News from Nepal – the political situation
As you probably know a peace agreement was signed by the Maoists and the government in November 2006. Since a lot of work has been put into writing an interim constitution and appoint an interim parliament including both Maoist, politicians and representatives from the civil society. This has happened and this parliament will function until second week of June where elections for a constituent assembly, who will be in charge of writing the final constitution, will take place. After this another and final election will take place.
It all sounds very simple but there are many things that has to fall into place before the elections in four months. First of all the peace process needs to be finalized. The Maoists have agreed to place their soldiers in 7 camps different places in the country and at the same time have their arms locked up (keeping the key themselves) under the supervision of the UN.
Besides from this government officials are also busy giving citizenship to the 6 mill Nepalese who have never been recognized as citizens of Nepal (yes, 6 mill of the 24 mill Nepalese). The rules have now been changed so you now can get citizenship based on your mothers documents and not as before only on your fathers documents.
But the process of creating peace and a democracy is never easy and there is a long way to go. The Eastern Terai has just been through 2 weeks of street fighting and curfew. The result is 27 killed, many injured and lots of burned down shops, cars and busses. The demand from the Madhesi-people was simple: more seats in the parliament. And thanks to the riots the Premier Minister G.P. Koirala late last night promised the people in the Terai 49 % of all seats in the parliament. And since 49 % of the population lives in the Terai is makes sense. This means that 10 days of general strike/banda have just been cancelled and the roads have been opened again. Unfortunately, it is quite sad that it has to go to these extremes to ensure a representative democracy.
Almost certainly there will be other groups trying to make demands for a place in the parliament – and most of the demands will be legit – but never as big a group a the Madhesi, so even though “Banda-season” probably has not ended the effect on the country will be less. Besides from that several groups have no interest in a democratic Nepal and most likely there will be further attempt to stop the process the closer we get to the election.
I will try to keep you posted.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
To kill a cow....
Though Nepal no longer is the world’s only Hindi Kingdom, now that the King has lost power, the parliament has still just decided to keep the cow as the national animal – despite strong protests from the Maoists.
If you kill this holy animal it will by the law be considered manslaughter and you can end up spending many years in jail. However, mostly it will be enough to pay a huge fine. For many people here it is not possible to pay and instead the “killer” will run away from the crime scene.
If you kill this holy animal it will by the law be considered manslaughter and you can end up spending many years in jail. However, mostly it will be enough to pay a huge fine. For many people here it is not possible to pay and instead the “killer” will run away from the crime scene.
This was exactly what happened today on my way to work. In the middle of the road was a half dead cow laying and around it many excited people, who told me, that a jeep had hit the cow and then driven off.With a huge cow in the middle of the cow a long line of cars was quickly formed on both sides of the road. Had the police stepped in and done their job it would not have been a problem, but it is not that easy in Nepal. I several times told a police officer to do his job, but he obviously did not what it was.
When a Nepali bus driver sees a line of cars in the road he does not stop but instead he goes to the opposite lane and drives to the beginning of the line to see, what is going on. This happened on both sides of the cow and created a big traffic chaos. I sat for a while looking at the madness having a laugh, but also realised that I would have to get into the ga
me - otherwise I would have been stuck there for several hours.Well, there certainly isn’t much logic on the roads of Nepal. In this situation I do not understand why they didn’t kill the cow (who was in so much pain) and pulled it to the side, so that the traffic could move on – but in this country there are many unanswered questions. Despite the madness and the fact that I came to work late, it is episodes like this that makes Nepal an interesting country to live in – you never know what is around the corner!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Maghi – yet another festival
In Nepal we follow a different calender, which means that I am actually living in the year 2063. We have just entered the 10th month of the year, Magh.
The first day of Magh, known as Maghi, is one of many holidays in Nepal. But for many young Tharu girls this day is met with mixed feelings. These young girls, known as Kamalari, live like slaves; there parents are very poor and often forced to “sell” their daughters as maids in other families. Already from the age of 5 are they sold. Their working conditions are poor with 12-14 hours work a day, a bed in the kitchen and a yearly salary of 35 US – yes, a year!
The parents negotiates one-year contracts for the girls and according to customs this always happens on Maghi. This means that every Maghi the girls leave their work place to meet up with their parents. Often this is the one day a year where the family is together. However, Maghi is also the day that a new contract is being negotiated and the Kamalari will leave on that very day to work for a new family in a new area. It is with a lot of insecurity that the girls move to the new household, since they do not know what to expect regarding work conditions, physical and psychological violence might be part of their new life as well as sexual abuse.
The tradition with K
amalari is practiced in all of Terai. Often the negotiation is done privately but in the Dang district there is an actual market for this. Marcus, Sara and I spent this Maghi visiting that market.
In the beginning it looked like an ordinary marked with plenty of food stalls and junk. Rather quickly we realized though that there also were Kamalari and not only that but entire families looking for work carrying around their small bundles with their few private belonging. Most likely that was ex-kamaras – free bounded labours – looking for a way to survive.
Since some locale organization has started to work against this tradition nothing was done out in the open and it was difficult to get people to talk. I did manage to talk to an India
n farmer, that had come to the market to purchase 10 workers for the farm in India. He told me, that a good worker would cost him 5.000 Indian Rupees a year – roughly 100 US.
This kind of slave trading cannot be classificed as human rights violations (as Sara and Marcus told me), since the people freely enter into this one-year contract. For many people the market in Dang is their only opportunity to find work and ensure the survival of the family. Still, it is sad to see these people sitting in groups with all their belongs waiting for a buyer. The Dang market gives a clear picture of the extreme poverty that a great part of the population of Nepal lives in.
There was, however, one good story to tell from that day. On the way to the market our driver “unfortunately” hit a chicken on the road. He and the photographer went running after it into the forest and came back proudly carrying a dead chicken – a great contribution to the Maghi feast at their homes.
The first day of Magh, known as Maghi, is one of many holidays in Nepal. But for many young Tharu girls this day is met with mixed feelings. These young girls, known as Kamalari, live like slaves; there parents are very poor and often forced to “sell” their daughters as maids in other families. Already from the age of 5 are they sold. Their working conditions are poor with 12-14 hours work a day, a bed in the kitchen and a yearly salary of 35 US – yes, a year!The parents negotiates one-year contracts for the girls and according to customs this always happens on Maghi. This means that every Maghi the girls leave their work place to meet up with their parents. Often this is the one day a year where the family is together. However, Maghi is also the day that a new contract is being negotiated and the Kamalari will leave on that very day to work for a new family in a new area. It is with a lot of insecurity that the girls move to the new household, since they do not know what to expect regarding work conditions, physical and psychological violence might be part of their new life as well as sexual abuse.
The tradition with K
amalari is practiced in all of Terai. Often the negotiation is done privately but in the Dang district there is an actual market for this. Marcus, Sara and I spent this Maghi visiting that market.In the beginning it looked like an ordinary marked with plenty of food stalls and junk. Rather quickly we realized though that there also were Kamalari and not only that but entire families looking for work carrying around their small bundles with their few private belonging. Most likely that was ex-kamaras – free bounded labours – looking for a way to survive.
Since some locale organization has started to work against this tradition nothing was done out in the open and it was difficult to get people to talk. I did manage to talk to an India
n farmer, that had come to the market to purchase 10 workers for the farm in India. He told me, that a good worker would cost him 5.000 Indian Rupees a year – roughly 100 US.This kind of slave trading cannot be classificed as human rights violations (as Sara and Marcus told me), since the people freely enter into this one-year contract. For many people the market in Dang is their only opportunity to find work and ensure the survival of the family. Still, it is sad to see these people sitting in groups with all their belongs waiting for a buyer. The Dang market gives a clear picture of the extreme poverty that a great part of the population of Nepal lives in.
