Benton brings the world to Nepal villages

Longtime Sisters resident Sally Benton returned to Sisters last week after spending two months in Nepal and Tibet.

The main focus of her trip was working on ongoing Ten Friends projects in the northeastern villages of Nepal. Ten Friends is an organization, founded in Sisters, which works to improve Nepal's health and education systems.

Mary Thomas and Thomas' sister accompanied Benton; together they put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to continue former Ten Friends volunteers' efforts. Including this trip, Benton has been to Nepal three times. Over that time she has gained an understanding of the culture and how to help the people.

"Our goal is to ask what's needed, contemplate how that could be made to happen and make it sustainable for them to continue," said Benton.

The main project Benton and Thomas worked on was creating libraries in remote villages. They delivered books to Chichila and Sibrung. These villages are very difficult to get to, making access to books for their schoolhouses a challenge.

People in the villages are extremely appreciative. Although the ceremonies honoring Ten Friends are spoken in Nepali and then (sometimes roughly) translated to English, Benton and Thomas were very moved by the thanks they received. During the Sibrung ceremony, Wungcheddar, a long time friend of the organization, spoke to the village about the donation of the books. He conveyed that this gift will bring the world to his people. He advised everyone to treat the books as precious and understand how extraordinary it was for this to come to them.

The people of Sibrung were at first afraid to touch the books because they held so much respect for them. Receiving the gift with gratitude, people of all ages from the village began to read and share the books with each other.

Benton and Thomas also worked on distributing water filters to orphanages. Benton helped Mark Lamont (cofounder with Rand Runco of Ten Friends) write a grant to the Sisters Rotary Club and to the Rotary Club of Dilli Bazar in Kathmandu. The grant funded 68 water filters.

The process of deciding where the filters would be installed is more complicated than it would seem. Benton and Thomas visited many orphanages, mostly in and around Kathmandu, checking for electricity, water supply and maintenance issues.

"We want them to have and operate the water filter. They use it, they maintain it," said Benton. It is important that an orphanage will be able to sustain itself and the donations from Ten Friends.

"When I imagine how plans I've made will pan out, I so often find that what happens is quite different," wrote Benton in her blog on October 14.

Although the Ten Friends projects and goal seem pretty straightforward, no journey in Nepal will go exactly as planned. From village to village different languages are spoken. In an area where no motorized vehicles can reach, things seem to happen more slowly and without the same kind of order we are used to here in Central Oregon.

Thankfully, Benton and Thomas had Sunita Gurung accompanying them in their travels throughout the villages. Gurung is the leader of a hostel sponsored by Ten Friends. This hostel's purpose is to train young girls to be able to teach and positively influence their home.

Gurung has her master's degree and mentors the 13 young girls in the hostel, who are also on course to get their masters'. Gurung speaks many different dialects, allowing her to communicate with people of almost every village, a crucial asset for Ten Friends.

Benton says, "Sunita is an exceptional young woman," and so does everyone else who has had the pleasure of meeting her. With the help of Gurung, 13 exceptional village leaders will soon have everything they need to steer their villages.

The experience of journeying to Nepal with Ten Friends is life-changing.

"If you have the means, come to Nepal, we'll show you around we'll show you the orphanages," Benton said. "That's worth a lifetime of education."

Those who cannot travel to Nepal can still make an impact there. In Nepal, a book costs only one United States dollar - donations go a long way.

Ten Friends will host a holiday giving celebration on Friday, December 10, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Aspen Hall near Shevlin Park in Bend. Nepali items will be for sale and there will be music. Proceeds will benefit Ten Friends projects.

"Come to celebrations, understand what's happening in another part of the world," Benton advised. She asks that people "give from their hearts; if they can give us a dollar we'll put it to good use in Nepal. They can buy a book for a child in a country. They can help buy a water filter. They can help improve the health of people over there."

For more information visit http://www.tenfriends.org.