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Reg. Charity No. 313757 If you would like to receive our monthly email update, please subscribe here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 23 May 2006
We're enjoying it. Have you thought about volunteering?
Sunday 21 May 2006
Last week at work
I'm sorry I've been bad at doing posts to the blog recently although Sheila has done her bit. Starting work has been a bit a bit of a shock to the system and this week has been hectic with 3 days of conferences (sounds grand but believe me its not!). You probably all know all know that Wednesday was International Day against Homophobia so Blue Diamond Society had a conference to discuss sexual and gender rights in Nepal and how things might change with a new Constitution in the offing. A good turn out and the local big man from UN Human Rights made an important speech saying that the discrimination and harassment faced by sexual minorities was not acceptable and the new Constitution would have to correct this. A major step forward in a country where the majority of people either deny that homosexuality exists or consider it illegal. I'm afraid that my very basic Nepali meant I only understood about 1 word in 10 (words like "we", "and", "but", "for" etc - must learn some more verbs and nouns) but I found a brilliant translator to sit next to who gave me the sense of some of the personal stories. Apart from learning more about the struggle for sexual and gender rights, I discovered that the Nepal Bar Association (we used their meeting room) really needs to do something about its toilets. Any jokes about how many lawyers it takes to clean a toilet?
Thursday and Friday were Blue Diamond Society's National Consultation Meeting. Even more challenging on the language front! I think there must have been over 200 people attending, most of whom have been, or will shortly start, working in the BDS HIV/AIDS program which has just expanded dramatically. Lots of ideas and enthusiasm; the challenge for BDS is to maintain this whilst delivering effective services that make a difference to the fight against HIV/AIDS in its target group. The meeting finished on Friday evening with a Cultural Evening - apart from some traditional dancing and singing by a Hijra (that's an Indian/Nepali name for a eunuch - kids, ask your parents what this means) dance group, think drag queens do Bollywood. Great fun and I'm kicking myself for forgetting my camera. I'll see if I can get photos from one of my work colleagues. And for all my politically incorrect and insensitive friends, no I did not dress up nor did I perform.
It was our turn to do Saturday breakfast for some friends. Great company and thanks to Henk, who has a breadmaker (might go on our list of luxuries), some delicious brown bread. Unfortunately he did not bring the fantastic chocolate sprinkles (apparently the Dutch eat them on bread, I was happy to have them neat) we had at his place the other week. I was surprised to discover that David (American) and his wife Migyoung (South Korean) liked Marmite, so its not just a British taste.
Today (Sunday), it rained most of the morning and another volunteer who is moving from a small town in the south to Kathmandu came to talk about finding accomodation near us. We have had quite a bit of rain this month although monsoon proper is still a month away. If it fills up the hydro-electric reservoirs and we don't get any more load shedding power cuts I'm happy. However it would be nice if the newspaper weather forecast gave some indication that it was going to rain, it only ever seems to say "Mostly fair" or "Partly cloudy". We did get out this afternoon and bought some more bamboo furniture, no prizes for style but its cheap and functional.
Off to another leaving do for a volunteer tonight. I guess we'll get used to just getting to know people and then they leave. I'm sure we'll stay in touch with, and hopefully visit, our new best friends who are leaving to go to Sri Lanka in July. He got offered the job there just as peace broke out here and fighting kicked off again in Sri Lanka - clearly he likes conflict zones.
Hopefully, a quieter time for me at work next week. Hope you have a good one.
Cheers
Roshan
Monday 15 May 2006
Sheila's last week before work
14.05.06 After nearly three months of the Pacific Guest House, Dhapakel village and settling in to our dhera, all of which even with curfews and bandas have been fun, I have had my final week before work. After my initial visit, using the VSO jeep to meet the DEO and others at the District education office, Roshan and I returned to Bhaktapur last Sunday to see if I could find the office from the bus. A walk to Baghbazaar for bus (30 mins, I think I walk slower than Jeanna and take longer crossing roads) and 40 mins bus, we arrived in Bhaktapur and spent time (lots) organising passes (750 rupees) for entry into Durbar Square. For those who are confused here, the three cities Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur rival one another with amazing mass of temples and Newari architecture. After a quick view of these buildings, mostly from a roof top café, I will have plenty of time for closer looks later, I re found the office. When I return on Tuesday, I know how to get there and back, and have some idea of time. DEO Bhaktapur with windows broken earlier in the year
Monday spent with a friend; we spent hours wandering around the old streets textile shopping. I was going to say window shopping, but having quilt after quilt, all a bit heavy, and metre after metre of cloth spread out for us to enjoy was slightly more. Unfortunately for the shopkeepers, we both fell in love with some beautiful linens and cotton linen blends, (first time I've seen fabrics like that here) well out of our price range, so left without purchases but will return another time for something cheaper.
Tuesday was the day I was stuck in the rain in floods in Thamel!
Wednesday, Roshan's birthday I found a bakers with yummy bread, real uncut brown loaves. Sadly after over eating these I was not able to enjoy the beers and food later!
Thursday, I spent much of the morning trying to contact, phone, email, an Early Years centre I had been recommended to see. No luck so spent a very hot afternoon walking up and down the busy main street in south Kathmandu, narrow busy potholed pavements, trying to shade myself with an umbrella yet crane my neck to see the signs on top floor buildings. I gave up!
Friday walking through the chowk behind the house, I stopped to talk to some children and was invited in to see their school. 42 children between 4 and 14 yrs in a small non formal education setting Educ Nepal (
www.educnepal.org.np/index.htm) most of whom were chatting to me in English far better than my Nepali.Then to VSO office where through KTM Yellow Pages and direct enquiries, I tracked ECEC now in Patan not Kathmandu! I spent a really good afternoon talking real ECD and seeing some good resources and training. I was really taken with the persona dolls being made at the centre and see lots of possibilities for workshops re inclusion.
