Gilesh preparing the morning meal

Gilesh, as with many other women in the country are pleading for the government to change the subsidy restriction for single women over sixty years to all single women.  Women over sixty years old generally have property and other assets accumulated over time, making the monthly 500 rupees not as valuable as it could to other younger women.

When asked about having hope with the slowly emerging “New Nepal,” Gilesh responded unfortunately with little optimism.  She has traveled around to many different districts and visited government offices with no support.  There is some encouragement however, the Nepali Congress has given their support in the single woman issue, and so far they have helped mediate conflicts between family members. The political party can push this issue ahead onto a larger and more immediate level.

Gilesh is not alone in her battle, Shila, her sister is also a single woman who lost her husband seven years ago from high blood pressure.  She also had a baby when he passed away.  Shila was able to endure through the help of her sister and today both sell rice together and live close by. They both agree they never want to remarry again.

I admire their strength to speak out, even though Gilesh admitted how difficult it is to retell her story she understands the importance of changing people’s perceptions.  She requests her story be told so people can learn about the great injustice single women face in her country.

The government subsidies will not only help the well-being of women like Gilesh and Shila but also for the future of their children’s lives.  Even though their children go to the government funded schools, they are still burdened by the cost of exam fees.  The discrimination that is placed upon single women is affecting their entire families.

It is time for Nepali society to change it’s perceptions of single women and I believe the only way to break the injustice is for women like Gilesh and Shila to speak out.  Education, at an early age should emphasize the importance of strong, independent woman thinkers so that girls grow up with a new image, a woman who can strive to excel even without a man.

Sadly, my powerbook plug has decided to die in Nepal.  It’s currently being worked on in the market of Gaighat.  A good thing because I might have started a fire at the NESPEC office if I had kept on using it.  If only there was a mac store near by…

Most of my pictures and video are on my computer including pictures for this blog.  Please excuse the lack of visuals while I wait for my plug and hope I don’t need to buy a new computer. 

Yesterday morning while getting ready to step out the door to take my short walk to NESPEC my host family, Sova and Ram Basnet invited me to the local National Congress Party Office in Gaighat.  Throughout the summer I have attended the democratic political party meetings where people discuss current issues locally and nationally as well as mediate conflicts that may come arise with one another. 

 I have enjoyed the meetings to witness how active people are in Gaighat, especially seeing Ram and Sova take part in the democracy they strive for.  It’s a gathering place where all different castes are represented, can come together and relate to one another through their shared admiration of the Democratic Party.    

It was BP Koirala’s 95^th birthday anniversary, a revolutionary leader who helped create the National Congress Party. He was tragically imprisoned many times for the sake of freedom for Nepalis. In 1959, in Nepal’s first try at ‘democrcacy’ was when he was elected to prime minister only to be jailed two years later for angering the King, Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah and the traditional elite.  He was known to have socialist ways by the royalty; took away elite tax exempt land, opened schools, built drinking water, started phone lines, introduced international flights and radio communication.

Since there are not enough hours in the day to understand the political history of this country I am reading the book, “Forget Kathmandu” by Manjushree Thapa to help me understand how the current situation got to be where it is today.  I recommend it highly for a personal account of the quest for true 21^st century democracy.

That struggle for democracy was in the forefront in my mind after attending the Nepali Congress and many questions come to mind almost on a daily basis about the political situation while talking to Nepalis.  The citizens want equality and freedom yet the political parties see it much different and only for themselves.  What exactly does democracy mean in a country like Nepal?    

“Democracy does not exist here and I don’t know if it will ever,” words spoken by Gilash Bati Chaudhary. While at the crowded meeting trying to understand the few words I could, I met the chairperson of the single women group in Gaighat.  The group is called Single Women Struggle Committee and represents single women in the Udayapur district. 

Gilash Bati Chaudhary, a young woman whom I felt at ease with right away is speaking out against the inequalities single women face through her own story.  She no longer is scared to talk about her own story, realizing that she must overcome her own tragedies to fight the injustice single women face in Nepal.  16 years ago her husband was killed while working at a mill, with only her baby daughter a few days old she was left with very little.  Property rights to her house and land were disputed for many years with her father in law, worried that she would start a new life somewhere else without her two children.  The fighting ended communication with her husband’s family.  Soon after her husband’s death she started cooking in homes until she earned enough money to sell rice herself. 

For the past 16 years Gilash has had to face immense discrimination with being a widow.  She has decided to wear a red sari while I was speaking with her in defense of how she cannot wear one without being ridiculed. (Red saris are only for married women Nepali culture dictates, along with tikas). Neighbors tease her relentlessly about not having a husband and one man has even propositioned her to marry and promise to split the government dowry, the appalling 50,000 rupees that will be given to men who marry single women.

