Migyoung and I are still in Kathmandu partaking of the cornucopia of food,
an occasional hot shower (first time we've needed it, really) and working
on and waiting for the details of our next move... In all likelihood, we
will be leaving Bardibas soon for new digs and work assignments--a move
prompted more by failed work commitments than security issues. The most
likely candidate at the moment is Janakpur--a city we know well from our
many excursions. It's an even steamier location than Bardibas (who counts
when it's 40+C!) yet satisfies our longing to be in an area with a strong
identity, culture and history (truly HERstory: birthplace of Sita!). It is
perhaps the most Indian of Nepali cities: loudspeakers attached to bicycle
rickshaws announcing the lastest Hindu film offerings, connoisseur
offerings of paan (remember the paan dentist?), blindingly bright saris and
72 hour Hindu religious ceremonies broadcast for the entire town (whether
you like it or not).
Tentatively, my new work assignment will be with an NGO called Aasaman Nepal
(apparently aasaman means sky in Mithili--an ethnic group and language
prevelant in the Terai) which focuses on the elimination of child labour and
universal education for all children regardless of caste. It's a national
NGO with offices in Kathmandu and Janakpur although its working area is in
the Terai (note: I had always assumed Terai meant plains or flatlands, but
have since come to know that it actually means "land of fever" due to its
malarial past...). I have met a couple of the people who work with Aasaman
who stopped by my current partner organization to mull over possibilities
of collaborative efforts. I liked them both quite a bit and admired the
organizational platform of zero tolerance for child labor and commitment to
the objectives--I can only hope that management practices, good governance
and commitment ot change are more than merely lip service to these
ideals... While my current organization has expressed such commitment
verbally, its actions tell another story, which is the impetus behind my
tentative move. I will hopefully have the opportunity to talk about an
agreement with Aasaman in the coming days.
While I'm quite happy about the opportunity to live in Janakpur with its
access to food and other things, I know that both Migyoung and I dread
another long, hot summer in the Terai. It has been especially hard on her
to find the motivation and energy to work and because the summer, heat and
monsoons last for so long, even though the winter is approaching, it's hard
to not think ahead to the difficulties... But because my potential new org
has an office in Kathmandu, there may be more opportunities to travel here
for the both of us. We'll certainly miss our new abode in Bardibas, which
we were just settling into and finding it to be our own little oasis and
becoming friendly with our new neighbors, or beyond the typical question
and answer session that once must go through in Nepal...
In my current work situation, I am slowly beginning to divorce myself from
attachments to outcomes after discerning that it leaving me more frustrated
than optimistic. This, in many ways, is counter-intuitive to my training
in NGO management and policy, but has seemed to help me build bridges
slowly with my colleagues... But in many ways, my current partners blew
it. They really haven't been committed to the objectives they agreed to and
resist any sort of changes that I have advised them to make, being quite
content in their duplicate roles of board and staff, having family members
and friends on the same and controlling everything in the same way. I have
pointed out the loss of funding over the past few years as an endemic
feature of poor governance and accountability, but it hasn't gotten me
anywhere yet. I have been the first to point out that they have done many
great things in their district, but upon further research into this, it
seems as if they have been the recipient of funding, for example, merely
because there is such a lack of worthy nongovernmental orgs in the area and
that INGOs were merely looking to fulfill regional quotas. The more they
survive, the more they seem content in this little world of theirs. At the
same time, I will be attempting to leave it open so that I can visit my
organization a couple times of month to help out with projects even if I do
organize and get this new position. This also works as a face-saving
measure, for if they haven't done much work, they have been quite good to
me on a personal level.
As the monsoon season comes to a close, the agitating parties and Maoists
are revving up for the new season. More grumblings of talks are in the papers, but no one seems to have much confidence in anyone else these days. No other major incidents to report of since the bombing of the US Center, which the Maoists haven't even claimed up to this point...
For now, we enjoy our filter coffee.