An Engineering Challenge
My first two weeks in Nepal were spent doing volunteer work in the lakeside town of Pokhara. I was tasked with leading a construction team in the process of designing and building low cost desks for school children. I spent my first day drawing up plans for a sturdy, minimalist desk. The design constraints were substantial. Our stock material was several sheets of plywood and we had only five basic tools: a hand plane, drill, tape measure, circular saw and a square. Of these five tools, the circular saw had no blade guard and made a menacing screech when turned on. The chord had been rewired in two different places - a telltale sign that someone had sawn into it on accident. To further increase the challenge, my local guide immediately used our square as a hammer, compromising the square’s ninety degree angle and ruining our only true reference tool. Despite a difficult start, we were able to use the edge of the plywood as a reference straight edge. From there, we used geometric relationships to achieve a decent angle finding tool that allowed us to match all of our cuts throughout the build. Working with plywood sheets made it difficult connect the different components and achieving the necessary stiffness became a true challenge. We worked long hours in the swampy, monsoon climate of the lakeside town, stopping only to eat a lunch of rice and buffalo with sriracha. Eventually, we applied our last coats of paint and the desks were finished. They were sturdy, functional and pleasing to the eye. With a functioning pull out drawer, the desks were soon delivered to local schools and were designated for use by the principles and headmasters. Using design engineering to give back to an impoverished community was tremendously satisfying and gave my trip to Nepal a central purpose.
Barefoot Backpacking
The human foot is not designed to wear shoes.
After reading, “Born To Run” (Christopher McDougall), I became fascinated with practicing the vestigial lifestyle of our ancestors. I decided to put McDougall’s theory to the test: sixty miles barefoot through the jungles of the lower Himalayas during monsoon season. After two weeks of volunteer work in Pokhara, I set out towards the mountains with my trusted friend and guide, Krishna. Beginning the trek in Ulleri, we ate a hardy lunch before ascending thousands of hand carved stone steps. We trekked hard the first day and soon entered the land that touches the sky. Mountains appeared that seemed to be built on the clouds, far steeper and higher than I imagined was possible. We hiked through dense jungles, home of buffalo, monkeys and tigers. The jungle was full of life, and if you stopped to rest for too long, the jungle would start to eat you. On the second day of the trek I escaped the watch of Krishna and ventured deep into the jungle to the edge of a cliff. As I sat and journaled on the precipice, I began to feel light headed and dizzy. I looked down to find my arms and legs covered in leeches and large welts from mysterious looking insects. In the jungle, everything is looking for a meal. After only ten minutes of stillness, I had become that meal. I removed the leeche and returned to find Krishna looking quite displeased at my misadventure. We continued the trek the next morning in the company of a “Sherpa dog” who befriended us and led us to Ghorepani. By this point, the pads of my feet had hardened and had little feeling. The leeches could no longer bite through the pads and stepping directly on a nettle bush had little effect. I felt my posture improve and felt as if I had far more energy. The way the foot strikes the ground while barefoot forces the walker to adopt a more natural form that mitigates several other pains and problems. By the end of the trek, I felt no pain in my back, my posture was the best it has ever been and I could run through the jungle with little worry of injury.