There was, however, one good story to tell from that day. On the way to the market our driver “unfortunately” hit a chicken on the road. He and the photographer went running after it into the forest and came back proudly carrying a dead chicken – a great contribution to the Maghi feast at their homes.
Nepalgunj Riots
After a lovely Christmas holiday in Denmark I am now back in Nepalgunj. Though having read about the riots in Nepalgunj during Christmas, I had actually completely forgotten about them again. However, the many burnt down shops and furniture and motorcycles on Surkhet Road drew a clear picture of a town that had been through 2 days riots. End result was 150 looted and burnt down shops, one dead and 20 wounded.
Since then I have participated in meetings about the riots and it seems that everybody is confusing about what had happened. Most people seem to believe that royalists were behind it. These are people very much against the democratic process that is taking place in Nepal in these days. It is also believe that the people doing the actual looting were outsiders paid to start the riots. At the same time the authorities didn’t act at all!
Video recordings show 200 police officers watching a handful of people looting a tv-store and carrying the goods pass the police. This happened on the 26th of December – a day there was curfew in Nepalgunj, which the police – obviously – was unable/unwilling to enforce.
To motive for starting the riots was the many different groups of people living in town. There is a big difference between Madhesi – the original Terai people with great affiliations to India and their own language – and the Pahadi people, who have moved to Terai from the hills and are now holding all important positions in the area.
Also between the large group of Muslims in town and the Hindis have there been conflicts. However, it is believe that there conflicts were merely used as an excuse to start the Nepalgunj riots.
It is worring to know that it takes so little to start a riot of this nature. In the moment everybody is working on finding out what happened, why it happened, why it wasn’t stopped and most importantly how to ensure that it won’t happen again in a town with so great differences in politics, economy, religion and life conditions.
Pictures will come later!
Since then I have participated in meetings about the riots and it seems that everybody is confusing about what had happened. Most people seem to believe that royalists were behind it. These are people very much against the democratic process that is taking place in Nepal in these days. It is also believe that the people doing the actual looting were outsiders paid to start the riots. At the same time the authorities didn’t act at all!
Video recordings show 200 police officers watching a handful of people looting a tv-store and carrying the goods pass the police. This happened on the 26th of December – a day there was curfew in Nepalgunj, which the police – obviously – was unable/unwilling to enforce.
To motive for starting the riots was the many different groups of people living in town. There is a big difference between Madhesi – the original Terai people with great affiliations to India and their own language – and the Pahadi people, who have moved to Terai from the hills and are now holding all important positions in the area.
Also between the large group of Muslims in town and the Hindis have there been conflicts. However, it is believe that there conflicts were merely used as an excuse to start the Nepalgunj riots.
It is worring to know that it takes so little to start a riot of this nature. In the moment everybody is working on finding out what happened, why it happened, why it wasn’t stopped and most importantly how to ensure that it won’t happen again in a town with so great differences in politics, economy, religion and life conditions.
Pictures will come later!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Christmas in Denmark
Christmas at home was just as nice and relaxing as expected. Naturally, I ate too much food and candy joined by too many beers and glasses of wine and too little exercise – but since it is once Christmas once a year, so it is allowed…..It was great to see the entire family especially my niece and nephew, Simon and Sara, how have gotten so big. After spending about a week in Horsens with the family, I went to Copenhagen to see the friends and celebrate new years. Those of you who know me can probably guess how my days in Copenhagen were spent…and that I now need an extra vacation just to get over my vacation ;-)
Pre-Christmas in Nepal
Though coming home for Christmas there was still time for some Christmas traditions in Nepal.
Having enjoyed sev
eral glasses of Glögg here and there (hot red wine with so
me good stuff in it!) I did have the best one served at my Nepalgunj colleagues, Robin and Nanna, house for the Santa Lucia celebration - following the nice Glögg there was a mini Lucia-parade performed by Nanna and Sara followed by dancing in the living room. A lovely night in Nepalgunj that ended with Greg momentarily losing his car keys and waking up the entire neighbourhood with the help of his car alarm.....
No Christmas without a very wet Christmas-lunch/dinner. Since all the MS Development Workers were gathered in Kathmandu for first aid training, this was a golden opportunity to have a Christmas party. And where else to go than Baryo Fiesta, a restaurant owed by a Danish chef, to eat wonderful Danish Christmas food. Unfortunately, there was no snaps to go with the food and there was plenty of Vodka – check out the picture of Sara demonstrating how the Swedes manage to get drunk as fast as they do.
After several bottles of Vodka we also felt comfortable enough to follow Sørens numerous Karaoke performances – not a pretty sight but a very fun night!
And then is was off to Denmark….
Having enjoyed sev
eral glasses of Glögg here and there (hot red wine with so
me good stuff in it!) I did have the best one served at my Nepalgunj colleagues, Robin and Nanna, house for the Santa Lucia celebration - following the nice Glögg there was a mini Lucia-parade performed by Nanna and Sara followed by dancing in the living room. A lovely night in Nepalgunj that ended with Greg momentarily losing his car keys and waking up the entire neighbourhood with the help of his car alarm.....
No Christmas without a very wet Christmas-lunch/dinner. Since all the MS Development Workers were gathered in Kathmandu for first aid training, this was a golden opportunity to have a Christmas party. And where else to go than Baryo Fiesta, a restaurant owed by a Danish chef, to eat wonderful Danish Christmas food. Unfortunately, there was no snaps to go with the food and there was plenty of Vodka – check out the picture of Sara demonstrating how the Swedes manage to get drunk as fast as they do.
After several bottles of Vodka we also felt comfortable enough to follow Sørens numerous Karaoke performances – not a pretty sight but a very fun night!
And then is was off to Denmark….
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Back in the field
The three weeks in Kathmandu has passed and I am back in Terai for a week before going on Christmas holiday. It is good to be back in the warmer climate, though the winter is also felt here in the cool nights.
It has been planned for a long time that I this week would go to Surkhet with my colleagues from CWD. Surkhet is a district two hours drive north of where I live and an area I have not visited yet.
We had planned to leave Monday morning but due to a bad storm the night before it was postponed till Tuesday. At first I believed it to be the Nepali fear of rain that has caused this delay but once I saw the road and the many landslides I was quite glad that we had waited.
Not more than 50 km. from my house the hills starts (or what we in Denmark would call mountains). It was an incredible beautiful road but also in a very poor condition because of the many landslides. On top of that it is a very narrow road with some mighty big buses coming towards us. My colleagues were quite impressed with the beautiful views which included the snowcapped mountains of the Himalayas. Unfortunately, I had to keep both eyes on the road with less time to enjoy the views.
We reached Chhinchun County without problems and were able to start the pr
ogramme of the day which basically consisted of introducing me to our groups in the area. Surkhet is an area that has been badly affected by the conflict and great parts of the district have been under Maoist control. This means that my colleagues have been hesitant to visit the area and our groups here have received few visits from CWD throughout the last 10 years. It was quite easy to feel the dissatisfaction within our groups and they had also decided to act upon the lack of support by starting their own organisation. In principal a good idea expect for one thing; they have no money!
