A bit of a break

Sorry for the lack of updates, all left to me now and I’ve been away from Nepal as Josie and I met up for a few days holiday. We met in Kochi and spent time with Roshan's step mother Pauline, who has lived there many years. As her house is not in centre of the town we stayed in a hotel where we had great views. Pauline joined us each day and we spent most of the time chatting and enjoying being together in Kerala. Girlie fun – lovely!


Great to see the sea again too!



From Kochi, Josie and I went to Singapore. Easy direct flight and Silkair had promised good service and we got it and Roshan was waiting for us at Changi Airport with a wheelchair-friendly black cab to take us into the city. A bit surreal but the best accessible vehicles there apparently!

And then a week of lots of walking, exploring, socialising and for me fish eating. All very enjoyable although poor Roshan was up to his neck in work.

A funny old world

So there I was in Kathmandu just getting to know the new VSO partner organisation I was going to work with and I get this e-mail from an old friend. "Need a Finance & Ops person in Singapore for 3 months, can you start next week?" Really difficult decision to leave VSO early but delaying until May, when we were due to finish, was not an option. Sheila thought I would need a new adventure post-VSO so encouraged me to say yes - I think the prospect of some time in Singapore blinded her to the reality of being on her own in Ktm and having to pack up the flat with no assistance from me (what's new she said). My bosses at VSO said they would be sad to see me go - although the Country Director's first question was "Will Sheila be staying?" - but understood that there is life after volunteering. A crazy 2 weeks finishing up in Kathmandu then 2 weeks ago today I arrived in Singapore.

As this is an interim job (the guy they thought they had recruited decided not to take up the offer), no gentle introduction back into the corporate world, I have been thrown in at the deep end including 2 days last week in Vietnam. Although I have no idea whether my new employer has a policy on blogs, it's probably not appropriate to tell you more about the job than it's finance & ops back in my old world of private equity (but not with 3i). After the first week staying with my friend/boss and his family, I'm now in a serviced apartment just 20 mins walk (pretty steamy even at 8am) from the office and close to plenty of late opening food courts. I'm on the 28th floor with a great view of the Padang and ships at anchor in the bay, I'll try and get some photos up soon.

My rapid departure from Nepal saved there being too many emotional farewells. There is no time now for reflection on 3 years in Nepal but I'm sure when I've finished 3 months in this dramatically different world, my memories of the place, the people, the work, the whole experience will remain hugely positive and continue to have an impact on how I view life - thank you Nepal, thank you VSO. I'll leave Sheila (with help from Josie) to keep up the great stories and pictures - and coping with load shedding, bandhs and packing up the flat, I'm sure she'll make me pay for this in due course!. For me, its not goodbye Nepal just pheri betaula (see you again).

Cheers
Roshan

Changes

Looking back I realise it is over a month since we last posted and lots has happened since then.

Whilst we were enjoying Srijana and Etienne's wedding party, Roshan took a call from Singapore which led him leaving Nepal two weeks later to take up very different work there. I'll leave him to fill in on this at another point.

So back to the wedding...

Etienne and Srijana met through VSO whilst Etienne was working as a volunteer and we wish them well as now wedding ceremonies and honeymoon over they are settling down to their new life together here in KTM.

And I'm still here too! I am staying on for a few more months as originally planned as there are still lots of things I want to be part of before leaving in May, such as working on standards for learning and development for children as they come to the end of the ECD stage. Nonetheless I am also very keen to visit Singapore again so will go for a few days in April with Josie, once we have spent a few days with Pauline, Roshan's stepmother, in Kerala. Then I will return for another month of work and the clearing and packing up of our Lazimpat flat.

There are other changes here too. A new six lane highway is being built, from the ring road to the east of Kathmandu, and each morning as I sit on the bus in a traffic jam I watch men in hard hats with a huge crane, piling machine and diggers only a few yards from where women are sitting on the ground selling a few peanuts, girls are washing carrots in the river and women and children are collecting water from a tap. And when I buy carrots in the little kiosk/shop behind our flat I remind myself of the filthy water they have been cleaned in and boil thoroughly or wash again with added iodine!

Another change is the renovation of the ground in front of the Ministry of Education - this is central KTM, 10 minutes walk from the flat and I am able to take a government bus from here to my office in Bhaktapur. As the rubbish was cleared this statue was uncovered and subsequently turf put down and paths laid.

Unsurprisingly the area has become an interesting place for this little girl to explore each morning.

And she has become very entertaining for some of the guards and me! Yesterday I was treated to her new word, "Welcome" and today to a salute and a dance.

Once again, with children my limited Nepali poses no problem and we communicate with gestures and the odd word or two!

Fuel shortage are reoccuring: "As the government fails to impress agitators...to guarantee proportional representation of indigenous and excluded communities...a fresh wave of national agitation is likely" states yesterday's Kathmandu Post.

