Following a suspension of operations, the Peace Corps Volunteers program has started again. How do you look at this?

I am happy to know that after a few years of disruption, Peace Corps Volunteers arc back again in Nepal. This is great news. There are hundreds of former Peace Corps Volunteers who also share my feelings. As a large number of former Peace Corps arc lobbying for Nepal, the present of volunteers will be permanent ambassadors or lobbyists too. They will support in future for Nepal's development and prosperity.

What inspired you to join Peace Core and come to Nepal?

I was in my last year of college and I was in the office or the Dean where I saw the brochure of the Peace Corps Nepal in which I read about Nepal and Nepali people. When I read it, on the spur of the moment, I decided that I should go to Nepal. I had a little knowledge about Nepal because I also watched the documentary about US expedition of Mr. Everest. It had struck me was the beauty of Nepal.

What were your experiences in Nepal?

It was a very different city and Nepal was cut off from the rest of the world. It took us almost a week to land at Tribhuwan International Airport from Washington DC. It was very beautiful and organic city. Every house was surrounded by its own small green garden. It was incredibly beautiful place. I have a very strong memory of that. It was like a small medieval small village. I was stuck by incredible beauty and peacefulness. Kathmandu itself had almost no hotels. We were put in Royal hotel. Other Hotel is Yak and Yeti Hotel. There were almost no vehicles and most of the vehicles belonged w UN, diplomatic missions or government offices and some elites. You could safely ride bicycle even up to 13hakcapur.

Where did you serve as a Peace Corps volunteer?

I was placed in Chainpur of eastern region. After four days in Kathmandu, we flew to Biratnagr on the way to Chainpur. We took a jeep in Biratnagar to Dharan and we stayed a night there. Next day our journey to Chainpur began. Very early morning we got off and we walked toward Dhankuta. It was 8 hours long trip. We arrived in Dhankuta at dark. After two days walk, we reached Chainpur.

How do you see Chainpur now?

Chainpur looks more or less same. One of the reasons is that it is not a district headquarter as it moved to Khandbari during Panchayat days. Chainpur used to be one of the major strongholds of Nepali Congress Party.lt was punished for its support to Congress. Although people live in poverty, they were quite happy.

How about your family members?

My two sons and my wife Mart like Nepal very much. They are very strong walkers. They continue to maintain my connection with Nepal. My two sons have already visited Nepal and one of my younger son and his wife even went to Khumbu for trekking with me just a year ago. They also stayed a few days in Nache Village in Dhanlwta. They learned to live in a village with subsistence farming and no fancy food. That was very valuable village. My elder son has already visited Nepal twice.

How was Kathmandu when you first came to Nepal?

When I came to Kathmandu as third batch of Peace Corps Volunteers in 1965, Kathmandu was a very different city and Nepal was cut off from the rest of the world. I have very strong memory of that. It was a like a city of two hundred old. There were almost no vehicles and most of the vehicles belonged to UN, diplomatic missions or government offices and some elites. You could safely ride bicycle even up to Bhaktapur.

Where did you serve as a Peace Corps volunteer?

I was placed in Chainpur of eastern region. After four clays in Kathmandu, we flew to Biratnagar on the way to Chainpur. We took a jeep in Biratnagar to Dharan and we stayed a night there. Next day our journey to Chainpur began. Very early morning we got off and we walked toward Dhankuta. Next clay we hiked again and it took a three more days to reach Chainpur. We were accompanied by Mike, who was a Peace Core volunteer in Dhankuta for two years and stayed there for two more years. He was our guide to Chianpur.

How do you describe Chainpur?

Chainpur was a very beautiful Newar Village. There were many Shakya families, famous for brass utensils. It was very beautiful at same elevation as Kathmandu. It was quite a prosperous village producing a plenty of rice. There were some wealthy landowners who had land in Terai. Chainpur has not much changed as it is still an old and beautiful city there is now electricity and water tap but water is yet to be supplied to all.

How did you maintain your communications with your parents?

Oh! Don't talk about that. We had only one option for communication and that was to airmail letter. I had no communication from Chainpur with my family for two months. My parents did not speak to me for two years. There was Post office in Chainpur and postman was very good but they didn't have stamp. Because of this, my parents did not hear about me for two months. My parents called to State Department about my whereabouts. They l thought I was disappeared. After I airmailed a letter to Peace Corps Office and they then sent it to my home.

