We are a bit behind schedule these days what with the transportation
blockades, strikes and general threats from just about every side of the
insurgency issue. Some of our “good governance” (seems rather laughable,
all things considered—no real government since October here…) and
participatory development workshops have been delayed, and so too has our
departure to the Terai. Nepal has received more international press over
the past few weeks with some particularly large attacks and a call from the
United Nations—Kofi Annan himself—for the end of violence on both sides and
a resumption of peace talks. These appeals have been brushed aside by the
government—the agitating parties as they are known here—which has, in some
sense, made the Maoists seem like a much more sympathetic lot. Nepalis
unassociated with the government speak of breakthroughs in the coming
weeks, but it is hard to sense in the current milieu. In addition to the
38 million from USAID for development activities and programs, it was
announced that the US is proposing to provide an additional 14 million
for “insurgency aid” although it did not specify exactly what form said aid
would take…. although we may assume the worse with this administration.
My talks, meetings and briefings with Nepali NGOs continue to enrich and
augment my development skill set in the most practical of ways. Overall I
have been encouraged and enlightened by what I see transpiring within the
NGO sector and civil society movement. Internal advocacy and awareness
raising programs have essentially only been in existence since Nepal’s
democracy reforms in the early 1990’s, yet, by all indications have made
great strides with limited resources. This is particularly heartening as
well due to the entrenched hurdles and restraints of culture, caste and
religion. Of course, I know little at this point regarding design,
management and implementation practices in the field outside of the
Kathmandu Valley. Much of the English language literature within Nepal—a
lot of it dated—focuses quite a bit on the fatalistic nature of development
in terms of cultural restraints and accomplishments, or lack thereof, over
the past decades. Granted, questions of what constitutes the nature of the
developed society or person and of poverty that development is supposed to
dispel are central to development theorists, and the aspirations and
necessities of development need not be simulacrum of the modern western
notions of development and globalization. For the most part, aid has been
driven by donor agency agendas with little being used to address the root
causes or alleviate poverty, and critiques of such agendas—in addition to
recipient country aid policies—are warranted. Although NGO aid is not
without fault, it is more likely to directly address poverty and support
and encourage alternative developmental models, I believe a fundamental
question, therefore, seems to be would poor and developing countries be
worse off without such aid?
Last Friday, I received a surprise visit from three members of my NGO—
Mahilla Sanskritik Utarn Kendra or Woman (sic) Cultural Development Centre—
who just happened to be in Kathmandu on other business. Our first meeting
was mostly informal in nature and went very, very well. I was pleased to
make it through most of this initial meeting with my halting and choppy
Nepali. The president is a pleasant and friendly woman with an infectious
laugh and smile… Although one does not hear a great deal about Maoist
activity in Mahottari, apparently, much to my chagrin, much of Bardibas has
been without phone service and electricity over the past couple of months.
This has been a typical scenario for much of rural western Nepal but it is
the first I have heard of such events in my own part of the Terai. Things
get repaired much slower outside of the Kathmandu Valley, but hopefully
this is only temporary and will not disrupt my work—nor communicating with
you through these pages—for very long… Although both Migyoung and I are
anxious to move the Terai, we still have a final week of language, a few
more workshops to complete in addition to more NGO visits that I hope to
make.
Segueing into a different topic, Migyoung and I returned to Manamaiju this
past weekend to visit our host families. This was a very Nepali sort of
thing to do—drop by unannounced—but no one seemed to mind and everyone was happy to see us. We made copies of some photographs of the family as a
small gift, which they loved and I am sure will cherish. I put a few
photographs from our return to Manamaiju in the photo gallery including my
first go at the outdoor, concrete ping-pong table.