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May 12th to 15th, 2026
We set out on Tuesday, May 12th, for an eight-hour drive to a community an hour outside Almora City. The drive was long, and we all passed the time in different ways. Some of us slept, some watched movies, and some played games. We stopped for lunch and had pizza before reaching the mountains with three hours left in the drive. The trip up the mountains was beautiful, but not the best for the stomach. However, once we were far enough away from any major city, you could feel it in the air. The air was clean, cool and almost addicting. Every time we went on a drive during the rest of the trip, we rolled down all the windows. We arrived late at night and all crashed.
After a long sleep, we had our first official meeting with Dr. Pant. Dr. Pant is the owner of the NGO we will work with, NEHIR. He has two PhDs and is incredibly bright and kind. NEHIR is an organization that helps the community in many ways, with its main goal being to help the environment. They help with water conservation, agricultural planting, and agricultural processing. We also discussed various initiatives IITR has undertaken in the past and what they need right now. He explained that one main issue they are having right now is with peeling garlic to produce garlic powder and other products. They do it all by hand and recently bought an electric machine to do it; however, rather than peel the garlic, it is too rough and cuts it, making it lose all its oils, which are needed for production.
Later that afternoon, we visited a local primary school. It was a small school with few rooms, but the walls were filled with educational tools and books. We talked with the kids about their favourite foods, subjects and sports. Many of them were quite young, and the math they were doing on the board shocked us with its complexity. The school served grades 1 to 5, and after graduation, students would attend a nearby middle school. We then saw their end-of-day routine and said goodbye.
After lunch, Dr.Pant took us down the mountain to visit their farms and meet the farmers. The farmers were working on sewing garlic for the next season, and were all women from one big family. They would make holes in the ground with something similar to a small, skinny hoe, place the ginger inside the hole, and then cover it with fertilizer made from cow dung and other natural ingredients. We also saw them weeding with a sickle and got to try both planting and weeding ourselves. We didn't do it for long, but I know personally my legs started hurting pretty fast. We then saw how they bundle the weeds and carry them on their heads using both baskets and just their hands, and also tried it ourselves. Once we were done learning about their process, we visited their home. They gave us beautiful bouquets of wild flowers, and we shared snacks and learned a traditional dance.
After visiting the farm, we hiked back up the hill and took a rest at this beautiful viewing point right beside the medical center. Dr. Pant explained that whenever he had to do work for his PHDs or needed some quiet time, he would come here. He discussed the difference between quiet and peace, and this place was truly one of the most peaceful places ever. It looked like a painting with each mountain getting less detail the further you looked, and with all the green. We listened to the birds and the wind until the sun set and then went back for dinner to end the day.
The next day, we went on a walk through a forest nearby. It was a five-kilometre walk through a beautiful pine forest. The walk was pretty easy and mostly downhill, but the only issue was that all the pine needles were so slippery. Due to a lack of rain and the fact that the trees weren't native to the area (they were introduced by the British during their rule), the pine needles do not biodegrade. This causes them to pile up on the ground, forming a sheet over the dirt. At times, it was so slippery going down a hill that we had to sled down it on our bums in order not to hurt ourselves. We learned that these pine needles were a major issue in the area, as they acted as a major fuel for forest fires. People have tried to clean them up by hand, but there are so many of them, and the work is very hard on their bodies. We then stopped for a quick snack break to discuss possible solutions and headed back to end the day off with some great food and karaoke.
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