What different things do you notice now?

After we sent mail along with film, my parents were able to see me and my picture. Nepal was very cheaper and very friendly. Women were carrying Gagri (bucket) and people selling brass for foreigners. I like people Hat Bazar. I had no book to read and no other means of communication. Over fifty years, I have seen a number of changes in the world. Nepal is now open to the rest of the world but the people are same to me.

In case of emergency, we were supposed to visit nearby Army. People rarely complain about the hardships. Along with post, we could send message through wireless. Most of the young people of current generation in Nepal were not born when I first

What did you do in Chainpur?

It was a mountainous village with Newari dominations. I was a high school teacher. I was sent to teach English. I also enjoyed watching rice paddy, forest and people. I taught English in Sri Saraswali High School but I also taught at primary level. We taught mostly conversation and English. There were more holiday~ than the school day~. Some holidays were up to six weeks. In such long holidays, we used to go for trekking. I like Chainpur because Vermont is also similar to Nepal and it too has hilly terrain. People find English as difficult language. It was very difficult to learn.

How are you supporting Nepal now?

When I did a trip in 1997with my friend Patrick Biggam, we have set up a small foundation to support Nepal. It was an idea of Patrick Biggam to support Nepal in education. We have started forming PhuImaya Foundation. Patrick Biggam wanted contribute in education

How do you see Chainpur?

Chainpur looks more or less same. One of the reasons is that it is not a district headquarter as it moved to Khandbari during Panchayat days. Chainpur used to be one of the major strongholds of Nepali Congress Party. It was punishment for its support to Congress. Although people lived in poverty, they were quite happy. I had no radio and other means of communication.

What different things do you notice now?

Over fifty years, I have seen a number of changes in Nepal but the people are stiII the same to me as they are friendly. Most of the people are in Nepal new born after I first came to Nepal.

For Full Interview in PDF http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/spotlight/pdf/Spotlight_06_12.pdf

Obituary: Scott Skinner, 1942-2018

Scott Skinner of Middlesex, 76, died on December 15, 2018 from complications from a lung disease he had for a number of years. He was born on May 31, 1942 in northern Pennsylvania, the oldest of four children born to Mary Van Dyne and Osmun Skinner. He spent his early years in Troy, PA where his mother’s family had lived for generations, having moved from Addison County, VT in 1802.

He was a happy child and inherited a strong sense of humor from his mother and his grandfather, Henry Van Dyne. He liked to say one of his goals in life was to make someone laugh every day and he generally thought that he had succeeded.

Scott attended elementary and middle school in the local Troy schools. Summers were spent at nearby Mountain Lake where he became a strong swimmer and a devoted hunter of turtles. Starting at age 12, he worked every summer, including a stint as a dishwasher in a Boy Scout camp, but primarily as a house painter.

He was a very active Boy Scout and reached the rank of Eagle Scout when he was barely 13, at the time the youngest Eagle Scout in Pennsylvania history. Scott like to joke that his greatest scouting skill was ferreting obscure merit badges.

When he was 15, he enrolled at the Lawrenceville School, a boarding school in New Jersey which his grandfather had attended many years before. It was a difficult transition to a very rigorous academic institution, but Scott always referred to that time as his most important educational experience, and in comparison, college was very easy.

Despite the academic demands, which often required him to rise at 5am to study, Scott was active in a variety of sports, playing tight end on two undefeated football teams, and throwing the discus, twice finishing second in the state championship meet. His favorite sport was basketball, but his enthusiasm exceeded his actual ability. Nonetheless, he continued to play recreational basketball at the Rec Center on Barre Street in Montpelier well into his sixties.

In addition to his athletic pursuits, Scott was the editor-in-chief of the school literary magazine, the captain of the chess team, the president of his residential house, and was given the school’s top honor award at his graduation.

In 1960, he received a scholarship to attend a British boarding school, Clifton College, in Bristol, England where he studied English history, learned to play rugby, and set a discus record which still stands.

