FINISHING UP

Monday, December 5^th, 2011

In my room at about 5:45PM

As I type this blog, my computer is losing power, and I cannot recharge it because the electricity has been out for hours. A jewelry store owner was robbed and killed in my neighborhood yesterday and a large portion of the city is holding a bandha, or strike, until the authorities go after the murderers. It's how “justice” gets moving and accomplished around here. Everyone strikes; sometimes even after the smallest incident. I was somewhat surprised that the public transportation was still going this morning, but as far as electricity goes, we have a problem. I don't know how much longer it will last.

I wonder what would happen if this system of striking were put into effect in my hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. With all the violence there, at times it seems like there's a murder a day. I don't think it would work with that culture back home. It would probably make things worse, actually; it would lead to rioting and looting in the streets, and probably more murders. People seem to be more self-controlled here, but it's just a different culture and stage of “development” for each. Actually, in many ways one could say that Reading is currently in such a bad place economically and socially, that it is in a phase of decay, of undevelopment, or of dedevelopment, if I may even use the terms. Right before I left to come here to help in the development issues of Nepal, Reading was labeled the poorest city in America, taking into account the numbers of unemployed and numbers of students who have dropped out of high school. I am not trying to paint a bad picture of my hometown, it's really just the truth. Maybe I can be a part of the movement to help “redevelop” Reading when I return from Nepal. We will see.

You haven't heard from me the last several days because I have been finishing up all my school work. I finally finished my last paper the other day. I am so relieved. I'll be getting my degree in less than a month, finally, after over two years of hard work.

I have also been traveling a bit. I went to the Nuwocot District, just north of the Kathmandu Valley. In the more remote parts of this area girls between the ages of 12 and 16 get trafficked. It is the hotspot for traffickers. In fact, in some villages, there are men who complain that there aren't any more young women left to marry. They have all been trafficked – to Afghanistan, to India, to China, hell, some may end up in America for all I know. It's a sick world when parents willingly give up their young daughters, some of them actually knowing that they are headed for sex slavery. They give them up because of the money they immediately receive; they give them up also for the money they know will be wired to them down the road. All of the world's greatest evils seem to come back to money.

Glenda – the lady I traveled with to Nuwocot – is starting up an NGO called Abundant Life Generation. This organization will be going into the villages in Nuwocot and doing some community development, along with educational initiatives. She is hoping to train some of these at-risk women in some income generating work, like fabrics, while educating the girls and the rest of the villagers on the dangers of giving away the villages' daughters to those scheming and deceitful bags of scum called human traffickers. These men (and often times women) promise better lives for the girls only to keep them caged in slavery, sometimes literally. Glenda is hoping this work will empower these girls, and help to paint newer, brighter colors into Nuwocot's dark and tragic picture.

I went there with Glenda, Mary and Eli. Mary is an American woman who has spent most of her adult life in Nepal, but has recently split her time between Colorado Springs and Kathmandu. She knows the culture in and out, and she is really the first Westerner I have seen who knows the language so well. Eli is a young American who basically travels around the world on his own, and who has become Glenda's helper. He looks like some kind of radical with his big beard, but he is one of the friendliest guys I've met.

It was fascinating to watch Glenda's NGO being created before our very eyes. It seems like a complicated and painstakingly slow process. One of the things I have learned here is how to be the organizer, as I am the one from the West who can barely breathe without some kind of understandable order (those of you who know me might be surprised at this!). On the other hand, in order to get anything accomplished, there needs to be a great deal of flexibility.

On top of the school work and the traveling, I have been working to finish up the documents for Brian. I have them finished, but he might want some revisions, we'll see. It feels wonderful to be finishing up my work here. I can spend these last days just soaking in the culture, and making connections with the various organizations.

UPDATE: Later on that evening, after eating dinner and having my computer nearly break down on me, the electricity finally came back on. We will see how long it lasts.