In Nepal, we cannot simply jump online and order what we need and have it shipped to us the next day. As well, most of Nepal does not have a mailing address. So when we searched for an essential fabric called PUL, and could not find it within a three- hour radius of the village, this made us to take a long 17-hour bus trek across Nepal to Kathmandu.
After two days of searching through countless fabric stores in Kathmandu, we still came up empty handed. Thankfully, our team leader was very patient and persevering. Finally, we had a lead! I came into contact with an American in Kathmandu who was making cloth diapers and menstrual pads. After many attempts, we were able to get a sample of the PUL fabric to our team leader and the hunt was on again! At last, we found the fabric!
We bought all of the available PUL, 300 meters of it, and sent it on a transport truck to the nearest city of Surkhet. From that city, our team leader loaded it on a bus to travel another hour which brought him closest to his home. For the last part of the journey, the fabric was loaded onto an “auto” and arrived safely at his home.
Developing a project in a third world country and doing it from afar has its difficulties. It is actually a recipe for much frustration and defeat. Even though we have had many hoops to go through, the Lord is blessing this work. All the precious time and energy that goes into this project, will produce a great reward.
