Happy Nepalese New Year!

Hardy Fuerer

Alice L introduced me to Hardy Fuerer at the UNDP Compound’s mailbox way back in 1979. He was just back from one of his numerous trips to the far flung corners of the country, this time he had some bottles of rakshi airlifted from somewhere at Humla. Apparently apricots were in abundance there and he had befriended some villagers who make their own hooch from the surplus fruit.

He was the UN pilot extraordinaire, having flown over the Swiss mountains to qualify him to work for the “air bus” or “air ghari”, a Pilatus Porter, to reach at the remotest regions and mostly unpassable by road. His cargo and passengers were unpredictable: these could be medicine, books, hardware, sheep. And rumors of running contraband to a certain training area, but this was never substantiated. The return trips were mostly light so the need to look around for items to ferry back to Kathmandu.

Sad to know that he passed away in 2005.

In 2000, Hardy Furer returned to the country he loved: the Everest View Hotel (rooms are provided with oxygen tanks, the elevation was that high) was to hire him to take tourists there. However things did not go the way he would have wanted to. His health was not at its best, having lost one lung and part of another to pulmonary problems. He was unable to obtain a visa to stay in Nepal, and his condition worsened until his death. He was given a simple Buddhist cremation.

For nearly twenty years, he was a fixture in town. With the Civil Aviation authorities, he extended the number of air strips to 30. One of the more colorful characters at that time, his flying record shows zero accidents. A story goes that he drove his Land Rover (or was it a Peugeot?) into the main road or rather piloted it, hitting a good number of cars. Remember, it was okay to park cars in the median of the road? Some consultants complained that the Pilatus left without them, because they were unable to arrive at the airstrip on time.

His UN flying days were over when the Pilatus was exchanged for a Twin Otter and turned over to Royal Nepal (RNAC). He returned to Switzerland and after years of treatment he left for Nepal.

He lived his piloting life in Nepal with a lot of drive, gusto, and passion. The UN plane’s number was 9N-AAW. Which some people shortened to “Alpha Whiskey”.

Do you have any Hardy stories to share?

Joyous Easter

From Moutain to Sea: Kaya ng Pinoy

In May 2006 and May 2007, two teams of Filipinos – three men and three women, respectively – successfully conquered Mount Everest.The First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition was led by former Undersecretary of Transportation and Communication Art Valdez, and composed of climbers Leo Oracion, Pastour Emata and Romi Garduce, and Carina Dayondon, Janet Belarmino and Noelle Wenceslao. The three Filipinas completed the more ardous traverse through the north route in Tibet and the descent on the south face in Nepal.

These amazing feats started as a dream for Valdez who, as president of the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines, announced in October 2003 that he was forming a team to climb Everest.

Valdez and his historial team are dreaming again. Plans are in to conquer the seas in a craft that ancestors used thousands of years ago."The Voyage of the Balangay 2009-2013” aims to replicate of the ancient vessel based on the balangay boat excavated in Butuan, Agusan del Sur in the 1970s; using the same boat building technique and method of construction as the balangay of the 4th, 13th and 14th century A.D. – plank built, lashed lug, edge pegged and shell-first construction.

On completion of the balangay, the team will embark on a four-year voyage around the Philippines, then around Southeast Asia, and to Micronesia and Madagascar in 2011. The boat will then sail across the Pacific to the Atlantic in 2012, all the way around the world and back home to the Philippines in 2013.

The crew will include five Everest mountaineers – Oracion, Emata, Dayondon, Wenceslao and Belarmino – plus medical doctors Ted Esguerra and Voltaire Velasco, and Fred Jamili. Other members of the crew still to be chosen will include master sailors, academics and scientists.

The boat will be built on a 1,000-square meter site provided by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which is cooperating with the project. The site is located at the Liwasang Ullalim beside the Folk Arts Theater in the CCP Complex on Roxas Blvd. The wood for the boat has already been sourced from Tawi-Tawi and will be shipped to the construction site. Construction is expected to take three months.

“In celebration of the Asian Century, it is time to honor the Filipino pioneering spirit, which we established during our ascent of Mount Everest. This next epic voyage is yet another chance to inspire our countrymen and fellow Indo-Malays to believe in ourselves and in our oneness again,” Art Valdez, the expedition leader, said.

He also launched the book 'Live the Dream' about the Everest expedition.

Evelyn and Junji Takahashi

For those of us who knew Junji and Evelyn Takahashi, here are some recent Facebook photos, to jog our memories. They are currently living in Japan and anticipate another overseas assignment soon. They have just completed one in Zambia. If you require her email address please let me know.

