Taktse Farm Initiative

Final Post - TFI Concluding Report

2009-05-07T03:21:00.000-07:00

I am leaving for Nepal in 2 days. I have accomplished what I came here to Taktse to do. Now, in order for the project to be self sustaining, Sherap will have to be in charge of managing the farm. I will continue to do this kind of work in Nepal, and I will plan to come back here to Sikkim as my home base in September. I have a few close contacts in N. Sikkim in Mangan, where they support a Monastery which is interested in a similar project. Mangan is 2.5 hrs from Gangtok, so I will easily be able to travel and work between the two locations. I have finally gotten the go ahead to build the greenhouse on the site. I met the welder and it will cost roughly Rs. 30,000 for the srtucture, transportation and labor, which I will be sharing with Chodten Monastery in Gangtok, whom is building a similar greenhouse, and whom Sonam Paljor Sir gave me the contact for the welder, Nirmoy. That will be taking place in my absence. I have written a concluding report, but I have temporarily misplaced my pen drive, Ill try and post it if I get the chance.

Things are starting to grow...rain everyday

2009-03-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, things have finally really started coming up, including corn,radish, pea, butter bean, soyabean, squash, pumpkin, cucumber, garlic, flowers- gladius, sunflower, marigold, lupine, and lily. We have also made boxes for more flowers, and even more boxes for radish transplants, carrot, and turnip. I seeded beets the other day, but they haven't sprouted. My onions are in 25 cell flats and have sprouted nicely. Perhaps they will be ready to TP in a few weeks. My TFI club has met for the second time, and they constructed a bean dome, similar to the previous one, but made from small saplings rather than bamboo. On our next meeting we will hopefully be heading to a nursery just down the road in Pangthang. I will be going there today in the pouring rain to scout it out, and let them know I am planning a field trip there. I am re-reading Thoreau's Walden now. What a masterpiece full of introspection and points to ponder on. Another great book I have read recently are The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai (takes place in Kalimpong, and winner of Man Booker Prize 2006. I have been reading and playing a lot of guitar, as I have nothing but free time when I go home to Arithang alone week after week. Please enjoy the pictures below! All the best! Ben

Seeds to plant, but water is scarce...

2009-03-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

I have started planting my seeds now- corn, beans, garlic, pumpkin, squash, gourd, cucumber, flowers...the only problem is that there is currently a water crisis, both in Gangtok, and up here in Pangthang. Though maybe completely unrelated- the past 4 days in Gangtok there have been queues of people waiting up to 2 hours to fill a bucket from the back of a truck. The old cast iron pipes were burst due to an avalanche. They are being replace, but it takes time- up to 5 or 6 days. I havent been able to bathe since it started! The water issue at school is due to a mix of it being the dry season, and water pipe issues stemming from Gurung's place. I am working on acquiring the greenhouse material, albeit slowly. I now have a club of 7 great students. We will be meeting every other Saturday. On our first meeting the boys helped Sherap finish the corn fence. Next time we will be building a bean dome like the one in the picture. The kids are really excited and actively engaging in the work, so it makes me happy. Other than that things are going smoothly, I haven't gotten intestinal problems yet- touch wood. Below I will put pictures of what the terraces are looking like now!

Skilled workers making a drainage system- preventing soil erosion during the monsoon

Garlic

Bean dome

Bamboo ties, all decomposable

The farm

Corn rows

some squash and pumpkin hills

The Completion of the Terraces

2009-02-26T00:16:00.000-08:00

Well, since my last post I have completed the terraces with the help of my trusty skilled laborers. The next stage is to build the soil fertility. To do this I am working on getting 2-3 truckloads of compost from Chuten Monstaery in Deorali. Everything is looking so beautiful, and the transformation is really amazing to see in such a short time! I recently made a trip to Siliguri, the city in W. Bengal which basically supplies the lifeblood to all of Sikkim. There, I purchased seeds for some of the vegetables I will be growing. I still need to get flower seeds, but those can be acquired here in Gangtok, as Sikkim is known for its beautiful flowers. I also plant to try and grow Kiwi fruit. Now I am working on the drainage system so that the heavy rains during the monsoon season will not destroy all the hard work we put into this project. here are some pictures:

