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Report on the Floorball project in Nepal by Nathanael Kaufmann

In the spring I could go to Nepal for two months. The purpose of the visit was to familiarize the Nepalis with Floorball through a direct on site contact. I have summarized my Nepal experience in the mails I wrote from there.

March 11, 2008

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal was shocking. I am still to get over it, but the worst is over. People everywhere; some even sleep on the streets with all that muck strewn all over. Narrow streets packed with honking cars and motorbikes.  The stench in the air is unbearable (some use masks). It seemed that everyone was after your money. The most difficult thing to deal with was that anyone I talked with expected that I would give them money after the conversation. This was the most difficult bit. It meant that I could not trust anyone or ask help from. I am truly grateful for all friends and people in Switzerland whom I can rely on and who mean good towards me.
 

March 16, 2008

It has been three days since I got to Pokhara and the Indreni center. A lot has changed since the last mail. I was received very well at the youth center in Indreni. The people there, especially the person in-charge Chanman and his family, were very pleased to see me and I too felt the same. I am having a great time at this “Oasis”. This place is very agreeable, unlike Kathmandu. No huge crowds, less noise or no traffic. People are good as well; they want to know me and are not chasing my money. Having settled into the daily routine, I am enjoying every aspect of this life. The day begins with an al fresco bath with a bucket of cold water, the community start of the day with the entire family. This is followed by breakfast. After my sessions with the children and youngsters, I get enough time for various discussions and tea. I am putting in a lot of effort to learn Nepalese and hope to speak a few sentences before I leave. I enjoy the Nepali food as well. I manage two meals a day with my budget, but never have to go hungry. The food is good, despite its monotony. Yesterday’s meal was great, as there was some buffalo meat to go along with rice and lentils.
 

March 23, 2008

We have started with Floorball since the last mail. We play twice a day, at 7:30 in the morning and 4:00 in the afternoon. Number of players turning up is increasing by the day. We played on two fields last time because of the numbers. The field that we use is a regular meadow with uneven surface, holes and tall grass at some spots. Everyone plays barefoot and rather enthusiastically. There are some difficulties with ball control and passing, but the skill level is already quite impressive. I take charge of few boys everyday and try out different things with them. All of this makes for tremendous fun.

April 3, 2008

This life is quite good for me; it is very peaceful and relaxing and never boring. Floorball is going great guns. We are able to get in four sessions every day for about 10 to 20 children. Participants are divided into age groups for better results. It is great to see the joy that is got out of the whole exercise. We missed our training yesterday afternoon. There was a heavy downpour for 20 minutes and the Floorball field was flooded. Some children turned up despite the rain and wanted to play but I was not up for water Floorball. The best part of my life here is that I am well integrated into the Nepalese culture.  I live with the family of the youth center in-charge and therefore am in the midst of activities at this place. My only contact is with Nepalese people and I live at a place where westerners are not seen. People, especially children, call out to me while I am on the streets or out bicycling. With their very limited English, all they manage is “how are you" or "I love you". However, I can converse in English with youngsters and older children.
 

 April 13, 2008

Here people are nice and friendly. I have made many friends and contacts in such a short time. I used to take five minuets to get to the internet café from the place where I stay, but today it took an hour. Everywhere, people greeted me and involved me in casual conversations. This feels great but takes up a lot of time which unfortunately I don’t always have much of. People keep always inviting me to their homes for meals, especially the parents of the children I am training. Floorball is doing really well. Four training sessions that we have everyday are going on quite well and at the moment we have about 70 children. I am keeping away from advertising and inviting newer participants to join as it will then become a little too much to handle. Last Friday, I organized a small tournament. We started at seven o'clock in the morning and finished by nine. This was necessary because it becomes too hot after that. The tournament was very successful. Games were concluded peacefully and the children were quite involved in the whole affair. There so many happy faces all around. As time goes by, I am also getting an idea of the poverty that is prevalent at this place. Entire families live in one room houses with ribbed roofs. People are clad in old tattered T-shirts. They have to line up for water outside their houses. There is ample evidence of child labor as well. These are only some of the indications. Recently, a child about 11 years of age joined our program. His face was covered with scratches. He told me that he was carrying a sand bag which was obviously too heavy for him so he fell face first on to the ground.  As far as I am concerned, the conditions that I live in are simple but good. It is now normal that I don’t get any toilet paper and have to use cold water instead. It has been a month since I have had a proper shower. Fortunately, you cannot smell me at the moment.

May 2, 2008

Presently, I am not the only Swiss in Nepal. Seventeen Swiss people from Rapperswil are at the Indreni youth center along with my father’s Unihockey für Strassenkinder contacts. This was great as we could conduct week long training for future Floorball coaches and chalk out a plan for the children with the help of Nepali natives. Participants were very eager to learn and despite a very short time at our disposal, we could put in place a program to pass on the basics necessary for taking Floorball training further in this region. We obviously identified some talented coaches, players and referees. I am getting to know more about the difficulties faced by people in these parts before I leave. There is hardly a family that is intact; brothers that have been missing for 19 years, children leaving for work at 3 o'clock in the morning so that their family can get by. There are other problems like the man of the house getting drunk and then beating up his wife and children. No money for medicine and hygiene. These are only some of the difficulties that are faced by the people here. I now realize how lucky I have been to be living in Switzerland in the way I do. It is quite sad to recollect the amount of fuss that we make over frivolous problems back home. I hope that after this experience I will return home with an improved and accommodating attitude. As far as Floorball is concerned, I hope that the Nepalese are so much into it that they will be able to take the game ahead on their own. In order to ensure that Floorball would continue after I left, I placed the locals in command of the training sessions and only provided indirect help during the last weeks. This would probably give them valuable experience and confidence to carry on with Floorball project at the youth center for a long time.
 

A summary of Nepal project: April 18, 2008 to May 4, 2008

Preparing for the trip to Nepal was unique in itself mainly because of the amount of luggage that we had to carry with us. After a lot of arguments, packing and repacking we could finally carry all our stuff which was mostly made up of Floorball equipment. We could get through 200 kg of excess baggage free of charge. My initiation into the Nepali culture almost killed me. However, the reception at the youth center was heart warming. This was followed by four days of intensive training and a lot of discussions. At the same time, I made new friends and contacts. Local youth made a particularly favorable impression. Twenty youngsters could be trained as coaches. The training yielded great results, as there are good reports on the performance of these coaches. The high points were a Floorball tournament, an Olympiad involving 500 children and the Swiss evening where all new coaches were awarded certificates. In addition to this, a part of our team provided further training for dealing with youngsters, leadership training and personality develo