They had hoped for help from MS but I had to inform them that that was rather unlikely. Instead, I offered to give them training in proposal writing in order for them to apply for funds from other organisations in the area. Now that peac
e has come to Nepal the money is pouring in from all sides and it is necessary to join the “race for funds”. It looks to be an interesting project for me to start on, even though it seems I would have to spend some time with these women first to ensure that they take an active part in the process. I have no idea of which organisations there are in the area so that is where they would have to step in – something I sensed they were not too keen on.
No matter what the first step will be to go to the office tomorrow and talk to my colleagues about our possibilities for supporting these women in starting their own organisation and then take it from there. One thing is for sure, though, I hope to return to Surkhet soon, since it is an in
credibl
e beautiful area.
It has been planned for a long time that I this week would go to Surkhet with my colleagues from CWD. Surkhet is a district two hours drive north of where I live and an area I have not visited yet.
We had planned to leave Monday morning but due to a bad storm the night before it was postponed till Tuesday. At first I believed it to be the Nepali fear of rain that has caused this delay but once I saw the road and the many landslides I was quite glad that we had waited.Not more than 50 km. from my house the hills starts (or what we in Denmark would call mountains). It was an incredible beautiful road but also in a very poor condition because of the many landslides. On top of that it is a very narrow road with some mighty big buses coming towards us. My colleagues were quite impressed with the beautiful views which included the snowcapped mountains of the Himalayas. Unfortunately, I had to keep both eyes on the road with less time to enjoy the views.
We reached Chhinchun County without problems and were able to start the pr
ogramme of the day which basically consisted of introducing me to our groups in the area. Surkhet is an area that has been badly affected by the conflict and great parts of the district have been under Maoist control. This means that my colleagues have been hesitant to visit the area and our groups here have received few visits from CWD throughout the last 10 years. It was quite easy to feel the dissatisfaction within our groups and they had also decided to act upon the lack of support by starting their own organisation. In principal a good idea expect for one thing; they have no money!They had hoped for help from MS but I had to inform them that that was rather unlikely. Instead, I offered to give them training in proposal writing in order for them to apply for funds from other organisations in the area. Now that peac
e has come to Nepal the money is pouring in from all sides and it is necessary to join the “race for funds”. It looks to be an interesting project for me to start on, even though it seems I would have to spend some time with these women first to ensure that they take an active part in the process. I have no idea of which organisations there are in the area so that is where they would have to step in – something I sensed they were not too keen on.No matter what the first step will be to go to the office tomorrow and talk to my colleagues about our possibilities for supporting these women in starting their own organisation and then take it from there. One thing is for sure, though, I hope to return to Surkhet soon, since it is an in
credibl
e beautiful area.Sunday, November 26, 2006
Kathmandu Blues
It has been awhile since I last wrote and you are probably wondering what I am doing… so let me share with you: after two weeks of language training in Nepalgunj I am now in Kathmandu for three weeks of language and lots of meetings.
When living in a small isolated town it is great to arrive at a civilised place, however, it isn’t all good: it is cold here, I miss my colleagues and friends in Nepalgunj, I miss my apartment, it is extremely expensive here and most of all it is just too cold!!! Yet not everything is bad – just to mention a few good things:
Exciting meetings and workshop
Being a member of the MS Policy Advisory Board I attended a meeting last week in that board. We have had two MS DK people visiting and with them we have discussed the new democracy focus of MS and how to operationalise this focus. It was a really interesting 2-day meeting.
At the moment we have yet another two MS DK people visiting monitoring how MS Nepal works with gender mainstreaming. We had an interesting one-day workshop and now it will be interesting to see whether the discussed ideas will be implemented.
Get on the bike
Since I am here for three weeks there is enough time for training – not only in language but also in how to ride a motorcycle. My transportation officer has from the beginning claimed that a bike would be useful for my work – and I tend to agree with him, so he has started training me. After two lessons on a very bad field I have now been given the keys and permission to drive in the MS parking lot….oh yes, I am learning! Luckily, the police authorities had already foreseen that I would need a license to ride a motorcycle, so they were nice enough to issue this when I had my license for the car made 3 months ago, which means that I won’t have to worry about taking a test…..hurrah for incompetent Nepalese.
Goodbye and thank you
I made it to Kathmandu just in time to say goodbye and thank you to a colleague and friend, Sussie. I met her during my first days in Kathmandu and since she has been a big part of my visits to Kathmandu – it will not be the same visiting Kathmandu without her being there and I am glad to be in Kathmandu to see her off.
Thank you for everything, Sussie, and good luck with everything back in Denmark.
Good food and drinks
Though I don’t exactly starve in Nepalgunj I do enjoy being in Kathmandu where delicious steaks, exotic cocktails and Danish food is available. Yesterday I attended the Grand opening of a new restaurant owned by a Danish guy, Soren Cook. Not only does he make delicious food he also bakes amazing rugbrød (Danish ryebread). I think there is little doubt that I will be a frequent visitor there for the next two years.
Besides from that it is just great being able to go to a bar – one thing that is missing in Nepalgunj. At the moment it is high season and the town is full of tourists, so the nightlife is busy. I try to take an active part in it, but am still affected by the fact that normal bedtime in Nepalgunj is 10 p.m.
Meeting new and old friends
Four new Development Workers and two spouses have arrived in Nepal and are staying in Kathmandu for language training. Amongst them is Karen, my good friend from University. It is great – not only to see her again – but also to meet the many new people who will be my future colleague. We all stay at the MS Guest House and are having a great time, especially since the table tennis table has been installed right next to the pool table. We have also gotten a few children here, which is great. Just last Saturday we held little Christians 1-year birthday.
I have also had time to meet friends from other organizations, who have been working in Nepalgunj for longer or shorter periods and are now living in Kathmandu. I do try to socialise every chance I get….
That was a short update on what I am doing these days. Unfortunately, I have also gotten a bit of a cold because of this horrible climate, but hopefully the two hours massage I am going to now will help on that….
When living in a small isolated town it is great to arrive at a civilised place, however, it isn’t all good: it is cold here, I miss my colleagues and friends in Nepalgunj, I miss my apartment, it is extremely expensive here and most of all it is just too cold!!! Yet not everything is bad – just to mention a few good things:
Exciting meetings and workshop
Being a member of the MS Policy Advisory Board I attended a meeting last week in that board. We have had two MS DK people visiting and with them we have discussed the new democracy focus of MS and how to operationalise this focus. It was a really interesting 2-day meeting.
At the moment we have yet another two MS DK people visiting monitoring how MS Nepal works with gender mainstreaming. We had an interesting one-day workshop and now it will be interesting to see whether the discussed ideas will be implemented.
Get on the bike
Since I am here for three weeks there is enough time for training – not only in language but also in how to ride a motorcycle. My transportation officer has from the beginning claimed that a bike would be useful for my work – and I tend to agree with him, so he has started training me. After two lessons on a very bad field I have now been given the keys and permission to drive in the MS parking lot….oh yes, I am learning! Luckily, the police authorities had already foreseen that I would need a license to ride a motorcycle, so they were nice enough to issue this when I had my license for the car made 3 months ago, which means that I won’t have to worry about taking a test…..hurrah for incompetent Nepalese.Goodbye and thank you
I made it to Kathmandu just in time to say goodbye and thank you to a colleague and friend, Sussie. I met her during my first days in Kathmandu and since she has been a big part of my visits to Kathmandu – it will not be the same visiting Kathmandu without her being there and I am glad to be in Kathmandu to see her off.Thank you for everything, Sussie, and good luck with everything back in Denmark.
