in Nepal. Although the project is  primarily Agricultural based, the work available to volunteers is varied due to the recognition of different needs in the community. Farming, construction/maintenance and English teaching work can be carried out there and if you have an idea of something different to do that will benefit the community, I’m sure the project organiser would be happy to consider this.

The accomodation is luxurious (by Nepali volunteer standards), but you have to take the short trip to Kathmandu if your thinking of hot showers. Yes that is a hint; if your going there to volunteer I’m sure they’d be greatful if you took a solar shower kit with you as a gift. Also say “Namaste” to the always smiling village shopkeeper for me, I’m sure by now the Kaule volunteers have spent enough in his shop for him to send his children to university, which might be part of the reason for his constent warm smile and golly attitude.
All in all, I would say if you are thinking of volunteering in Nepal, but you’re not looking for some great challenging adventure, then go to Kaule. If adventure is what you’re after head to the West and see what the people there want you to do, then go to Kaule once you’ve recovered.

Roddy.”

Dan kommt aus New York und macht Filme. So auch hier ein kleiner Film von ihm, der das Proket Haus in Kaule zeigt.

Siehe Video: “Dans Tour durch das Kaule Projekt Haus”

Durch meine Arbeit als Volontär in Kaule hatte ich eine tolle Möglichkeit, mich in einem neuen Land zu Hause zu fühlen. Die Ortschaft Kaule hat eine ländliche Bevölkerung und liegt etwa eine Busstunde entfernt von Kathmandu.
Tagsüber konnte ich an Projekten mitarbeiten, die der Einführung einer nachhaltigen Landwirtschaft  dienen. Und abends gab ich in zwei Klassen Englischunterricht.
Ich wohnte zusammen mit einer Gruppe von vier bis acht anderen Leuten im Vereinshaus für Freiwillige.
Bekocht wurden wir von einer Nepalesin, und ein Übersetzer half uns, mit den Dorfbewohnern zu sprechen. Der Ort ist wunderschön und die Menschen, die ich dort traf,  waren sehr freundlich. Ich hatte stets die Möglichkeit, mir frei zu nehmen um Nepal zu erkunden, aber es gibt auch immer Arbeit, die getan werden muß. Es macht mich traurig, diesen Ort zu verlassen, an dem mich die Menschen in den vergangenen drei Monaten so gut behandelt haben.

by Arjun Raj Paudel
Nuwakot, Dec 9

Farmers of Kaule in Okharpauwa VDC-3 have shifted to agroforestry from traditional farming system in order to preserve the environment, grow organic foods and raise their economic status. Kaule e.V. agroforestry project has been supporting the local farmers towards this direction for the past two years by providing them with training and samplings of trees, vegetables, and grass. It has also been providing training to the farmers, mostly from the Tamang community, in areas like agriculture, socioculture, environment and finance with technical support. The project has been promoting agroforestry and organic crops by discouraging the farmers from using chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the crops. Kaule e.V.  project has been registered in the district in June 2008 by Ms Alina Schick, a Ph.D student at the Department of Rural Communication and Extension at the Institute of Social Science in Agriculture at the University of Hohenheim in Germany. Schick is working under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Volker Hoffmann. The title of her research is “Conversion of Subsistence Farming System to Sustainable Agroforestry in the Mid Hills of Nepal – Participatory Action Research in System Development”.

According to a local Jash Ram Moktan, 50, the project has been working effectively. “This project has been established with a good objective because it is helping to uplift the living standards of the locals”, Moktan said, “I knew about the need of forest but had not known about the agroforestry, which I knew from training provided by the project. I at least came to know that using chemical and pesticides in farms is injurious to health. I always used chemicals and poison to grow more crops, but never thought about it’s harm on human health. After receiving the training I have started using composts in place of chemical fertilizer for which I have reared buffalos and goats,” said Moktan. The project has also trained the locals to make bio-pesticide by using locally available herbs and other things like urine of the cows. Moktan also informed that he had already received a training on organic farming from India, but was unable to apply it in practice. “But this time I have succeeded to apply in practice,” he said. He had gone to India for the training under a German project ‘Community Welfare Development society’ (CWDs).

Volunteers from different countries like US, Canada, Denmark, and Switzerland have been assisting in the work coordinated by Badri Rai, the chairman of a social welfare organisation ‘Hands For Help Nepal’. Rai said “Foreigners come to Nepal, some of them show the interest in volunteer service and I am helping them searching and connecting with social need and place for their service”.

Taking the concept of community forest in mind the Nepal government had formed a project and built an office in Kaule. After completing the project, the government had handed over three office buildings and the forest to the community, but the community was unable to utilize them properly. Two years ago, while Kaule e.V. project came with a mission of launching agroforestry, the locals handed over them to the Kaule e.V. agroforestry project.

“Our goal is to involve many families in this mission through transferring knowledge from one to another. I am hopeful that our goal wills success,” said project managing director Schick. “We are promoting locally available fertilizer and bio-pesticide for fertilization and treatment to fight with fungi in plants,” she said and added, “Along with training and teaching, research work has also been in progress. I have found some highly motivated people in the community.” she further said, “People of Kaule, Okharpauwa-3 have become more creative and laborious after they received training.” Women farmers like Thulimaya Tamang and Sanu Maya Tamang from same place also appreciated the project’s work. They said, “They are also distributing the tree plants informing us about the advantage of plants and techniques too”.

Apart from this, the project is also teaching english to the local children and making them aware about health.

Dieser Artikel ist am 10. Dezember 2009 in “The rising Nepal” in Kathmandu erschienen.