8/2/09

2009-02-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since my last post. Winter Camp is 2 weeks underway at Taktse itself. Unfortunately I am unable to partake in the camp, as I am busy with the TFI project. I now have an assistant, Sherap, who is from West Sikkim. He is great and a hard worker at that. The first 2 days on the land, we were cutting trees down with only an axe and a bampak which is like a machete. The second two days we were carrying trees and stacking them in a pile, some of them weighed up to 60 KG or more. On the last day of that we asked Gurung, who is the fellow who lives with the cows and goats there, if he could summon some locals to help us pull out the stumps on the land. It is about an acre of land, and I will be making terraces on it. There were at least 40 to 50 stumps. So the following day I was greeted by my work force- Sonu, strong young Bihari, Pasang Sherpa, a 14 year old boy, Bishnu Maya, a grandmother, Maya, possibly Pasang's mother, and Sama Maya, a young mother with her 2 year old boy. We got straight to work after I settled their rate- Rs. 140/day for the 4 adults, and Rs. 120/day for Pasang (1 USD equals around Rs. 50). They seemed like they were high in spirits and used to doing such hard work. Maybe it was the fact that I was paying them a good rate, or the fact that I was alongside them with a rambar, axe, and bampak the whole time, but they worked so hard it was really admirable. Anyways to make a long story short the stumps and rocks were all removed in a period of three days, costing me exactly 2000 rupees for total labor, wheras if I went the other way and hired a 'dozer it would have cost 6000/day plus fuel. I definitly made the right choice. Tomorrow I will have the same crew, plus one more man, who will serve as the chief wall engineer, Sonu will be his right hand man, and the women will collect the stones, and level the earth. Today on my day off I went river rafting in Mali with the teachers staying in Chandmari. It was unbelievable and so beautiful, the rapids were class 2. The trip was meant to see how it would work for a complete faculty, or even student field trip in the future. Thats all goodnight!
My work team

My office

Sherap Gyamtso Bhutia

Day 2 chopping
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Rafting in Mali

Sherap and our compost box

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I started a music blog

2009-01-21T22:32:00.001-08:00

http://hunterstwilight.blogspot.com
Enjoy

Taktse Winter Camp for the Arts and Leadership

2009-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

Well I arrived back to Sikkim from Bhutan last night. The trip proved to be hugely successful both in the amount of stuff we got done in 10 days, as well as introducing 14 or so new kids who do not attend Taktse to the schools teaching method. I definitely saw the physical and emotional opening up of many of the local children. The parents themselves were able to see firsthand how their children are taught at school, and how dedicated the teachers and Mr. Lauenstein are to their childrens education. The different workshops we conducted were Reading & Writing facilitated by Ghenla Ezra, Storytelling and Singing which Acharya and I facilitated, Theatre and Portraiture faclitated by Mr. Lauenstein, and Bookmaking facilitated by Lopen Anila. On our one rest day last sunday Ezra, Acharya and I were able to make the trip to Paro about 1 hour away. It was our dream to visit Taktshung, the Tiger's Nest- which is a monastery literally built onto the side of a cliff, 2 hours hike up. that was a really amazing and spiritual trip for me. On top of the amazing experience we were having every day with the kids, their parents were so warm and hospitable to us, making sure we were well fed, and had everything we needed the whole time. So, my warmest thanks and gratitude goes out to them for that. I got to celebrate my birthday in Thimphu (Jan. 7) and one of the girls Kinley had the same birthday as me, so her parents brought in cakes for both of us that we shared during the tea time in the morning. Unfortunately, I had gotten a fever the night before and was suffering from an ear infection the rest of the time in Bhutan. Even now I am hearing a ringing in my ear which I need to get checked out by an ENT specialist as soon as possible. Still even with being sick this trip was one of, if not the most unique and memorable travel experiences I have ever had in my life, and I have traveled a good amount. It has been 6 weeks since coming to Sikkim and I am not feeling homesick at all- I simply love everything about being here, and am anticipating getting started on the TFI project as soon as I get well. I am planning to take a trip to darjeeling to a school which is focused on agriculture for the low class. more to come

