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13th July, 2015

The earthquake came, and rocked the quivering wall,

And men and nature reeled as if with wine.
Whom did I seek around the tottering hall?
For thee.
Whose safety first provide for?
Thine.
Lord Byron
(From: Love and Death)

EARTHQUAKE report: Marie-Helene Hair

Saturday 25th April was my birthday! I had planned a quiet day of reading and chilling
out in the sun, followed by a nice time with friends in the evening.
Then at 12.20 local time, something happened that I had not experienced before! A low
rumble that grew louder and louder, with the ground starting to sway like a crazy
fairground ride. Luckily I found an open space in the middle of the farm and waited
with other from Maitreya for the quake to subside. It seemed to take ages, though in
reality it was only about 50 seconds I believe. Time seemed to stop.
On the hill facing us, we saw a school building crash to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Water tanks carried on swaying for a few minutes afterwards. I thought: This was a
temblor!. I had no idea of the devastation in Kathmandu, or that which was far greater
in the mountain villages.
People were camping on our farmland and in the streets. I would first sleep fully
dressed just in case I had to rush out in the middle of night. Then I somehow became
used to it. But the tension everywhere was palpable. When would be the next quake
and how big would it be? Even now, weeks later, Nepal continues to be shaken by
many aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 and above. I was worried about being grounded in
Nepal and decided to go home early.
I loved Nepal, its people and its landscapes, its music and its food. I feel more
appreciative of life and a bit tougher than before I had these experiences. I hope I have
helped a bit. I wish I could do more.

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STEINER I NEPAL
During the weeks immediately following the magnitude 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake, the
Maitreya Pathshala teachers went to visit hospitals and victim rescue camps in order to
lead some activities to aid the healing process for the many traumatized children.
We also made a visit to Kathmandu where we joined our Tashi Waldorf School
colleagues who, like so many other Nepali, were living outside their homes in tents as a
safety measure.
We met with and shared our thoughts relating to how we saw the importance of SteinerWaldorf creative and artistic activities as one path towards helping traumatized children
to recover after the horrors and devastation of the earthquake.
Together we planned to do the work with such traumatized children in the Kathmandu
area, and thus we formed a group called Steiner I Nepal comprising some of the
Tashi and Maitreya Pathshala teachers.
We visited children at the Karnali Transit Home; Early Childhood Development
Centre (Puspa Basnet); Innovative Social Community Centre in Kathmandu and the
Alpha Boarding School in Pokhara.
We also planned to go to villages and work with as many children as possible, if
circumstances permitted.
VOLUNTEERS
It is always a delight and pleasure for us to welcome volunteers and visitors to our
projects here in Pokhara, namely the Maitreya Pathshala Waldorf Inspired School, the
Wordganic Biodynamic Farm and Home Stay all of which share the same premises
comprising some 7 acres of pasture and arable land, together with the necessary
buildings.
We were extremely fortunate in that our buildings escaped unscathed from the
earthquake and we extend our sincere thanks to the skilled architect and construction
team that brought the plans to realisation!
Thus it was that a few weeks prior to the quake, we gave a warm welcome to MarieHelene Hair from UK/France accompanied by 12 year old Nirmala, who was spending a
sponsored 3 weeks at Maitreya as a guest. Nirmala was so fortunate in having MarieHelene to care for her during her stay. Nirmala had departed back to Kathmandu prior
to the quake.

