September 2008
To celebrate a birthday milestone, I decided to help with a volunteer build at a school in............Village in the Kathmandu Valley. My youngest daughter came with me and we worked for 5 days building a stage to enable students to perform their creative talents of dancing, singing etc.. This was a very satisfying exercise and we then took of on a trek of the Annapurna region.
The stage in a dangerous condition before we worked with a local carpenter and village ladies to reconstruct.
Luci hanging up the Aussie flags to celebrate the finished product.
October 2009
This venture whet my appetite to have a greater impact on a volunteering basis, so in October 2009 joined a larger group of 17 to improve the lives of school children in the Village of Ramche, 6 hours drive north of Kathmandu.
The group constantly showed amazing levels of energy and enthusiasm with which to attack the project presented to us. This was to paint (or limewash) newly constructed besser block classrooms, and then move a hill to give the children access to these rooms!
So with bunches of twigs for paintbrushes no wheelbarrows, a range of dodgy shovels and late monsoon rains we began.
Working in the rain
Working on the edge!
Finally....enough soil removed, after five days to allow students access to their new classrooms.
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Me putting a bit of effort into mixing concrete - note there was not a wheelbarrow or cement mixer in sight!
Luci doing a great job of bricklaying the back wall of the stage.
Time for a beer a the local shop to thank everyone for their help with our project.
But.... there was lots of enthusiasm by villagers, young and old, to help with the job at hand.
The new classrooms we painted internally.
Attacking the hill that seemed to grow the more soil we removed!
Time to celebrate our final efforts with the students, teachers and the village. | 