Good food and drinks
Though I don’t exactly starve in Nepalgunj I do enjoy being in Kathmandu where delicious steaks, exotic cocktails and Danish food is available. Yesterday I attended the Grand opening of a new restaurant owned by a Danish guy, Soren Cook. Not only does he make delicious food he also bakes amazing rugbrød (Danish ryebread). I think there is little doubt that I will be a frequent visitor there for the next two years.
Besides from that it is just great being able to go to a bar – one thing that is missing in Nepalgunj. At the moment it is high season and the town is full of tourists, so the nightlife is busy. I try to take an active part in it, but am still affected by the fact that normal bedtime in Nepalgunj is 10 p.m.
Meeting new and old friends
Four new Development Workers and two spouses have arrived in Nepal and are staying in Kathmandu for language training. Amongst them is Karen, my good friend from University. It is great – not only to see her again – but also to meet the many new people who will be my future colleague. We all stay at the MS Guest House and are having a great time, especially since the table tennis table has been installed right next to the pool table. We have also gotten a few children here, which is great. Just last Saturday we held little Christians 1-year birthday.
I have also had time to meet friends from other organizations, who have been working in Nepalgunj for longer or shorter periods and are now living in Kathmandu. I do try to socialise every chance I get….
That was a short update on what I am doing these days. Unfortunately, I have also gotten a bit of a cold because of this horrible climate, but hopefully the two hours massage I am going to now will help on that….
Monday, October 30, 2006
….bringing the toothbrush to work!
Since the great festival month is over there now seems to be time for the many conflict creating activities that this country suffers under.The new trend in Nepal is to make Banda. The Maoists have been using this method during the entire armed conflict, but now the local population also has developed a taste for it. These days a Banda is normally started because of a road accident where one or several person dies. Banda means closed and that is what happens when a Banda takes places. The people in the area of the accident simply close down the road thereby stopping al traffic. If an accident happens the family of the victims demands compensation from the bus- or transportation company involved. Until this compensation is paid no one are allowed to use the roads.
Neither politicians nor police interfere with these Bandas. Actually it seems like the local police rather enjoys having a change to wander around talking to the many travellers being held hostage on the highways.
At the moment Nepalgunj is paralysed by a huge Banda, which has made life difficult for many people. Lucky for me my colleague Sara lives in the northern part of town, where I can safely park my car and bicycle the rest of the way home – after lifting my bik
e through the Banda of course. The morning I was expecting to go all the way to work – 20 km. – on bike, since the transportation company involved in the accident that killed a small girl had decided to make a contra-Banda. However, I did manage to get the car on the road and get to work. Now it will be exciting to see whether I will be able to get back home. I have just been told that a new Banda between my work and Nepalgunj is being made…..so it will be with a bit of nervousness that I will drive the 20 km. home from work this afternoon – I might have to turn the car around and sleep in the office tonight….
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Sara - my colleague
I guess I never did introduce my colleague Sara so I better do that now.
Sara is a real Swedish girl better known as one of the many “Wanna-be-Danish”. Like me she is 30 years old. She is a human rights lawyer and in Nepalgunj she works with a human rights organization, HURON.
Sara and I met each other at a MS-seminar in Helsingør in April. We were together on the course in Tanzania and during the introduction period in Kathmandu. We moved to Nepalgunj and started working at the same time.
Though our work and everyday life is quite different it is incredibly nice to have a good friend and colleague to share it all with - and someone to help putting on the sari…..
Tihar - yet another festival
Nepal certainly is the land of festivals and October is the festival month. Tihar is the second big festival in October and is basically about honoring sisters and brothers, who give each other tika and exchange gifts.
However, the festival is also an opportunity for improvised song and dance groups to make extra money. Scores of these groups – especially children – go from door to door and perform singing the same monotone song before plugging in the small stereo to dance to Nepali music.
The children expect a bit of candy and 5-10 rupees for their performance, whilst the adults demands 2
00-500 rupees to their uninvited appearance. Since this is a great chance to make money these groups work around the clock during Tihar. We lock our gate pretty early, but the neighbour keeps it open all night, so thanks to the loud Nepali music coming from their front yard I haven’t been able to get much sleep during this festival.
Since Tihar is a family festival I have been invited to join my families in the celebration (my family in Nepal is my colleagues). This naturally requires that I show up in Sari and dance Nepali dance in front of the entire village. I do enjoy this part of the festival though. The hard part comes when dinner is served. You are expected to eat ½ kg. of rice and an equal amount of vegetables and meat. If you are not able to finish this and ask for extra rice your host will be extremely disappointed and unhappy. Yes, it is not always easy to be a foreigner in the land of festivals and dal bhat…..
However, the festival is also an opportunity for improvised song and dance groups to make extra money. Scores of these groups – especially children – go from door to door and perform singing the same monotone song before plugging in the small stereo to dance to Nepali music.
The children expect a bit of candy and 5-10 rupees for their performance, whilst the adults demands 2
00-500 rupees to their uninvited appearance. Since this is a great chance to make money these groups work around the clock during Tihar. We lock our gate pretty early, but the neighbour keeps it open all night, so thanks to the loud Nepali music coming from their front yard I haven’t been able to get much sleep during this festival.Since Tihar is a family festival I have been invited to join my families in the celebration (my family in Nepal is my colleagues). This naturally requires that I show up in Sari and dance Nepali dance in front of the entire village. I do enjoy this part of the festival though. The hard part comes when dinner is served. You are expected to eat ½ kg. of rice and an equal amount of vegetables and meat. If you are not able to finish this and ask for extra rice your host will be extremely disappointed and unhappy. Yes, it is not always easy to be a foreigner in the land of festivals and dal bhat…..
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The honeymooner!
As some of you might have noticed I am extremely happy with my life at the moment – Nepal is an exciting place to be, the job and colleagues are great, my apartment is nice and the weather is hot and humid just as I like it!
According to the literature on expats I am going through the first phase of a long cycle during my stay here. This phase is called “The Honeymoon”. Often when I talk to people how has lived long they shake their head, look at me with a knowing smile and tell me that the honeymoon period will not least…
Well, that might be but for now I am planning on making the most of it. My idea of honeymoon has something to do with nice beaches and cocktails and where better to get that than in Thailand. So during Dashain – the biggest festival in Nepal – I used my 9 day forced holiday to go on my honeymoon in Thailand.
The good thing about Thailand is that I have been there so many times now that I don’t have to worry about sight-seeing, I can just relax and hang out – so that I did!
My first day in Thailand I met up with Hans, one of my oldest friends from Denmark, he and his friend were at the end of their holiday flying home the same evening. But there was time for a lovely lunch drinking beer out of cups (apparently there is a law against serving alcohol between 2 and 5 pm!).
Later that night I met up with another wonderful friend, Akbar. He lives in Bangkok and through him I experienced some of the many great restaurants, bars and clubs in the city.
I also went with Akbar to Koh Samet for some quality time on the beach. Akbar could only stay for a few days though. Being by myself on the beach – with my cocktails and books - just made my honeymoon even more special and it was some of the must relaxing days I have had for years. The last days of my honeymoon was spent in Bangkok; shopping during the day and hanging out with Akbar in the evenings - absolutely lovely!
Now I am back in Nepal with lots of new energy. I am still happy as can be, so I guess the honeymoon will continue for a bit. According to the literature on expats I should be getting close to the so-called half-year crises – maybe this blog will reflect that; time will tell!
