April 16, 2001
Opposite Sides of the World

I am sorry it has been so long since I have written a long letter. I am sure you have been wondering what has been happening on this side of the world. It has not been easy communicating for a number of reasons.

The electric power is turned off for six hours at a time to conserve electricity, which seems to happen just when I am about to send e-mail. Then my laptop has decided to play "Windows Protection Fault" and I lost access to a number of letters and pictures I had prepared to send. I can still take and save pictures but I can’t convert them to a small enough format for the web.

As I mentioned before I am spending many hours everyday working and don't get time to get online until late after a long day. I get up at 5:00 A.M. because of the rooster that is outside my window. I then have to travel to the teaching complex in downtown Kathmandu. I start at 7:30. Irwin and I have had to rewrite our class plan every day in order to fit the needs of the students.

We had planned our course around slide shows and video with multimedia CD presentations and either the electricity has been out or the content has been too advanced. We have taught three days now and each day has been very good and the 24 students have learned more in this short time than they have in years of working hands on.

We have covered 'resistance' and ‘voltage drops’ and some inputs and outputs. We had to back off on scope waveforms as it will be at least two years before we can expect them to have scopes. Most of the teaching I have been doing is with the use of LED test lights and digital multimeters. We have made considerable progress on that front. They now can take some of this training to the shop and make a difference in their ability to earn income.

We also have tried to address safety and shop cleanup. Most engine rebuilding has been done on the ground and I am trying to get shops to build a work bench. It is also a common practice to have at least five to eight people watch and talk when an engine is repaired. This practice creates a lot of dust. Most shop owners will not invest in improvements. They rent the lots and if they fix them up with slab concrete floors or buildings the landlord will remove them and rent for more money to someone else. The most common tool that a shop has is a timing light and wrenches and sockets (and these are the type you get from the cheapest retail outlet in the States.) When a wrench will no longer turn a nut it is filed to the next largest size.

While teaching we constantly run into road blocks due to lack of tools or safety equipment. I have asked Gary Locke to use the money donated to this cause to buy safety glasses and ear protection as that will do more good for these wonderful people than it will offsetting my expenses. I plan to buy thirty small multimeters and give them to shops to do what they can to clean their lots and working conditions.

The support from the members has been one thing that has kept me going. This has not been easy, each day starts so early and I finish around midnight. The communication with my family has also been spotty at best. On April 2nd my wife and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on opposite sides of the world. I can now chat in the iATN chat room with her. My daughter just got married yesterday and thank god my computer connection has improved considerably in the last two days.

All in all this has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. It is most rewarding. I have talked to Chrys and we have discussed coming back here together sooner rather than later. Irwin has been dedicated to this project and has put in more hours than I. By myself I could do little, but with his help we make an iATN team all of you can be proud of.

It sounds like rain, I better send this now as the electricity may go off. The thunder is getting close. By the way, this was my first day off. I have had all morning to rest. This afternoon we have to find a good price on multimeters. Thanks for your support and I will try to write more soon.

P.S. We have more than doubled the i-ATN members in Kathmandu