Although the Church is not officially registered in Nepal, we definitely have a presence there! The members there are kind, humble, happy, generous, strong people. In fact two young nepali sisters and one young young nepali elder will be receiving their mission calls this coming sabbath! Couple missionaries who serve in Kathmandu work primarily with LDSC (LDS Charities) They have been involved with some wonderful projects including teaching, supplying and distributing wheelchairs to those in need, and helping to supply water to mountain villages.
Cody, Dustin, Morgan and I were able to accompany Elder Taysom, Elder Bradshaw (two senior Elders), Pres. Pona (former Branch President), and two local representatives of Choice Humanitarian (the NGO the church works with on Water projects) up to a couple of the villages where water projects are under way.
For years, a large water pipeline has been running right through one of the villages, but for some reason or another, the Nepali government would not allow the villagers to tap into that water supply. Instead, the women in the village had to climb up and down steep slopes several times a day to collect water from a small well. Somehow, LDSC and Choice were able to convince the government that the people in the village needed access to the water. The church has provided pipes and the materials to build water pumps throughout the village, Choice supervises the work, and the villagers themselves are responsible for digging the trenches to lay the pipes. LDSC and Choice are also working with local village representatives to train them on potential future issues with the water lines just to make sure things run smoothly years down the line when the villagers are running the show on their own. This is one of the village with a small harvest of rice.
