The Road We Came Togetherorganic fertilizers are unique to Mr. Mizuno,
and he was willing to inject his own funds.

Dr. Takaji Yamaguchi
Founding President
Buddha FoundationYamaguchi International Heart
ClinicIsao Mizuno, a friend of the Buddha
Foundation since its founding and an active
director in charge of education, died in
October last year (2020). We would like toexpress our sincere condolence to Mr. Mizuno
and praise his achievements.
Well, I'm at a loss as to what to start writing
because I have a lot of memories. He loved
Nepal as much as he loved his family, hiswork and the mountains. The Buddha
Foundation has sent delegations to Nepal
many times, and it can be seen from the factthat he participated in most of them. Hewas in charge of construction of Bill Peapal
School in Salle Village, Darding Prefecturefrom 2006 to 2010. He was also in charge ofconstruction of an elementary school in Barat
Pokhari Village, Kaski Prefecture (incooperation with the Hamamatsu RotaryClub) from 2007 to 2009. He also engaged inconstruction of Baghawati Elementary School

The Buddha Foundation has always held
medical camps (mobile medical care) in nonmedical villages when sending delegations toNepal. Mr. Mizuno participated in most ofthem and took the initiative to work as avolunteer. What I can't forget is Mr. MasahikoHarada (in charge of industrial support), who
was the vice president, together with Mr.
Mizuno, they were lively like little boys.
When I was in the village of Carpani, which
was occupied by Maoists, Mr. Mizuno
suddenly disappeared and everyone wasworried and Nepalese searched for him. Hesaid when he went to the top of the mountain,
he encountered Maoists and was called "HoldUp". In the 21st delegation (December 2012),
as the chairman of the Hamamatsu Naka
Rotary Club and the leader of a total of 21people including 11 members (the largest
delegation so far), the opening ceremony of
the Buddha Children's Mobile Library,(Rotary Bunko) we successfully presented aJapanese children's picture book translated
into English and Nepali, and the first mobile
library to Pame Village.
The most memorable thing for me was whenthe Buddha Hospital opened in May 2004, Isaw 22-year-old Yam Suba (valvular heartdisease) at a free medical examination held toin Phumdi Bumdi Village and coffee
plantation project to make it a sustainableeducation support project since 2009 till now.
Lastly, the establishment and operation of
Buddha Children's Mobile Library from 2012
till today. These activities would not havebeen possible without his efforts. In
particular, the irrigation project for planting
coffee trees and making it successful, and his
idea of raising cows and using them as２

commemorate the opening of the hospital.
Heart disease is a disease that can be cured
by surgery with funds, but unfortunately
NPO that was only donated by members
cannot afford to save these individuals. A
complaint just came out of my mouth. Upon
hearing this, Mr. Mizuno said, "I'll dosomething about the funds, so please help
her." Medical care costs money. If you keep
on helping an individual financially, you can't
run such a small NPO like ours. We can’t doeverything by ourselves. I decided to write
to Dr. Babwan Koirala, a well-known
cardiologist in Kathmandu, to ask for hersurgery.
When he returned to Japan, Mr. Mizuno
called on members of the Hamamatsu Rotary
Club and the Middle Rotary Club to solicit
donations, and he invested 800,000 yen in hershortfall. Her surgery was successful andthat year she became well.
I always saw her when I went to Nepal. In
2008, she walked for nine hours to visit her
hometown of Sikrus (Gurung village). Words
from Mr. Mizuno revived. "We cannot say weare supporting the most needy, if we areignoring those who are asking for help," hesaid. Great joy and little joy. One patient lives
with gratitude for being alive. May small joy
lead to great joy.

to the people who walked through the city. I
couldn't stop crying while standing next tohim. Mr. Mizuno didn't drink alcohol, but healways spoke passionately. There is no
shortage of his heroic stories. Mr. Shigeo
Mizuno was his uncle and was a member of
the Communist Party before the war, so he
was chased by Officials and the Mizuno
family hid him in the closet. I've heard thesame story over and over again, such as losing
millions in the stock market, the story ofbeing chased by the police in East Germany,and the story of getting lost in Russia.
He was a dynamic, rugged, honest, andinnocent person like a boy, who never lost hispassionate heart. I was happy to be able towork with him. After working a little morewith President Kato, I will go to the place
where Mr. Mizuno awaits.

Since then, I have secretly made personalefforts.
Then, in April 2015, there was a big
earthquake in Nepal, and the Buddha
Foundation also participated in emergency
support activities. Mr. Mizuno grabbed themicrophone during the fund-raising activity
in front of Hamamatsu station and called out３

The role of Buddha Foundation Japanin the educational development ofShri Bhagawati Basic School
Prakash Gurung

have the characteristics of good flavor, aroma andorganic production that were very appealing.

