Coming soon to a theatre near you.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Last Day
On this, the last day of the program, I find myself thinking about anything but the end of the program: finishing my papers, buying gifts for everyone, both here and back home and preparing to go trekking.It's natural, of course, to be caught up in the day-to-day details and only think about the experience as a whole when you are out of that environment. But, considering all the things that made life so difficult in this country, I have been struck by the fact that we are leaving, leaving all of it behind and all the people we have met here will continue their lives, with all the frustrations and obstacles that we all complained about for two months. This is by no means a novel observation: observant travellers always remember how lucky they are to have the option to move away from a life that is difficult. Even when experiencing all the traffic and pollution and trash and bandhs here, we always kept in mind that we were leaving on a certain date and would never have to deal with it all again. This will be foremost on my mind as I take off from Tribhuvan and look at KTM one last time.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
FROM SOUTH TO SOUTH
If there is something that I find positive about globalization, it is the fact that now Southern countries can share experiences and solutions to their problems without being mediated by the North. Coming from another Southern part of the world –Latin America-, I have been thinking a lot about experiences from there that are relevant to the current Nepali debate.
Bolivia is the most similar South American country to Nepal. Both share some sad figures and facts regarding social and economic development. They have a very short (and weak) democratic background and have historically been regarded as “failed states”. Even geographically, they are very similar: both have landlocked and mountainous territories. But, above all, they are multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual countries with a huge part of their populations remaining marginalized. For a historic coincidence, these two countries also began a political process to change this situation almost simultaneously.
After decades of being seen as the poor and unstable neighbor of the region, Bolivia is becoming to change this image. And part of it is related to the political process that started after President Evo Morales’ electoral victory in 2005.
Before becoming the head of state of Bolivia, Morales was the leader of the “cocaleros” movement, a coca leaf-growing peasants union that resisted the “Plan Dignity” implemented in 1995 to eradicate the coca plantations. Morales’ party, the MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo –Movement To Socialism), won the general elections promising the decriminalization of the production of coca for domestic use –closely related to the traditions of the indigenous populations-, a land reform, and the renationalization of the oil and gas industries privatized during the 1990’s.
It is impossible to understand Morales’ political rise without an overview of Bolivia’s history. Probably, only a few Latin American oligarchies have been as dominant as the Bolivian one. A small minority group of European descendant has controlled the political, economic and cultural spheres since the country independence, 200 years ago. Behind this supremacy were some racist prejudices against the indigenous majority that makes up 60% of the Bolivians. The original population was historically marginalized and excluded from all decision-making spaces until the victory of Morales.
After years of a severe social crisis that included ethnic backlashes, Bolivia was in need of formulating a new social agreement. And what is a constitution if not a pact among all the social groups to regulate their life in a shared territory?
A Constitutional Assembly was created with this purpose in 2006. The only key for its success was to write a constitution that for the first time was going to leave behind the practices that have aggravated marginalization. After working for almost two years, the text was approved by 61% of the population in a national referendum.
The new constitution strengthens the position of the indigenous population, reinforces the role of the state in the economy and recognizes an autonomic state at the departmental, municipal and indigenous level. The constitutional text dedicates a whole chapter to the rights of the indigenous populations; it defines a quota for them in the Parliament, recognizes indigenous forms of justice and assures their presence in the Constitutional Court. Moreover, it declares Bolivia as a Plurinational State and abolishes Catholicism as the national religion.
The Bolivian experience does not prove that a new Constitution can produce a radical change from one day to another. However, some progress in the integration of the indigenous population already shows that it can represent a step toward; especially, if the constitution represents a national agreement to avoid exclusion and shorten the social, geographical and ethnic distances of the past.
Bolivia is the most similar South American country to Nepal. Both share some sad figures and facts regarding social and economic development. They have a very short (and weak) democratic background and have historically been regarded as “failed states”. Even geographically, they are very similar: both have landlocked and mountainous territories. But, above all, they are multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual countries with a huge part of their populations remaining marginalized. For a historic coincidence, these two countries also began a political process to change this situation almost simultaneously.
After decades of being seen as the poor and unstable neighbor of the region, Bolivia is becoming to change this image. And part of it is related to the political process that started after President Evo Morales’ electoral victory in 2005.
Before becoming the head of state of Bolivia, Morales was the leader of the “cocaleros” movement, a coca leaf-growing peasants union that resisted the “Plan Dignity” implemented in 1995 to eradicate the coca plantations. Morales’ party, the MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo –Movement To Socialism), won the general elections promising the decriminalization of the production of coca for domestic use –closely related to the traditions of the indigenous populations-, a land reform, and the renationalization of the oil and gas industries privatized during the 1990’s.