According to the literature on expats I am going through the first phase of a long cycle during my stay here. This phase is called “The Honeymoon”. Often when I talk to people how has lived long they shake their head, look at me with a knowing smile and tell me that the honeymoon period will not least…
Well, that might be but for now I am planning on making the most of it. My idea of honeymoon has something to do with nice beaches and cocktails and where better to get that than in Thailand. So during Dashain – the biggest festival in Nepal – I used my 9 day forced holiday to go on my honeymoon in Thailand.
The good thing about Thailand is that I have been there so many times now that I don’t have to worry about sight-seeing, I can just relax and hang out – so that I did!My first day in Thailand I met up with Hans, one of my oldest friends from Denmark, he and his friend were at the end of their holiday flying home the same evening. But there was time for a lovely lunch drinking beer out of cups (apparently there is a law against serving alcohol between 2 and 5 pm!).
Later that night I met up with another wonderful friend, Akbar. He lives in Bangkok and through him I experienced some of the many great restaurants, bars and clubs in the city.
I also went with Akbar to Koh Samet for some quality time on the beach. Akbar could only stay for a few days though. Being by myself on the beach – with my cocktails and books - just made my honeymoon even more special and it was some of the must relaxing days I have had for years. The last days of my honeymoon was spent in Bangkok; shopping during the day and hanging out with Akbar in the evenings - absolutely lovely!
Now I am back in Nepal with lots of new energy. I am still happy as can be, so I guess the honeymoon will continue for a bit. According to the literature on expats I should be getting close to the so-called half-year crises – maybe this blog will reflect that; time will tell!
Monday, September 18, 2006
My first dinner party
After living as a student for many years I am finally able to live in a place big enough for parties. And being a sucker for parties I decided to throw one right away.
The first people to invite into my new place was naturally my Nepali family; my colleagues. Since they all live far away it had to be in the daytime, so I invited everybody for Dal Bhat (the national dish here) for 11 a.m. Most of them showed up 2 hours late, but that is Nepali culture!
Having next to nothing in my kitchen I had ordered food from my favourite restaurant and it was great – especially since it was 90 rps. pr. person (a bit more than US$1). There was also plenty of it, so I was looking at living on Dal Bhat the next weeks, but luckily they took all the left-over with them……
This being my first real dinner party for 25 people I must say that is all went very well, but then again my guest where very easy to please. Most of them live in houses constructed of mud and the fact that I had no furniture was no problem to them – the floor was easily accepted. The only thing I did not regard was the fact that when it is as hot as it is here 25 people can consume an enormous amount of water – without the water pump outside my house I would probably have had people fainting all over the house.
The real reason for this little get-together was actually a small meeting – about me. As you know I work in two different organisations and it has been a big problem to figure out when to work where. So this meeting sorted it all out – at least I think so…strange participating in a meeting about me without knowing what is being said – I really need to learn this language.
After this very quick meeting it was time to dance – despite of the heat – and everybody had a great time. Unfortunately, people had to travel a bit to get home, so the party ended early – maybe next time I should arrange a sleep-over....
The first people to invite into my new place was naturally my Nepali family; my colleagues. Since they all live far away it had to be in the daytime, so I invited everybody for Dal Bhat (the national dish here) for 11 a.m. Most of them showed up 2 hours late, but that is Nepali culture!
Having next to nothing in my kitchen I had ordered food from my favourite restaurant and it was great – especially since it was 90 rps. pr. person (a bit more than US$1). There was also plenty of it, so I was looking at living on Dal Bhat the next weeks, but luckily they took all the left-over with them……This being my first real dinner party for 25 people I must say that is all went very well, but then again my guest where very easy to please. Most of them live in houses constructed of mud and the fact that I had no furniture was no problem to them – the floor was easily accepted. The only thing I did not regard was the fact that when it is as hot as it is here 25 people can consume an enormous amount of water – without the water pump outside my house I would probably have had people fainting all over the house.
The real reason for this little get-together was actually a small meeting – about me. As you know I work in two different organisations and it has been a big problem to figure out when to work where. So this meeting sorted it all out – at least I think so…strange participating in a meeting about me without knowing what is being said – I really need to learn this language.
After this very quick meeting it was time to dance – despite of the heat – and everybody had a great time. Unfortunately, people had to travel a bit to get home, so the party ended early – maybe next time I should arrange a sleep-over....
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Driving in Nepal
Before coming here I had a lot of ideas of what it would be like to be driving in Nepal, but for once I was wrong:
In Nepal you drive in the left-hand side
According to the law that is true, but I found out that in Nepal you drive where there is room! Sometimes that is on the left side of the road other times on the right side. Mostly you simply drive in the middle of the road!
The roads are made for vehicles
No, actually there are very few cars on the road in the Terai. In stead there seems to be everything else; the roads serve as big pedestrian streets where people cheerfully wander around stopping to chat with friends and street vendors. On top of that there are horse carriages, bicycle rickshaws, donkeys, buffalos and cows lying in the middle of the road.
Always use your rear-view mirror
No, there is so much happening on the road in front of you, that there simply is no time to look in the rear-view mirror. The road is often full of potholes and often a goat comes jumping out in front of the car. That is why you have to concentrate 100 % on looking ahead of you.
Only use the horn when absolutely necessary
Wrong again. You use the horn all the time. Since you don’t use the rear-view mirror, you have no chance of knowing whether or not somebody is about to overtake you – unless they use their horn. Besides from that people are very reluctant to move, if they have found a nice spot on the road. The horn can be your only weapon on the road.
Only overtaken when there is room
No, you overtake when the thing in front of you is moving too slow (bus, car, horse carriage, buffalo, etc.) whether or not there is room is not so important. Often you drive off-road when overtaking and should a car come towards you, well then, it just has to slow down or stop even, until you have passed.
My car is my work tool
Yes and no. Of course it is there to make my work easier but also to make life easier for everybody I know and their friends and acquaintances. So far I have managed to have ten passengers with my in the car; front- and backseat. This includes a music group who entertained with Nepali songs during the ride.
Well, you can say a lot about driving in Nepal, but it is never dull. I am in the lucky position that MS has provided me with a nice big Hi-Lux that never fails to bring me home safely. So I can just shake my head of the traffic culture here and take it all as a great experience….
In Nepal you drive in the left-hand side
According to the law that is true, but I found out that in Nepal you drive where there is room! Sometimes that is on the left side of the road other times on the right side. Mostly you simply drive in the middle of the road!
The roads are made for vehicles
No, actually there are very few cars on the road in the Terai. In stead there seems to be everything else; the roads serve as big pedestrian streets where people cheerfully wander around stopping to chat with friends and street vendors. On top of that there are horse carriages, bicycle rickshaws, donkeys, buffalos and cows lying in the middle of the road.
Always use your rear-view mirror
No, there is so much happening on the road in front of you, that there simply is no time to look in the rear-view mirror. The road is often full of potholes and often a goat comes jumping out in front of the car. That is why you have to concentrate 100 % on looking ahead of you.
Only use the horn when absolutely necessary
Wrong again. You use the horn all the time. Since you don’t use the rear-view mirror, you have no chance of knowing whether or not somebody is about to overtake you – unless they use their horn. Besides from that people are very reluctant to move, if they have found a nice spot on the road. The horn can be your only weapon on the road.
Only overtaken when there is room
No, you overtake when the thing in front of you is moving too slow (bus, car, horse carriage, buffalo, etc.) whether or not there is room is not so important. Often you drive off-road when overtaking and should a car come towards you, well then, it just has to slow down or stop even, until you have passed.