With

these

been

goodresults,

thecommunity

has

encouraged to produce coffee in larger quantities.
Both Dr. Takaji Yamaguchi and Mr. Isao Mizuno are

Chairmanthe distinguished and senior founding members of BFJ
who frequently visited our school. On every visit, withthe help of an interpreter, Mr. Isao Mizuno was eager
to hear about the quality education, discipline andEstablished in 1960 AD by the local community,

bright future of our underprivileged students.

Bhagawati Basic School suffered from a lack ofalways wanted to see the achievements of the coffee

classrooms, furniture, playground space, drinking

project, which he claimed to be Dr. Yamaguchi's dreamwater, toilets and a suitable educational environment,

project, and in that all the BFJ members were united.

due to economic migration from the local area. Over

Despite his old age, he would inspect the coffee projecttime this resulted in a diminishing number of students

and the cattle farming on every visit.

and the school was at risk of being merged with anotherschool.

produce coffee seedlings to distribute to the villagers

competitive education in English medium - similar towith a strong vision of even more production andprivate schools - creating a great challenge for the

expanded markets in the future.

school to adopt a suitable syllabus and be selfthe

so that eventually they will be able to fund their own

local

schooling.

community.
ToovercomeOur goal is topromote the coffee among the villagers and students,

sustainable in order to pay the qualified teachers
byCoffee

production is increasing every year, inspiring us toHowever, students wanted better and more

supported

He

these

difficulties, our efforts with
our friends and well-wishers
led to a partnership ofsupport

fromBuddha

Foundation Japan (BFJ),
coordinated by the Heralo
Academy Pokhara, despite along gap of government and non-governmental support.
Initial assistance from BFJ came in the form of a 1200tree, organic Arabica coffee plantation on 1 hectare ofland beside the school.

Mr. Mizuno welcomed by Shri Bhagawati Basic School student

Its positive results inspired

BFJ to provide additional funds to construct a 12-room

Mr. Isao Mizuno has played a vital role in achieving all

RCC structure school building and playgroundthese positive results.

extension. As a result of these investments, the school

We are extremely shocked by his sudden demise, but

at present has been upgraded to Grade 8 and is known

we will always praise his tireless efforts and follow hisfor good quality education.

instructions to achieve our goals.

To support the coffee

We extend ourplantation, BFJ has also funded cattle farming forsincere condolences and to honor his memory we plan

organic compost manure, water irrigation and ato set up his statue in our coffee garden.

dedicated coffee gardener for 5 years.

respectfully request the support of BFJ.

When ourcoffee was first sent to Japan in 2015, it was found to4

For this weMedical Experience in Nepal (MedicalCamp)haven't made it athome yet.

Yoshimitsu Kataoka
Colombia America
Univ. graduate,Hamamatsu Univ.
School of Medicine
Department ofCardiology,Yamaguchi HeartInternational Clinic
Medical Doctor

I started medical
treatment for thecommunity in theafternoon. When I
startedtheexamination, I was examining the children of theschool and their parents, so there weren't many
patients, but when they returned from theexamination and said, "Dr. Yamaguchi came andThis time I will write about the medical camp in

examined. “ The news rushed like the wind, andPumdibhumdi Village in the second half of the trip.

the classroom became full in an instant.

After visiting the emergency site at the university

One of the most memorable cases was when I

hospital and the municipal hospital until the day

examined a 32-year-old woman with a disease

before, I had a local dish at a restaurant along

called Graves' disease. I knew that the disease was

Lake Phewa with the local Buddha Foundation

caused by a lack of iodine, and that it became lessstaff. There were many things that resembled

common in many countries around the world after

Japanese meals, but I still remember the uniquesalt contained iodine was consumed, as stated inspicy taste.

medical history textbooks. However, I had only

The next day, after arriving, I finished breakfast

seen it in textbooks. The condition itself can bewith a view of Everest every day and headed to an

improved simply by ingesting insufficient iodine.

elementary school in Bagawati on the outskirts ofWhen I talked in detail, I learned that they did not

Pokhara. I climbed an unpaved mountain road for

consume commercial salt and used natural rockabout an hour and arrived. I was surprised to seesalt. I realized that the familiar salt, which I takesimilar roads and scenery when I attended afor granted, is also valuable to the residents frommedical camp in South America before. In thethe suburbs to the mountains. Unfortunately, Imorning, I visited each classroom and had a class

couldn't spend much time while many patientstour (including a mini-lecture on geography) with

were waiting, so I had to see other valuable andlocal children. All of them are children who live inrare cases. The only regret was that some patientsthe villages around the school, and even though

could not come on time and was not able to getthey probably spent hours walking to school they

checked by the doctor.