Guess Who ? Name These Ladies

Rupy's International School, Part 2

Photo: Eric's 10th birthday celebrations, 1992 at Rupy's International School.

And now, to the difficult times: in May 2001 at the height of the Maoist issue at Kathmandu, a group of students tried to burn Rupy Singh, as she was working in her office.Another attack happened in another private school,Elite’s Co-ed. Both schools have expressed their commitment to continue with their work despite the possibilities of having to face more problems in future.

The schools were attacked by the activists of All Nepal Free Students Union (Revolutionary) the student wing of the underground Maoist party on May 8th. The revolutionary wing has been demanding that the private schools reduce their ‘exorbitant’ fees and have been protesting against the ‘indianisation’ of the Nepalis education sector. Both the schools were being run by teachers of Indian origin who has been living in Nepal since last two decades.

Rupy Singh says that although she is shaken she is not deterred. "I feel pity on them. I’m not angry rather I pity them that they are into the hands of wrong teachers."

"As a teacher I felt very bad that the students misbehaved in such a brute manner. As students at least they should have some respect for the teachers," she added.

"If they want to take over the school, I would be glad to let them run it", says a visibly upset Nina Morada, the principal of Elite’s Co-ed. She says that the vandalizing of the school property is very irrational as it belongs more to the society rather than any individual.

The guardians of the students were the ones most concerned about the security of their children. A father of a class 2 student of Rupy’s school says, that he is seriously thinking about enrolling his child to another school. Another woman says that it was really scary when her 5 year old daughter came to her after school saying, "Mummy, you know they tried to burn our madam today". The guardians also raised concern over the ineffectiveness of the police. "What were the police doing after the incident in Elite’s took place at 8:30 in the morning, how could the same thing happen in Rupy’s (located closer in the city) at 11:30?" She questioned.

Both Singh and Morada had no clue when asked why they were made the targets. According to both the principal’s the ANNFSU students were in touch with them prior to this incident and they said they had very cordial relationship with them.

Morada who was familiar with some of the assailants said, "I just never thought that they would ever do that because they seemed so nice and gentle in their previous visits. They used to laugh and joke with me."

Both think that they have been the victims of the Maoist and other forces trying to accelerate anti Indian sentiment in Nepal. "This must have been done with intentions of spreading anti-Indian sentiment in the country," says Rita Thapa, of TEWA, an NGO working on women issues, relating the incident with the Hrithik episode.

The development of these incidents is being closely monitored by the Indian Embassy as well. Both the principal’s were summoned to the embassy to brief the events. The Embassy officials also visited both the schools today and observed the damages.

No one was injured in the incidents.

Eyewitnesses said groups of young students claiming themselves to be members of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary) stormed the premises of two schools.The first attack came at around 9:30 a.m. on the Elite Co-Ed School which lies at a relatively remote setting on the foothills of Mahabharat hills south of the capital city, while the second attack was launched two hours later, at 11:30. It was not immediately clear whether the same group of students was involved in the two separate raids.

The reason behind the sudden attacks was not clear either, but some guardians said that the rebel students had been issuing warnings to inter alia cut down the exorbitant fees charged by the schools. Eyewitnesses said about 40 students claiming themselves to be the members of ANNFSU(R) torched a van and bus while they broke into Elite's Co-Ed School at around 9:30 am Tuesday. The rebel students, who were brandishing Khukuris and iron- rods, also vandalized a car owned by a parent.

A visibly frightened Neena Morada, Principal of the Elite's Co-Ed School did not make any comment on the incident, but said the school will be closed for an indefinite period. An eyewitness said the Principal was dragged, poured lubricants and chased by the students soon after they broke into the school premises.

In Rupy’s International School at Bafal, the students have reduced part of the one-storey school building to ashes. A huge mob of students numbering between 100 to 150 forcefully stormed into the school premises at 11:20 am, and destroyed properties worth around Rs 200,000, which include computer and photocopy machine, school authorities said.

Rupy’s International School Principal Shanta Sharan said the gang "ruthlessly destroyed everything without saying why they were doing it". They broke into the principal’s office, smashed the window-panes, poured kerosene and torched the furniture. "They were threatening and intimidating everyone," she added.

According to the school authorities, about 20 students were watching television in the school’s library when the rebels torched an adjacent building had a narrow escape.

A staff member of the school said the same group was seen near the Rupy’s International School last Friday. The group had dispersed chanting pro Maoist slogans, he added. Commenting on the incident, a top educationists said that the incident was an outcome of lax security, and warned that this would serve to drain away billions of rupees to foreign countries.

Home Ministry officials said searches were on to nab the culprits involved in the attacks.

(From various issues of Nepal Post)