Photo taken high above Kathmandu where we could clearly see the city below. The broken stones we saw then may foretell what this city may be now — broken in many ways.

Could be that we’ve had Nepal on our minds lately, but the word for the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken just seems appropriate for that country right now. Not that we have any additional news.  But just looking through our pictures taken in 2011 makes us realize that what we saw then may not even be intact after the April 2015 earthquakes.

What we remember, though, is all positive when it comes to our memories of a Habitat International build in a village about 45 minutes from Kathmandu.  We watched as the homeowner took a pick ax and broke up the rock in the quarry on his property.

Homeowner in Nepal breaks up stone from a quarry on his mountainside property

Broken pieces were “daisy-chained” up the mountain where stone cutters continued to shape stones into building blocks for a stone-and-mud home.

Stone cutter breaks up rock to form building blocks for a new home in Nepal

And then those broken and shaped stones formed walls for a new home for a young couple and their daughter.

Adding doors and windows to a new home in Nepal constructed of stone and mud

May that circle be unbroken as we continue to help others around the world.

For more entries in the WordPress challenge this week — Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken — click here.

Tangled wires in the Thamel District of Kathmandu, 2011

But we were unprepared for what we saw tangled around poles on every street corner: wads and wads of wiring!  No wonder blackouts were common even then.

And there’s no telling what this scene is like today after the April 2015 earthquake.  Even more tangled, probably — and in more ways than one.

To get even more tangled up, click here to view all the postings for this week’s Travel theme: Tangle.  

Durbar Square, Kathmandu, before the earthquake on April 25, 2015.

It was four years ago that we fell in love with Nepal.  We traveled to the other side of the world with 12 companions all with the same goal: build two Habitat for Humanity houses near Dhulikel (about two hours from Kathmandu) for two deserving families.  But we never knew our lives would be forever changed by the experience.  Nor could we have predicted that an earthquake on April 25, 2015, would tug at our heartstrings as we mourned Nepal’s losses.

Eyes of Boudhanath Stupa

The New York Times brought the devastation to our living room with an article on April 26 by Ellen Barry: “Earthquake Devastates Nepal, Killing More Than 1,900.”  But even as we write this post, the toll mounts as reported by Thomas Fuller and Chris Buckley: “Earthquake Aftershocks Jolt Nepal as Death Toll Rises Above 3,400.” 

Something in Barry’s article truly hit home:  Bert and I had been there with our Habitat for Humanity group and toured three of the four now-demolished UNESCO World Heritage Sites — “Bhaktapur Durbar Square, a temple complex built in the shape of a conch shell; Patan Durbar Square, which dates to the third century; . . . and the Boudhanath Stupa, one of the oldest Buddhist monuments in the Himalayas.”

Temple in Bakhtapur — is it standing? (Still searching for pictures on the Internet to find out.)

We remember visiting Bhaktapur on our second day in Nepal when families worked together to sift and lay out grains on huge mats.  Following us around were ladies carrying strands of beads over their arms — until we finally gave in and bought necklaces whether we needed them or not.  People seemed happy that we were there. And we, in turn, felt their pride  — in their community and their buildings which, we learned, bore signature carved wood decorations not seen in many other parts of the world. But now, much is gone.

Ornately carved window, Bakhtapur

In Bakhatapur and in Kathmandu, sites we saw in 2011 are now damaged beyond repair or gone altogether. Like Trailokya Mohan Narayan Temple in Kathmandu where centuries-old craftsmanship of the Nepalese people in this once-frequented house of worship have turned to rubble. A loss that may never be regained. (For more before and after photos, click here.)

Demolished: Trailokya Mohan Narayan Temple, Kathmandu. Photo: Niranjan Shrestha, Associated Press: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/25/world/asia/nepal-landmarks-before-after-earthquake.html

Losing temples, however, is more than just the loss of artistry. Whole communities in Nepal now find themselves without buildings that once were unifying forces.

