Kusidevi Village revisited.

The view from Kusidevi. The Himalaya are shy today.

Kusidevi village is a typical Nepali hill country village. It sits at a relatively modest altitude and is home to the typical ethnic groups of the area, namely Tamung, Newari and Braham. The houses are usually made from earth, with modern tin roofs replacing the traditional thatch. The township sits nestled in a lush valley, with the few shops located along the road at the bottom of the valley and many small farms dotting the terraced hillsides around. The hills gradually turn from terraced paddies to steep jungle clad bluffs. At this time of year everything is a brilliant green as plants grow maniacally in the warm monsoon, before the cold winter descends from the mighty Himalayas. On a clear day you can see the peaks in the distance as well as the Buddhist monastery at Nammobuddha, sitting on its mountain top across the valley with its gold covered roof shining in the sun. If you want to find Kusidevi just turn right at the bus park in Panuti and follow your nose for a few hours, you can't miss it.

Taking a shortcut thru the jungle

The most important things about Kusidevi village; however are that it's the home of one of our co-operatives and the home to our friend Laxman. We have blogged about the micro-finance co-operatives before and the real value that they add to the lives of their members. If you haven’t read these yet don't panic, I'll update ya'll soon.

The office of the co-operative

Laxman is a very active member of his community who works with us here at CDRA. He also came on the recent health camps, working closely with us in the eye team. He also supervises this co-operative. We went to check up on the co-operative and talk to the members as well as to meet Laxman's friends and family. The co-operative is located right at the top of the hills and is in the Tamung area of the village. We were welcomed into the small hut used by the co-operative and had a cup of tea with several of the members. As we timed our walk in between the monsoon downpours we stopped for lunch at Laxman's brother’s house and saw some of the local businesses that the co-operatives are supporting, such as beekeeping, goat raising and dairying. After a delicious lunch of Dahl Bhat (surprise surprise) we waited for the latest downpour to finish and headed back down to Laxman's place. We had another cup of tea with his young family (This was around cup 6 or 7 for the day) and spent the last of the afternoon chatting before catching the last bus home. It was great to see the folks from the co-operative again and to spend time in the village. It completely reinforced the fact that we, like so many others first come to Nepal for the scenery but come back for the people.

With Laxman and his family in his home.