It is impossible to understand Morales’ political rise without an overview of Bolivia’s history. Probably, only a few Latin American oligarchies have been as dominant as the Bolivian one. A small minority group of European descendant has controlled the political, economic and cultural spheres since the country independence, 200 years ago. Behind this supremacy were some racist prejudices against the indigenous majority that makes up 60% of the Bolivians. The original population was historically marginalized and excluded from all decision-making spaces until the victory of Morales.
After years of a severe social crisis that included ethnic backlashes, Bolivia was in need of formulating a new social agreement. And what is a constitution if not a pact among all the social groups to regulate their life in a shared territory?
A Constitutional Assembly was created with this purpose in 2006. The only key for its success was to write a constitution that for the first time was going to leave behind the practices that have aggravated marginalization. After working for almost two years, the text was approved by 61% of the population in a national referendum.
The new constitution strengthens the position of the indigenous population, reinforces the role of the state in the economy and recognizes an autonomic state at the departmental, municipal and indigenous level. The constitutional text dedicates a whole chapter to the rights of the indigenous populations; it defines a quota for them in the Parliament, recognizes indigenous forms of justice and assures their presence in the Constitutional Court. Moreover, it declares Bolivia as a Plurinational State and abolishes Catholicism as the national religion.
The Bolivian experience does not prove that a new Constitution can produce a radical change from one day to another. However, some progress in the integration of the indigenous population already shows that it can represent a step toward; especially, if the constitution represents a national agreement to avoid exclusion and shorten the social, geographical and ethnic distances of the past.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Deurali pictures 2
Talking with Dalit women about water issues
Visiting the school
Jenny with the water group
Police and army talking to me in front of their post- taken from behind to avoid any issues.
Getting fresh honey for us
The heat was brutal
Home for a couple daysInside development or Can rats be post-conflict?
Jenny and I went to the village of Deurali to do some fieldwork. The population is about 200 people and it is clear they have seen no tourists since the conflict, and before that, they were sparse. Because of a “light” bandh we were stuck at Bengas Lake for most of the first day. The lake and its environs were beautiful and reminded me of Southeast Asia with the rice paddies and subtropical plants. Or perhaps it was the oppressive heat. Eventually we made it on to a bus accompanied by our host for the next few days, Prakash, an impressive young man who started a private school a few years ago, and now has upwards of 120 students. The road became gravel, which became stone, which became a rutted, grooved path to the top of the mountain. It was an occasionally harrowing, slow, bumpy ride up a narrow mountain road- and when I say slow I mean not over 10mph and stopping often to let people on and off. The heat inside the bus was indescribable as even Nepali’s began to sweat. Then the woman beside me began to throw up. Character building. Then we arrived at the village, which sits at the top of a plateau in the jungle. It was extremely lush with some of the thickest virgin forest I have ever seen. Deurali can be quite isolated during the monsoon season because the road is not passable when it rains too much. Unfortunately, for the farmers this has been a dry monsoon season but it does mean the road is open.
Then we hiked uphill about five minutes to Prakash’s house that he shares with his great grandmother, grandmother, father, his wife, and niece.
The house is modest with clay floors and is adjoined with the barn where the goats and ox live. We spend the evening talking with the family and seeing the school that Prakash is principal of, and then we were taken on a hike up the mountain and into the village. Dinner was good dhal bhat and takaari followed by bed under our mosquito nets
The next day Prujol, Prakash’s brother, had a full day planned for us:
7:00am- A meeting led by Jenny with the Water Management Council. This village did not have electricity until 5 years ago and now is a success story with clean water and toilets. Before that, people used the bathroom in the jungle and had to walk hours to collect their water. With their village and others working together along with an INGO they now have 30 faucets with clean spring water flowing from them. This spirit of collectivism and cooperation was clearly very strong, and I found it quite inspiring. At the end of the meeting, we were given gifts of organic coffee that the village is now able to grow due to these water projects.
8:30am- We were brought up to the police post, which was attacked and held by the Maoists for 5 years. A crowd gathered and I was able to conduct my mini-truth commission as people related their tales- specifically of the night the Maoists took over the barracks.
This village was highly affected by the conflict. The family we stayed with was forced to house and feed Maoists fighters on many occasions, and had some harrowing tales to share with us.
