We went with Cash and returned with Thanks!

Only those who have actually made a journey to a village in the Himalayas can really appreciate the statement “We’ve been to ‘Nako’ and back”!! But having survived the heat and chaos of Delhi, non-arrival of luggage, taxi drivers believing they were on F1 circuits, local bone-shaker buses, hotels en-route that should have been rated with negative stars and horrendous mountain roads with hairpin bends and sheer drops of 2000 metres plus acute altitude sickness (Nako alt 3660mtrs) and waking up to snow one morning, we have to report an extremely successful trip!!

In the spring this year you kindly donated just over 3000€ for the Nako Prayer House Project. We were able to buy sand, cement, bricks, chino, window & door frames, windows & doors, roofing materials, various building sundries and tools, transportation of materials and were able to pay the local labourers, men and women, who help with the building work.

The team members stayed in Nako between 1 week and 2 months. Before getting this year’s building tasks underway, it was necessary to re-do some of the work of the previous year. However, once that was sorted, steady progress was made, until we awoke one morning to snow, which halted work for a few days. Karsten stayed the longest, for just over two months; by the time he left in mid July, all the walls were finished, door & window frames were installed, the roof was completed, the floor made ready, as were the steps up to the Prayer House from the road. Wall rendering and floor tiling remain to be done. There is sufficient money remaining to pay for all this. After that the decoration of the Prayer House and installation of the Prayer Wheels are required. So the Prayer House is nearly finished. The local people are very happy with the progress that has been made this year and have been contributing what they can to pay for the Prayer Wheels. They, particularly the Buddhist nun Ani Lhamo and her family, asked us to pass on their thanks and gratitude to all those who contributed to the project and have helped realise a dream for them.

Stop Press:
This tiny village in the Himalayas is now having the great honour of being host to The Dalai Lama. He will be in Nako between 22nd and 25th of August, for four days of teachings on the subject of Compassion. The Endless Knot symbol, one of the 8 auspicious signs of Buddhism, which we chose as the Nako Project logo also signifies compassion. And although the Prayer House is not yet finished the Dalai Lama will be visiting the site and will hear the story of the fundraising and the compassion shown to the villagers of Nako by people on the other side of the world. We left copies of all the Grapevine and Voz de Competa articles in the village. We are hoping to get a photo of the Dalai Lama at the Prayer House, if we do, we will ask Helen to publish it in next month’s issue of Grapevine.

Once again, a big “THANK YOU” to everyone who supported us and this project.

Lise & Karsten Løkke John & Linda Blackburn Ron & Mary Lott