Tim Peek visited Nepal and found country of contrasts
Source: Concern Worldwide - Ireland
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Written by Tim Peek
KATHMANDU, Nepal is a deceptive nation. Here in the capital -- rife with internet cafes, trekking suppliers packed with high-tech backpacks and boots, pulsing nightclubs, busy schools and shiny new banks – Nepal looks every bit the up and coming Asian powerhouse. Nepal's social statistics support that view: At 136th in Human Development Index, Nepal lies in the middle range of the UN's ranking of national health and wealth. Per capita income last year was estimated at a healthy $1,675, 153rd in the world. Life expectancy is around 60 years; the HIV/AIDS rate is infinitesimal; infant mortality is just 65 per 1,000 births.But the numbers lie.Leave the capital and head west, to towns like Lamra – if you can get there. Lamra lies in the Karnali Valley, a place totally cut off from the rest of Nepal, and the world. There are no roads here, just donkey tracks
The only way in or out of here – aside from days of walking up and down the 12,000-foot peaks that pass for foothills here at the base of the Himalaya – is by plane, a trip far too expensive to be made by any of the subsistence farmers who call this valley home.Nationwide, it's estimated that 31 percent of Nepalis live below the local poverty line; here in places like Lamra that number is closer to 100 percent.
And while Nepalis in the capital can expect to live to 67 years old, people in places like Lamra have an average lifespan of just 36 years, says Concern Nepal Country Director Linda Burns.Everyone here is a farmer; and while land is relatively plentiful, it is unproductive and must be tended completely by human and animal muscle – there are no tractors here, virtually no machines of any kind. All weathers
"The area is prone to drought and flooding – there have been both in the past year," Burns says, adding with only half a smile, "we're expecting an earthquake next – this area is seismically active."A recent hailstorm wiped out more than three-quarters of the rice harvest – the usual five-month grain supply has been cut to just a month – with six months to go until the next harvest. "Malnutrition is more widespread than any think," Burns says, worried about whether she will have to find a way to get food in here in coming months."Though it's the 21st century, people here are living in the stone age," says Kushandra Mahat, executive director of Kirdarc, a community development group for the region that is Concern's local partner here.
"Because of the difficulties of transportation, these people have been completely left out of development."Recent war hasn't helped
For the last 10 years, a Maoist insurgency has claimed some 13,000 lives, and has isolated these rural areas even more, as local government officials fled for their lives, businesses packed up and investors have stayed away.
A peace and power-sharing agreement with the government is bringing new hope that development will soon trickle out of the capital to places like Lamra.Concern's role in Nepal is to see beyond the façade of national statistics and the good life of Kathmandu.
Concern has been working with organizations like Kirdarc to get out into the remote areas of the Midwestern Development Region – the poorest in Nepal – and help them use local people and local resources to meet local needs.In Lamra, that has meant providing technical and financial support for a pipeline project to bring clean water to the village, supporting a latrine construction program, and spreading health and hygiene education with community educators and local radio programs.Concern's role supporting community movement
Concern relies on local partner community groups like Kirdarc because they know the area best, have the connections with local people and leaders, and are already doing the work that's needed.
"The transport issue is one reason working through local partners makes good sense," Burns says. "They are already there and you don't waste time getting your staff there and supporting your own operation."As it is, Burns makes nearly monthly treks into the remote valleys where its local partners are working – that in-the-field support means walking up to five days to reach some programs.
It demonstrates a commitment not lost on the local partners."We have found Concern to be very sincere and committed to visiting the field," says Kirdarc's Mahat. "They have made many trips to the field and met with people.
Our experience tells us Concern's top focus is supporting community development and that is good."For Mahat and his partners at Concern, development means making sure that the statistics that the rest of the world uses to define Nepal really do apply to the entire nation, even in places like the village of Lamra. "In the time it will take you to get back to America, our project officer will one day into his five-day walk to reach his project village. How can that be," Mahat asks incredulously.