My car is my work tool
Yes and no. Of course it is there to make my work easier but also to make life easier for everybody I know and their friends and acquaintances. So far I have managed to have ten passengers with my in the car; front- and backseat. This includes a music group who entertained with Nepali songs during the ride.
Well, you can say a lot about driving in Nepal, but it is never dull. I am in the lucky position that MS has provided me with a nice big Hi-Lux that never fails to bring me home safely. So I can just shake my head of the traffic culture here and take it all as a great experience….
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tika
The universal symbol of Hinduism is the tika; a mark or dot placed in the middle of the forehead. A tika may be a small plastic dot, a smeared line of sindoor (red power), or a forehead-wide mixture of yogurt, rice, and sindoor.
The tike is a mark of blessing from the gods. It is also an acknowledgment of the divine within us all.
In many pictures of Shiva (one of the greatest Hindu gods), he is seen with a third eye placed in the middle of his forehead. The tika symbolises this third eye.
Receiving a tika is a common part of most ceremonies, an acknowledgment of the divine presence of the occasion and an invocation of divine protection for those receiving it. Receiving a tika on arrival or departure is an indication of the respect and affection of the people involved.
During my short time in Nepalgunj I have managed to receive numerous tikas from my future colleagues and women’s groups. I find it to be a beautiful ceremony and appreciate the symbolism of the tika. However, I have also learned the usefulness of caring a small mirror in your purse – and never wear white under a tika ceremony.
The tike is a mark of blessing from the gods. It is also an acknowledgment of the divine within us all.
In many pictures of Shiva (one of the greatest Hindu gods), he is seen with a third eye placed in the middle of his forehead. The tika symbolises this third eye.
Receiving a tika is a common part of most ceremonies, an acknowledgment of the divine presence of the occasion and an invocation of divine protection for those receiving it. Receiving a tika on arrival or departure is an indication of the respect and affection of the people involved.
During my short time in Nepalgunj I have managed to receive numerous tikas from my future colleagues and women’s groups. I find it to be a beautiful ceremony and appreciate the symbolism of the tika. However, I have also learned the usefulness of caring a small mirror in your purse – and never wear white under a tika ceremony.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
CWD – Centre for Women Development
Besides from working with DWO half of my time will be spent with CWD, Centre for Women Development. CWD is a small community based organisation started by women from the area in 1997. The overall vision of the organisation is to improve the livelihood of women in Nepal. The organisation works with 40 women’s groups – established by CWD – in Banke, Bardiya and Surkhet districts. These groups receive training in everything from literacy, health and group formation to bookkeeping, human rights and domestic violence.
CWD gives these women the knowledge and self-esteem they need to be able to improve their life and the life of their family. CWD helps these women become independent women able to demand their rights on both local and national level.
During my visit with CWD we visited two of these women’s groups. It is clear that CWD have had great success with their work. One of the groups has functioned in almost 10 years and all the women are now able to make their own money – thanks to CWD. Not only does this mean that they are able to feed their family, but also that they can send all of their children to school. One of the women in this group has been elected as board member of CWD, while another woman has been offered a job with a national NGO. These progresses would have been unimaginable for these women only 10 years ago.
My work with CWD
As with DWO my role at CWD is as advisor. I will mainly work at the organisations office (see the picture) in Khajura about 4 miles from Nepalgunj. But naturally I will also be visiting the different women’s groups in order to form an impression of the work in the groups and asses in which areas CWD can improve their support to the groups.
Despite the fact that I will be working in the same areas as with DWO, the tasks are quite different. Especially one task sounds appealing to me; 6 of the groups have decided to get together and form a cooperative and thereby leave CWD. This decision is fully backed by CWD, but they are very much aware that the cooperative will need a lot of support and help in the initial start-up phase, where many important decisions need to be made. CWD has asked me to advise them in this process. It will be incredibly exciting to work with and follow the creation of this cooperative during the next two years.
My colleagues at CWD are all women. The vast majority are women who themselves started as member of a women’s group and now have worked their way up to organisational level. They are strong and committed women that feel really strongly about their work with CWD. I will be working closely with Khagi, project coordinator and Purnakala, the organisations secretary. Both are great women but unfortunately, they hardly speak any English, so the first couple of months will be hard.
CWD is an organisation that in only 10 years has worked its way up to being the leading women rights organisation in Mid-West Nepal and it will be incredibly exciting to work with such a dynamic organisation.
CWD gives these women the knowledge and self-esteem they need to be able to improve their life and the life of their family. CWD helps these women become independent women able to demand their rights on both local and national level.
During my visit with CWD we visited two of these women’s groups. It is clear that CWD have had great success with their work. One of the groups has functioned in almost 10 years and all the women are now able to make their own money – thanks to CWD. Not only does this mean that they are able to feed their family, but also that they can send all of their children to school. One of the women in this group has been elected as board member of CWD, while another woman has been offered a job with a national NGO. These progresses would have been unimaginable for these women only 10 years ago.
My work with CWD
As with DWO my role at CWD is as advisor. I will mainly work at the organisations office (see the picture) in Khajura about 4 miles from Nepalgunj. But naturally I will also be visiting the different women’s groups in order to form an impression of the work in the groups and asses in which areas CWD can improve their support to the groups.
Despite the fact that I will be working in the same areas as with DWO, the tasks are quite different. Especially one task sounds appealing to me; 6 of the groups have decided to get together and form a cooperative and thereby leave CWD. This decision is fully backed by CWD, but they are very much aware that the cooperative will need a lot of support and help in the initial start-up phase, where many important decisions need to be made. CWD has asked me to advise them in this process. It will be incredibly exciting to work with and follow the creation of this cooperative during the next two years.
My colleagues at CWD are all women. The vast majority are women who themselves started as member of a women’s group and now have worked their way up to organisational level. They are strong and committed women that feel really strongly about their work with CWD. I will be working closely with Khagi, project coordinator and Purnakala, the organisations secretary. Both are great women but unfortunately, they hardly speak any English, so the first couple of months will be hard.
CWD is an organisation that in only 10 years has worked its way up to being the leading women rights organisation in Mid-West Nepal and it will be incredibly exciting to work with such a dynamic organisation.
DWO Banke-Bardiya
On my first visit to Nepalgunj I got the opportunity to meet the two organisations I will be working with, namely DWO and CWD. In this post I will tell you about DWO, where I will be working 50 % of my time – sorry about the length but there is a lot to tell.
Dalit Welfare Organisation
DWO – Dalit Welfare Organisation – is a Nepali organisation working for the rights of Dalit people on local and national level. The Dalits are the people in the bottom of the caste system. I have written a bit about the caste system at the end of this post.
DWO was founded in 1994 and works with the vision to create a justifiable by eliminating caste discrimination. DWO is an organisation founded by Dalits working solemnly to help other Dalits. The organisation focuses on raising the livelihood of the Dalit societies by raising the self-esteem of Dalits and build institutional capacities on grass-root level.
In the communities DWO works with women’s groups. The organisat
ion helps the poor Dalit women to organise themselves in a group. This group then receives different kinds of training first and foremost in literacy and group formation process. Besides from that they are informed of their rights and DWO helps kill many myths about Dalits and how they are worth less than other people. Thanks to the efforts of DWO these women are beginning to see themselves as equal to their neighbours.
Through these groups the women also start a small saving scheme. The money they collect are given to women in the group, who uses them to start a small income-generating activity, so she in that way can support her family. After some month she will start to repay the loan and the money will be disbursed to other women.
