what the figures say...

A survey conducted by Raksha Nepal among 200 women working in dance bars, cabin restaurants and massage parlours produced the following results:

- 57.5% respondents were dispalced to Kthmandu due to the armed conflict
- 91.5% respondents were in the age group of 15 to 28 years
- 66.5% respondents had some 'transitional' job before entering into forced prostitution
- Average income of respondents was Rs. 4605.50 (around 45 euros) working for 10 hours a day
- 87.5% respondents had never disclosed information about their jobs to their families
- clients were in the age group of 31 to 50, and army/police officials were frequent clients
- 81% respondents stated that they were forced into sex by employers
- 50% respondents say they never used contraceptives
- 60.5% respondents have little or no knowledge about HIV/AIDS
- 98.5% respondents were against legalisation of prostitution

today is a holy-day

"Nepal to witness partial solar eclipse on Friday"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/14/content_12808502.htm

no work today, we'll just spend the day dancing on the roof!

I haven’t talked to you yet about how dirty Kathmandu is…


There is no method of storing and recycling or making disappear all that fohor (nepali word ford dirty). People store some at home, and if you want you can pay someone who will come and take it somewhere for you. I was eager to know about our rubbish, and I discovered that they take it to a back street of the English embassy where street children and poor people come by sometimes to see if they find some useful and usable goods. From there, I don’t know where it goes, but watching the rivers, I can imagine where…. Just imagine it, with little islands formed with rubbish.

Another way of getting rid of all the waste is burning it. Sometimes in the morning, when I go out of my home, a fog surrounds the city, -but not everyday’s mountain fog-, these times, the smell of burning is strong. An in fact it is an everyday activity, and you can also see neighours gathering around a fire at dawn.

The funny story I had yesterday is that I was waiting for a friend on the street, and the man next to me, a street seller, was packing. His day was over. After putting all his items in a couple of huge bags, I was surprised when he started collecting the waste he had produced over the day on the street. It was the first time I saw something like that, and I was so astonished, I wanted to tell him how good job he was doing, but at that moment I didn’t find my nepali words to speak to him, so I just stared at him.

When he finished collecting all the remains, he just walked a little bit further on that street, where there was a big tree and dropped all he had in his hands! I just couldn’t believe what I was watching. But in fact, I feel sorry to say that this is Nepal’s natural order…

I love to walk. Looking at everything that goes on, feeling the smells, watching the colours and imagining the lives of the people around me if I don’t get the chance to speak to them.

Walking in Kathmandu is my everyday challenge. The roads are used for all purposes, street selling all around the sidewalks -with plenty of fresh vegetables, hot chillies, face-masks for the polluted air, all kinds of clothes and underwear, hair brushes and cotton swabs- wait for costumers next to a Ganesha statue around the always present temples on the streets. The cars, motorcycles and bicicles go freely in every direction, horning right and left to the brave population who loves to walk. Then, also appear the rickshaws trying to pick up any tourist with some rupees in the pocket.

On rush hours, the micros (public transport vans) travel with their doors opened due to the 25 persons packed in the inside who overflow and stand with their body half out.
I was astonished to see that there is another public way of transport called TucTuc which works with electricity rechargeable batteries, to which we have to give a sincere thank you for not contributing to the massive air pollution of the valley.
On the road there are almost no signs who will guide you about when or where to cross safely, and the ones there are, are not respected…being a pedestrian, you just need to dare in this daily jungle.

Lately I have had the chance of riding a scooter (when the other girl with permit at the NGO is not free) I have that duty. It took me a couple of drives to understand that the language of traffic here is the horning. I can now understand why so many noise is ‘needed’ (or not, but it’s fine). The thing is when you are passing over someone on the road, you have to let them know by horning, which makes me think that no-one uses the vehicles mirrors -but anyways-, the special factor is that the horning does have an effect on the other driver who fairly pulls out on the side of the road and lets you free driving!
I do try to sneak in the most silent I can, but I know now that you don’t have to think you will be safe by not horning, because you will be horned…

I went to the streets today because thousands and thousands of maoists from all around the country came to Kathmandu to go on strike, this is some of what I saw

Maoists picketed Singha Durbar, the main administrative area of Nepal, which had never been picketed before. People making music in the streets, everybody was dancing, clapping hands, or screaming and making noise, more than a protest, it looked like a carnival! One important fact is that they respected the peaceful protest they meant.

Of course, all the streets were surrounded by police,

some with guns, some with bamboo sticks











the crowd was enormous, my eyes could not even reach the end, at that time Prachandra, their leader, was giving a speech

people everywhere on top of buses, even on top of publicity pannels...

this was the last day of the second round of protests, “We want the government to address our demands in a week or else face a more aggressive agitation,” said former Prime Minister and chairman of UCPN-Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. We will see what the next move from the government is. We all know that if both sides stay rigid with their ideals, nothing will move onwards. The ruling coalition and the maoists must somehow agree on a few basic things including these two hot issues: constitution making and the peace process. Let's hope this happens before the population gets hurt one again, what could remember the hard years of civil war they had to go through some time ago.

There has been a lot of news coming out for the past week about Nepal and the Maoists. I don’t think I will be giving a complete view of all the elements, that is probably unavoidable, plus I have to say that as I’m living in my little bubble, in Raksha shelter, I only got news about these facts from the internet and from talking to the staff or other people I find on the way.

