Wwoof- Volunteering September 2006                    Seti-Valley Integrated -Farm
Introduction and summary:
         Nepali-people are very warm hearted and welcoming!
         The SetiValley-Farm is a multi-farm where crops are grown and cattles are hold and therefore all different kinds of work can be done. The location is easily reached by bus, within 1 hour from Pokhara, and lies in a beautiful landscape near the Annapurna-Conservation-Area.
The home stay with a Nepali-family was an intense and special experience, never to forget! The farm:
         I spend most of my time weeding the crops and I might as well have done all other kinds of work. The weeding is mainly done by hand and most of the time in company of a group of woman from the village. They are talkative and make the weeding a lively experience. The women are also taking care of all the daily grass-cutting, to feed the cows, buffalo's and goats. They use an arched knife to cut the grass and herbs and carry the fresh-cut grass in huge piles in bamboo-basket at their back. 
         At this time there were one woman and her 2-year-old son living at the farm. This woman milked the cattle, cooked the meals and made a lot of 'chiya' (nepali sweet tea, boiled with a lot of – fresh- milk). Two men also lived at the farm; they and other men from the village herd the cattles, bring the manure to the composite, work this composite and at this time- also were building stables and a toilet-building.
           The composite is made in 2 ways: a regular composting-culture and a vermi-culture (earthworms that digest the compost to a valuable mixture rich in nutritients).
          Besides the vermi-culture there is, in Nepalese standards, another specialty on this farm: a glass-house. In this case a bamboo-construction with a roof of transparent plastic. In combination with the fertile ground produced in the permaculture the plants grown there are very healthy-looking, fast growing crops. This place will also be used for organic-seed production.
         Water in the farm is provided by means of an irrigation system using plastic tubes to transport the water from the river to this remote, and originally more dry, land.
          The farm is developing and is to be a model for the development of other organic farms. Therefore local farmers as well as volunteers from abroad are very welcome to visit the farm and to exchange knowledge.
         To accommodate these visitors, there are plans to build a guesthouse. A toilet-building is under construction in combination with a biogas-installation. Location:
         SetiValley-Farm is situated at a very scenic place overlooking the valley of the Seti-river (Seti-Khola) between sloping hills covered by jungle, rice-fields and villages hidden in the green.
         The place is one hour by bus away from Pokhara, Lakeside, a main tourist centre and within 75 minutes walking-distance from the neighborhood Purunchaur. In this neighborhood are several shops where the main things for daily use can be bought.
         The house of Mr. and Mrs. Pouhel lies at half an hour walking-distance from the farm where the actual work is. Homestay:
         I stayed in the house of the couple Mr. Puspa Raj Poudel and Mrs. Deepa Poudel, where I became familiar with the Nepali way of rural living. I had a room in their charming traditional farmhouse build of stones and red clay. At 10 'clock in the morning and at 8 in the evening we ate daal-bhat together. In between, the Nepali eat a small meal at 4 in the afternoon,  that they call 'khaaza'.
         Like the other village-people, I washed my clothes in the river and used the Indian-style-toilet (using water instead of toilet-paper). The people in the village are very curious and all liked to talk to this 'quiry' (=white person).
         I made friends with the children of the neighbors; most of the kids speak English very well! Their mother didn’t speak English, unfortunately, but I became friend with her two. With elder Nepali it is harder to have a conversation for they hardly spoke English.
         As the hindu-religion is part of these people's live, I came to know a small part about their rich religious tradition. Of course the 'tikka', the red (sometimes yellow or white) dot between the eyebrows, dancing at the temple by night during the 'Daisain-festival', the  ritual rice-pudding every 15th of the month, and more. Future Developments:
Mauja Ecological Organic Farm
         Here they want to start a coffee-plantation in a beautiful valley in a Gurung Area. Gurungs are a special cast, known because of the Gurkha-soldiers who all come from this people.
         The land lies high on the hills at about 1300 - 1550 m. At this moment there are ideas also to develop a seed-development-area on top of a hill, at the border of the jungle. Their also can be build a tent-camp for volunteers. Mountain-View-Farm
         On the southern side of Pokhara, high above the city lies a piece of land that is hopefully to be developed into an organic farm. The view from there is amazing; the whole valley of Pokhara can be seen and the towering Himalayas behind it look clear and brittle. The location is on the top so also to the pother side there is a wide view into the Siwalik Hills.
         The location lies close to a village were different casts are living together.
         The land also includes a piece of jungle, which I hope will remain because of the valuable plants and species that live there. Tibetan Refugee Camp
         This place lies one hour by bus away from Pokhara, near the road to Kathmandu. The Tibetans living in this village are already growing different crops, such as rice, wheat, coffee and just started bananas. They are willing to, and interested in, further developing their agriculture in an organic way but are searching for funds to cover the costs and to out build their knowledge of organic farming.
         The village is divided in 4 different part that all have their own fields and crops. Some ground is used by and for all. They also have some buffalos but not at all enough to provide in their own milk-consumption. They have already started to make compost. They have a collective septic-tank for the waste-water, which is, as I understood, not used for making biogas. The tank has an open bottom by which the wastewater infiltrated the soil. Maybe this can be changed into an biogas-installation?
          I experienced this place as a peaceful, green village and the Buddhist culture / atmosphere as a pleasant alteration from the Hindu-culture which is so different from the European way of living.
 

By

Klaartje van Etten

Rotterdam,Netherlands