Like this temple in Kathmandu where we happened upon a group of women lined up to pay homage to the gods they worship.  One by one the women entered the temple, laying down strings of marigolds or setting plates of food in and around the ancient altars. We wonder now if the earthquake’s devastation has created more than a physical loss.  Has it marred, at least temporarily, the spirit of a people known for time-honored traditions? Will the people return to worship?  And where?

Women bringing tributes to a temple in Kathmandu

Even more devastating than the destruction of cultural icons though is the loss of human lives.   And, for us, this loss in Nepal, a country struggling with many issues, has had a profound effect.  It’s the people, you see, that bring us pause: like those who greeted us cordially, placing marigolds around our necks and smearing red paste on our foreheads.

Women of Nepal greeting us on the site of one of our Habitat builds.

It’s the families we met.  And the stone masons who directed our work.  And the children at the job site who trugged up the mountain to get to school each workday, but came back to play with us in the afternoon.

We’re also wondering about the school kids at Bhabishva Ujjwal Primary School in Kavre, about 45 minutes from Kathmandu — children who sang for us and showed us their classrooms and made us feel welcome.  Did the earthquake affect them?  Their families?  Their teachers?

Schoolchildren in Kavre, Nepal watch as we pay a visit to Bhabishva Ujjwal Primary School.

We’re watching, Nepal.  We’re reading whatever we can get our hands on and checking for tweets and Facebook posts.  We’re listening for news of rescue efforts in Nepal and Mount Everest where hikers were caught in a deadly avalanche.  And we’re supporting you with contributions through the Red Cross, UNICEF, Save the Children, and Habitat for Humanity, among others.

We’re thinking about you.  A lot.

The daughter of one of our Habitat homeowners dressed up for the dedication ceremony.

For we mourn Nepal and wonder what more we can do.

Namaste, Nepal.

For more information:

Barry, E. (April 25, 2015). “Earthquake Devastates Nepal, Killing More Than 1,900.” New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-katmandu.html

Godlasky, A. (April 27, 2015).  “How to help victims of Nepal quake.” USA Today. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/04/25/nepal-quake-how-to-help/26361193/

Fuller, T. and Buckley, C. (April 26, 2015). “Earthquake Aftershocks Jolt Nepal as Death Toll Rises Above 3,400.” New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/world/asia/katmandu-nepal-fear-loss-and-devastation.html?ref=todayspaper

“Nepal’s Landmarks Before and After the Earthquake” (updated April 27, 2015). New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/25/world/asia/nepal-landmarks-before-after-earthquake.html

The Habitat for Humanity house we worked on was situated on a steep mountainside on plot of land belonging to one family; therefore, several houses stood alongside each other on a ridge.  At the base of the mountain was a stream where family members gathered to do laundry and fill jugs with water.

This photo shows the grandmother doing her laundry after she had bathed and re-wrapped her garments around herself.

Woman in Nepal filling jug with water from stream at base of mountain

Then she slowly, painstakingly, climbed back up the mountain with laundry in tow and a jug of heavy water on her hip.

Woman carrying laundry and jug of water

We watched briefly as another family did their laundry in a small body of water and then afterwards spread their clean clothes out to dry.

Family doing laundry in Nepal

On a hike we took to a monastery one day, we saw this woman bathing at the public bath. We couldn’t help but wonder how cold that water must be, yet so necessary to keeping clean.

Woman in Nepal bathing in public bath area

As we hiked further, we saw another woman finishing her bath alongside the trail.  She seemed quite skilled at bathing and cleaning herself without ever revealing much of her body.  A series of wrappings and re-wrappings helped her preserve her dignity and privacy.

Woman in Nepal bathing alongside hiking trail

For more examples of Travel theme: Clean, click here.

If you would like to follow Oh, the Places We See, just click on the Follow box in the right-hand column.  We’d love to have you travel with us!

