We had an earthquake!

THT Online Kathmandu, October 29 - Kathmandu was rocked by a tremor measuring 5 on the richter scale this afternoon at about 3.35 pm. The tremor lasted just a few seconds rattling walls and windows and forced people to come out of their homes and offices. According to Department of Seismology the tremor measuring 5 on the richter scale had its epicentre in Sharamthali VDC of Nuwakot district.

It was literally just for seconds and I didn't even have time to dive under the table as instructed in our earthquake training. No sign of any buildings being damaged and the flowerpots resting on the balcony of the house opposite are still there. I guess from the news item above that there have been no injuries or damage.

And whilst I'm online, and before I get inundated with e-mails giving advice :-), I can reassure you that I do not have a detached top rib, I have costocondritis, an inflammation of the costal cartilage. Unfortunately to find this out I had to break my record of not having visited the doctor since arriving in Nepal, bummer I thought I might make it all the way.

Cheers
Roshan

Petrol and politics

Well they've finally done it, fuel prices have been increased. From an economics point of view it was inevitable, shame the politicians haven't learnt the democratic way of doing things with the result that there have been a couple of demonstrations, maybe more to come. The decision appears to have been reached in private between the normal huddle of politicians with no proper cabinet discussion to bring all the parties together on this issue let alone the opportunity of a debate in parliament (its members may not have been democratically elected but at least an open debate would give the impression of transparency). There are quotes in the press that the decision was made because some politicians own petrol pumps – it seems easy to convince the public that all decisions are made for corrupt reasons. I think the more likely explanation is that India just refused to supply more oil until they got paid. This would not go down well with those in Nepal who are paranoid that India pulls the strings of the Prime Minister but at least it is better than leaving the general public thinking it is all about corruption. Apart from groups who wish to make political capital about this decision, the general public reaction seems to be that the price rises (in addition to petrol and diesel, kerosene and gas which are used for cooking have gone up by 20%) are acceptable provided it means supplies are now available; they have been paying these prices on the blackmarket anyway in the last few months. So the real test will be whether the notoriously inefficient (other descriptions are sometimes used but I could not possibly comment) Nepal Oil Corporation can get supplies moving again so people don't have to queue and/or pay blackmarket prices.

On the wider political front, it is deja vue all over again. The Maoists were persuaded to postpone the special sitting of parliament they had demanded until after the Dashain festival so we now have this tomorrow. It seems unlikely that their resolutions to declare a republic and change the voting system will be agreed and it remains to be seen what action they will take if they aren't. With conditions in the mountainous areas making elections impractical during the winter months I am now starting to doubt that elections will be held before we leave in May next year – failure to hold elections and Constituent Assemblies have been a major part of Nepal's 50 year journey towards democracy so the current situation is not new.

Sheila and Heather have been doing some sightseeing over the holiday period but I've mainly stayed at home nursing aches and pains in my neck, back, chest, arms…. I think these are a reaction to what appears to be a detached top rib, I can't remember doing anything to cause this but it is sticking out a bit and is slightly tender. I suppose I ought to break my duck and go to the doctors about it but thinking how useless the medical profession was when I broke a rib 15 years ago, I'm not sure what they can do. I'll give it a couple more days and see if it magically pops back into place. Any of you out there with experience or advice on this?

Should be back to normal tomorrow, I was in the office Thursday and Friday but not many colleagues were. Then with Josie and Matt who arrive on Friday we are off to Pokhara next Sunday. Fingers crossed for nice weather so Josie can get some sunshine and see the mountains. Its been beautiful during the days here for the last week or so although it is getting noticeably chillier at night.

Cheers
Roshan

P.S. I did stay awake to watch the Rugby Final – credit to England for playing way better than looked possible a month ago, shame no tries though.

Out and about over Dasain

Holiday from offices for the Dasain festival has given us time to get out of city and into the Kathmandu valley. Heather is here with us although had a slightly scary introduction to Nepal arriving early through from custom hall to the sea of hopeful porters and taxi drivers and no sign of us.

Travelling out of city on full buses on outgoing journeys

An everyday dashboard garden or specially for Dasain?

Still quite empty but we hadn't left the bus park and plenty more came on.

