Nepal has been one of the poorest countries on the face of this earth for a long time. Limited resources, and an ancient civilization built on a land mostly up and down as dictated by the Himalayan Mountain Range-you can imagine what a difficult place to etch out a living. Kathmandu is a valley, and attracts most people to live and work in Nepal-so it is very overpopulated-,everyone competing for a piece of the pie, doing what bartering, trading, growing and exporting they can. The people of Nepal are amazenly resourceful, generous, giving, and are on the most part deeply religious and spiritual, dutifully paying homage to their Hindi gods and goddess, laying offerings at the feet of shrines and in temples, ringing bells, chants, sweet incense smoke mingling with the diesel and trash -it is a fascinating country like no other I've ever visited.
But poverty riddled, and especially so in the mountain areas, where villagers live simply and much as they have for hundreds of years, most with no electricity, or any "modern" conveniences that we Americans take so much for granted, like a flushing toilet and a spicket with running water, or even a road to their hamlets, so much walking and portering.
The people work hard-very hard, and labor intensely and often at a sacrifice of education. Children are expected to help with the workload, and often are in the fields, side by side with adults, or carrying heavy loads of feed or food in baskets on their backs with a trump line around the head. I tried and cannot do the work of an 8 year old, nor could my 6'6" son carry the same load of corn up a steep trail that a Nepali youth half his age and size was carrying.
Nepal has been a Hindu Kingdom, in fact, only in the past few decades was its borders opened to outsiders. It was called "The Kingdom of Nepal." The Hindu King was thought to be the reincarnation of a Hindu god and his line a sacred line of rulers. The next-to-last King of Nepal was killed in a bloody massacre of the royal family, I believe this was about 10 years ago, and his brother became the successor. Corruption was said to follow that and the government received heavy criticism that they hoarded their money for the top echelon of society and neglected the poor and especially the villagers, who were asking for schools to be built in their villages, and other public services that they felt entitled to as Nepal citizens, and were not getting. And so conditions became ripe for the Communist party to come in, and organize the poor and rural folk, who gladly accepted the help of a group who seemed to be working in their best interest, not the interest of the rich only. It is the same dynamics that I have seen in other poor countries where the rural people are basically sick and tired of doing back-breaking work to enable a few at the top to live in luxury. There seems to a breaking point for all people in countries where this pattern happens, and one need only to look at Cuba, Nicaragua, and now Thailand to see what the disadvantage become the majority.
So the Nepal Communist party, or the Maoists, came to be. No, they are not Chinese or from another country as some have asked me, as in "What are Chinese Maoists doing in Nepal?" They have named themselves, obviously, after Chairman Mao. But on the other hand, rumor has it China is supporting this movement, and why should that be a surprise? Look at all the puppet governments the US has helped to install. Superpowers seem to have a need to support those who agree with their adgenda. The Nepal Maoists ran a campaign in Nepal for many years, and there was much fighting that happened between the Maoists and the Nepal gov't. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides. Bombs were detonated and many children filled orphanages, such as the one we help out in Kathmandu, Buddhist Child Home. But a few years ago, the Maoists and the other Nepal parties agreed to a peace treaty of sorts, and the Maoists participated in elections and won the majority of seats in their Congress. The King was asked to leave the country and he did. No more Nepal Monarchy-no more calling it"the Kingdom of Nepal."It is now "Nepal." Maoist have had majority seats in the Congress now and yet the competing parties that seek to rule Nepal cannot agree on what kind of government to have. The past year has seen heightened arguing and general disagreement among many of the parties and no constitution can be voted on with agreement from all. So that brings us up to today.
The Maoist party in Nepal has been saying for awhile that they are tired of dealing with the other leaders, including the current prime minister, who's name happens to be Prime Minister Nepal. They are majority party, holding the most seats in their Congress, and they feel they have not been allowed to create the constitution as they would like it. PM Nepal says Nepal will be a democracy, not a communist state, and that is what the people want. Maoists feel otherwise and so the conflict has reached a head.
As in all Govern. disputes, it is a complicated situation and I encourage anyone interested in finding out more to go online and look at all the past and much better written articles on Nepal's Maoists. National Geographic did a very comprehensive article on the "civil war" a few years ago and had a young female Nepali Maoist solider on the cover. Women in the villages have embraced this movement as their rights have always been as second class citizen under past regimes. The Communists promise education for all, including girls, an honest government and jobs. You can see why the poor cling to these promises and hope the Maoist can help them have a better quality life then the past.
Our school construction has come to a standstill as Don and Danny were whisked away by friend Rajan, who felt it safer for them to return to the city of Kathmandu and their safe haven with the Karma family. "The air is electric with the energy of the Nepalis pouring into the city for the big protest and I can smell the potential for strikes and riots in the air" says Danny in a recent email. "Today we watched, from the top of Karma's house, a long line of hundreds of Maoist in red shirts, every fifth one carry a large red flag with the hammer and sickle symbol. They were quiet and orderly as they march below us, bringing all traffic flow to a standstill." As the Maoists pour into Kathmandu, they are taking over schools to live there and stopping traffic with their marches and "parades." It is political postering to show their force in number right now, but can easily explode if the political leaders give the word on either side. The Nepal gov't has the army on standby and Danny reports that solders and police in riot gear are everywhere, giving the city a false sense of control and tense watchfulness from all.
Right now, the world is a witness to a new Nepal going through a precarious dance to determine its future-and furthers my feeling that education is the most powerful weapon of all. Educating people and helping them become literate means they can read, study and learn of other countries and attempts at democracy -and it is a reason we are a NGO-as the "N" for NON-government-what do we know about who is right and what government is best for a country and its unique culture, people and resources (or lack thereof). But I can stand firmly behind education and feel more strongly then ever that building a school in the village of Darhka is the right thing to do no matter the outcome of Nepal's struggle to recreate a better way of governing themselves. Meanwhile, Don may have to walk to the airport if traffic is halted by the strikes, but he is determined to fly out tomorrow, May 2, the day the Maoist promise to flex their muscle and show the world they are to be taken seriously. Om Nama Shiv vaya OM!
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