In 2013, a wonderful young man named Sterling Dragoo, a gap year student, was the first of our volunteers to go to Mountain View Eco Farm in Nepal. We are so grateful for this warm and poignant piece that Sterling wrote about his volunteer experience at MVEF, which paints an oh-so inviting picture of its breathtaking landscape, the rewarding nature of the work, and its spirited people. Read on!
By Sterling Dragoo
Arriving late in Kathmandu I finally met the man called Govinda. Since that day he has taken care of me and acted as an older brother, as we have taken on the task of getting his dream eco-farm up and running. The farm itself is perched towards the top of a hill overlooking the valley below and the spectacular Himalayas, with Begnas Lake almost close enough to touch. Now it’s eight in the morning and the morning light is streaming through the cracks around the wooden shutter. It’s calm, the family is busying themselves with getting up very early and preparing for the day, and so many birds are singing sleep almost comes again. Down the stairs, out the traditional Nepali house towards the edge of the hill, past the terrace and the bamboo waiting to be cut, I am hoping to catch those elusive peaks off guard and without their veil of clouds.
So begins my day at the aptly named Mountain View Eco Farm, and success! The Great Range stands in white, glorious relief against the powder blue sky. Days here are filled with every kind of work from acting as lawn mower with garden shears, digging new beds for seeds to grow in, building benches from scratch, folding hundreds of brochures, transplanting new squash, gathering mulch for the coriander from the surrounding banana trees, riding into town to check if the materials for the farm have come yet, meeting neighbors, taking walks around the nearby lake, trying to the learn Nepali language and even some cooking, cutting down bamboo that’s taller than the house, putting that amazing plant to all of its uses, and anything in between. The Nepali people know how to recover from hard work and that means an absolutely delicious lunch, a rest from the heat of the day, and then sweet chia andNasta (tea and a snack) before heading out again in the afternoon.
Darkness falls around six or so and the next task is trying not to gaze at the sunset as it lights up the Himalayas and surrounding hills for too long, possibly missing dinner, or worse, being stalked by a leopard! The day to day life of a farmhand on an Eco Farm is not strenuous, but the rest of the day and sleep at night are greatly welcomed. I am very lucky and happy to be the very first volunteer here. As a result, this is as much of a family stay as it is a volunteering project on an organic farm! My family consists of Govinda (he runs the farm), Prem (Govinda’s younger brother who recently left to go home to Terai in Southwestern Nepal), Ama (mother to Govinda and Prem, adopted Nepali mother to me!), and Mina (hired help who is also from Terai and knows Govinda’s Dad, who still lives there). We have recently received our second and third volunteers, Klaus and Lia from Germany, who are on a grand world tour and stopped in to see what Nepali family life is all about. They are certainly getting their full experience!
Soon Govinda and I plan to make a trip south to his home and visit some of the other must see places in Nepal such as Lumbini, Bordia National Park, and Rara Lake. It is a total joy to feel as close to local as I can probably get and doing so here with the vista of the Himalayas in my backyard.
Needless to say, Nepal is a beautiful country, and already I can see the effect of the few storms that we’ve had. There is so much life here, so complex, and much older than anything I’ve known. It’s not hard for the Nepalese to embrace organic farming because that is how they have done it for hundreds of years. Their respect for Nature and its inherent power is humbling to someone from a country where Nature is something to overcome, to conquer, and to tame.
“For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground…” so says Lyndon B. Johnson in a quote that runs along pages in my U.S. passport. The lives of the people in Nepal revolve around something much more natural as well: the family and the surrounding community. Emphasis is not so much placed on solo sojourns. It is ironic that I can come to understand this and admire this, from my viewpoint so far from home, very much on my own. But that’s traveling. I will take something away from here that will be with me for the rest of my life and it isn’t a regrettable tattoo. I don’t know what it is, but maybe it’s something that the ever flexible and sturdy bamboo can teach me.
Click here to learn more about Mountain view Eco farm.