Some so full inside and on top they wouldn’t even take more locals and led Heather and I to have a 10 km walk returning home, but mostly down hill and great views.

Sunrise at Dhulikel

View from Budhanilkantha

Walk home from Pharping

Dancers in Patan entertain locals and tourists

Love
Sheila

More ECD

Nepal has targets for provision for large expansion of centres and pre primary classes to meet the Education For All goals, but wide expansion of enrolment does not ensure quality. In the last couple of months, much of the work in our department with the ECD network is beginning to build a picture of provision across the country.

For me a trip to Pokhara gave me 5 days to look at school and community based centres and to talk with another volunteer about provision in villages that she had reached by bus and then a steep all day walk.

Whilst in Pokhara I stayed at a guest house, whose owner works towards improving early ECD in the locality. With the help of sponsorship and donations, www.butterflyfoundation.org

has established and fully covers costs of one centre, and also supports several others in the locality.


A week later I went to Kavre , east of Kathmandu. After a 2 hour drive, which included the 4 by 4 being stuck (this is not my usual method of travel but we were with a prospective donor) and having to reverse some way out of the mud and back down the hill (we walked ), we saw 2 school based centres then a walk across a field and up a narrow muddy track before we reached another centre. This was in a small community in an old Newari building close to a tiny temple. The children were not used to so many visitors and at first sat and watched us.This centre had been set up with small advance from the district education office and some training from an NGO. It is now run and financed by the local community, families who can pay something between them make up 600rps adding to the government 1,000 so that the 2 staff share 1,600rps (£12) a month between them.

Here, for my first time in Nepal, I was able to see some planning for individual childrens learning and the material is shared with parents and families! This is a centre that we would like to use as an example of good practice both for the community involvement and the quality provision for children's learning but it is not easy to access. But maybe we'll consider video.

Love to all
Sheila

Busy day, still not over

Ooer, that wasn't meant to happen, just got back from watching England beat Australia in the Rugby World Cup quarters. My England supporting friends (not sure I have any others when it comes to this match) will gloat at the fact that I was expecting and supporting Australia to win and I won't even try giving any excuses. England's scrummaging meant they controlled and even if the backs showed no sign of scoring a try, good 'ol Jonny kicked them to victory. It has spurred me to stay up and watch All Blacks v France (k.o. 0045 our time) in the hope of seeing some classy back play and some tries.

Anyway, that has nothing to do with the title of this post. It has been a busy day, with me leaving the house at 5:45 am to get to the Kathmandu Marathon. No, don't be stupid of course I wasn't running even in the 5km event. VSO had encouraged all the organisations we work with to enter runners and mine had entered 7 runners in the 10km and 5km events. A large number of volunteers were also running including a couple in the full marathon. Cycled down to start area to meet my colleagues at 6am which is when the full marathon was meant to start and then stood around for 75 mins before it finally did. The other events followed shortly afterwards and I cycled the 5km course to support my BDS friends. After last week's miserable quite chilly and very wet Saturday, today was gloriously sunny and hot – great provided you weren't running or cycling. Hung around the stadium to take photos as various volunteer friends completed 10km and half marathon before setting off on the bike again to find our by now lone representative in the full marathon (the other one who started the full took the wrong turn so ended up on the half instead). We did find him after another 5km bike ride on a, by then, busy and very hot road with a nasty long uphill bit. Then back to the stadium to clap him in and take more pictures. By that time it was nearly midday, so straight off to the VSO annual picnic (I think the Country Director who had run the half marathon was starting to regret having this on the same day). The good news was that this was only a short bike ride from the stadium. A fun, despite being non-alcoholic, picnic before cycling back home in Saturday afternoon shopping rush hour traffic. There was then just time to grab a shower and check e-mail before trotting off the British Embassy club to watch rugby and enjoy sausage, egg and chips. I know you serious cyclist's knock off 20 miles before breakfast but for me this is the most cycling I've done in a day (total probably 20km) since we've been here and remember I have an old clunker of a bike. I did think when cycling home that 18 months ago I thought I was risking life and limb on roads here where everyone weaves in and out – now as I do the same myself I think how dangerous the British roads are going to be if I don't revert to Bicycle Proficiency Test standards as soon as I get back. How easy it is to get used to different norms.