During my visit in Terai I had the chance to visit two of these Dalit women groups and I was impressed with the work that DWO has done. Women, who previously was afraid to say their own name, now stood up and told me about their problems and the support that DWO had given them in order to take manners into own hands and improve their livelihood.
My work with DWO
Though DWO is a large national organisation I will only be working with the regional office covering the Mid-West region. The office is located in Kohalpur about 12 miles north of Nepalgunj. My work will be as advisor to DWO helping them become more efficient as an organisation. Amongst others I will help them improve their programme planning and implementation, revised their monitoring and evaluation system, strengthen their networking abilities and hopefully influence them with a bit of Danish working culture. There is enough work to do and it will be a very exciting job. The majority of my colleagues are Dalit women, who have worked their way from the women’s groups to the organisational level. Because of that very few of them speaks English. Ishwori (see the picture), the daily manager and one of the few men in the organisation, will be my counterpart and close colleague for the coming two years. Luckily, he speaks English, so in the beginning I will have to rely a lot on him. But he is a great guy who loves a good laugh, so I am sure that we will have fun working together. I am looking very much forward to getting started and will keep you posted on my work with DWO.
The caste system
The population of Nepal is, just like in India, divided into a caste system. The caste system is more than 1000 years old and at the time of its creation it divided people into groups depending on their profession. There are four main castes each with several 100 sub castes and it is almost impossible to keep track of the 3000 castes that exist in Nepal today. The top caste, Brahmin, deals with religious tasks (priest and teachers), the following caste, Kshatriya, takes care of the political issues (elite and warriors), trades – and craftsmen belong to the Vaishy caste and in the bottom of the hierarchy the Dalit people are – also known as casteless or untouchable.
Since the Dalits perform the “dirtiest” jobs in the country people from other castes do not wish to get into contact with these people. Despite the fact that caste discrimination was made illegal in 1990 the Dalits still suffers under the system. The untouchables, representing 20 % of the population, live under conditions similar to apartheid being discrimination against on all levels of society. They are not allowed to eat with people from higher castes or use the same water source. Almost daily I read about a Dalit being beaten up because he has been drinking from a public water tap. This not only applies to adults, last week I read about a 7 year old girl being beaten up by a teacher because she drank water from a public tap.
Because the Dalits do not have access to the same resources as the rest of the population the vast majority of them live in great poverty. Besides from this they also have a very low self-esteem because they were raised in a society that considers them as untouchable.
In the Hindu religion people believe in karma and reincarnation. For this reason the caste system still exists since people believe that they were born into their caste because of actions in their previous lives. This also means that when an organisation like DWO are fighting to abolish all caste discrimination they are fighting against very old and strong traditions and beliefs – however, DWO are fighting hard and have done an amazing job.
Read more about DWO on: www.dwo.org.np
Dalit Welfare Organisation
DWO – Dalit Welfare Organisation – is a Nepali organisation working for the rights of Dalit people on local and national level. The Dalits are the people in the bottom of the caste system. I have written a bit about the caste system at the end of this post.
DWO was founded in 1994 and works with the vision to create a justifiable by eliminating caste discrimination. DWO is an organisation founded by Dalits working solemnly to help other Dalits. The organisation focuses on raising the livelihood of the Dalit societies by raising the self-esteem of Dalits and build institutional capacities on grass-root level.
In the communities DWO works with women’s groups. The organisat
ion helps the poor Dalit women to organise themselves in a group. This group then receives different kinds of training first and foremost in literacy and group formation process. Besides from that they are informed of their rights and DWO helps kill many myths about Dalits and how they are worth less than other people. Thanks to the efforts of DWO these women are beginning to see themselves as equal to their neighbours.Through these groups the women also start a small saving scheme. The money they collect are given to women in the group, who uses them to start a small income-generating activity, so she in that way can support her family. After some month she will start to repay the loan and the money will be disbursed to other women.
During my visit in Terai I had the chance to visit two of these Dalit women groups and I was impressed with the work that DWO has done. Women, who previously was afraid to say their own name, now stood up and told me about their problems and the support that DWO had given them in order to take manners into own hands and improve their livelihood.
My work with DWO
Though DWO is a large national organisation I will only be working with the regional office covering the Mid-West region. The office is located in Kohalpur about 12 miles north of Nepalgunj. My work will be as advisor to DWO helping them become more efficient as an organisation. Amongst others I will help them improve their programme planning and implementation, revised their monitoring and evaluation system, strengthen their networking abilities and hopefully influence them with a bit of Danish working culture. There is enough work to do and it will be a very exciting job. The majority of my colleagues are Dalit women, who have worked their way from the women’s groups to the organisational level. Because of that very few of them speaks English. Ishwori (see the picture), the daily manager and one of the few men in the organisation, will be my counterpart and close colleague for the coming two years. Luckily, he speaks English, so in the beginning I will have to rely a lot on him. But he is a great guy who loves a good laugh, so I am sure that we will have fun working together. I am looking very much forward to getting started and will keep you posted on my work with DWO.
The caste system
The population of Nepal is, just like in India, divided into a caste system. The caste system is more than 1000 years old and at the time of its creation it divided people into groups depending on their profession. There are four main castes each with several 100 sub castes and it is almost impossible to keep track of the 3000 castes that exist in Nepal today. The top caste, Brahmin, deals with religious tasks (priest and teachers), the following caste, Kshatriya, takes care of the political issues (elite and warriors), trades – and craftsmen belong to the Vaishy caste and in the bottom of the hierarchy the Dalit people are – also known as casteless or untouchable.
Since the Dalits perform the “dirtiest” jobs in the country people from other castes do not wish to get into contact with these people. Despite the fact that caste discrimination was made illegal in 1990 the Dalits still suffers under the system. The untouchables, representing 20 % of the population, live under conditions similar to apartheid being discrimination against on all levels of society. They are not allowed to eat with people from higher castes or use the same water source. Almost daily I read about a Dalit being beaten up because he has been drinking from a public water tap. This not only applies to adults, last week I read about a 7 year old girl being beaten up by a teacher because she drank water from a public tap.
Because the Dalits do not have access to the same resources as the rest of the population the vast majority of them live in great poverty. Besides from this they also have a very low self-esteem because they were raised in a society that considers them as untouchable.
In the Hindu religion people believe in karma and reincarnation. For this reason the caste system still exists since people believe that they were born into their caste because of actions in their previous lives. This also means that when an organisation like DWO are fighting to abolish all caste discrimination they are fighting against very old and strong traditions and beliefs – however, DWO are fighting hard and have done an amazing job.
Read more about DWO on: www.dwo.org.np
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Nepalgunj – first impression
After having waited for more than four months I finally arrived at Nepalgunj, the town I will be living in the next two years. The journey from Kathmandu to Terai is close to 600 km. (370 miles) and takes between 10 and 14 hours depending on road condition and weather. It is a really beautiful trip; through the mountains (though here they are called hills, being no more than a few thousand meters high) and down to the Terai, the most southern part of Nepal. Terai goes all the way from East to West and is totally flat. It is the most fertile part of the country which means that a great part of the population – including me – lives here.
Nepalgunj is supposed to be a big, dirty and uncharming town, so I had expected the worse. Luckily, I was positively surprised for several reasons. First of all, it doesn’t seem as big as expected. You don’t have to drive more than 10 min. either East or West before you find yourself in the paddy fields – however, if you go 10 min. South you will end up in India with a very chaotic border with lots of trade. Besides from that Nepalgunj has a very nice bazaar. There is a majority of Muslims living here and the small, narrow streets in the bazaar are reflecting that. You can get a great biryani (rice- and vegetable dish), lots of interesting spices and a bunch of other more or less exotic things.
