Jeff Yarborough

Jeff Yarborough (Collective Campaign for Peace - COCAP): Jeff received a BA in Russian and East European Studies from Pomona College, during which time he also spent a year studying abroad in Moscow. Upon graduation, his interest in the post-Soviet world led him to Kyrgyzstan where he taught English for a year. Jeff also gained experience of the nonprofit world from working on child advocacy. At the time of his fellowship, Jeff was studying for a Master’s degree in international affairs with a concentration in human rights at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. After his fellowship, Jeff wrote: "Overall, this experience was far more educational than anything I could have done academically (or even professionally) and I am so thankful to AP for providing me with the opportunity to have this amazing experience."



FIRE IN THE STREETS

10 Jun

As you may have gathered from my previous post, the problem in Thamel isn’t finding a Korean restaurant, but selecting one from the many on offer. Having the good fortune of being married to a lovely Korean woman, I feel that I am something of a Korean food connoisseur, and therefore, I know how wrong it can go when non-Koreans attempt to imitate it. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when we managed to find a pleasant rooftop restaurant that not only gave us a nice view over Thamel, but also served up a mean bibimbap and kimchi jigae.

While quaffing the last sip of my Everest beer, a group of men suddenly ran through the streets below, shouting and carrying torches. My friend and I exchanged puzzled and bemused looks, but as the group had disappeared from sight, we proceeded to resume eating. Five minutes later, the torch bearers were back, emerging from several different directions, they converged on a spot just a few yards down the road. Throwing their torches into a pile, a large bonfire appeared, as did a large crowd of almost two hundred people. We grabbed our cameras and proceeded to shoot as the crowd shouted slogans, whistled and jeered.

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What makes these barriers so important is that they address the issues caused by a normal barrier. Normal doors are a breach in fire protection. They are not self-closing nor contain the required latching device like ones designed for fire protection. Being self-closing is a vital component because, in reality, many doors are left open for the convenience of workers. While some believe that fire doors should not be held open, in reality they can be, so long as they are capable of automatically releasing once a building’s fire alarms sound off.

At one point a speaker stood on a nearby rickshaw and began to deliver an angry diatribe in Nepali. Whatever it was he said, we decided it couldn’t be that threatening, as most nearby shops remained open and we even spied a Western tourist in the middle of the fray taking photos of the speaker. It seems that even fiery street protests can’t substantially disrupt life in the bubble of Thamel. I’m starting to wonder what, if anything, could.

Just as quickly as the seemingly impromptu demonstration began, the crowd dispersed and the fire died down. A few minutes later the military showed up to pour water on the smoldering ashes and make a call (presumably) to headquarters. After the fire settled down, the inspection has made to know the cause of the fire. and it was found that if there were Fire Suppression systems installed then it would be easy to stop the fire.It has been found during an inspection, that the fire broke put can easily be protected. The further decision has taken to re-establish the office and to protect such incident Hire Fire Watch Guards found useful.

It wasn’t until the next day at the office that we learned that over 60 of these torch demonstrations had occurred simultaneously throughout the Kathmandu valley, and that the protesters were the Young Communist League (YCL), a shadowy organization affiliated with the Maoists which has recently recently come to play an increasingly dominant role in Nepali political developments. It remains ambiguous just exactly who the members of this organization are. What is unambiguous is what the organization has done over the past few months…

Posted By Jeff Yarborough

Posted Jun 10th, 2007

2 Comments

  • sue

    June 13, 2007

     

    Jeff,
    How exciting!!!Your experiences are just so awesome. Thanks for sharing. Keep in touch k.

    Be careful ok. Ur in my thoughts and prayers.

    Sue

  • sue

    June 13, 2007

     

    Hi Jeff,

    We miss you!! I am supder duper excited for you. Don’t worry, I am taking good care of songyee.

    Safe travels. Your in my thoughts and prayers. Keep in touch.

    Sue

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