Nirmala with Marie-Helene enjoying time on Phewa Lake at Pokhara

Marie-Helene Hair has kindly written the following account of her time at Maitreya!
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
We (Nirmala and I) arrived accompanied by torrential rain, thunder and lightening. The
following morning, we were greeted with beautiful blue skies and amazing views
towards the Annapurna range on the mighty Himalayan Mountains!
The Maitreya Team: Bishnu, Reet, Asha, Sofiya and Subin greeted us warmly and
gave us, but me especially, the amazing opportunity to share their lives at Maitreya.
All our meals were provided and we enjoyed lovely food. Being accustomed as I am to
a western style of life, I missed my instant hot water for showers, together with the lack
of facilities to make my longed-for cups of coffee and the struggles with insect bites,
power cuts, recharging gadgets and unreliable wifi. But I survived!!
School buildings are low impact Nepali style houses linked together to form community
spaces. The environment is semi-rural, with lots of birds and insects. The many flowers
and bushes recently planted, will provide amazing colour and shade when they have
matured.
The climate is generally hot during the daytime and cool at night during the period
March to May. By the time I left, the monsoon was starting with daily torrential
downpours, temperatures in the 35C daytime and 22C at night.
I really enjoyed working with Bishnu in the small kindergarten. There was the typical
Steiner-Waldorf day of circle time, play, crafts, more play, story-time and nap. Lovely
children. I so enjoyed watching them play with rubber tyres, mud, water, climbing
trees, inventing adventures. I communicated with mixture of English, a smidgen of
Nepali and plenty of gestures!

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I particularly enjoyed working with Seissa who is 6 and has spina-bifida. We would
carry her around the school and farm so she would be able to experience as much as
possible of the activities. What a strong and determined child she is, an inspiration to us
all!

During the two week school holiday, I had time to help Ritman with marketing,
fundraising and advertising. I worked on admission forms, a draft business plan, the
brochure, some fundraising applications.
I also met up with potential parents, where
we spoke together about Steiner-Waldorf education. I tried whenever I could to tell
people about this wonderful exciting new initiative that is Maitreya.
NEW SCHOOL YEAR
Our kindergarten has started the new school year (in May) with just 10 children in the
kindergarten and one boy for a class four!! The latter will have a wonderful
experiential education, involving many practical activities around the school and
adjoining farm, with lessons in more of a home-schooling situation.
TEACHER TRAINING
Three teachers from our school attended a Waldorf Teacher Training in Khandala, India
From 17 - 30 May 2015. We are most grateful for the funding by IHF that made our
attendance and participation possible.

Ed:
Eric.K.Fairman
13 July, 2015

WORLDGANIC FARM HOUSE

BIODYNAMIC INITIATIVE
Pokhara, Nepal
13th July, 2015
W O R K ON THE FA R M
Being a farmer's daughter, Marie-Helene writes:
I really enjoyed the physical challenge of farm work, weeding, spreading muck,
harvesting. The farm is beautiful, well tended and productive. They now sell milk,
yogurt and vegetables to over 80 customers in the local area and the restaurants on the
lakeside in Pokhara.
I am most appreciative of the opportunities that were offered to me at Maitreya to
involve myself in all aspects of the life of both the school and farm.
FURTHER VOLUNTEERS
Throughout the course of the year, we welcome both short- and long-term volunteers to
our farm. One such eager volunteer was Leor Herz from Israel who wrote the following
for us:
I arrived to Maitreya Pathsala after half a year of adventures in north India where I met
many people from across the globe and enjoyed the backpackers life style.
Realizing that I'm was the only non-local on the farm, made me worry a bit that I
wouldn't feel comfortable, but sooner than ever, this amazing group of people gave me a
warm family feeling which led me to the understanding that I had arrived at the right
place!!
My daily routine started with a modest breakfast and a salty butter tea (after a morning
yoga session most days),working until midday and a lunch of delicious Nepali dhal bhat.
Then a 2 hour afternoon break and back to work again until sunset.

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Most of my working hours were spent on a glass bottle and mud wall project that we
built as a partition between the cowshed and the house porch. I also worked some hours
with the crops trying to understand the secrets and wonders of biodynamic agriculture,
and once in a while also helped with the cow milking when needed.
The evenings were usually a time for reading and studying, with the spirit of gaining
knowledge and wisdom for the sake of developing a good quality farm and school.
We also spent many evenings just chatting and laughing over a glass of chia (milk tea),
or preparing dinner where I learned the art of momo making.

