On the last morning of 2025, in the winter chill of Nepal’s Lumbini Province, a small team of Tzu Chi volunteers arrived at Bhujahiya Village with brooms, buckets, and an unusual “polish”: a mixture of cow dung, water, and mud.

Their destination was the simple brick house of 62‑year‑old Munna Kohar, a woman living alone in Lumbini Cultural Municipality’s Ward 2. For more than two years, volunteers had brought her rice and basic supplies. This visit, however, was about something different—helping her reclaim a clean, safer living space that had slowly become dark, damp, and cluttered.

Gaining trust before picking up the broom

Before any cleaning started, Tulsi Narayan Matang, a local Tzu Chi staff member, sat down with Munna outside her home. He carefully explained a consent form and asked her to indicate agreement with a thumbprint, as she could not sign her name. Only after her print was in place did Ramesh Karki open a bag of masks and gloves and pass them around.

In front of the house, a blue corrugated metal roof extended outward, forming a sheltered courtyard where Munna cooked over a wood fire. This extension, provided earlier through Tzu Chi’s "An Mei" stable homes effort, allowed her to cook outside the main room, which once had been darkened by smoke and leaking rain.

Inside, the room was lit by a single light bulb. The air was damp and musty. Volunteers moved Munna’s bed, clothing, and stacks of firewood out into the courtyard. Local volunteer Reetu, short on tools, simply scooped up fallen leaves and dry branches with her hands and carried them outside. Others swept down spider webs and layers of dust.

Only when the room was empty did Tulsi carry in a bucket filled with fresh cow dung, ready for a kind of “floor waxing” that has deep roots in village tradition.

Cow dung “waxing” and a home transformed

In this part of rural Nepal, mixing cow dung with water and mud is considered a clean and even sacred way of maintaining earthen floors. The thin layer dries to a hard, smooth surface that is easy to sweep and believed to keep insects away.

Tulsi knelt on the ground and began spreading the mixture carefully across the courtyard floor, smoothing it by hand. The same would soon be done inside the house.

As he worked outside, Munna joined in, helping move items in and out of the room. When Ramesh lifted the bedding from her wooden bed frame, the extent of the problem became clear: food crumbs, mouse droppings, and piles of small items—including cash hidden for safekeeping—were scattered across the boards. Under the bed lay a sickle she kept close by for protection.

Lee Lay Hua (李麗華), a Tzu Chi volunteer from Malaysia, methodically cleaned the floor and sorted through the damp blankets and clothes. In the dim light of the single bulb, she and Ramesh cleared trash and damp debris from every corner.

Once Munna had tucked away her money and sickle, Ramesh knelt to spread the same cow dung mixture onto the indoor floor. Slowly, the room that had smelled of moisture and cooking smoke began to feel fresher and more ordered.

Watching the volunteers move in and out of her home, Munna disappeared for a moment and returned from the smoldering straw heap in her courtyard with a few potatoes. She handed them shyly to Lee, a simple gesture of thanks from someone with very little to spare.

Lee noted that Munna’s bedding was still damp from the cold and humidity, so she arranged with the team that at the upcoming Lumbini charity distribution on January 3, they would not only bring food but also register Munna to receive a blanket for added warmth.

Two years of visits and a change of heart

Lee has been part of the team visiting Munna for more than two years, delivering rice each month. She recalls that each time Ramesh suggested helping with cleaning, Munna refused.

“Ramesh did not give up,” Lee shared. Over time, he patiently explained the health risks of clutter and dampness and the danger of storing scrap wood and debris under the bed—places where snakes, rats, and insects like to hide. He also reminded her that a cleaner space could help prevent illness.

At last month’s distribution of supplies, Munna finally agreed. In preparation for the cleaning day, she herself had already moved some of her stored firewood outside, a sign of her growing trust.

Though she lives alone now, Munna’s small home carries traces of the connections she cherishes. On the interior brick wall, volunteers noticed a framed photo of Munna taken at the Tzu Chi Lumbini office, standing in front of a portrait of Master Cheng Yen. The picture occupies a prominent place, quietly witnessing her visits there.

Neighbors notice a different kind of care

As the work went on, neighbors gathered at the doorway to watch. One of them, Bhola Kohar, stood nearby, observing how thoroughly the volunteers handled every item.

He remarked that to him, Munna seemed “like a cherished child” that day: volunteers took out her clothes and bed sheets, washed dishes, shook out blankets, and cleaned every corner. In the past, when neighbors tried to help, Munna sometimes responded angrily, accusing them of stealing. Over time, they stopped trying.

“I like the way Tzu Chi cleans,” Bhola said admiringly. He admitted that neighbors had not been able to do the same, not only because of limited tools but also because of Munna’s mistrust. Seeing her accept the volunteers’ presence and even join in the cleaning was a new experience for everyone.

The presence of the neighbors also offered a small safety net: one of them borrowed Munna’s mobile phone to shine extra light inside, helping Lee reach soot marks high up on the walls—blackened from the years when Munna cooked indoors under a leaky roof.

From Taiwan back to Lumbini, and a renewed resolve

For Ramesh, this day carried a personal meaning. Earlier in the year, he had traveled to Taiwan to become a certified Tzu Chi volunteer and meet Master Cheng Yen in person. The experience, he said, deepened his wish to serve in practical ways back home in Nepal.

He shared with teammates that even if the task seemed small—like cleaning a single room for an elderly woman—it still mattered. For him, helping Munna improve her living environment was a concrete way to respond to the Master’s concern for people facing hardship.

When Munna finally smiled at the newly cleaned floor and tidied bedding, Ramesh felt quietly encouraged. After years of visits focused on food and supplies, her readiness to open her door to deeper help marked a gentle turning point.

A cleaner home, and what comes next

As the sun climbed higher over Bhujahiya Village, the work came to an end. The courtyard floor shone with a fresh, smooth cow-dung finish; inside, the earthen floor was level and easy to sweep. Cobwebs were gone, trash removed, bedding aired, and kitchen utensils washed.

On the wall, the photo of Munna at the Tzu Chi office remained in its place, now against a cleaner, less smoky background.

For the volunteers, this first-ever home-cleaning effort in Lumbini for a care recipient was a reminder that “charity” can be as simple as helping someone feel safe and dignified in their own space. For Munna, it meant entering the new year in a house that felt lighter and more livable.

At the upcoming weekend charity day, the team plans to return with rice and a new blanket. The monthly food deliveries will continue. Now, though, they know that when they next knock on her door, they’re not just bringing supplies—they are returning to a home that she has begun to reclaim, with their help, as a place of comfort rather than clutter.

Written by Pai Ru-Luh (白如璐)