"That's why people need to know what's going on here."
KATHMANDU, Nepal is a deceptive nation. Here in the capital -- rife with internet cafes, trekking suppliers packed with high-tech backpacks and boots, pulsing nightclubs, busy schools and shiny new banks – Nepal looks every bit the up and coming Asian powerhouse. Nepal's social statistics support that view: At 136th in Human Development Index, Nepal lies in the middle range of the UN's ranking of national health and wealth. Per capita income last year was estimated at a healthy $1,675, 153rd in the world. Life expectancy is around 60 years; the HIV/AIDS rate is infinitesimal; infant mortality is just 65 per 1,000 births.But the numbers lie.Leave the capital and head west, to towns like Lamra – if you can get there. Lamra lies in the Karnali Valley, a place totally cut off from the rest of Nepal, and the world. There are no roads here, just donkey tracks
The only way in or out of here – aside from days of walking up and down the 12,000-foot peaks that pass for foothills here at the base of the Himalaya – is by plane, a trip far too expensive to be made by any of the subsistence farmers who call this valley home.Nationwide, it's estimated that 31 percent of Nepalis live below the local poverty line; here in places like Lamra that number is closer to 100 percent.
And while Nepalis in the capital can expect to live to 67 years old, people in places like Lamra have an average lifespan of just 36 years, says Concern Nepal Country Director Linda Burns.Everyone here is a farmer; and while land is relatively plentiful, it is unproductive and must be tended completely by human and animal muscle – there are no tractors here, virtually no machines of any kind. All weathers
"The area is prone to drought and flooding – there have been both in the past year," Burns says, adding with only half a smile, "we're expecting an earthquake next – this area is seismically active."A recent hailstorm wiped out more than three-quarters of the rice harvest – the usual five-month grain supply has been cut to just a month – with six months to go until the next harvest. "Malnutrition is more widespread than any think," Burns says, worried about whether she will have to find a way to get food in here in coming months."Though it's the 21st century, people here are living in the stone age," says Kushandra Mahat, executive director of Kirdarc, a community development group for the region that is Concern's local partner here.
"Because of the difficulties of transportation, these people have been completely left out of development."Recent war hasn't helped
For the last 10 years, a Maoist insurgency has claimed some 13,000 lives, and has isolated these rural areas even more, as local government officials fled for their lives, businesses packed up and investors have stayed away.
A peace and power-sharing agreement with the government is bringing new hope that development will soon trickle out of the capital to places like Lamra.Concern's role in Nepal is to see beyond the façade of national statistics and the good life of Kathmandu.
Concern has been working with organizations like Kirdarc to get out into the remote areas of the Midwestern Development Region – the poorest in Nepal – and help them use local people and local resources to meet local needs.In Lamra, that has meant providing technical and financial support for a pipeline project to bring clean water to the village, supporting a latrine construction program, and spreading health and hygiene education with community educators and local radio programs.Concern's role supporting community movement
Concern relies on local partner community groups like Kirdarc because they know the area best, have the connections with local people and leaders, and are already doing the work that's needed.
"The transport issue is one reason working through local partners makes good sense," Burns says. "They are already there and you don't waste time getting your staff there and supporting your own operation."As it is, Burns makes nearly monthly treks into the remote valleys where its local partners are working – that in-the-field support means walking up to five days to reach some programs.
It demonstrates a commitment not lost on the local partners."We have found Concern to be very sincere and committed to visiting the field," says Kirdarc's Mahat. "They have made many trips to the field and met with people.
Our experience tells us Concern's top focus is supporting community development and that is good."For Mahat and his partners at Concern, development means making sure that the statistics that the rest of the world uses to define Nepal really do apply to the entire nation, even in places like the village of Lamra. "In the time it will take you to get back to America, our project officer will one day into his five-day walk to reach his project village. How can that be," Mahat asks incredulously.
"That's why people need to know what's going on here."
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
