One Thousand Days in Nepal

Our VSO placement finishes at the end of May 2008, and we will be back in Plymouth on Thursday May 29. Our phone should be connected that day too – 01752 310299, or Peter's mobile 07971 086492.

Reflections on 27 months in a fascinating country

What we are going to miss

• The unexpectedness of each day – demonstrations, weddings, unscheduled meetings, strikes – in a chaotic, noisy, buzzing capital city
• The rich culture – we cycle to work through narrow streets with ancient Hindu temples where there are few tourists and many worshippers
• Trekking in the mountains – peaceful, magnificent and quite the best in the world. 
• The people: other volunteers, colleagues at work, many kind Nepali friends, and smiling children calling out, “Namaste, how are you?”

What we will not miss

• All the neighbourhood dogs barking at night
• The stench of the Bagmati River, now black until the monsoon
• Unheated offices in winter

What we are looking forward to

• Our friends and family, close by
• Safe reliable electric sockets and no power cuts, and tap water you can drink
• Interesting TV and good comedy on radio
• The sea
• Having a car again

Our Last Trek

Our eldest daughter Juliet was with us last month and we had our final trek, in the Everest region, which was wonderful – spectacular snowy peaks, pine forests and Sherpa villages, with trains of yaks to make the narrow trails more exciting!

Yaks toil past a mountain chorten (shrine)

Five miles from Everest, at our highest point

We had just ten days so we only (only?!) got to 5,200 m (about 17,000ft) Most people were heading for Everest Base camp or higher. There were 32 teams of Summiteers stuck there in early May thanks to the restrictions imposed by China so that they could take the Olympic torch to the summit, without ‘Free Tibet’ banners popping up from our side. Nepal, being a small neighbour, had to agree to this.

Few en suites in the mountains

 Helen Sherpa, (centre, talking to Juliet) is from New Zealand and has lived in Nepal for nearly 30 years. Here she is sitting in her in-laws’ remote home in the Everest Region, telling us about the huge benefits Edmund Hillary has brought to the area.

Our most moving experience on the trek was April 10, Election Day. By the highest monastery in Nepal was a small open-air polling station, set in a rhododendron forest clearing, with the glorious mountain Ama Dablam rising above it.

 Ama Dablam towers over an open-air polling-station

We met some voters later, scurrying along the trail to get there on time. It was wonderful to see that at long last Nepal had a chance to vote. And our very first trek had been disrupted by the People’s Revolution two years ago. We felt we – and they – had come a long way.

The elections went more peacefully than people expected. Another thing that nobody predicted was the outcome – the Maoists took 120 of the 240 seats in the first-past-the-post part. Although threats and violence were alleged to have brought this about, the plain fact is that the Maoists had clearer policies, better leadership, much better organisation, and tellingly were prepared to involve women and minority groups. 

Our neighbours created this Maoist emblem in the road near our home

The Nepal Congress (NC) party, greatly reduced, is “full of grandfathers”.  The test now is to see if Prime Minister G P Koirala of NC will let go the reins and accept the decision of the people. Our last day in Nepal is the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, which will decide the fate of the King and of the one and only Hindu Kingdom in the world.

Our visitors book is full of comments about this beautiful country, its friendly people, and the variety and richness of life in the Kathmandu Valley. Remember too that Nepal is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and we have been fortunate in our flat and the area we live in to benefit from running water, fairly regular electricity and enough money to eat well and travel. About 80% of the 26 million people here live on the land, and for them our lives are unbelievably extravagant. Twenty people could live in the four rooms we occupy. We hope many of you reading this who haven’t been here will consider coming: tourism is a major foreign currency earner, and the high price of food and oil are hitting the economy. You can be sure of a warm welcome and we can help with advice.

Our last week at work found both of us doing what we’ve most enjoyed about our placements. Rosemary was ‘in the field’ leading discussions with groups of teachers, parents and children as part of the Government Quality Education initiative. Once back in Kathmandu she was giving demonstration lessons on how to cope without textbooks: six weeks into the new school year many schools still don’t have them (apparently the paper was used up for the elections).

Peter meanwhile was supporting Nepal in the bi-annual meeting between donors and the Ministry of Education, recording their agreements in a complex document (in English, thankfully).  Helping with the Secretary’s speech, and meeting the possible new Minister of Education (a Maoist) were highlights in a busy week.

Lava at work

Peter’s partner in the Ministry of Education office is Lava, from Far Western Nepal, where his mother speaks a language that has never been written down. He is not only the first in his family to have a degree – he also has a PhD in multi-lingual education from Copenhagen, is about to become Joint Secretary in the Ministry, and is highly regarded by donors.

Although our work has sometimes seemed slow and frustrating, it has been a real privilege to work both at the highest level in Nepal’s education service and in its schools. We hope that in small ways we have made a contribution.

For some youngsters, even getting an education is a challenge – consider these pupils, learning against the odds.

In Humla, Nepal’s most remote district, these girls live in a hostel up to five days walk away from their homes, so that they can study in the secondary school.

 She’s writing in Nepali, but at home her parents speak Tamang or Magar, and they’d really like her to be learning English.

It is children such as these we have worked to help for nearly three years. Nepal has come a long way in developing a national education service, but still has far to go. The country’s biggest asset must be their cheerful, eager children, ready to learn and hard-working. Here are some more of them to remind you of what it’s all been about –

Juliet makes some friends on the trail

Spot Rosemary

This will probably be our last entry on this website. We hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Peter and Rosemary