Week 8 introduced us to a very engaging, energetic and thought provoking instructor, Miki Jacevic, a Bosnian that is now the Director of Partnerships and Consultations in Washington, DC. He is a human rights activist and peace program specialist with a wealth of experience, much of which is grounded in his personal journey as a Bosnian that took up arms during the conflict there. While that consumed his life for 18 months, he eventually turned to studying what it takes to transform a society post-conflict. We learned about capacity building in peace and conflict resolution, developing and evaluating peace education programs and initiatives, and the role of truth commissions as a means to achieve social justice.
Miki had a very hands on way of teaching, so we were developing and delivering a short educational session, designing logic frames for our own individual conflict project, and simulating a peace building team that is charged with identifying and funding programs for a coherent strategy to rebuild a country racked by war over the past 10 years.
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| Miki and fellows during class exercise |
But, no doubt, a highlight of these past couple weeks was our field study in Nepal. I have to admit, I knew very little about what has been happening in Nepal over the years—other that vaguely remembering that there are some Tibetans there who are protesting Chinese rule of their homeland in the Himalayas and the occasional act of self immolation (33 since 2011). As with the rest of our program, the week in Nepal was quite intense, with very little down time to recuperate from the nonstop activities throughout the 9 days there. We started out on April 7th, flying to Kathmandu, where we were greeted by our guides, who took us through a tour of the city. At first sight, most of us were appalled by the garbage everywhere, with no signs at all of an infrastructure that takes care of sanitation and waste removal.
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| Our arrival and welcome in Nepal |
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| Another custom of welcome--red powder on your forehead |
Regardless, the city was bustling with activity—street vendors everywhere selling their produce from the farm or handicrafts made by the indigenous ethnic groups, as well as Tibetans who have settled in Nepal. The Buddha has a very different look in Nepal, with three eyes, as shown in this picture.
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| The Nepali Buddha |
We were also forewarned about a daily electrical outage that lasted several hours, generally during the early morning and evening. Many hotels and shops do have generators, but not all, which resulted in our use of flashlights and/or candles. As well, there are regular bandhs, which are strikes that can be called by almost any political faction. When a bandh is called, everything stops (except tourist traffic) and it can last from several hours to days. We did experience one bandh, and had to rearrange our visit with an organization, since the staff were unable to get to their office.
To summarize what is happening in Nepal, they are now in a post-conflict transformation stage, after 10 years of civil war where the Nepali government fought a Maoist insurgency. While a comprehensive peace agreement has been signed and there is an agreement to form a republic, with the country divided into sections representing the various ethnic groups, there are still unresolved issues—one of the most serious is how to reintegrate the former Maoist combatants who are now residing in cantonments. Apart from this all consuming focus on creating a governing system, which has been going on for several years, Nepal has a need to develop its basic social/economic institutions. For the most part, while systems of education, health care, and the economy exist, they have serious challenges to overcome if Nepal is ever to become a healthy, stable, and prosperous nation.
Many of us may be familiar with Nepal’s tourist industry of trekking up the Himalayas. I know it’s been on my list of things to do and luckily we were able to travel to Pokhara where many of these treks begin. Not only did we have an opportunity to visit the Empowering Women of Nepal and 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking (an organization that trains women guides and operates a trekking business), but we also had an early morning climb up a mountain in order to view the sunrise over the Himalayas.
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| Sunrise over the Himalayas |
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| Himalayas just after sunrise |
Another highlight of Nepal was the opportunity I had to ride a motorcycle—a first for me. I missed our bus one morning as we were off to visit a community group that received goats and training from Heifer International. The bus took off as I was running after it. With no luck at that, I had our hotel manager call the guide on the bus. Since the bus was not yet out of town, the hotel manager said he’d take me to where the bus was waiting. I thought it would be in the hotel van sitting outside, but instead, we were traveling via motorcycle. Anyway, even though I kept thinking no helmet, proper shoes and clothing, I lasted the 15 minute ride to the bus and said this will just be another funny part of my story in Nepal.
Our visits to NGOs, political and community groups and their projects included many—but the highlights were those where we saw local communities creating a better life through their own efforts, perhaps with a little bit of assistance from international aid and development organizations. Most memorable were the Heifer project, the village development center in Damauli that established schools and youth programs, the Women’s Skills Development Organization where they made and sold woven products, and the Tibetan settlements.
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| Tibetan women selling their handicrafts in a Tibetan settlement |
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| A hilltop community that received a Heifer International gift of goats and training |
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| The cotton yarn of the Women's Skill Development Center |
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| Women at the Women's Skill Development Center doing their weaving |
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| Women at the Women's Skill Development Center making their products to sell |
As a result of our Nepal field study, I have an even great appreciation for the stability and conveniences that I have at home. While traveling to these other parts of the world opens your eyes and mind to a life so different from our own, experiences such as these make you realize that whatever challenges we have in our own country pale in comparison to those in countries where their governance structure is weak and the social institutions are barely meeting the needs of the population. But, overall, there is hope that Nepal is on its way toward greater prosperity.
