Back in Dhading
We
had a wonderful time in UK over Dec/Jan with family celebrations leading up to
Peter and Nikki’s wonderful wedding, then Christmas and New Year, having
special times with Lizzie, Matt and the girls from Cambodia with a happy house
full!
View of Himlayas flying in above Kathmandu and the smog line
Approaching Kathmandu minutes later below the smog line
We
felt surprisingly disorientated on returning to Nepal. It has been
uncomfortably cold, (but this week warming up), in Kathmandu with no heating in
the houses. Due to the continuing Indian blockade there is still a serious fuel
and gas shortage as well as very poor electricity supply – down to around 3
hours in the daytime. In Nepal electricity is produced by hydro and as the
rivers dry up the electric produced is less. Yubaraj, one of the taxi drivers
we know, queued for 14 days for 20 litres of petrol. Not surprisingly he, like
many others, has now resorted to the black market which is thriving but means
fares are doubled.
Yubaraj - still smiling…..
Fuel shortage…fewer buses….overloading
I
am spending more time in Dhading now that strategic planning and staff
recruitment is complete. We all miss Jaap who left recently but I am enjoying
working with Shiva, the new manager. He comes from Dhading and lives there with
his young family. He has good negotiating skills and knows key people in the
District, which will be very beneficial to DDRP going forward and working with
local partners.
Last
week most of our construction staff were out selecting potential people to take
part in village level mason training, which will start in February, with 25
from each VDC (borough) in the first round. In total 500 local masons will be
trained in earthquake resistant technology. We are building some demo houses during
the training which will be utilized by the community after completion. We have
become aware that there is the risk of losing these masons to better paid projects in the Middle East once they
are trained, so we have decided to issue their certificates only when they have built
some houses, as the second phase of their training.
We are working under very difficult conditions at present but there are some signs of progress to keep us going. We managed to obtain 3000 litres of Diesel fuel for
DDRP from the Nepal Oil Corporation after a lot of negotiating, running here
and there to different offices to get yet another chit signed! The blockade is
affecting material prices such as cement, steel, etc. and also availability
locally. For example, a bag of cement has increased in price by 40% and it is
very difficult to obtain steel especially.
The
long wait for Government clearance and permissions for house reconstruction has
been very stressful but now appears to be imminent. We had a successful meeting
with the Director of the central government office responsible for house
building programmes. After months of insisting that INGOs could not proceed
until government funds were released, they have now requested INGOs to provide
financial support for house reconstruction after all as they say that they will
not have sufficient funds for all the houses to be built.
We
are already supporting 8,000 households through livelihoods as well as
community infrastructure such as re-building bridges, schools, toilets and
drinking water systems – work which is already underway. For the housing
project we will provide support to 1100 houses in total. We will be seeking
more donors to complete our plans for housing, having increased the number of
Learning Centres, roads, bridges and hydro projects, on the understanding that
the government was mainly funding the housing support, which, as explained, is
now not the case!
Apart
from these political challenges, there are also social consequences to people’s
long wait for the house building grants. People are suffering greatly and
children are dying from cold especially in the high Himal areas. Ironically
these people seem to be the most resilient, proactive and cooperative –
necessarily, in order to survive. One of our Hindu staff remarked that the
Christian Tamangs in the North appear to be the most resilient in rebuilding their communities and overcoming
trauma – she thinks this may be due to their regular meeting together for
singing, prayer and mutual support.
Further
south there appears to be more feeling of disillusionment with the long wait
for government support which has led to feelings of hopelessness and apathy and
a general loss of traditional community spirit. It has sometimes even been
difficult for our staff to find food, lodging and cooperation for activities –
something that previously was never a problem. There is reported increase in
drinking and gambling probably to ‘block out’ the harsh realities. Women and
girls, especially those who are displaced and in camps as a result of the
earthquake, are more vulnerable to prostitution and trafficking.
Rachel
– I continue to work with the three local NGOs I am connected with. The
disability organization has received a small grant to support disabled people
in earthquake affected areas. We are working on their plans to distribute
equipment such as crutches and commodes (there are no inside toilets) and raise
awareness in those areas on the needs and rights of indigenous disabled people
(minority tribal groups). At ASHA, we are preparing presentations for various
institutions, – schools, police and nurses training, to raise awareness and
promote responsibility at every level in society regarding violence against
women and sex trafficking. It is estimated that 10,000 to 15,000
Nepali women and girls are trafficked annually to many Middle East and Asian
countries. At least 200,000 Nepali women and girls are
held in the sex industry in India but the actual magnitude is unknown.
Many
girls are trafficked by relatives, friends and partners, often out of sheer
desperation.
Smriti Khadka the director of ASHA says:
"Trust is the key issue. Many trafficked people are victims
of their own relatives, friends and partners. The agents spend time persuading
young women and girls with promises of marriage, a good life, work and money.
Sometimes they actually marry the girls and take them to their
destinations."
Although it is the highly disadvantaged
who are most at risk, just this week Finlay was told by a Nepali female
colleague of a well educated young women from Dhading studying for her MA. Over
a long period, she had built up a relationship with a man from another district
on Facebook and they planned to marry. When they finally met, despite his
efforts to convince her, she soon realized that she had be duped all along and
his real intention was to traffic her to the Middle East. With most teenagers
having mobiles, this opens up new threats of exposure to porn and the dangers
of trafficking behind the backs of parents. ASHA Nepal does a great job of
supporting women and girls who have experienced sexual violence and those who
have been trafficked, helping them to reintegrate into society.
Lastly here are a few photos of our walk last week up to Kirtipur, an ancient former Kingdom high up on the edge of Kathmandu:
Meanwhile, on another part of this planet Joss Stone live in Kathmandu on Thursday.
Tempting….!
