Mr. Harvey Bauman and his family from Pennsylvania were here in Nepal for two weeks.
A brief and a wonderful meeting with this family at the UMN Thapathali office last week ended with a little story from Harvey.
Here’s why Harvey has a heart for Nepal.
I taught science (basic physics) to the BTI ( Butwal Technical Institute) trainees for 1 hour each morning.
The remainder of the day I worked for BPC(Butwal Power Company) about 2 KM up the gorge from Butwal.
Under the direction of Odd Hoftun, I was the site engineer at the Tinau Koala hydro electric power project where we constructed a tunnel for the river water to pass through to the underground powerhouse which housed the turbine and generator. We completed the first stage after about 1 1/2 years and then began building the second stage, a longer tunnel and much larger powerhouse downstream.
Recently, I had the great opportunity to show my family the power project and we went down in underground powerhouse to see the turbines and the generators which have been running continuously for about 35 years. This was very gratifying.
We also were given tours of the BTI, BPC and Nepal Hydro Company facilities in Butwal.
We enjoyed seeing the new BTI trainees working in their woodworking, metal shop, welding, and electrical workshops.
One big change is that there are many girls now included as trainees.
There are many other changes we noticed especially the use of computers and the internet.
We were surprised to see a TV in our room at the BTI guest house.
We are thankful that the UMN is still thriving today. We thank God for his goodness and we trust that he will continue to bless the UMN work in Nepal the workers, and the people of Nepal.”