Subtitles section Play video
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(pleasant music)
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Narrator: We all know it,
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walked it every day,
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but none of them were like these.
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The World's Most Dangerous Ways to School.
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Climbing,
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freezing,
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paddling for hours,
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all for the chance of a better life.
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Risky, spectacular,
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and sometimes just simply beautiful.
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The Most Dangerous Ways to School.
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(peaceful music)
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Nepal, the highest country on Earth,
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runs through mountain ranges, sometimes reaching heights
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of more than 4,000 meters above sea level.
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The mountain village Kanpur in the province of Bagmati,
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whoever wants to make it to school on time
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must go unusual ways under extreme conditions.
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The destination, the Shree Adarsha School.
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650 students,
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some of them have the most extraordinary ways to school.
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A daily adventure trip,
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arduously walking through mountains on foot,
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risky hitchhiking across the highway,
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and twice a day
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crossing the most dangerous river of the area
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with a ramshackle ropeway.
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One of the most the most dangerous ways to school,
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all for one goal,
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a better life.
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(soft music)
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Six o'clock, daybreak,
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another normal day in the Nepalese mountains dawns.
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The schoolboy Ajit has to wake up quickly
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because before he is allowed to head off to school,
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he must lend a hand in the fields.
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His father, Hari, needs every single helping hand.
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Two hours of early work from six to 8 a.m.,
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for Ajit, it is quite natural.
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But nothing to say against a bit of daydreaming.
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-: When I grow up,
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I want to do more than just work on the farm.
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I want to explore the world.
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(light music)
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Narrator: Ajit's father has never attended school.
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He knows,
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just like all the other parents living in the mountains,
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education is the key for his son's future.
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Each day the parents in the mountain village Kanpur
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prepare their little ones for their great adventure.
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The same scene, 400 meters down the mountain.
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Here, little Kabita
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works her way through her early morning spit bath
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with the help of her mother.
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Kabita is not more than four years old.
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Mother Nirmala has decided to send her to school
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as early as possible.
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Nirmala would love to have her daughter
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by her side the whole day,
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but she believes that without schooling
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Kabita would have no chance finding a job
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and, almost more important, in finding a husband.
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That's why she accepts that her four-year-old daughter
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takes on the long way to school,
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more than six kilometers.
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Together, they practice every morning before school,
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do Kabita's homework,
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and learn the Nepalese alphabet.
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(speaks in foreign language)
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(engaging music)
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A bit further done in the village,
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Ambika's farm awakes.
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Ambika is happy that her seven-year-old, Asmita,
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does not have to go to school by herself.
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Fortunately, she has two other children
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who also attend school,
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eight year-old Amit and six-year-old Anita.
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Until recently,
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the mother brought the children to school herself,
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but the work required in the farm suffered for it.
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That's why a couple of days ago,
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her son and her daughter started to go on their own.
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Especially in the morning, they are all a bit tensed.
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No one knows how dangerous the way to school will be today.
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And these are the last moments Ambika and her children
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share until evening.
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Quickly, they slip into their school uniforms,
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and off they go
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on their dangerous two-hour-long way to school.
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(pleasant music)
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After working in the fields, Ajit is also getting ready.
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In two hours, at 10 o'clock,
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school starts down in the valley
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on the other side of the river.
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Not bad going such a long way for a dream.
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-: When I grow up, I want to become a pilot.
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It must be great to be a pilot and fly around the world.
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(speaks in foreign language)
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Narrator: Together with his sister Sapana,
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Ajit hits the road,
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leaving behind a worried family.
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Most of all, a mother who knows all too well
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about this way to school.
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-: Every day I'm afraid to send my children off to school.
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Everybody in my family has gotten hurt
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on the way down to the valley.
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My son, my daughter, myself,
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even my husband hurt himself.
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Ajit: Often, I'm afraid I might slip and hurt myself.
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I'm also afraid of wild animals
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like jackals, monkeys, or tigers.
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But I really want to go to school.
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(pleasing music)
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Narrator: Unlike most rapidly growing Asian countries,
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in Nepal, 80% of the inhabitants live outside of big cities.
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Just about 2/3 of the children attend school.
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The others,
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like the 12-year-old Ganesh who must stay behind today,
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must help in the fields in order to secure the harvest.
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The illiteracy rate in Nepal is over 50%.
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Those who attend school in the mountain village of Kanpur
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walk across the mountains of the highest
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situated country on Earth.
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Nearly half of Nepal
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lies more than 4,000 meters above sea level.
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In order to reach their destination,
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Ajit and Sapana have to go down to the city
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at the foot of the mountains.
