It’s easy to tell when I’ve really settled into a new place. I suddenly find myself with a gazillion things to do, I’m on the go 24/7, the weeks fly by and other that on Shabbat any time I spend “chilling” I’m thinking at the back of my mind about the list of things I need to do. For better or worse I think I’ve really settled into life in Nepal.
Pigs and Debt:
So what am I up to? Let’s begin with two words: “pigs” and “debt”. Yes it may seem a bit random but really these words have come to dominate my thoughts and time here. I’ll try briefly to explain. As I mentioned in my last blog I work with people in a stone quarry along the river. These people live in terrible conditions and so TbT has been looking what they can do to improve their livelihoods beyond their regular activities. Specifically they have been looking at introducing micro-saving or income generation schemes. The problem is that these people are all deeply in debt, or what a previous volunteer described more drastically as being bound in “debt slavery.” I’m not sure yet If I’d go that far but still in the process of researching. Basically it’s pretty clear the labourers are getting exploited, they get paid very little for their stones and are forced to buy groceries and supplies from the same brokers they sell to, usually for higher than market prices. However it’s still unclear as to how bad the situation is or what the best approach is for trying to change it. That’s what I’m trying to find out, I go each day to the stone quarry with Prakash our translator and the two of us sit interviewing women, asking them about their lives, families etc. The pigs come in, in that one of the income generation activities that was attempted here was pig farming. Yet it’s unclear how successful this has been, the women give mixed responses and the NGO responsible has no follow up/ documentation (which apparently is quite normal in Nepal) so before we start anything new, we are trying to figure out how this previous attempt has worked. I could go into far more detail, but perhaps Ill leave it for my book, (I’m only half joking, I’ve already written a 13 page summary on my findings so far.) Suffice is to say I feel like I’m involved in my own little minor mystery with new information coming up every day. (For more of an idea of what I’m talking about see his video on TBT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcOx-utExlI)
Fight Club:
Other than pigs and debt, our group has come up with a really exciting project that we hope will be our major contribution to Mahadevbesi. Basically, there is a lot of antagonism between the stone quarry and the Rai village communities in which we work. The Rai farmers own the land in the stone quarry and apparently there has always been a lot of tension between them and the stone quarry people who are migrants. For example there are often incidents of stones being thrown down onto the homes of the stone quarry families. It seems crazy to us, that given the fact that we work with both groups, there is nothing we could do to try bridge the gap between the two communities. So we came up with the idea to start a fight club. Basically there is a large piece of ground in the stone quarry that we plan to clear and use as the arena. We want to get youth, women and men from both communities involved and to really take ownership of the project. We will then hold regular fights between the two communities. We felt this would give them a constructive outlet for their tension, in a formal arena. What’s more we felt this could also assist with our attempts at gender equality. Since the women here are so tough from working in the field or in the stone quarry, we believe with a bit of training in self defence and perhaps some Israeli Krav Megai techniques they could easily beat men in the fighting arena. We think this could go a long way in improving their self confidence and countering domestic violence which is a huge issue. Furthermore this project has a huge income generation aspect as we would charge for fights and the women could also sell refreshments or Dalbud on the side.
Ok, if you wondering what the hell I’m going on about- I’m joking! This was the presentation we were planning on giving to the rest of the group at our Kathmandu seminar last week. Unfortunately it’s a lot easier to give over such a proposal over a computer screen where no one can see you laughing. Despite a few days practising and much determination, I could not succeed in stopping myself laughing at the very idea of such a presentation, (It seems I need some work on my poker face). So when the time came to present our project and I was crying in hysterics before I even opened my mouth, as someone pointed out I “had already lost all my credibility” before I even began. Instead everyone was laughing at me which wasn’t exactly the intended effect, but I guess at least they were laughing.
The truth is we do have a really awesome project we are working on between the Rai and the Stone Quarry, with all the same considerations minus the “fight club” part. We are building a sports field for the youth from both communities. Everyone will be involved in the process of clearing the land, building soccer nets and volley ball posts etc. Afterwards we plan to hold a fun day in which the youth from both communities will partake. The idea, as with the “fight club” is to bridge the gap between the two communities. So far we have had a great response. We have discussed it with our youth and women’s groups who are all ready to get involved and this week we had a meeting with the 9 Rai landowners, one of the “notorious” stone quarry brokers and the stone quarry women. At this meeting we signed a 5 year contract where we were given the use of the land. One of the literate Rai men wrote the contract and all signed, or did a finger print in the case of those who were illiterate. It was certainly one of the most interesting meetings I’ve been to in a while...
Other than that things are going well in general, there is a lot going on in Mahadevbesi, we running a first aid course for the stone quarry youth this week, we just started building a garden at the blind school and are very much into the swing of things with our regular meetings. I love walking through the village to tutor “my girls” and everyone greeting me “Namaste Camala Didi” (Namaste= hello, Camala = my Nepali name, didi= older sister, a term of respect/affection used for women in Nepal). I enjoy going down to the stone quarry, jumping over rocks to cross the river and then sitting “chilling” with the women as we try learning more about their lives. Even just being with the group in our house is always fun with never a dull moment. Seven people living in a mud-house makes you get very close very fast whether you like it or not and we have in many respects become like a mini family with all that entails.
Weekends are also fun, I usually try get away and go somewhere pretty (although Maahadvbesi is beautiful, somewhere with running water and possibly internet for the weekend is a priority). On Sunday nights however I usually find myself in Kathmandu where I have developed a routine of going with two of the Kathmandu volunteers for Thumba. Thumba is my new favourite alcohol, it’s made out of fermented Millet, served in a jug, to which you keep adding hot water. It’s amazing because 1. It tastes really good 2. It makes you warm and 3. It never ends! (Although I’m afraid that means I am incapable of drinking one without it going straight to my head) So in general weekends are fun but usually after one or two microbus rides packed to over capacity and Nepali traffic I’m usually ready to get back to the village. (Two weeks ago there where at least 26 of us in a minivan, the first part I could neither sit nor stand so I remained crouched (I am slightly taller than the average Nepali) and then sat on a woman’s lap for the second half) for a journey that should have taken 10 minutes but took 30. I also still cant get over how you can even get caught in a traffic jam on foot. )
Anyways there is so much more, but that’s the update for now. We have our midway seminar this week so off to Gorka, one of the more remote provinces in Nepal tomorrow where we will spend Shabbat/New Year, like everything else here should be interesting...
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