First, as tourists in Bhaktapur, we snapped this early-morning photo of a woman standing on the threshold of her home, broom in hand, preparing for Sunday visitors who might pass through her village.

Second, when we arrived two days later at the site of the Habitat build, two women next to our vacant lot stood upon the threshold of their brother’s house  — watching and waiting — anxious to see what we were all about.

Finally, when our two weeks of work ended, we stood at the threshold of the home we had built — adorned with celebratory strings of marigolds and touches of red on our foreheads thinking of the future for the family who would live here.

For more expressions of Threshold, click here.

My husband and I joined a Habitat for Humanity International build in Nepal along with twelve other people during the summer of 2011.  Most of us were from our hometown of Knoxville, but we didn’t know each other very well before we left.  However, there’s nothing like building a stone and mud house together that’ll help you make connections in ways you never dreamed possible.

Morena Constantinou and Susan West of Knoxville pass rocks up the mountainside in Nepal.

The task was simple yet arduous: move the rocks from the quarry down below up to the house site on the side of a mountain.  And then get going on that build! So, we spent the majority of our time forming daisy chains and heaving heavy chunks of rock day after long day.

It wasn’t all painful, though.  We sang songs, danced a bit, and thoroughly intrigued all the Nepalese who probably thought we were pretty silly.  And we were.

But connecting with the family and new friends in Nepal was just as rewarding as bonding with our team who had traveled halfway around the world to make a difference!

In this last picture, you can see me standing beside the foundation and partial wall of the house I worked on.  A stack of rocks we hoisted from the quarry lies beside the house. But something I never expected happened: I had to connect with a stray goat and get him to wander off so we could continue the work!

Here I am with the red tika that had been placed on my forehead standing amidst a pile of rocks near a mud house talking to a goat! Ah, connections!

Oh, the Places and People and Animals We See!

For more on Ailsa’s Travel Theme: Connections, click here.

Want to know more about how you can build around the globe with Habitat for Humanity International?  Click here for more information.

If you’ve been following us this past week, you may be among those who looked each day at three photos and voting for your favorites to submit in each of the five color categories — blue, yellow, red, white, and green.  You have been awesome!  Thanks for your support and for comments and votes.

So here are our entries in the competition!

Blue

Nepali Schoolgirl

When we visited Bhabiskya Ujjwal Primary School in Kavre, Nepal, one child captured our hearts.  Her soulful eyes, rumpled blue uniform, and smudgy face reminded us of little girls everywhere who relish a day when school books are abandoned for a brief visit by grown-ups from America.  She followed us to the edge of the schoolyard where we took her picture standing near one of the older children.

Location: Kavre, Nepal

Yellow

Sunrise at Pawleys

Taken from the widow’s walk atop our beach rental rental in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, this photo reveals the warm yellow rays of morning sun against the silhouettes of other rooftops around us.  What a great way to start the day . . . facing the Atlantic!

Location: Pawleys Island, South Carolina

White

Terra Cotta Warriors Facing the Light of Day

In Xian, China, unearthed Terra Cotta Warriors stand tall in an enormous windowed structure resembling an airport hangar built around them.  When we visited, natural morning light streamed into the room, changing the stoic, stone gray figures to white sentinels ready for visitors in awe of this amazing archaeological find.

Location: Xian, China

Green

Greens for Goats

While boarding the bus in rural Nepal, I noticed something coming down the road. Hurriedly, I fumbled through my bag to grab my camera just in time to snap this lady and her strapped-on bundle of green leaves and sticks. And then she was gone — moving nimbly up the mountainside to her home.  It’s really quite common, our interpreter told us.  All the women here gather greenery for their goats.

Location: Near Dhulikhel, Nepal

Red

Welcome to Nepal

Upon our arrival in Nepal to build a mud and stone house for Habitat for Humanity International, we were greeted by ladies dressed in red bearing strings of marigolds to lay around our necks.  Surprisingly, they also brought a red, gloppy concoction which they scooped up and smudged onto our foreheads.  Namaste, they said.  And then we knew.  We weren’t family, of course, but we were as welcome as any Americans could be.

