Swimming in the sea before returning to landlocked Nepal!

We concluded with a short holiday in Ireland where I, Megan, learnt something new. I had always believed the top half was Northern Ireland and the bottom half 'The South', but we stayed in a place in Southern Ireland (Eire) that was actually further north than where we stayed in Northern Ireland! In both we dipped into the very cold North Atlantic a few times – each only a short swim and out again.

However, that did make swimming in the sea in Felixstowe, where we spent our final week, feel quite warm 😊. It was lovely to have 2 of our grandchildren for sleep over and various other fun times at the beach.

The journey back to Nepal was quite eventful but we made it and so did our luggage – albeit 26 hours after us. We experienced a most impressive service from the Nepal airport staff, including delivery of our lost luggage to the house. While we would want to forget the journey itself, it did have some significance for us because flying out of the UK on 28th July was exactly 25 years since the first time we flew to Nepal.

Now it's time to get our heads around life here again as we each adjust our daily routines according to the updated job descriptions we mentioned last time. They have been signed off, so please continue to pray for wisdom in managing the changes.

As well as the daily routines, there are a number of activities coming up that we need to get prepared for. You may remember that we helped with a family retreat last year for families living with disability. The next one is planned for this month (August!) A little earlier than was mentioned as we left. Megan will give some input; helping with the training of volunteers 19th and then going to the retreat for 2 of the days (21st and 22nd) where she will lead some of the sessions.

The new project in the remote western region of Rukum, we mentioned in our last letter is up and running and Megan is likely to be heading out to that next month (September).

We arrived back to monsoon season in Nepal which means it is raining a lot and very humid as the temperatures here in Kathmandu are in the high 20s-low 30s oC most of the time. We often mention that this time of year means loss of life and property for communities in rural areas because of landslides and floods triggered by the heavy rains. And that has certainly happened in some parts. However, this year other parts of the country – mostly the southern plains near the Indian boarder, known as the Terai region and including the Madesh province mentioned below – are actually experiencing drought conditions. This time of year should be when the staple crop of rice is planted out to grow during the wet conditions but in many places the rice has withered in the dry, cracked fields. This will have the knock-on effect that food shortages are also likely to be an issue later in the year. Yet another reminder of how vulnerable Nepali people are to the effects of changes in the weather as the country is widely recognised as one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change.

On August 1st The Nepal Weekly reported:

The drought condition is so severe that an acute water shortage even in the middle of monsoon months has prompted Madhesh province to deploy fire engines and other vehicles to deliver water to the affected communities starting Wednesday. Eight provincial fire engines of 5,000 litres capacity each are being operated in coordination with the Nepal Army, which has been temporarily assigned responsibility for their operation, along with seven tankers and three forest department vehicles, local officials said. Traditional water sources are drying up due to prolonged drought conditions.

You can read the report here:

The Nepal Weekly | » Southern Nepal areas face severe drought, devastating impact on paddy plantation warned

For those of you that pray:

Please join us in giving thanks for

a good time in the UK and safe arrival back in Nepal

And in asking that

We might have the energy in the heat for each new day as we adjust back to monsoon climate and recover from what has been more intense jetlag this time

Wisdom in time management as we adjust to our new schedules and with the events coming up

The monsoon rains would come to all parts and the rice crops will get planted

With thanks as always for your friendship towards us

Alan and Megan xx