We then went with an organic honey farmer who was proud to give us a taste straight from the hive. It was the best honey either Jenny or I had tasted before. Or we were just blinded by the village loveliness. Or by the brutal jungle sun.
After that, we had breakfast and visited the school Prakash runs. This was followed by an all-afternoon hike with Prujol to visit different villages, from Gurung to Dalit. The people were open and happy to answer any of our questions.
Finally, we hung out in the village and went to a small festival. We were given dinner and all of us shared a massive tasty jackfruit.
Jenny and I then retired to our digs where on this night we were entertained by a family of massive rats running around our room. These were most certainly post-conflict rats, as they seemed content to just run around us but not to jump on us. We appreciated this and eventually the rain drowned out the sounds of their squeals and we passed out.
The next day we chased the bus down the mountain, and it brought us dirty but very content back to Pokhara, with a much clearer picture of what bikas in rural Nepal looks like.
Deurali
Up to our house for the next two days
This young lady was gracious enough to share her home with us
The school that Prakash runs
Himalayas over the jungle- enough said
Then we hiked uphill about five minutes to Prakash’s house that he shares with his great grandmother, grandmother, father, his wife, and niece.
The house is modest with clay floors and is adjoined with the barn where the goats and ox live. We spend the evening talking with the family and seeing the school that Prakash is principal of, and then we were taken on a hike up the mountain and into the village. Dinner was good dhal bhat and takaari followed by bed under our mosquito nets
The next day Prujol, Prakash’s brother, had a full day planned for us:
7:00am- A meeting led by Jenny with the Water Management Council. This village did not have electricity until 5 years ago and now is a success story with clean water and toilets. Before that, people used the bathroom in the jungle and had to walk hours to collect their water. With their village and others working together along with an INGO they now have 30 faucets with clean spring water flowing from them. This spirit of collectivism and cooperation was clearly very strong, and I found it quite inspiring. At the end of the meeting, we were given gifts of organic coffee that the village is now able to grow due to these water projects.
8:30am- We were brought up to the police post, which was attacked and held by the Maoists for 5 years. A crowd gathered and I was able to conduct my mini-truth commission as people related their tales- specifically of the night the Maoists took over the barracks.
This village was highly affected by the conflict. The family we stayed with was forced to house and feed Maoists fighters on many occasions, and had some harrowing tales to share with us.
We then went with an organic honey farmer who was proud to give us a taste straight from the hive. It was the best honey either Jenny or I had tasted before. Or we were just blinded by the village loveliness. Or by the brutal jungle sun.
After that, we had breakfast and visited the school Prakash runs. This was followed by an all-afternoon hike with Prujol to visit different villages, from Gurung to Dalit. The people were open and happy to answer any of our questions.
Finally, we hung out in the village and went to a small festival. We were given dinner and all of us shared a massive tasty jackfruit.
Jenny and I then retired to our digs where on this night we were entertained by a family of massive rats running around our room. These were most certainly post-conflict rats, as they seemed content to just run around us but not to jump on us. We appreciated this and eventually the rain drowned out the sounds of their squeals and we passed out.
The next day we chased the bus down the mountain, and it brought us dirty but very content back to Pokhara, with a much clearer picture of what bikas in rural Nepal looks like.
Deurali
Up to our house for the next two days
This young lady was gracious enough to share her home with us
The school that Prakash runs
Himalayas over the jungle- enough saidMonday, July 20, 2009
I see Josephine's Post and I Raise Her One.
This is what you are supposed to do at 545 am while looking at the Himalayas, right?
BY THE WAY: we are attempting-- IFP. International Field Program or Idiots Feel Peaceful. As you wish.
But since you can't even see the Himalayas in this photo, I will share a real one.
Harps Playing: Scott cries, Valeria shakes her head in awe, & Whitney's jaw falls off.
Photo Credit: Valeria Luzardo & her Ekdum La Camera on 19 July 2009
BY THE WAY: we are attempting-- IFP. International Field Program or Idiots Feel Peaceful. As you wish.
But since you can't even see the Himalayas in this photo, I will share a real one.
Harps Playing: Scott cries, Valeria shakes her head in awe, & Whitney's jaw falls off.
Photo Credit: Valeria Luzardo & her Ekdum La Camera on 19 July 2009
The Mountains
I extended my hand out the window and traced the outline of the mountains with my finger, moving them up and down the contours along with the lurching of the bus, imagining the snow shifting at the impact of my hand like powder sugar.It became my favorite moment.
That's all.
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