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And for that,
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they have to cross the dangerous river Trishuli
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which winds through the entire valley.
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The Trishuli River comes from the Himalaya mountains.
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It is 60 meters wide.
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And at this time of year, the time of the monsoon,
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it is especially wild.
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The next bridge, miles away.
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There is only one way to the other side for the pupils,
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the so-called tuin,
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a basket on two old wire cables.
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Rusty and inspiring little confidence,
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nobody knows how long this construction will last.
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Many accidents have happened here.
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A number of students have fallen in the river
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while trying to reach the other side.
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Some nearly drowned.
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-: I'd like to learn how to swim,
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but the river is so wild.
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I never dared trying.
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My biggest fear is that the river
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could carry me away with it.
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Narrator: On some days,
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the weather intensifies Ajit's fears.
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In times of the monsoon,
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sudden rain showers make the water level rise dramatically.
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But today, the students are lucky.
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(speaks in foreign language)
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Kabita: Mommy, bye.
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Nirmala: Buh-bye.
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(speaks in foreign language)
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Narrator: At each goodbye, there is a touch of fear.
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But there is no alternative.
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Besides, the children from Kanpur always stick together
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and help each other to cope
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with their dangerous way to school.
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A bit further down at the foot of the mountain village,
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mother Ambika also sends her children off.
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Amit, the eldest, is supposed to lead the others safely.
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He is the most experienced.
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But still, every morning saying goodbye to her children
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costs Ambika a lot of strength.
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(serene music)
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-: Every day when my children head off to school,
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it's a terrible moment.
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I'm afraid that they might try to swim in the river.
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I often wonder on which side of the river
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that they might be on at any given moment.
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Have they managed to reach the other side?
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There's so much that could happen to them.
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Narrator: 1 1/2 hours before school starts,
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from all over the Kanpur village,
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the children gather together at the foot of the mountain.
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They are on their way to school,
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and the school is in the city.
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Today, it's normal.
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But just 50 years ago,
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the village was completely self-sufficient.
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Only if there was a lack of salt
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would someone, twice a year,
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head off to refill the stock.
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Today, the children go to the city almost on a daily basis
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and are forced to cross the dangerous river.
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(troubled music)
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A village in distress is left behind.
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Worries unite the families in Kanpur
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more than anything else.
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-: We simply don't have the time
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to bring our children across the river every day.
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We have to take care of the fields.
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But we're worried every day,
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afraid they might hurt themselves crossing the river.
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Narrator: The village community Kanpur
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is spread across 18 farms on (mumbles) mountain.
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The families live in a very remote area.
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And every mother fears the moment
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when her child is old enough to go to school
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and has to cross the Trishuli River.
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At nine o'clock, the children arrive at the so-called tuin.
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The name can be translated into, "The way on the rope."
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But there is a problem.
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The basket is on the other side of the river.
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60 meters away,
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out of reach for the children.
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The river Trishuli,
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which can only be crossed by two rusty ropes,
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separates the region in two halves at this point.
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On the other side,
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Nepal seems like a whole different world,
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with cars, buses, and shops.
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But without the basket,
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the children stand no chance to reach it.
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Sometimes the students from Kanpur
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wait for up to three hours.
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If no one comes,
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they have no other choice but to return home.
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-: I am sad when we have to go back.
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The other children learn more.
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I keep getting worse and worse.
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(light music)
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Narrator: The only hope the children have
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is that someone comes in brings them the basket.
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-: Often, the teachers yell at us when we are late.
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Sometimes they really get very angry.
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Sometimes they hit our hands with a stick
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or pull our hair if we're late.
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Narrator: After 20 minutes,
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a village farmer arrives at the riverside.
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He, too, has to cross in order to sell
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his cucumbers and his goat.
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A stroke of luck for the children.
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Because farmer Pramod is in a hurry,
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he can't wait for someone to crossover with the basket.
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The market closes in just under two hours.
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Therefore, he crosses the river with a very special method.
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A device the villagers called kirikiri,
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a pulley and a rope.
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This is how he wants to reach the other side
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in order to collect the basket for the children
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and himself.
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-: The children do not have this pulley
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and they're simply not strong enough.
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Only us farmers can cross like this
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if the basket is on the other side.
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Nearly none of the children can swim.
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If they fall into the river, they die.
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(delightful music)
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Narrator: When crossing the river on the rope,
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the farmer Pramod is not only in danger of drowning,
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the rusty old steel rope is dangerous enough by itself.
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With each grasp, tiny rusty splinters of wire
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bore their