Location: Near Dhulikhel, Nepal

* * * * *

And now, according to the rules of the challenge, we get to nominate five other bloggers to enter Capture the Colour 2013.  Here are my nominees.

Tina at Travels and Trifles

Connie at Clicky Chick Creates

Jean at Jean’s Photography Blog

Laurie at Pride in Photos

Jessie at Behind the Willows

Thanks again to all who participated. We’ve enjoyed hearing from so many as we looked through our photos and relived favorite moments.

Rusha and Bert Sams

P. S.  To follow the conversation about Capture the Colour 2013, use the Twitter hashtag #CTC13.

Filed under: Nepal, Photography, Travel Tagged: Capture the Colour: 2013, China, Gallivance, Nepal, Pawleys Island, photography, South Carolina, Terra Cotta Warriors, Xian ]]> http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/29/capture-the-colour-2013/feed/ 28 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 rushasams Nepali Schoolgirl Sunrise at Pawleys Terra Cotta Warriors Greens for Goats DSC03268 http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/26/help-us-decide-capture-the-colour-2013-red/ http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/26/help-us-decide-capture-the-colour-2013-red/#comments Fri, 27 Sep 2013 02:41:11 +0000 http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/?p=2823 Continue reading →]]> It’s been a fun week looking through photos, posting three a day focused on a single color, and receiving notes and feedback from readers who took the time to help us decide.  And now, we’re down to the last color (red!) for the Capture the Colour 2013 Photo Challenge.  After being nominated by Terri and James Vance of Gallivance (Click here to see their entry.), we’ve been posting pics in the hopes that you, our readers, would narrow the field of photos to our top five.  And you have.

Just take a look at the pictures and select your favorite by posting a comment below or on Facebook.  We’re in the home stretch and will be making our final selections this weekend.

Here are three photographs for the red category.

Today’s Vote: RED

1. Welcome to Nepal

Upon our arrival in Nepal to build two mud and stone houses for Habitat for Humanity International, we were greeted by ladies dressed in red bearing strings of marigolds to lay around our necks.  Surprisingly, they also brought a red gloppy concoction which they scooped up and smudged onto our foreheads.  Namaste, they said.  And then we knew.  We weren’t family, of course, but we were as welcome as any Americans could be.

2. Simply Elegant Tapestry

It was difficult to find something understated in the Hermitage (St. Petersburg, Russia), but this simple, yet exquisite, red tapestry was as classy a piece as any we saw.  Simply elegant.  Simply divine.

3. Dancers in Breaux Bridge

Standing still next to a guy wearing a red Peace, Love & Cajuns shirt and a lady brushing by in a crimson swingy, swirling skirt was no easy task for a neophyte photographer.  In fact, just about everyone at the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival (Breaux Bridge, Louisiana) was movin’ and groovin’  — unless they were busy racing mudbugs and “suckin’ dem heads!”

Please take a minute to vote in the Comments section below.

If you missed any of the previous entries, here are the links to those posts.  There’s still time to help us decide!

Help us decide: Capture the Colour 2013 — GREEN

Help us decide: Capture the Colour 2013 — WHITE

Help us decide: Capture the Colour 2013 — YELLOW

Help us decide: Capture the Colour 2013 — BLUE

Many thanks for your support and ideas!

Rusha and Bert Sams

Each day, we post three photos on one of the color themes required by the challenge:  blue, yellow, white, green and red.  At the end of the week, we’ll take your suggestions and select one of each color to submit.  Please vote by leaving a message in the Comments section at the bottom of this post or on Facebook.  And thanks to all of you who have done so!

