Suk Bahadur Lama; a native of Shyauli Bazaar / Lamjung
"Suk Bahadur is the proud father of dog loving baby girl Niunisha and 4 years old son Nidhye". Operating from our first Training Base in Sundarijal, north of Kathmandu valley our Rescue Dog Squad of HRDSN discovered Shyauli Bazaar in Lamjung during a search party of missing
American trekker Michael Scott Wenger in 1992.
The spot at the riverside of the Middim Khola was not a recognized village rather it was just a so called Sukumbhashi-Camp; a trade post for lesser than a dozen families of landless squatters. Their shelters were so called Shyaula Gotha : simple huts made from raw tree branches skillful constructed into dry leaf covered wall-and-roof panels. "Shyaula ko pad" are the large leathery dry leaves of the native Sal-trees that grow in the surrounding hill forest. The inhabitants were making a living from selling millet yeast for brewing chang, dry medicinal jungle herbs, bamboo mats & basket wicker works, fishing gear and smoked fish to passing by local folks that lived up stream in small villages and hamlets.
There still are many such Sukumbhashi colonies and camps in remote areas all over Nepal. They all live far below the poverty line. Children are born there without any birth register and when they grow up they have to prove to the nearest administration office that they are genuine Nepalese citizen.
Suk Bahdur Lama, now age 23 and married, was a 5 year old boy at the time when we reached this interesting spot that later turned out to be the
geographic middle of Nepal. He was lucky because his father retired from service as a soldier in the Indian Army and lived in Shyauli Bazaar by rearing goats & chicken with a meager Army officers pension. Neither we nor Suk Bahadur Lama and his family amongst all the other squatters could had guessed, that this encounter would change our entire lifestyle together. Three years later in 1995 we purchased the first plots of farm land above the river banks of Shyauli Bazaar and started constructing our first SAR dog kennel and squad quarters.
Suk Bahadur's father and all the other adults were hired as construction helpers, porters and care takers. All the adults male and female from the
Sukumbhashi community got well paid jobs and their kids were taken into our own rented school in Pokhara- Chhorepatan. Our school for children of rescue workers in Sundarijal was shifted to Pokhara and our office was established in a Guest House at Pokhara Dam-Side. More of this one can read in our HISTORY Page.
While little Suk Bahadur had no interest in following any school education, his younger brother and elder sister became students at our
HRDSN School program for HRDSN staff children. A boarding school for children of rescue workers and associated services
went under construction in Shyauli Bazaar two years later in 1997. When Suk Bahadur got married 4 years ago he made a living as trekking and
tour guide over the famous Thorung La Pass around Annapurna. For the same reason as Gau Prasad, but mainly for his desire to stay near his wife an two young children he joined our training program in June 2010. His canine training partner is the German short hair pointer "Hunter" who came as a puppy along with Maggie all the way from Oregon in the USA.
Our first batch of Junior SAR Dog handlers
|
|