come. If it was myself, I would have been absent

I was able to interact with many people on this trip,

from school due to the difficulty of commuting toand I realized that it is unusual overseas to have aschool. In spite of such hardship, it was wonderful

way of life that has a different perspective fromthat they showed smile on their face enjoying their

Japan and that I usually take for granted. I amstudies.

looking forward to see the people who could not be
examined. When CORONA is cured I would liketo revisit to treat the patients whom I could not see

I also visited the teachers who were preparing

in this trip.

lunch for us, making spinach and goat curry andlearned how to make curry from spices, but I
5

REFLECTIONS MY INVOLVEMENTS WITH BFJWORKS IN NEPAL ②

allow for overall development of students. Sportsfor physical development, academic activities forexposure to talents and science and computer labfor specific knowledge enhancement. To this effect
BFJ donated nearly 632,000 rupees cash to sevenschools in Kaski District

Iswori Prasad Tiwari
Chief of Buddha
Library/BCML

ChildrenMobile＊Funded by Buddha Foundation Japan/BFJ &ManagedbyHimalayan
BuddhaFoundation/HBF

Comfortable Sitting -A Prerequisite for Learning
and Quality RaiseIn the last article I have written mainly about themobile library, so I will feature on the program thistime.

Children staying in school for six hours need
comfortable furniture to sit and study at. BFJvolunteers donated 30 sets of desks and benches
to two of our beneficiary schools- Sharada HighSchool and Janajagaran Basic School, Ghachok,
Machhapuchhre. Some Australian nationals
distributed sports goods and helped with teachingat school.

Correlation of Educational Materials to Learning

Good Eyesight -Precondition for Learning
Good eyesight is precondition for learning. Lately,
BFJ has funded for school screening program
conducted by HBF. The number is not significant
yet, but it is a good beginning with just 4 school
students benefitting from it. The beginning was
made in 2018.

In book sharing program and reading camps, werealized that besides teachers and textbooks
writing books and pens play most essential role inlearning. Children need exercise books to do theirclass and home assignment, but many parents send
their children to community school without
exercise books since they cannot afford to theseessentials for their children. Children feel nervous
with the constant complaints of teachers. So,
intertwining free educational distribution programs
to needy students proved beneficial to 6587
students as they could use 24,420 exercise books
and 6587pens free of cost. Children are happy to
do their assignment.
Facilities in Schools- Components of Quality
Raise
Many factors contribute to quality raise. It ourrealization that schools need many facilities to6Our Response to Emergency Situations - Social
Accountability

The History of BFJ Social Work Dates back to theYear 2000 in Nepal

We made site inspection of Gyonodaya Basic
School, Lumle swept away by flood on 30thJuly,
2015. School building is most essential to protect
student from sun, rain or wind. With this realization,
BFJ donated one million rupees to school
reconstruction fund to ensure bright future forchildren. Now children are studying in a standardbuilding.
Educational Materials Matter to StudentsOn May 2nd,2015, all 1666 children from Barpak
village area returned home with a new school bagwith bag full of exercise books and pen. Seven
schools were all in wreck due to ever mostpowerful quake of the century on 25th April,2015.
Each student got a dozen of exercise books apacket of pen in the new bag. HBF
BFJ andBCML representative were present with twotrucks of educational materials in support ofstudents who literally had nothing to start theirschool with. The program brought cheer on theirface.
Covid-19 Endemic and Students’ Confusion inNepalTo motivate the students to engage in reading andunderstanding textbooks, HBF contributed 7300
workbooks to Pokhara Education Municipal
Authorities for the use of grade one to three
students studying in 205 schools of Pokhara
Metropolis. This program was a startup program
which urged the teachers that they could also dosomething on their own to help the students comeout of this closed and tensed atmosphere.

During our school visits to many rural communities,
people still recall the time BFJ conducted freehealth camps. We often hear of their wistful talkson health check-up facility held in their own
community and free medicines provided to them.
Community health care support to 13,193 patientswas not a mean achievement. To see some critical
people living normal lives we feel that all our efforts
together with BFJ were worthwhile.

BFJ’s Deep Concern for Education in Nepal
The children of Kalabang, Pumdi hold a bright
future due to BFJ’s deep concern for education inNepal. It is fully engaged in the overall developmentof Bhagawati Basic School. It has funded theconstruction of whole school as well as sustainable
lunch program plus scholarship program for needy
students. This is emerging as a model community
managed school in the district.

7