The place of much water….

Since I last wrote I have managed to do my first work visit out of KTM. In early June I went to Jaleswor in the South East of Nepal, in the terai and practically in India. Even my primitive Nepali wasn’t useful here as people speak Maithili. Jaleswor means the place of much water. My visit was before the monsoon proper arrived so although we had a couple of heavy rainstorms nothing was washed away, as it was only a week or so later.
The organisation I am working for runs a Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) project there funded by the World Bank and I was lucky enough to meet many of the beneficiaries. This is definitely the “give a man/woman a fishing rod” end of development. People take small loans to develop their lively hood; buying cows, goats, buffalo or trade tools and then as their income increases they repay the loan and the money is then available for someone else to borrow. I was able to see first hand how the programme has empowered people as well as increasing their incomes; men encouraging very shy women to speak up and tell their story and men, from normally separate Dalit communities, working, talking and eating together.
To say it was hot in Jaleswor would be an understatement. I cursed, as useless, the ceiling fan in my small cell like bedroom (in the only “hotel” in town) and then prayed for it to come back on in the frequent electricity failures through the night.
We ate huge lychees, delicious local fish and puri and curry for breakfast. My colleagues at sandwiches of two puri’s with a sweet that looked like a jelabi in the middle…. although I ate the same thing I did so separately!
The monsoon is here, great earth quenching cloud bursts. Last night the rain was so heavy we could hardly hear the DVD we were watching. It is always a good sound if you are inside in the dry.
My counterpart has just come back from a trip to the UK and is telling everyone stories which sound familiar as a reverse of my own experience arriving here. One of his funniest tales for Nepalis is the description of a sat. nav. in someone’s car. To people in a city like KTM where most buildings don’t have a street name let alone a number this machine sounds like pure magic.
Mango season is almost over and now we have local naspati (Asian pears) appearing.
The king has left his “castle” and we eagerly await it’s imminent opening as a museum, complete with crown and sceptre as they were found after all. Nepal has its first President but as yet no prime minister. There is still a fuel shortage and strikes as the students continue to press their claim for a 45% fare discount. Much more worrying is the serious food shortages in some remote areas of Nepal where people have to rely on poorly managed and inadequate food aid. I doubt though that Nepal will make the headlines on the food shortage front.
Must go and set up the candles ready for tonight’s load shedding.
Namaste
Julie