Bhutan Taktse Winter Camp 2009

2008-12-27T18:39:00.001-08:00

We are heading out today in 1.5 hours for Bhutan. We will reach the border tonight where we will be staying. Tomorrow we will reach Thimpu which is the capital city. Bhutan is a tiny country- only half the size of Illinois. Our group consists of Pintso, Ghenla Ezra, Acharya Pradan, Lopen Ani Chanda, and myself. It is a great group of people to go with. We have been practicing the learning sessions the past few nights over some honey bee brandy. The theme of the winter camp is "Folk Tales, Myths, and Creation Stories From Around the World", and I am in charge of the story-telling component. At the end of the camp we will have 8-10 performances prepared for a Soiree, which the kids will be putting on for their parents and local government agents. We have chosen 3 songs to do with the kids - All the Critters, Blowing in the Wind, and Teach Your Children. The parents of our students are doing an amazing job coordinating this on the other side for us to be able to function over there. Our food and lodging is taken care of completely. It will be an amazing trip I am certain. I will post photos and stories when I return.

Dec 21

2008-12-21T23:40:00.000-08:00

Forgive my laziness, it is hard for me to sit and write in this Blog because so much happens every day it is hard to focus and think of what is the most important to write about. I have decided to write only on the progression of TFI in this blog, and if you want to know personal things, well just get in touch through whatever social networking device it it that you prefer. Otherwise, mail in the form of letters, care packages, goods and services, notwithstanding will be accepted. Just contact me if you want my address.
I have been making some headway in the development of my project. I have broken it into 2 components: Educational, and Production. The educational aspect will include the erection of a greenhouse, (hopefully) in the form of a free one from the Dept of Agriculture of Sikkim. Everything is politics here, so I am leaving that aspect up to Taktse Board. Ideally, the greenhouse will have a diversity of crops in it, for educational purposes. An end of the greenhouse will have a concrete floor in it for tool storage/ transplanting and potting activities. I would also include a vermicompost component, which has gained a lot of support here in Sikkim. I have designed a propagation house which is roughly 8' x 20'. The design is for a south facing structure, with a solid back wall made from rocks on-site, and mortar. A knee-wall of the same sort will surround the base of the structure. I would like to have a frame made for the window part made from welded steel. The "clear part" will be composed of polycarbonate sheeting and will cover the main south facing wall, along with appx. 75% of each end wall. This structure will be used for seeding trays and mixing potting mix. Compost box may or may not be adjacent to it.
The Production aspect of TFI will be strictly for the production of crops in high demand in the Kitchen at the school. These include cabbage, carrots, radishes, Mustard greens, cilantro, and mint. The site for this is pending, and I need it to be approved by the board. It is on the opposite side of the school, where the support and kitchen staff live.
Things have been moving slowly, but it is because I came at the end of school. I feel like I will have some more focus now in the winter. I am very pleased I arrived when I did because I got a chance to know all of the teachers and some of the kids on a personal level. When next year starts I will ready to jump right in without acclimation.
This brings me to my next point which is about Winter Camp. This is a program which is compulsory for 7 and 8th graders, and optional for other students. This starts Jan 27 for the kids. However, the Bhutanese kids will not be able to attend since they live so far away. I have been asked to go to Bhutan on Dec 28th to help facilitate a Winter Camp for the students there. I am extremely excited because as a "tourist", foreigners have to pay min. 200$/day for a visa in Bhutan! I will be going as an educator, and subsequently have to pay nothing.
That's all for now. I miss everyone, but I am loving every minute of being here.

