Indonesia 1986
In the summer of 1986 I volunteered with a non-denominational church group to go to Indonesia and build a 3 room school in the village of Berdikardi, Utara Sumatera. This is me digging the foundation. We slept in the tents in the background.
My team mate Aly and I in front of a typical Indonesian bus.
This is a group shot of my fellow team members, both from the USA and from the village of Berdikardi.
This is the 3 room school we built.
This is Aly with a puppet. We put on the occasional puppet show for the village children.
Nepal 1987
During the summer of 1987 I went with the same group as a team leader to Kathmandu, Nepal to build a road for a children's home named Mendies' Haven. Mama and Papa Mendies have adopted hundreds of homeless Nepalese children over the years and raised them with love and made sure they received good educations. This is Mama Mendies with two daughters on her balcony snapping beans for dinner.
This is Kalpana, one of the Mendies' adopted daughters, and me.
Here are some children I came across in an alley in Kathmandu.
This is a view of a side street in Kathmandu.
We could see the foothills of the Himalayas from Mendies Haven.
One day we got an elephant ride around the compound!
This neighbor girl would run out to the street to walk with me whenever she saw me going to buy groceries.
Here is the local laundromat! I am in the dark blue T-shirt.
This is one of the many Buddhist stupas in Patan (town right outside of Kathmandu).
A boy watches on as his father offers a chicken and flowers in sacrifice to Hindu gods in this temple.