Back in Kathmandu

A very quick post to say that after a longer than expected break in the UK (Sheila got a new hip whilst we were there!) we got back to Kathmandu on Friday night. The flat was in remarkably good shape - not taken over by rodent or insect squatters as Sheila had feared - and after a day's binge cleaning yesterday we have all essentials unpacked from the boxes and bags they were stored in. No dramas getting mobiles and internet (still only dial-up unless I can persuade the Radisson Hotel that we can use their wi-fi) back connected so we are in full working order, so much so that Sheila has gone to work today (govt offices are open on Sundays) to find out what has been going on/what is in store for the next 6 months.

 

It feels good to be back, not least because the weather is warm and we've really missed the great food such as the channa masala/veg curry/naan we had at Fast Food Tandoori last night (no offence to the Simla but it beats their's out of sight and costs less than £1!). Weather should remain decent for a month or so and we've still got mo-mos and Bawarchi's wraps to sample again so it will be a few weeks before I revert to moaning about life here. Oh and its sooo good not to see "recession" or "global financial crisis" all over the newspapers. OK they are slim and today's were full of Ban Ki-Moon's flying visit but hopefully Nepal remains gloriously unaffected by these, certainly no sign of them from the tourists numbers.

 

Finally, a special thanks to Jem for dropping us at Heathrow on Thursday - we owe you a beer and curry.

 

Cheers for now, will try to get some pictures up next time.

Roshan

P.S. Spoke to soon, just a little moan about this being my 4th attempt to send this. Got spoilt by broadband.

 

Life in England

It is now 2 weeks since we got back from Nepal. Still suffering culture shock from the complication (and cost!) of life here. I think the move the other way was much easier to cope with.

You may have read here a couple of months ago that Ben had persuaded me to join him in a sponsored abseil down Guy's Hospital Tower in London. Well, we did it on Saturday. Despite earlier forecasts, it was a glorious sunny day although pretty windy at the top of the tower. Apart from the first step over the edge, it was remarkably unscary - I was pleased to get to the bottom not because of nerves but because my arm was aching. Compared to other much shorter abseils I've done it was hard work due to the weight of rope hanging below you. Instead of just letting the rope zzzz through with an occasional pull down to brake, you had to heave up slack to make it run. Anyway I'm glad we did it, we raised some money (you can still donate at www.justgiving.com/roshandescends) for the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy and, particularly for Ben who is not a great fan of heights, laughed in the face of danger.

And yesterday I went sailing. In a brisk breeze, managed to stay upright and even beat a few of my less rusty competitors. Mind you I am now feeling aches and pains in muscles that had had little or no exercise in the last two and half years.

Whilst we are in the UK I don't plan to update the blog much, if at all, so its au revoir for a couple of months.

Cheers
Roshan

A particularly gay May Day in Nepal

After the final election results were announced, we were 99% sure it was going to happen and yesterday afternoon we got confirmation - my boss has been chosen to take a seat in the new Constituent Assembly. Sweets and a mood of celebration in the office today!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Nepal_ready_for_first_gay_representative/articleshow/2999871.cms
The wind of change that swept through Nepal in the form of a historic election this month, dethroned its king, once revered as god, and instead gave power to the former Maoist guerrillas, will also see a fresh social revolution with the first gay representative being nominated to the new constituent assembly.

Sunil Babu Pant, a 35-year-old crusader for gay rights who founded the first organisation to protect the rights of the sexual minorities and ushered in a social revolution, now becomes part of Nepal's political history as well after being chosen by a minor communist party to represent it in the 601-member constituent assembly.

"We are honoured to send Pant as our representative to the constituent assembly," said Ganesh Shah of Communist Party, who’s Communist Party of Nepal-United (CPN-U) has won five seats in the assembly under the proportional representation system.

"We hope it will improve the lives of a people who are the most repressed in Nepal, disowned both by society and their own families," he added.

Pant, a computer engineer from Belarus, founded the Blue Diamond Society in 2002. It is now one of the best known gay rights groups in South Asia, fighting for molested and detained gays, spreads HIV/AIDS awareness, runs a hospice for terminally ill gay patients and provides training and jobs to members of the community.

Although I think Ganesh was referring above to the gay community, Sunil will be fighting for a Constitution that protects the rights of all repressed and marginalised groups. I know he will do a great job.

