First Week Complete

I just finished my first week at the new school. The school is really good and the kids are generally very good. The English level of kids here is remarkable because all of their classes are in English. Their pronunciation is not great, but that gives me something to do. Some essays of note in my 7th grade class called me "fat". These children will have a large opportunity to continue laughing when they repeat 7th grade (a joke...I found the comments funny).

That Stinks!

You got the main road to the dump running through your town and you need money for a dude's operation....close the road and force an end to trash pickup in Kathmandu. Want a road paved in another town, close the road to the dump and let trash pile up in the city.

Kathmandu has been hit with a couple of these strikes in the last two months. It is amazing walking down the streets that have piles of garbage a few meters wide and 15 meters long. Usually there is a goat or a cow or two in the middle of them. The smell is as wonderful as you would imagine. In some areas, you just got to walk on top of the garbage because the entire street is covered.

Small Ommision

My school subscribes to the Rising Sun, the Maoist paper. The day before yesterday there was an article about the lack of press freedom due to the imperialist who control the newspapers. No mention of the journalist that the Maoist have recently murdered for writing unfavorable articles about them or the Maoist affiliated union that broke the printing presses at another because of the unfavorable (i.e. accurate) information about the Maoist. Must be an oversight.

Been sick and busy

Sorry about not writing lately. I was sick for a few days and then I got busy with the volunteer stuff I have been doing.

Two New Volunteer Jobs

I just started volunteering at a school. The school seems to be quite good. The kids are great and I am enjoying teaching them tremendously. So far, so good.

I am also helping an organization that helps disabled kids. It has a couple of centers that provide some respite care and provide some education to the kids. I am not certain of everything I can do there. I think will start with their web site.

A nice Thanksgiving

We finally ended up having a surprisingly normal Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night. The turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes were identical to what we were used to. The sweet potato casserole needed a bit of food coloring to get the correct color, but in the end, it was perfect.

We had invited some of the teachers at the school Sandy had been working at. It was the first time that any of them had ever seen or tasted turkey. Overall a good time was had by all.

Pitiful

Indra, the man who runs TOIT, is upset with me because I pointed out his lies (in a polite way) and resigned. I did not say anything to any of the teachers, workers at the school or volunteers who visited because I truly wanted to give Indra an opportunity to change (i.e. not be a liar) and Sandy had bonded with the children and the other teachers, so she wanted to stay.

What was Indra's response? He gave Sandy a lame reason why she could not teach (something about needing to do some things to fulfill the curriculum and there would be no more English classes) . His girlfriend, who coordinates things at the school, said she thought that he did it because he was upset with me. The timing of his decision (the day he got my e-mail) seems to support her thoughts. The funny thing is that in his attempt to get at me what did he do?

He hurt the children at his school because a native English teacher is a valuable commodity.

He hurt the parents who may not talk with Sandy, but can see their children's reaction (they fight to hold her hand) when she arrives at the bus stop.

He hurt the other teachers because Sandy was having classes with them to improve their English. She taught classes with them and would teach their classes when they were not available.

The teachers, who like Sandy a great deal, probably have lost respect for Indra.

I imagine that Indra's girlfriend has less respect for him also.

I feel bad for Sandy because she is quite sad that she is not going to spend time with the kids. On the other hand, many schools desperately want her and she will choose one in the next few days. In a week or two, she will have fallen in love with more kids. Indra, on the other hand, will continue to be a very pitiful man.

Happy Thanksgiving

We started our Thanksgiving tradition in 2001 by inviting friends and locals to our house for the holiday. We continued the tradition in Japan. This year we decided to invite local friends plus a nice very young American girl to our house for Thanksgiving. We found and purchased what appears to be the only turkey in Nepal ($75 for an 11 pound turkey...such a bargain). We made arrangements to borrow chairs, use an oven, bake some stuff and bought all the necessary accoutrements.

