Trinity Parish Outreach — Bridges in Nepal

Giving Hope to the People of Rural Nepal

Trinity parishoners David and Haydi Sowerwine arrived in Nepal from Menlo Park in 1991 - originally to help 'kick start agri-business.' They found endless opportunities to be useful, discovered the Nepali culture and people to be a source of constant surprises and pleasure, and gradually Chakupat, Lalitpur, Nepal has become their home. In 1996 the Sowerwines founded EcoSystems, which works to improve the welfare of Nepal's rural people by offering transport and energy systems that are safe, efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally sound.

To-date their focus has been the placement of modern "wire bridges" over rivers that cut-off rural people from schools, medical care, government offices and markets during the monsoon season. These bridges are relatively inexpensive to build and maintain, and can be built with the help of the local people and Nepalese manufacturing. The local governing councils raise a portion of the cost of the project, but they cannot raise more than a portion. Nearly 30 bridges have been completed, but a backlog of requests awaits funding.

Inspired by the work of our old friends, the families of Trinity Parish contributed $20,000 to build a bridge for the people of Nepal. Parishoners were able to select a part of the bridge to personally fund, ranging from the anchorages at the high-end, to individual wheel-hangers at the low-end. Through our combined efforts we were able "cross the chasm" and provide safe transport for the Nepalese. This is not just a metaphorical bridge we are building, but a real structure that we will see in photographs and which will bear a plaque recognizing our participation. And the change we can make in the lives of the people in that area will be just as real.

(all photos from EcoSystems) Learn more at the EcoSystems Web site.