Cheers
Roshan

Change!

The election last week passed remarkably peacefully and very quickly it became apparent that the Maoists (who when we arrived 2 years ago were in a shooting and bombing war against the then government) had far more voter support than anyone had expected and will be the single largest party. I had believed that it would not be possible for one party to have outright control under a voting system that had more than half the seats decided under proportional representation, but the Maoists have got such overwhelming support in the results declared so far that I am having second thoughts. It will be another 2 weeks or so before final results are in (there will be re-polling at a small proportion of voting booths where there was found to be dodgy practices) so we have to wait and see.

From media reports and speaking to friends, it is clear that this is a vote for change. The public has had enough of the same old politics delivered by the same old politicians – many of whom have not been reelected. To their credit, leaders of the 2 other main parties have resigned - accepting the blame for policies that were obviously not what voters wanted - with little or no mud slinging at the Maoists. In turn, the Maoist leadership has been talking about including other parties in its government. All an amazing demonstration of grown up democracy at work that was unthinkable 2 years ago. Having witnessed a people's revolution in our first 2 months, it will be great to see a democratically elected government in place as we leave (albeit temporarily – as Sheila's last post mentioned, we're coming back in August).

I guess most foreign governments are waiting for final results to be declared before sending their messages of congratulations and support. The one from the US is the most significant as they have to remove the Maoists from their list of terrorists or cut off all aid to, and contact with, the new government. Foggy Bottom (what a great name for the home of the US State Dept!) has had at least 2 years to think about this possibility so hopefully they can do the right thing in the next few weeks and avoid causing major disruption to development work here.

Back to normal life: in the nick of time before my laptop battery ran out, my colleagues have managed to get some petrol for our generator. Petrol is now available but only for vehicles so 2 of my colleagues fill up their motorbikes, come back to the office and siphon it into a container before going back to refill their bikes. The petrol fumes hovering round the office is a good incentive for me not to smoke but it is slightly disconcerting to have the petrol container kept in our room.

Cheers

Roshan

An April update from Sheila

Finally, over two years on since our arrival and it looks as if the elections in Nepal really will happen on Thursday (for the first time since 1999!).

Government offices are mainly closed and although it means a weeks holiday for some, most of my education colleagues will spend the time being election officers and the majority seem very pleased that they are being deployed locally. So, a positive and cheerful atmosphere appears amongst those who are part of this. In the last few days they have gone to meetings about their election responsibilities and finally yesterday most heard where they would go today to begin duties. And others who now have the 8 days holiday are even more cheerful despite the ban on alcohol over this period!

So, for me this means that the education office is closed until next Tuesday at least and VSO will wait to see what the security position is before I can return. But still plenty of work to do as only a few weeks left for me now and there are many projects that I am part of - so good job I have good laptop!

However, instead of sitting at home and watching what is happening across the country (even without understanding the commentary at least we can watch if news is available) all of us from VSO are due to spend the next few days in a hotel in the centre of Kathmandu for the the annual conference - a well timed event which will ensure that everyone working throughout the country is in one place in case there are any security issues following poll day on Thursday. If the hotel does not have television, and I don't think it has internet access, then you are all more likely to know what is happening before we do!

An extra bonus on this very sunny morning is that we did not loose our power for the first time since er, December??? Maybe this is a sign that we will not have load shedding all this week - a bonus of the election procedure perhaps?! Although a bonus for us at the flat with our planned schedule, no power is only a very mild inconvenience. In comparison it is really difficult for small businesses and for offices as generators are of course only useful when fuel is available for them.

The weather has certaintly warmed up in the last few weeks since I got back from my brief stint in London. And it shows as everything is growing just outside the front door of our flat and looking bright and green after the last few evenings heavy thunderstorms.

And so, only a few more weeks to go as our visas run out and we will be returning back to the UK and only 10 days before Roshan and Ben make their big fundraising leap off the top of Guy's hospital!

http://www.justgiving.com/roshandescends
http://www.justgiving.com/bendescends

Recognising that I haven't got a replacement though, and that there is so much I can be part of with VSO and ECD (early childhood development) here it maybe that I am back for a few months in the winter. But who knows - first we have elections!

PS. And just for the opportunity to post the photo: when walking with friends though the centre of town, in between two houses we spotted this. I think it has been recently renovated. As ever Nepal offers never ending surprises!