Load shedding is still 16 hours a day and for the past two weeks we have had rumours that this is very likely to increase to 20 or more. But at this stage it has only been a rumour and whilst the power goes to schedule it means at least you can prepare a bit to be without it - I can charge my laptop and phone and am fortunate in having an internet package that I can use even when the power is off, so I can Skype Roshan and the UK. It is very difficult for businesses though and for the Department of Education there are three days with two hours and three with none during work hours..

And now, tonight my laptop battery won't last much longer either so time to go...best wishes to all, Sheila xx

Another mad friday and picture books

Another good Friday and one I wish I could have videoed.

Going to Bhaktapur this morning on local bus, at bus park in street, I sat in seat near front. Instead of starting off, suddenly the driver backed bus across the road and then bus boy and another pushed it backwards into a petrol station. I assumed it was for fuel - buses do refuel with their passengers on here - but no, something to do with starting problem so we sat there until it was bump started. I had sat next to a woman probably a bit younger than me who spotted the picture books in my carrier bag, so for a while we looked together talking in my limited Nepali about the pictures - she couldn't read the text - and we were then joined by bus boy.He could read the short Nepali text as I could hear, and having taken a book was then standing on the bus step shouting for passengers and taking fares, whilst reading picture books! Suddenly a nudge on my leg and I had a very large goat tied up next to me. Later the woman next to me and the goat got off and I was joined for the rest of the journey by a woman, her husband and a girl of about 7 sat in front of us. Her mother explained quietly / sadly to me "my daughter is mentally retarded". (I think she probably has Downs Syndrome). I asked if she goes to school and was told no, her mother taught her at home. Then this mother also showed interest in the picture book in my bag, reading then turning it over and seeing the shop name and price on the back. A quick few words with her husband and I like to think that maybe sometime that little girl will be looking at picture books too.It was lovely to see the father holding and caring for this child on the bus, encouraging her to say Namaste to me, as here much of the lives of children with special needs is hidden away, shunned, in the home. All smiles as we went our own ways.

Then to the ECD facilitator training where I had a couple of hours again sharing picture books, puppets, feely bags and low cost materials to encourage curiosity and problem solving with young children. Rushing from there to try to get back here while power on, got on bus and then stuck in jams. Finally got off at ring road hoping to pick up another the other side. No, even more jam probably back into centre . I knew if I walked I would not get back whilst power on so gave in and got in cab to go round another way. 20 mins later, after hearing on the radio re jams in centre, my taxi driver shouted at a friend who said he was charging flat rate as jams so bad. My taxi driver turned off meter and said a ridiculous amount. I got out and paid what had been on meter and to his surprise walked off. Walked a bit and then got another cab, this time on meter rate but soon stuck in another jam. Got out again and walked and later picked up a third. He drove me most of the way home, but a bit put out when I got out, because I like most Nepalis generally do not tip, and would not round the fare up by a third! Home and had 2 hours of power and should get 2 more on battery to do some of the work on early learning standards that I have not managed to do all week.

So another good Friday, much warmer than yours and a day off tomorrow but masses of work to do. Then back to the training on Sunday.

Oh and have just paid Rs105 (£1) total for 3 dvds, Australia, Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire.

What will I do from late May?

Lots of love and keep warm

Sheila

Poesie & the Fags

A pleasant afternoon at a concert. I met these Dutch guys last year when they visited Blue Diamond Society; one is here teaching at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory, they are both talented singer/musicians. They have a band called "Poesie & the Fags" (Poesie is the nickname of the 3rd member of the band - a girl - pronounced "pussy" in Dutch). Apart from playing at various hip, trendy (and therefore ones that we don't go to) venues in Ktm, they have been coaching a choir from some transgender members of BDS. The concert this afternoon was the first public performance for the Transgender Choir (or as Sunil, my old boss, said the Queer Choir).

And a great success it was, particularly their rendition of Om Shanti Om, a big Bollywood hit from a couple of years ago.

And, by the look on their faces, they obviously all enjoyed it. A great confidence boost for some of them who are still on their journey of being "out".

Charlie Haviland, the Beebs man in Ktm (hijacked by Sunil from the leaving do of our top UN man which both of them were at) did a couple of interviews so if its been a quiet day for news, this might yet make it on BBC. My only fear is that any publicity will get the Performing Rights Society chasing the choir for royalties on the CD they have made.

Shouldn't be saying this seeing the weather forecast for London today, but the temperature here is gradually rising. Very pleasant during the day and not too cold at night. If it does snow in London tonight, I think my friend Sanjay, who is there on a short work trip, will be happy to have experienced it although he must be freezing. I did warn him that London in January could get very cold but he was probably not ready for -7 windchill.

Way past our normal bedtime (8pm) and the powers off until 4am so good night all.
Roshan

Update
It did make the BBC news, we heard a short piece on World Service radio news on Monday morning and its now on the BBC News website.
Nepalese choir with a difference