I stayed in Pragarti's home while I worked in the far west of Nepal last week.

Pragarti is 13 years old. She goes to school 6 days at 6am and is home at 12noon. Then some younger children attend the same school. Pragarti enjoys school and in two years time she will have to go to boarding school.

The first picture shows her helping to cook a chicken for last Saturdays dinner. She is holding the head over the wood fire to get all the blood out. Her dad is holding the plucked bird to dry it out before it is chopped up and put into a cooking pot with onions. This is a special treat as normally Pragarti eats rice and veg. twice a day, every day. No treats in-between.

She is carrying her brother outside and up the external stairs to bed.

Here she is in church. The verse behind is John 3 V16.

Last Saturday in her church as well as giving money I noticed some people were handing in little plastic bags of fruit, they had picked from the tree on their land. This was instead of money as an offering to God. They just did not have any money to give. The fruit was given to even poorer people in the village by the church leaders.

Another picture shows her sitting bare foot on the floor eating her rice with her hands, which is what happens in Nepal.

Toilet is outside, and because she lives way up a wooded hillside they have piped water into the bathroom. Cold water all the time, never hot water.

All the water in the house for cooking is carried into the house in buckets. Outside at the hose the dishes are washed.

Pragarti has not had electricity in her home since August, as the heavy rain caused a landslide and the electricity supply was knocked out. Last week it was almost repaired then two more days of heavy rain caused another break.

In her house there is no glass in the windows, just wooden shutters.

This is a happy and fairly rich home in her village.



The view from her house overlooking the village.

The plane lands on the grassy strip. 15 seats usually all taken. It can be a little wobbly but on the flight back to Kathmandu the views of the Himalayas were stunning.