Before giving political news and views, some photos of the marathon:

The Blue Diamond Society team before….

…and some of us after

I think he was pleased to see the tape

Right, politics. The elections to the Constituent Assembly due on 22 November have been postponed as the parties can't agree to various Maoist pre-conditions. These elections are a key plank of the Peace Agreement signed almost a year ago so it is not good news. It is not clear what happens now; a special sitting of Parliament (don't be misled, it is not a democratically elected body) on 11 Oct may make things clearer but is more likely to be used by all sides to deflect the blame for causing this situation. We had a security briefing by an expert yesterday and he is not optimistic that the politics can be settled in a transparent democratic way but they might be by murky deals between the parties done in private. Certainly Nepal's politicians have more experience of the latter. However having raised Nepali's hopes of a New Nepal this may not be an acceptable solution for the various minority groups (new ones popping up all the time) round the country. This is unlikely to have any security implications in Kathmandu but in other areas, as I have said before, there is little control by the security forces so the local groups and their criminal friends get away with violence which begets more violence. As long as the Maoists still keep their soldiers in the UN monitored camps, the Peace Agreement still has life but is fairly meaningless if other groups are the ones closing down parts of the country with their protests. If the Maoist soldiers start drifting out camps because they haven't been paid there is the risk that they will join other groups to fight because that’s what they know how to do. Maybe things will become clearer this week and maybe, with festival season almost here, everything will just bumble along for a couple of months with no resolution. We are happy that Kathmandu remains safe but it seems inevitable that we will see more disruption making work, at least for Sheila, very difficult. Add to that the petrol crisis which could deepen if the Indian government, which is not impressed by this turn of events, becomes less inclined to continue supplying fuel that they don't get paid for and you have a mess. However Nepal is adept at getting out of messes or at least lurching from one to another, so one has to remain hopeful.

An hour to kick off and I'm struggling to stay awake so I'll upload this and have a little nap that might turn into a long one.

Cheers
Roshan

P.S. The idea of VSO Nepal's participation in the marathon was to raise funds for the organisations we work for so if you fancy giving, go to www.smallenergy.com

'Worrying' HIV ignorance in young

No, it's not Nepal - "Nine in 10 young people [in the UK] rarely or never think about HIV when making decisions over their sex lives, a BBC poll shows." (BBC News). Shame on you.

This has prompted the BBC and Terence Higgins Trust to launch a 2 month campaign. Fantastic! But why did they decide to call the campaign's website "GI Jonny"? Do any modern yoof even know there used to be a soldier doll called GI Joe? Is a message delivered by a US Army soldier one that they will think is credible - "Listen to me otherwise I will take you prisoner, put you in an illegal jail and subject you to inhumane torture".

Anyway I couldn't resist going to the website and customising a GI Jonny (had to rename it because "There is only one GI Jonny") to show you:



Mustn't make light of it, the message is serious and I hope the campaign has some impact.

Cheers
Roshan

Nervous diplomats?

Impressed though I am at the speed at which they updated the Travel Advice and their obvious concern for my safety, the Foreign Office may have been a bit too quick yesterday. Yesterday one of my colleagues came back to the office to say that there had been a bomb at the Japanese Embassy which is less than half a mile away (under 1km for metric types) from our office. We didn't hear anything and no one seemed worried when I queried if it was a good idea to go for lunch in that road shortly afterwards. When we got to the main road and traffic was moving as normal, I concluded it was just another rumour. So it was a surprise to get a Travel Advice e-mail from the Foreign Office (no, I don't have a personal minder there, it's an automatic mailing list) stating that there had been a bomb – maybe they should have checked with the local police first, the statement in the papers this morning was that it was a box of fire crackers thrown by a couple of guys on a motorbike. Not exactly a weapon of mass destruction but I suppose it's the thought that counts.

To Anonymous who added a comment on my last post thanking me for the information on how to watch the Rugby World Cup here – no worries, mate, just click that "Donate Now" button to show your thanks. Good luck finding a TV to watch at midnight in Pokhara!

Cheers

Roshan