Ben

Arrival

2008-12-04T00:44:00.000-08:00

4/12/08
I arrived in Bagdogra on the 2nd after a harrowing night in Kolkata trying to find a place to stay at 11 at night. The room was roughly the size of 2x a jail cell, with no windows. Oh I forgot to mention that I did not recover any of my bags (2 duffel bags and a guitar) at the Kolkata airport, it turns out that no ones bags were transfered to the new plane in Delhi. Luckily my support network here is really making it easy to recover the bags, and they are being delivered today.
After arriving in Bagdogra, I Met the driver, Mintu, and he took me through the Sikkim border through ridiculous winding roads for about 4.5 hours. When I arrived in Gangtok, I was brought to Chandmari, which is Pintso's house. I am staying in the shrine room with the altar. the first night I woke at 3 from a throbbing headache from altitude pressure. Yesterday Tenzingla brought me to a local agriculture fair down the road at a park. I was amazed at the level of progressive agricultural engineering activities are going on here in Sikkim. The government has declared it an "organic state" whatever that means, but it seems as though there is a real respect for these kind of agricultural practices. The exhibition contained booths about vermiculture, mushroom growing, animal husbandry, aquaculture, and terracing demonstrations. Also withing a hall there was a huge produce show. none of it was for sale, rather it was all the work of local farmers vying for the 1st and 2nd prize produce. Every kind of fruit and veg was exhibited, it is amazing the richness of variety that is produced here. That night I went to Taktse International School for the first time, and met some of the teachers and students. Tenzingla showed me around the school, and mr Arvind Gupta around the grounds, including some lands that I could consider to use. Last night I went with some of the teachers to see The Dark Night in a theatre in Gangtok, pretty good movie i guess.
Today I came straight up to the school and have been here all day. I hiked up to the retreat up the mountain by myself, I almost got lost, and when I reached a lake I met a guy herding cows, and one of his cows got stuck in the muck it reminded me of artex from the never ending story. this dude was rugged and was like what the fuck is this tourist doing up here? A couple of the teachers and I will be performing a song on saturday for a soiree. Im playing bass. it was surreal yesterday to go back to Gangtok on the bus with all the kids, listening to guns and roses blasting out of the speakers. it still makes me laugh. time to go drink some tea. more to come.

Flight Itinerary

2008-11-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

Im leaving tomorrow at 6:15 am, which means I have to leave my house at 3:15. Honestly Im more nervous about being in transit for more than 30 hours than actually being in Sikkim, I cant wait to just get there and settle in.
here is my flight Itinerary
Boston Logan International (BOS) to New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)
Departure (BOS): November 30, 6:15 AM EST (morning)
Arrival (JFK): November 30, 7:37 AM EST (morning)
Class: Economy
Seat request: choose seats
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Air-India # 102

New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK) to Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL)
Departure (JFK): November 30, 4:00 PM EST (afternoon)
Arrival (DEL): December 1, 4:45 PM IST (afternoon)
Class: Economy

Monday, December 1, 2008
Air-India # 102

Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL) to Kolkata Netaji Subhas Chandra (CCU)
Departure (DEL): December 1, 7:15 PM IST (evening)
Arrival (CCU): December 1, 9:20 PM IST (evening)
Class: Economy

Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Indian Airlines # 721

Kolkata Netaji Subhas Chandra (CCU) to Bagdogra (IXB)
Departure (CCU): December 2, 1:05 PM IST (afternoon)
Arrival (IXB): December 2, 2:00 PM IST (afternoon)
(I have to spend the night in Calcutta)
This flight arrives two days later.

wish me luck

ETD Change

2008-11-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Ive run into some medical complications and I wont be leaving for a few weeks until it gets sorted out.

First Posting

2008-10-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all my family and friends!
This is my first posting, and I am one week away from my departure from MA, which I will then fly to Seattle to see my Brother, Todd and his girlfriend, Kathy until the 10th. Then I must fly back East to Boston, where I will then fly same day to JFK, then direct to Delhi. As of right now I will have a 17.5 hr layover in Delhi, to then fly NE to Bagdogra, which is the nearest airport to Sikkim, which must be driven into on dangerous and winding mountain roads. For more info on the Kingdom of Sikkim check out THIS page
I am anxiously awaiting my departure, and just found out I have intestinal parasites so I am doing all I can to rid my body of these before I leave. (I know its gruesome, but I am avowed to tell all in this blog, those of you who know me know that I can be a little indiscriminate).
Along the way I will be documenting step-by-step the progress that this project will take, along with photos and probably music that I am listening to. I am a first time blogger, so any and all input will keep me on my toes on updating this thing, and just knowing that people are paying attention might keep me motivated to continue with it. Thats all for now, it seems like I still have so much to do in this last week. Please hope for the best for me! To visit the Taktse International School website go HERE
I will post my project goals as soonas I arrive and see the terrain I am working with.
Ben