The one-week training of the "Maintenance Experts" for the stove construction masters from Gulmi and Pyuthan took place for the first time in October 2019 in Bhagdulla, Pyuthan. Twenty participants were registered and there was a happy exchange of expertise and experience. During the training week it became clear that the main concerns were those relating to the discussions with customers about the provision of services to the homeowners. Before we started a practical day in the village, our roleplay task was to enact such a customer conversation.

Role Playing

Contrary to expectations, it turned out to be the afternoon that everyone will remember. The acting skills of some of the stove builders had impressed everyone and resulted in bursts of hearty laughter. Although their reenactment of everyday life in the farmhouses was comically overexaggerated it always possessed a bit of reality. The dialogues were so funny that all of the performing groups applauded enthusiastically.

During the introduction to the expert training, I told the participants that the chimney sweep is a symbol of luck in Germany and that if you get your fingers covered with soot, it is sure to mean good luck for you and your families.

Bakta Bahadur Kunwar played a stove maker who offered to clean the chimney of a couple. The houseowner was played as if he was drunk and the wife was aggressive. Because Bakta Bahadur ran out of arguments for the necessity of chimney cleaning, he finally said: “Don't you know at that even in rich Germany the chimneys have to be cleaned and that the people there are only so rich because chimney sweeping brings luck and wealth? Maybe they have a contract with our goddess Laxmi, who is responsible for the money. So you better have it done and bring wealth into your house.” The homeowners were speechless, agreed and all the spectators howled with laughter.

Christa Drigalla