In 1961, Scott enrolled in Dartmouth College, graduating in three years, with a B.A. in history with high honors. Deferring law school, he joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Nepal teaching English in a very remote village. His love for Nepal led to a close lifelong association with the Nepali people, and he was an active volunteer in the Phulmaya Foundation which built six primary schools in the hills of far eastern Nepal. Throughout his life, he maintained close friendships with his fellow Nepal Peace Corps volunteers, joining them for frequent reunions.

After returning from Nepal, Scott enrolled in Columbia Law School, graduating in 1969. After graduation, he worked in New York City for several years and married Mary Just, a brilliant law student, on March 21, 1970. Scott and Mary moved to Montpelier in April 1972, and Scott became the first executive director of the newly created Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and Mary worked at Vermont Legal Aid.

At VPIRG, Scott conceived and helped pass legislation that put in place significant hurdles for any future nuclear or coal power plants in Vermont, created the “Tooth Fairy” dental bill which helped low-income Vermont children get badly needed dental care, and protected senior citizens from high-pressure and unnecessary hearing aid sales. Another bill, which did not pass, introduced the concept of “lifeline” electric rates.

In 1975, Scott launched a campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate, the first in the nation to center on opposition to nuclear power. It was a grassroots, volunteer campaign in which he won three counties and garnered 47% of the primary vote. Four years later, he ran again, this time winning a hard-fought primary for Vermont Attorney General, but losing in the general election.

In 1980, after practicing law for several years, Scott became executive director of the Vermont affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) where the central issue was the state’s raid and seizure of the children of a religious community in Island Pond.

Scott then joined his friends Pat Biggam and Ron Fox in their Montpelier law practice in what became Biggam, Fox & Skinner until he retired. In retirement, he worked with the Barre Historical Society to renovate and preserve the Old Labor Hall in Barre.

Scott was long rumored to be one of the guiding forces behind a peculiar February event known as the “Hunger Mountain Climb,” at which people climb Mt. Hunger on the third Saturday of February on snowshoes and have a picnic, regardless of weather conditions. The motto of the Climb is “never cancelled, not for snow, ice, extreme cold or televised sports event.” The next event, scheduled for February 16, 2019, will be the 42nd consecutive climb. Scott was always a bit cagey about his alleged involvement, preferring to keep the Climb shrouded in mystery.

Scott and Mary lived in and restored an old farmhouse in Middlesex for over 40 years. From the time they met, it was clear that they belonged together, and at the time of his death, they were nearing their 50th year of marriage. For fifteen years, they maintained a small herd of beef cattle, and they had a flock of exotic chickens until the bears ate them. Scott prided himself on growing exceptional garlic which he shared with friends around the country.

Scott’s great joy was raising his two sons: Justin, now an immigration lawyer at a nonprofit organization in San Francisco, and Wilson, a middle school teacher, also in San Francisco. They remained very close throughout his life, and as both children and adults, took many trips and had many adventures together including trips to Nepal, climbing Kilimanjaro, and hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru.

Scott and Mary delighted in their grandchildren, Noah Grace, age 5, and Cosmo Theodor, age 3. And they loved their sons’ life partners, Wilson’s spouse Angela Madonia and Justin’s fiancee Bronwyn Sing.

From an early age, Scott loved hiking, first in the Sierra Nevada of California and later in Nepal, but mostly in the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. With Mary, he climbed the 68 New England peaks over 4,000 feet, and many of the high peaks of the Adirondacks. At age 65, Scott climbed the 48 White Mountain 4,000 footers in a single calendar year.

In Nepal, Scott climbed over 18,000 feet on a number of occasions. His highest hike was to Everest Advance Base Camp in Tibet at 21,150 feet.

In addition to his immediate family, Scott is survived by his sister, Catchy McDowell of Ann Arbor, MI, and his brothers Douglas Skinner of White Oak, PA and Stephen Skinner of Troy, PA.

There will be no funeral or calling hours, but there will be a celebration of life at the Old Labor Hall in Barre on a date to be announced later. Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to the Barre Historical Society, VPIRG, or the Vermont ACLU. Scott’s ashes will be interred in Middlesex at a family gathering in 2019.

For exaggerated and flat-out misleading stories about Scott, readers are invited to join the 42nd Hunger Mountain Climb on Saturday, February 16, 2019. Meet at the Rumney School on Shady Rill Road in Middlesex at 9am. After the Climb, there will be free beer!

Source: Seven Days Link