The holiday began as many people's do, Sandy, with her head bowed giving an invocation, “oh god...” Unfortunately, the location of this was over the toilet. We exchanged places, me sitting her bowing to the great white goddess. We decided to put our holiday on hold for a couple of days.

I wish no other woman in the world faces such a situation.”

A first person's account from yesterdays paper.

I was married to Basim ....four years ago. As soon as I went to my in-laws house...my in-laws began torturing me saying that my family did not offer them enough dowry.
“My worst days began right after my marriage as my poor parents, who have seven daughters to marry off, could not offer my in-laws a color television and 60,000 rupees (about $950 US) in cash as demanded by them. They often resorted to excessive mental and physical torture for the same reason.

After their torture crossed all limits last year, I filed a complaint with the police with the help of my parents, which brought a brief pause to my suffering as police made them (my in-laws) sign a paper saying they would not beat me up anymore. However, this was just the beginning of my worst nightmare.

Only after a few weeks, blaming my parents for taking the case to the police, my in-laws quarreled with them and barred me from visiting or contacting them. Taking advantage of this, my husband, mother in-law and sister in-law then resumed the brutal torture.

Neither was I given sufficient food nor was there environment for sound sleep any single night. Whenever they used to beat me up mercilessly in front of my two and half year old daughter Samarin and three month old son Samar, they too used to cry.
There was no option but to wait hoping that the almighty would help me someday. However, it never happened.

On the morning of November 6, the clock had already struck 10 and I and my children were not given any food to eat. “I would rather go to my maternal home if you don't give me food,” I told my in-laws and tried to go but was stopped by my mother in-law and sister in-law. And then they turned into complete fiends and tortured me.

First, they grabbed me, snatched my shawl and squashed it into my mouth. Then they poured kerosene from over my head. They also dipped a handkerchief into the kerosene and tied it around my neck. The two, along with my husband, then pushed me into a nearby latrine and set me on fire.

When I began shouting out in despair as the fire engulfed my whole body, neighbors turned up at the scene and doused it. By that time, the fire had already burnt half my body. However, the helpless locals only requested the culprits to take me to hospital and left me alone at my in-laws mercy.

As I was crying my lungs out due to the burning scars, my in-laws kept watching. “We didn't do this to take you to hospital,” they said.However, neighbors later took me out of the toilet. But this time, bowing down to their requests, my in-laws agreed to take me to hospital, but on one condition. They forced me to swear that I would tell others I had attempted suicide. If I hadn't promised them that, they might have killed me.
Now I am treating my wounds here in Banke Hospital but the scars are sure to remain forever. I can't even sit and sleep due to the wounds.

I heard that the perpetrators are in police custody now, but I want more than stringent action against them. How will I bring up my kids? I wish no other woman in the world faces such a situation.”

Public Morning

So much of life is done in public here...celebrations, bathing, courting....and mourning

The inconsolable wails of weeping women echoes off the ancient brick buildings far ahead of their bodies that seemed to be propelled by grief and a kind friend who helps them through the streets.

The walks generally start in the morning when the body of the loved ones are carried to a sacred place to be burned. After the ceremony, the women walk the streets in small groups for hours. Men seem to be present at some point, but they are generally less visible than women. I can honestly say that I have never heard such heart wrenching sounds as these groups of women pass by. Everyone stops, looks and is quiet.

For the next year, the men will wear white no festivals will be celebrated in the home.

Himalayan Viewing

It is easy to forget that you are surrounded by the Himalayan mountains here because they are usually hidden. I am told the views should be great through December.

Broken Rule

Giving money to kids on the streets encourages bad behavior. The ones who have parents will be forced to continue seeking money instead of doing something useful like going to school due to strangers generosity and terrible parents. Those who have no parents and are just street children use the money to do bad things like sniff glue. I always think that there are much better ways to help children if you wish to.

I made an exception for this boy who had two nubs for hands and was missing a leg. I can not imagine drawing a worse hand in life and yet the kid was trying to earn a buck by drawing pictures. It probably still isn't the right thing to do (giving money) but sometimes rules need to be broken.