If you’ve missed the first two, here are links to those posts:

BLUE: http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/22/help-us-decide-capture-the-colour-2013-blue/

YELLOW: http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/23/help-us-decide-capture-the-colour-2013-yellow/

TODAY’S VOTE: WHITE

And here are today’s entries for the category WHITE.  (There are FOUR this time — we had a hard time deciding!)

1. Stonecutter in Nepal

When we joined a team from Knoxville to build stone and mud houses in Nepal for Habitat for Humanity International, we met several men busy at work planning the foundation, finding the right stones, digging the mud for the mortar, and cutting the cornerstones.  This stonecutter remained quietly aloof for about three days as he wasn’t sure what to make of us.  But as I “talked” to him using facial expressions and hand gestures, he warmed up to me and even allowed me to hand him suitable stones.  When he nodded that I could finally take his picture, I didn’t hesitate.  This photo, of a stonecutter dressed in white, remains one of my prize takeaways from the experience.

2. Southern Magnolia in Full Bloom

Sometimes the best pictures can be found in your own backyard.  This creamy white magnolia blossom showing off its ever-increasing shades of brown as it reaches maturity just begged to be photographed.

3. Terra Cotta Warriors Facing the Light of Day

In Xian, China, unearthed Terra Cotta Warriors are housed in an enormous windowed structure resembling an airport hangar. When we visited, natural morning light was just beginning to stream into the room, changing the stoic, stone gray figures to white sentinels ready for visitors in awe of this amazing archaeological find.

4. Reconstruction

At the site of the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is  an area called “the hospital” where shards are put together like an enormous 3-D puzzle.  As pieces form warriors or horses, the reconstructions (like this one standing in the white light) may be able to stand on their own, as if they are waiting for someone to find the final pieces to make them whole again.

P. S. Please leave us a comment below and vote for your favorite!  Check back tomorrow for our GREEN entries.  Thanks!

Rusha and Bert Sams

The Capture the Colour challenge, sponsored by TravelSupermarket.com is pretty straightforward:

” . . . publish a blog post showcasing five of your favourite travel photographs which best capture the colour of our five categories: red, blue, green, yellow and white.”

Terri and James allowed readers a voice in deciding which five photos Gallivance would submit. Each day, Terri and James posted entries on their blog, and, each day, readers voted for their favorites.  At the end of the week, the Gallivance entry was ready for submission! (Click here to see.)

Now, Terri and James have graciously nominated us for the challenge.  So, taking a cue from Gallivance, we, too, are asking readers to help us select five entries for the Capture the Colour 2013 challenge. We’ll publish three pictures per color each day this week and ask you to select your favorite by posting a comment on our blog. At the end of the week, we’ll show you the choices for each color voted upon by our readers!

Today is our first request.  Here are our entries for the BLUE category:

1. Nepali Schoolgirl

When we visited Bhabiskya Ujjwal Primary School in Kavre, Nepal, one child captured our hearts. Her soulful eyes, rumpled blue uniform, and smudgy face reminded us of little girls everywhere who relish a day when schoolbooks are abandoned for a brief visit by grown-ups from America!

2. Otherworldly Earthship

Approaching Taos, New Mexico, you may have noticed protrusions resembling moonrise formations in the otherwise very flat earth. Upon closer observation, however, you discover actual dwellings created by a company called Earthship.  These futuristic homes, we later discovered, are built from sustainable, recycled materials and decorated with glass bottles, old tires, and found objects.  All are interesting, but the contrast of this white model against the clear blue sky seemed rather otherworldly.

3.  Blue Sky over Idaho City

As I headed to Idaho City, Idaho, from Boise one morning to meet with teachers, I was taken by this visual: a two-toned blue sky filled with cloud puffs over golden fields of grain.  Rusha, I said to myself, you’re not in Tennessee any more!

Please leave us a comment and/or vote for BLUE PHOTO number 1, 2, or 3.  And then check back each day this week to see our other colorful entries under consideration.  Thanks so much!

Rusha and Bert Sams