First, you might want to take a look at this page from HRW http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/03/28/nepal13078.htm to know a little bit about the country’s history, and to this timeline to rearrange your thoughts, http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/nepal/conflict-profile/conflict-timeline-2/

The 2008 elections gave the Maoists a majority in government and, after a 240-year reign, the monarchy was abolished. The Nepali President Ram Baran Yadav, fearful of too much Maoist power, refused to have former Maoist rebels incorporated into the armed forces. This led to Prachanda’s (maoist leader and brand new prime minister) resignation on 4th May.

Since then, the Maoists accuse the government of violating the rights of the population. The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) UCPN (M) claims to have innumerable reasons to declare their second round of protest programs which started on the 1st of November. The 45-point manifesto addresses a range of issues, including social and economic reform, the restoration of “civilian supremacy”, the fall of the puppet government, and state restructuring and peace process-related issues such as the integration of the two armies and the social inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups. Their detractors however, see that the sole reason for the UCPN(M) is to shake the country and thereby grab power.

This is what was on the streets of Kathmandu last week, on Tuesday night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8QpsenFGLw&feature=player_embedded

Due to the prolonged political crisis prevailing in the country, Nepal is now in the position of becoming a failed state, something that the political leaders here have not seriously accepted as reality. Besides, if Maoists perpetuate their movement to capture the state with these urban uprisings maybe the nation will not be able to avoid a “political accident” that might drag it into a failed state.

However, Prachanda said that his party was still committed to the conclusion of the peace process and for the draft of the new constitution on time.

The most significant achievement of the peace process to date has been the election of a representative Constituent Assembly. Its central task, and arguably the country’s most important challenge, is to draft a new constitution, for promulgation by 28 May 2010. With just over half of the thematic concept papers having been debated by the Assembly, the overall schedule has been revised for the sixth time. The stabilisation of the country depends on this first step. “The vociferous Tiger has already tasted the Human Blood, it will come back again and pounce”, this is the conclusion of the observers.

For the Chief of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) Karin Landgren, the peace process is still unfinished business. She puts emphasis on the recommendation of the establishment of a “more formal dialogue mechanism to streamline negotiations and find creative solutions to overcome the current impasse”, while trying to avoid from all parts “provocative statements or actions in order to maintain a positive climate for dialogue”.

If you want to learn more about the actual ongoing situation in Nepal, take a look at the UNMIN’s report: http://www.unmin.org.np/downloads/keydocs/SG%20Report%20Oct%2009.pdf

Today it seems that no public transport is allowed on the road, in the morning there were some courageous drivers who made the costumers pay double for the ride, until they found the pickets and were forced to stop. Some of the staff can’t arrive to the office… but at least bandhaa has not been declared, and we don't have to stay at home, not allowed to go in the streets, and running out of fresh supplies –for the moment-.

and we can still profit from watching kathmandu valley going darker and darker until night falls...

I have to confess that every time I get on the road I fear for my life…

My first experience was a 30 kilometer ride from Kathmandu to Panauti, a village outside of the valley. Goma’s brother had yellow fever and I was going with her to see him. We took the public bus, fortunately we were the first people on it and we could choose our sit. Other people who come later, may as well go for the whole ride on their foot. I don’t know if it was the best choice we made, we decided to stick by the driver, on the first row. But don’t think it is like on our buses, in Nepal, the first road means literally touching the front window. Goma thought that getting to watch all the countryside during the way was a good idea. I thought so too. I didn’t know what this meant.

The driver gets us safely out from the crowded city and we start crossing the mountains. The thing is that in Nepal there are no rules on the road. It is all about going first. The earlier you arrive, the more passengers you get (and u already know that there is no maximum number of persons in public transport, the more, the better!) On the road, there are no red lights, no white lines, no rules. Everybody uses their horn to let know the other drivers that they are going by, but that is the only sign. Our courageous driver doesn’t look on the opposite side of the road to see who is coming, and just presses the accelerator. Goma starts laughing at my “we are going to dieeee” face. He keeps horning to the bikes that come in front of us, I am thinking “why? why do you horn at them if they are driving on their side of the road? IT IS YOU who drives on the WRONG ONE!!”… My jaws felt the pressure…

After the two hour ride and the 30 km road, we arrived safely to this astonishing place. We are surrounded by rice crops, and a marvellous variety of glowing greens… we are in the country side! no more loud horning, we are out of that cloud of pollution which is Kathmandu valley! just relax and happiness…

The women here start working at 6 am, when the sun is not very hot and harvesting is less hard. Me and Goma go to the fields one hour later (yes! for the sceptics, I am waking up this early in Nepal!) ready to help in the task: separating the left grains of rice from the plants so that the animals can eat the rest of the plant (the actual rice cutting was done a week before, it would have been another amazing experience!). Just let you know that one hour later I had two blisters on my hands, could not work any more and sat down on the shade to take some pictures and admire the strength of these women.

Today, we were on our way to see Dakhinkaly temple and same creepy drive. Going by taxi, which this time meant 6 persons on a micro car, was not a much better experience. Plus at some point, Menuka didi says: “there are many many tigers around in this jungle…” I mean, how can this help my “we are going to die” face? As for the taxi, I don’t know why he plays with our lives that way. It is horrifying to pass another car during a bend, when visibility percentage is about 0. I don’t’ know how, but we arrived safe and sound, walked to the temple, took out our shoes to go inside, made the offerings to god, some flowers as necklaces, lit some candles and burned some incense sticks. I like to think that they might have prayed to god for a safe ride home.

 *inside a temple, barefoot, flowers and red colour waterflow*

I guess I have to start doing yoga and learn how to control my nerves if I want to travel and discover other places in this country…

I just wonder how they pass their driving license here!