Google Images

With the children in the kindergarten I did not work, but I surely enjoyed their company
and joyful spirits when they where walking and playing around the farm.
There are many small things that made this experience so special, such as celebrating
together the Nepali holidays; going for supper at their parents houses; going for a hike
to the Peace Pagoda on Sunday and many more experiences.
This is an amazing place with beautiful spiritual people that are not afraid to leave
everything behind for their true heart aspirations and vision. They set themselves high
goals and expectations, and keep believing even when times are difficult.
I received from them so many things that will be of benefit to me for the rest of my life
and I'm thankful that my path led me to the Worldganic Biodynamic Farm and Maitreya
Pathshala Waldorf Inspired School. Leor Herz
BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE SEMINAR
Ritman Gurung and Bishnu Sherchan led a workshop of 17 participants at the Kokilako
Organic Mangari Farm Organized by Kokila Sherchan from10-11, April 2015. BD
Preparations 500 and 501 were made during the workshop.

BIODYNAMIC ACTIVITIES on our farm

We were able to harvest out of the ground, 150 previously buried cow horns that
contained 5kg of BD 500 preparation on 14 April, 2015

Ten days later on 24 April, 2015, we successfully buried another 5 cow horns containing
BD 500
We were also able to fill a Stag bladder with 1 kg Yarrow flowers on 9 May, 2015 and
harvested Yarrow flower for another Stag bladder.
EARTHQUAKE REPRECUSSIONS
Compared to other regions of Nepal, the Pokhara district escaped major damage. On
many respects, we too were fortunate at Maitreya Pathshla and Worldganics in that
none of our permanent structures (homes, classrooms, etc) were damaged. However, the
same does not hold good for our 15 large, semi-permanent greenhouses. Although
constructed of stout bamboo poles and covered with acres of transparent plastic sheeting,

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the force of the earthquake was sufficient to totally annihilate our precious growing
houses to the extent that it would costs us a fortune to re-establish them, even if we
could obtain replacement bamboo poles, which is very doubtful as they are much sought
after for temporary shelter for refugees from remote areas who urgently need temporary
housing.
Thus we have sadly and reluctantly decided to forego our precious greenhouses and
instead seek and experiment with other plants that can survive and give us much needed
produce for our vegetable market.

Before

After

This of course is a tremendous financial blow. The potential loss of produce will cost us
in the region of some Nrs 10,00,000 (10 lacs), where 1 lac is approximately equal to
US$975.
This has a drastic knock-on effect with respect to the Maitreya Pathshala Waldorf
School that already struggles financially. The loss of the produce on the farm will
result in a loss of some Nrs 25,000 per month to the school (US$245). Or an end-ofyear income loss close to US$3000. A significant amount for the small, struggling
school where teachers already make significant personal sacrifices.
Please consider giving us some urgent financial assistance so that we can get back on
our feet as quickly as possible. Details below:

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Bank Accounts
Nepal
Name of Bank: NIC ASIA Bank Ltd.
Address of Bank: Mahendrapool, Pokhara, Nepal
SWIFT/BIC: NICENPKA
Account Name: Maitreya Pathshala
Account No. : 1621 3168 6152 4001
Identify deposit as: Maitreya/Worldganics
(it is vital that no mention is made of earthquake or relief, otherwise your donations
in all probability would end up in the Prime Ministers Emergency Relief Fund for
general relief and would not reach us!)
United Kingdom
Identify deposit as: Maitreya/Worldganics
Barclays Bank
Address: Launceston, Cornwall
BSB: 20-50-40
IBAN: GB26 BARC 2050 4083 1564 78
SWIFT/BIC: BARCGB22
Acct name: Eric Keith Fairman Nepal
Acct number: 83156478
Australia
Identify deposit as: Maitreya/Worldganics
Commonwealth Bank
Address: Chatswood, NSW
BSB: 06 2138
SWIFT/BIC: CTBAAU2S
Acct name: Eric Keith Fairman
Acct number: 1000805

!!!! THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH !!!!

Join us on Facebook to keep abreast of the events
taking place on our small farm or/and at school!
Farm: https://www.facebook.com/worldganicbiodynamic
School: https://www.facebook.com/maitreyapathshala
Ed:
Eric.K.Fairman
13 July, 2015