Great it is Great to be a Foreigner

As much as I bitch about always being ripped off by merchants etc, it is great being a foreigner here because of the interest people have in you. I was walking down a little dirt road out in a tiny village a few weeks back and a sweet girl struck up a conversation with me. The next thing you know, I am enjoying a cup of tea on her front porch. She shared with me what her life was like and we enjoyed a few laughs.

Two days ago we were visiting a monestary and we met this group of small kids a couple of times as we walked around. Later, we were walking down this path and we ran into them again. They asked me to climb a tree and get some branches which they needed for medicine. This was not going to happen. One of the girls was quite small and I lifted her up (much to her friends amusement), and they got their leaves. Again, we were invited back to their houses. At one we were given fruit and the other we enjoyed a cup of tea with them and their parents. Pretty good stuff.

Update

Yesterday we saw an enormous group of Maoist heading our way so we decided to go down a little alley that ended up being a dead end. We had nowhere to go so we figured we would wait until the Maoist were gone. It probably was completly safe, but you never know. I started chatting with a guy who was really nice...taught Japanese and Dance. We ended up going back to his house and looking at the pottery his family makes (which was quite good) and his drawings (which weren't). Either way a nice time which came from hiding from Maoist and being open to making friends.

International Adoptions

Under pressure from other governments, the Nepalese government decided to allow just over 400 international adoptions to be completed but will not allow anymore. The government had stopped all adoptions a while back because it had turned out that people were selling children. Apparently, the of all the filing fees etc cost $300. The adoption agencies would charge the clients $20,000. Given that a good job pays about $1500 a year, the sort of profit to be made brought out the worst in people. I was talking to a man who works with a lot of children's homes and he told me that once the adoptions were stopped and the potential for profit was lost, many children's homes threw the kids they were "caring" for on the streets.

WWE the ulitimate English (kind of) Teacher

We had a nice dinner with a family we have become friendly with the other night. It was really special because we learned so much about the culture here. The family lives in a 4 story townhouse with one unit (mother father kids) on each floor and a kitchen on the top floor.

A couple of things that stood out were just how loving everyone was. There were tons of laughter especially at the littlest boy who was hugged by one family member or another the whole time.

One of the funniest things was that they all like WWE (which we watched with them) and they said that their English, which was really good across the board, became much better by listening to WWE every night. Their appreciation of wrestling is not unique here judging by the immense number of WWE t-shirts you see people wearing.

Kids insurance

Currently, all children can get some basic health care for free including vaccinations. Starting in January Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, will have free medical care for children. It may be crap, but it will be available to all children. Amazing to me that they can provide it, but we in the US can not.

Whatever works

Tihar is the second most important Hindu festival in Nepal and the favorite with kids because they get presents. On one night, the young girls go around in the town in beautiful traditional outfits and do a little song and sometimes a dance to. The shopkeepers happily hand over a couple of rupees for their efforts.

The boys go the following night with a little different but just as effective approach. The boys start to chant an obnoxious chant (dose see dose) first in a low voice and as they get impatient, they get louder and louder. Finally, the shopkeepers get annoyed and give them a couple of rupees to get rid of them.
Late on the second note, we went to our favorite ice cream shop and tried the dose see dose routine. At first they were surprised, then they decided to offer me ice cream to shut up. It was too cold so we went on our way with a smile.

Dog Days

Hindus in Nepal believe dogs lead you in the right direction once you die. During the current festival, Tihar, one day is for thanking the dogs. Dogs through out town were decorated with flower necklaces and a tika (red dot) on their heads.

This dog was a little camera shy and decided that when I bent down to take his picture, he would take a little run and growl at me. Being used to this sort of thing, I grabbed a rock to hit him with if he got too close. Being a doggy holiday, I was a little worried about the timing. Fortunately, a woman did not like the dog getting closer to me and picked up a brick and hit it (but not too hard) in the side. I guess she is not a Hindu.