Another surprise was the many street kitchens and small restaurants – the food here is really delicious including one of the many Nepalgunj specialties; BBQ mutton – yummy! Also there is a hotel owned by an American lady and rumour has it that she makes the best cheese burgers. So in case, you overdose on the Indian/Nepali food it is possible with a bit of junk food as well. And yes, there are other foreigners living here. So far I have met 10-12 bideshis, meaning that there are a few of use to share the great amount of attention given to us by the extremely curious locals. Like in Bangladesh it seems to be a hobby for people to stare at each other and strangers – preferably for several hours. Luckily, I have found a wonderful apartment away from the crowds. I have the entire roof top to myself and with its 3 story it is the highest house in the area, so hopefully I can find some peace there.
Of course there are less positive sides of Nepalgunj too such as the heat, the traffic, the many people and animals, the impossible internet- and Mobil connection and the many power cuts. But since I am not moving to the town for another two weeks those things haven’t started to bother me – yet! And when that time comes you can be sure to find a few entries on it on this blog.
Nepalgunj is supposed to be a big, dirty and uncharming town, so I had expected the worse. Luckily, I was positively surprised for several reasons. First of all, it doesn’t seem as big as expected. You don’t have to drive more than 10 min. either East or West before you find yourself in the paddy fields – however, if you go 10 min. South you will end up in India with a very chaotic border with lots of trade. Besides from that Nepalgunj has a very nice bazaar. There is a majority of Muslims living here and the small, narrow streets in the bazaar are reflecting that. You can get a great biryani (rice- and vegetable dish), lots of interesting spices and a bunch of other more or less exotic things.Another surprise was the many street kitchens and small restaurants – the food here is really delicious including one of the many Nepalgunj specialties; BBQ mutton – yummy! Also there is a hotel owned by an American lady and rumour has it that she makes the best cheese burgers. So in case, you overdose on the Indian/Nepali food it is possible with a bit of junk food as well. And yes, there are other foreigners living here. So far I have met 10-12 bideshis, meaning that there are a few of use to share the great amount of attention given to us by the extremely curious locals. Like in Bangladesh it seems to be a hobby for people to stare at each other and strangers – preferably for several hours. Luckily, I have found a wonderful apartment away from the crowds. I have the entire roof top to myself and with its 3 story it is the highest house in the area, so hopefully I can find some peace there.
Of course there are less positive sides of Nepalgunj too such as the heat, the traffic, the many people and animals, the impossible internet- and Mobil connection and the many power cuts. But since I am not moving to the town for another two weeks those things haven’t started to bother me – yet! And when that time comes you can be sure to find a few entries on it on this blog.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
My first weeks in Nepal
I have now been in Nepal for three weeks and I have to admit that it has been difficult for me to decide on what to put on this blog. There simply have been too many impressions, so instead I will use this entry to write about what I have been doing and what I will do….
First of all it is so incredible amazing to be back in South Asia. I love this chaos that seems to control the place: the many people, the crazy traffic, the cows on the streets, the noise, the sweet tea, the heat, the many strange smells and this feeling of being 100 % alive. It is difficult for me to comprehend that I am lucky enough to be living here of the next two years.
I am staying at the MS guest house situated on the ground floor of the MS office in the heart of Kathmandu. This means that my trip to work every day consists of about 30 steps up the staircase to the office. My first 8 weeks in the country I will be participating in an introduction course. So far I have had 2 weeks of language training as well as one week introduction to the country and the MS programme here. It has been some exciting weeks.
Next week will be even more exciting since I will be leaving Kathmandu on a partner visit in Nepalgunj, the town I will be living and working in the next two years. It is a 10 day field trip including 4 days transportation leaving me with 6 days to visit the two organisations I will be working in, the communities they work in, finding a house and getting to know the town, so it will be a very busy schedule. Still, I am super thrilled about going – it will be so exciting. Once back in Kathmandu I will continue with another two weeks of language training before moving – in mid-August – to the hottest place in Nepal….the Terai.
First of all it is so incredible amazing to be back in South Asia. I love this chaos that seems to control the place: the many people, the crazy traffic, the cows on the streets, the noise, the sweet tea, the heat, the many strange smells and this feeling of being 100 % alive. It is difficult for me to comprehend that I am lucky enough to be living here of the next two years.
I am staying at the MS guest house situated on the ground floor of the MS office in the heart of Kathmandu. This means that my trip to work every day consists of about 30 steps up the staircase to the office. My first 8 weeks in the country I will be participating in an introduction course. So far I have had 2 weeks of language training as well as one week introduction to the country and the MS programme here. It has been some exciting weeks.
Next week will be even more exciting since I will be leaving Kathmandu on a partner visit in Nepalgunj, the town I will be living and working in the next two years. It is a 10 day field trip including 4 days transportation leaving me with 6 days to visit the two organisations I will be working in, the communities they work in, finding a house and getting to know the town, so it will be a very busy schedule. Still, I am super thrilled about going – it will be so exciting. Once back in Kathmandu I will continue with another two weeks of language training before moving – in mid-August – to the hottest place in Nepal….the Terai.
Monday, July 10, 2006
To learn Nepali....
One of my first tasks in Kathmandu is to learn to speak, understand, write and read Nepali – and yes, it is just as hard as it sounds! Luckily, I have always enjoyed learning languages and it has proven especially fun in a country as Nepal where everybody has the time and patience to be test dummies, while I stutter my way through the sentences and the grammar.
However, it is not all fun. I am constantly reminded of the importance of learning the language. First of all it seems that none of my future colleagues speak English – reasonably enough since most of them are extreme poor women – so if I am to work with them in any kind of productive way I need to learn the language. Besides from this it seems that without knowing the language you can easily find yourself in a situation where you might know where you are but not where you are going……
Because of the above mentioned reasons I have thrown myself into language training. To start with I only get 2 x 2 weeks before starting to work, so it is quite intensive training. Not only is the grammar incredible complicated and turned upside down, they also use totally different letters – pretty rude in a country where the only thing talked about is inclusiveness; currently I am feeling pretty excluded!
Lucky for me MS Nepal has two amazing language trainers who manage to make the training fun and the language understandable – partly. I have already learned 34 different letters so I am progressing, now I only need to learn another 26 letters – and then being able to tell the difference between them, naturally. So hopefully, I will be speaking Nepali in about 2 years when my contract expires…..
However, it is not all fun. I am constantly reminded of the importance of learning the language. First of all it seems that none of my future colleagues speak English – reasonably enough since most of them are extreme poor women – so if I am to work with them in any kind of productive way I need to learn the language. Besides from this it seems that without knowing the language you can easily find yourself in a situation where you might know where you are but not where you are going……
Because of the above mentioned reasons I have thrown myself into language training. To start with I only get 2 x 2 weeks before starting to work, so it is quite intensive training. Not only is the grammar incredible complicated and turned upside down, they also use totally different letters – pretty rude in a country where the only thing talked about is inclusiveness; currently I am feeling pretty excluded!
Lucky for me MS Nepal has two amazing language trainers who manage to make the training fun and the language understandable – partly. I have already learned 34 different letters so I am progressing, now I only need to learn another 26 letters – and then being able to tell the difference between them, naturally. So hopefully, I will be speaking Nepali in about 2 years when my contract expires…..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)