More on use of persona dolls www.blss.portsmouth.sch.uk/earlyears/eypdolls_tr.shtml#int
Love
Sheila
Friday 12 May 2006
An early start to the monsoon
An e-mail home from Sheila:
Subject: today was different!
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 08:49:51 +0545
After spending much of yesterday wandering around the narrow bazaars and chowks of the old trade route to Tibet, exploring tiny shops and courtyards full of fabrics, with thoughts of cushions and kurtas, I planned today to make a short visit to Pilgrims book shop to send some post.
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 08:49:51 +0545
After spending much of yesterday wandering around the narrow bazaars and chowks of the old trade route to Tibet, exploring tiny shops and courtyards full of fabrics, with thoughts of cushions and kurtas, I planned today to make a short visit to Pilgrims book shop to send some post.
It was another sunny morning although not as bright as some recently and traffic back to normal after the past few weeks meant the usual exciting road crossings in my 15/20 minute walk. After a few minutes in the shop, I could hear rain teeming down, but having had some rain recently mostly in the late afternoon, I assumed that by the time I had browsed and finished my post it would have stopped. No such luck! As I went to the back of the shop, I saw the cafe area had water above the rails of the wooden chairs and large flower pots almost submerged. Outside in the street, water , rubbish etc was already above well the first step and still rising joined us to the shops opposite with some brave rickshaw wallahs still attempting to get through. I stayed inside. Was it like this all the way home? If this was to be my first experience of Kathmandu monsoon, I had chosen some lousy potholed streets to negotiate my way home through. Luckily it is a book shop, and only the cafe area is level with the street so with a hot drink and something to read I waited . The rain stopped and some time later someone came in assuring me that if I could negotiate my way past the next few shops to the corner the roads were passable. The top step now clear, trying to keep on steps and holding on to walls, I paddled to the corner and home.
Moral spend less time shopping? Avoid the Thamel area in monsoon time and find another way to send post? Less shopping, more work?
Tomorrow I go to the department of education and from Tuesday start work .
How many times in the next few months will I yearn for those knee high navy wellies?
Sheila
Monday 1 May 2006
Started work
I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for the next exciting episode of life in Kathmandu. It seems more than a week since we were sitting out yet another curfew and wondering whether the pressure of other agencies withdrawing would force VSO to do the same. My last post suggested that things were expected to return to normal and they did, very quickly. There were some large rallies celebrating victory and reminding the politicans that they have to deliver on their promises, otherwise since Wednesday everyone has been going about their business as if nothing had happened. For example, I, after a brief meeting with my new boss on Wednesday afternoon, started work on Thursday.
For those of you that don't know, I am working as a Management Advisor with Blue Diamond Society (see below for web links) an organisation supporting sexual and gender minorities. I am assured that financial and management experience is readily transferable which I hope will make up for my lack of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the other issues facing BDS. All you Brits should be proud to know that the UK Department for International Development will be funding a major (it is for BDS, although cost to the British taxpayers is probably still less than Hillary Benn's office budget for Twiglets) expansion in BDS's HIV/AIDS program this year. First couple of days I just did some background reading and met people. This is exactly what VSO training prepared us for; at least a couple of weeks spent building relationships before a clear work plan emerges. This is fine with me although VSO may have different ideas as they want what they call an Organisational Development Assessment to be started. As a result I may find myself in the middle of a short term priority conflict as BDS are massively busy trying to get their program of opening in 6 new cities before the end of May back on track after delays in funding and then the last month of strikes and curfews. No doubt I'll discover more tomorrow.
Sheila has not started work yet. When there appeared to be no end of the curfews and demonstrations in sight, VSO suggested that people might like to escape them by taking a holiday abroad and, with the exception of ourselves and one other, our group of new volunteers booked 2-3 week trips to India and Thailand which they have now gone off on. One of those who has gone is someone who will be working with Sheila and the two of them agreed that it would be better if they both started at the same time. Sheila needs to do a bit of smooth talking to persuade VSO that this is a good idea and may have to go to a meeting in Bhaktapur this week but if all goes to plan, she will spend the next couple of weeks checking out some education contacts locally before starting work proper when her colleague returns.
Having got you all hooked on Nepali politics, I can't resist giving you an update. Following the King's announcement on Monday night that Parliament would be restored, the alliance of political parties called off the general strike and nominated as Prime Minister an 84 year old who has already been PM 3 times in the last 15 years. He wasn't able to attend the first sitting of parliament on Friday due to ill-health so nothing got done. He did manage to attend the sitting today although it sounds as though all that happened was that he said there would be elections shortly and called on the Maoists to renounce violence and join the political talks. I wouldn't presume to comment on Nepalese politics but I just assumed it would have been good manners to announce a formal ceasefire by the Army to match the one the Maoists agreed to last week. Apparently after the first democratic movement in 1951 elections were promised but the political parties didn't manage to deliver them for 8 years at which stage the then King took control again. With that kind of precedent, how long will the People's Movement give this government to put words into action?
Happy May Day holiday to everyone.
Cheers
Roshan
P.S. Went to my first Nepalese nightclub on Friday as part of a leaving do for a couple of volunteers (best wishes to Edward, Elizabeth and Richard). A bit smaller, a lot cheaper and a few less drunks but otherwise it could have been Tiger Tiger, Gunwharf Quay.
Blue Diamond Society website: www.bds.org.np
and also a couple of BBC news items about BDS:
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