Shoeha Dahal

A new organization in Gaighat, Agency for Community Development and Change (ACDC) is pioneering a single women’s project in the Udayapur district.  Unfortunately, this district is known as one of the worst areas in the country regarding inequalities of women.

The major objective is to empower single women to speak out for themselves and their families.  Shoeha has used her own life positively by becoming an activist with ACDC.  They have formed 23 women’s groups throughout the area to help single women in skill building, (learning how to sew to building chairs) education and aid in school fees by creating a loan system.

Shoeha’s plea is to change society’s overall perception of single women.  The biggest problem is economic due to the lack of job training and skills.  Interest free loans and free education for children and parents of single women are greatly needed Shoeha proclaims.  Also, the knowledge of law in Gaighat is limited and assistance is needed with land rights, economic stability and conflict among families is common.  

The government only gives monthly subsidies to single women over 60 years old.  Shoeha, ACDC and NESPEC hope to change this law for all single women and also establish other government incentives.  In addition, Shoeha hopes to create a similar discount system to that of India’s government, where single women receive a discount card for food and transportation.  Such a subsidy system in Nepal would benefit women’s daily lives as well as their futures economically.

Rice fields 

Nepal-tar home

Nepal-tar home

I have arrived in Gaighat at last in the district of Udayapur after a long yet peaceful journey. I am happy to report there were no bandhas (strikes) to interrupt the ride. It has been more than a week here in the center of the district and I have spent my time becoming acquainted with NESPEC and settling in with my new family.  Gaighat is much more bustling than I expected with crowded streets in the market area with people buying goods ranging from color televisions to mangos.  My Nepali is limited to a few words that include many gestures so there is much to learn since English speakers are limited.

 

The western luxuries found in Kathmandu are no longer found here as my daily meals consist of dahl bhat, Nepal’s national dish of lentils, rice and vegetable curry two times a day. I truly appreciate how almost all of my food is coming directly from the land with the fresh vegetables from my family’s garden.

 

Over the weekend I was able to enjoy the local food even more when Sova, the mother of the family I am staying with took me to her family’s house in Nepal-Tai west of Gaighat in the hillside.  Much more remote than any areas I have seen so far I was able to see how rural farmers live and understand the cultivation process.  This way of living was all very new to me since I did not grow up on a farm and never started a garden, all in which I feel very ignorant about.  Planting and cultivating food is the means on how to live yet tragically I feel so far away from living off the land because of my American luxurious life.  No bright, freezing cold super markets here.  Since NESPEC works with farming committees and landless people this was an important experience for my future field visits to the many farming committees that NESPEC supports.  

 

Just about every family has a rice field and some, if they are lucky like Sova’s family have mango, banana, corn, guava and many animals to keep their stomachs full.  I am very proud of my organic local eating that I would not be able to keep up in America and have even introduced the term “organic” to others here.  It was fascinating to see rice being planted; the cultivation season certainly brings the entire community together.  The traditional dress in the hillside area is the Guneyocholai that consists of a sari and a long sleeved blouse.  In the excruciating heat women plow the rice and cultivate in the hot sun. 

 

This Saturday NESPEC will hold it’s monthly meeting in which plans for next month will be made.  I will then coordinate which areas I will be visiting in order to profile for NESPEC’s food security campaign with Action Aid.

 

 

The highlighted red section is where I will be located, in the eastern Terai region in a small town called Gaighat.

The highlighted red section is where I will be located, in the eastern Terai region in a small town called Gaighat.

After a strenuous cross country road trip from the green mountains of Brattleboro, Vermont to the Central Coast of California I am now off to my next chapter on the other side of the world. Off to Nepal on Monday to join the other fellows already there. I am not sure what my future holds but I do know a few things; I am going to be constantly questioning the world around me, I am going to take for granted the luxuries of my easy living in the U.S, I will be surprised on a daily basis of the Nepali culture and lastly, I will emerge with a different worldview.

The over arching goal of my blog is to bring an awareness of current political, social and cultural situations in Nepal. Considering some people I have told where I am going do not know where the country is located (surrounded by India, China, Bhutan) I have my work ahead for me.  I hope to learn much more surrounding the political conflicts with the changing government from as many Nepalis as I can.

As for the work I will be doing at NESPEC (Nepal Social Development and People Empowerment Center) I will strive to apply what I have learned at SIT (School for International Training) to the people’s needs in the rural areas.  I hope to write my capstone paper on how policy is changed in Nepal’s rural areas. The fellowship will allow me to profile marginalized people using video, pictures and blogging. The work will be tremendously challenging in another culture and at times I will be very frustrated with my “outsider” presence. To put it simply, I want to learn as much as I possibly can about the Nepali culture and to help wherever it is needed in my community.

I am very grateful for this opportunity and I hope that my blog will be read by many. Please comment about anything that interests you and certainly ask questions that come to mind about life in Nepal.  Also, pass it along to others as well.

Onto Shangri-la!