Honoring the elderly

I was walking home yesterday and I came across this big group of people pulling a decorative cart by a rope. In the cart was an elderly lady. A friend of mine told me that they pull elderly people through the streets through out the town when they are 77 and then again when they are 81 to honor them. Pretty cool.

Note to my father...don't start building a cart, it is not going to happen.

Gone

I have decided to not volunteer with TOIT any longer. I think that they are doing an excellent job educating the kids and Sandy is really enjoying herself teaching. On the other hand, there have been a few things that they told me that have not been correct. After talking to them about it, they decided to continue telling people these things. Since I did not want to take part in the misinformation, I decided to leave. Quite disappointing.

Stuff you don't want to see

I was walking down the street in Kathmandu yesterday and saw something you never want to see, a street kid sleeping with a blood soaked bandage on his head. Bad stuff.

Slight error

We were looking at the menu in a restaurant the other day and saw the first drink...cock. When we asked our waiter, he said "yes, mistake". We asked him if he knew what it meant, he said, "yes, chicken". We explained that while correct, there is a more common usage now...we all had a good laugh.

Trafficking

The best I can tell, there are not a lot of people who have been “sold” here. That does not mean it does not exist, it is not in the paper and our friends are not aware of it. On the other hand, people being trafficked primarily into India, is a huge problem.

There are stories in the papers about how you are trafficked:

You are a child in a small village. Like most village children, you are quite poor. You, or a member of your family, meets a stranger. Over a period of time, weeks or months, you and your family becomes friendly with the person. Slowly they gain your trust.

The stranger is very helpful and says he has a friend who can give you a job in India. He will even give your parents some money. So many people go overseas to work here; money sent from family members abroad is a leading source of national income. Being a good kid and seeing the desperate family situation, you think it is a good idea. Your parents, being poor, a little ignorant and desperate, think it is a good idea, also. Sometimes the parents or relatives do not care and just sell you to make money.

So you go…you have just been sold without realizing. The nice man (it is usually men) brings you to India. If you are a boy, you will begin working long hours in a factory. Generally, the first few months you are working for free because you are in training. After a few months, you are earning a meager wage which mostly goes to pay off the fees that the owner of the factory has incurred to purchase you.

If you are a girl, your fate is much worse. Beauty is a curse when you are being trafficked and young women here are especially beautiful. You will be sold to a brothel. The head of the brothel, generally a woman, will explain that you have been sold. You are a virgin and you will now start having sex with strangers. New, young and beautiful, you will be busy…dozens of men in a day. You have no hope of escape. If you try to fight back, you will likely be resold...your debt and thus your time working as a prostitute will go up, too.

You do what you have to survive, except you may not because you will likely get a disease... a recent study showed that 40% of the girls who were forced into prostitution return HIV positive. This number rises to 60% for the girls who are 14 or under. The preteens are most popular with the clientel so they tend to be forced to stay in the business longer. Once you have paid your debts for being trafficked, you may be able to leave especially if your beauty has faded. You will return to your village. Your family will know what has happened and will ostracize you because of it. Sick and ostracized...seems harsh for a kid who was trying to help her family.

The Gap recently had a problem with a subcontractor using these slaves in their factory in India. From what I read in yesterday’s paper, they are trying to be a good corporate citizen and they are taking action and have had ongoing programs to try to prevent this. I am not certain that it is fair to single them out since an activist writing in yesterday’s paper wrote that the problem is widespread. He blamed people in the West for not questioning how they can get handmade items so cheaply. I am not sure I agree with his opinion, but I do agree that it is really terrible.

Who is wearing a white hat

I have been meeting with a few different people at NGO's here and there is one thing that they all agree on: most NGO's here are scams to enrich the people who founded them. I feel like I can not trust anyone. Bad people do not care, good people are offended because you do not trust them. Such a shame.