During her travels to the Himalaya Eileen has undertaken and organised a number of restoration projects of cemeteries and burial grounds.
Details of some of these projects are listed below, with links to the relevant publications where appropriate.
2019 Charang Village School Mustang Nepal
High up in the remote Himalayas lies Charang village in the "forbidden" Kingdom of Mustang Nepal. Formerly a restricted region due to its proximity to Tibet, the only access was by foot or pony, now it has a "road" which was opened in 2015. To get to Charang it takes many days either trekking or by jeep from Pokhara even if you take some of the short cuts, by flying short distances to Pokhara and Jomsom, be prepared, they are subject to weather, making the journey unpredictable.
On my second visit to the village in 2019, I went to the village school, catering for children aged from 5 to about 14. It teaches arithmetic, reading, writing, English and Nepali alphabets. There are no blackboards, books, desks and chairs. In fact I could not see any facilities whatsoever. Fortunately, I had taken some small gifts of exercise books, children's books, pens, sweets and small dolls. The buildings surrounding a small playground are made of mud and stones and with the onset of climate change, there has been more rain and repairs are urgently needed. Seeing the plight of the school, I have offered to try and raise some funding for repairs to the roof of the main building and other things.
The school had been badly neglected. Because of the difficulty of access and the cost of the Government permit at $500 for ten days it has been ignored by NGOs who flood other parts of Nepal. The money from government funding is minimal.
Following a fund-raising initiative initiated through the Charang Village website and Himalayan Miscellany a cheque for $2050 was presented to the the President of Charang Village School, Princess Maya, for repairs to the building in early October 2019. The school is now closed for winter and repairs will start in the spring.
Thank you to everyone who so kindly donated towards the fund. The school will be as grateful as I am for all your kindness.
Learn more about the village and school on the new Charang Village website.
I travelled to Mustang with Snow Cat Travel, a Nepal trekking agency that specialises in custom-made tours of Nepal and Bhutan.
2014 THE EXPLORERS' GRAVEYARD & THE MORAVIAN CEMETERY Leh Ladakh
Eileen Hewson organised the repairs to the above graveyards at Leh Ladakh. The project was funded by the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia. The burials include European missionaries, adventurers and explorers many of them famous. Their stories are told in MORAVIAN GRAVEYARDS India & Jamaica 1755-1971 or HIMALAYAN HEADSTONES from Ladakh Kashmir.
2014 SHEIKH BAGH CEMETERY Srinagar Kashmir India
Eileen Hewson organised the repairs to the graveyard at Sheikh Bagh Cemetery Srinagar Kashmir. The project was funded by the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia. The burials include Europeans "who stayed on," missionaries, explorers and adventurers who are detailed in THE GRAVEYARDS OF KASHMIR.
2007 THE BRITISH-AMERICAN CEMETERY Tura Garo Hills Meghaliya
Eileen Hewson in conjunction with Dr Milton Sangma a local historian organised the restoration of the British-American Cemetery which was inaugurated in 2007. Eileen Hewson was Guest of Honour. The project was funded by the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia.
The Garo Hills prior to its conversion to Christianity was a dangerous region, the foreigner travelled there at his peril. The Garos were headhunters and often the stranger could just be in the wrong place and the wrong time and would end up with his head on a pole. When the American Baptists arrived they brought hospitals, schools and many other benefits. Almost overnight the majority of the Garos became Christians.
The burials which include missionaries, doctors and government agents are detailed in ASSAM & NORTH-EAST INDIA Christian Cemeteries and Monuments 1783-2003 by Eileen Hewson FRGS.
2001 ST MARY’S CHURCH OF NORTHERN INDIA Kotgarh Himachal Pradesh India
Eileen Hewson organised the repairs to the graves, steps, retaining banks, and general clearance in the churchyard. The project was funded by the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia. The graves are detailed in SIMLA & HIMACHAL PRADESH Burial Records 1829-1945 (CD) by Eileen Hewson FRGS.
2000 SHEIKH BAGH CEMETERY Srinagar Kashmir India
Eileen Hewson organised a clean-up of the cemetery. The project was funded by the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia.
Kashmir the tranquil valley portrayed in the travel brochures had a nasty underside on earlier times where the Maharajah ruled supreme. Anyone including foreigners who upset him were quietly ‘taken care of’ ending up in the graveyards.
The burials include the British who ‘stayed-on’. missionaries, soldiers, suicides and murders and are detailed in GRAVEYARDS IN KASHMIR by Eileen Hewson FRGS.
1998 THE EXPLORERS’ GRAVEYARD Leh Ladakh India
Eileen Hewson of Kabristan Archives funded the restoration of the Explorers’ Graveyard in the old residency garden in the Himalayan town of Leh in conjunction with the Revd Elijah Gergan of the Leh Moravian Church. The benches were kindly donated by Bernie Doyle of Sligo, Ireland. The graveyard was renamed the Moravian Memorial Park.
Leh was formerly a major trading post during the 19th century between Afghanistan and Kashgar in China where merchants and spies thronged the market place the former bartering Chinese jade, Bokhara silks, Tibetan medicines, Russian tea and hash from Kashmir.
There are several famous people buried in the cemetery, their stories are told in MORAVIAN GRAVEYARDS India & Jamaica 1755-1971 or HIMALAYAN HEADSTONES from Ladakh Kashmir both by Eileen Hewson FRGS.