How to Pick up a Package at the Kathmandu Post Office

1) Go to the post office with a form declaring you have a package

2) Go to the main desk and get told to go to room 32 (rooms 1-30 don’t exist)

3) Walk up to the crowded desk in room 32 and get told a copy of your passport is needed (I don’t have one).

4) Go outside to a copy machine shop to find the electricity is out so the machine doesn’t work

5) Find a working machine. Make a copy.

6) Go back to the first desk in room 32 and get told to take the paper work to room 31.

7) Go to room 31 and pay money for a form. Fill out the form.

8) Go back to room 32 with the form and passport copy to have the package opened, searched, have something scribbled on a form, and be told to go back to room 31 (without the package).

9) In room 31 go to a different desk and pay a customs fee.

10) Still in room 31, go back to the original desk to have a form stamped.

11) Feel relieved when you see Nepalis rolling their eyes at the process.

12) Wait for the workers to find the misplaced stamp. They don’t find the stamp. Get waved in the general direction of room 32. Remain confused as to how this all works if you don’t get any stamps or signatures.

13) Go back to room 32 to present the ‘finished’ paperwork.

14) Receive package.

15) Vent frustration by eating delicious homemade brownies.

16) Thanks, Mom!

17) On the way to lunch have your credit card eaten by an ATM.

18) Happy New Years!

Students Don't Need Teachers

Attendance is a major issue at my school. Both students and teachers are frequently late or completely absent from classes. As a result, whole classes are sometimes left to fend for themselves. Sometimes it is obvious when a teacher is absent from the noise coming out of a classroom but some classes are clever and sit quietly with the door closed and have the hour to themselves. One morning a I filled in for an absent teacher in the third grade. I gave five students pieces of chalk and no directions about what to do. I sat back and observed what unfolded.

The students at the board are drawing flowers (their own idea). Some of the pictures were quite intricate (see the following picture). The amazing part about this image though, is that the five students at the board independently drew lines on the board between their own work spaces. They organized themselves into an orderly line.

The presence of the root system in the plant on the right surprised me.

Students 'reading' The Economist in the courtyard during some free time. Pictures of airplanes are especially popular.

I can only conclude from these observations that students can manage themselves in an environment that is lacking teachers and educational resources. Check out this TED Talk from Sugata Mitra about how kids can teach themselves when they have access to the right tools.

The Weaving Industry

Nepal has a large and thriving weaving industry. Strewn around my house and school are dozens of small-scale weavers. Many houses have looms on the ground level and the sounds of the metal and wood scratching together can be heard at almost any time of day. Below are some images from a pair of looms just down the street from my school.

Two men work the looms.

This weaver is partly blind but has amazing control of his machine.

After a few strokes he got into his rhythm.

The looms are individually human-powered.

The raw material before processing.

The room was barebones but each loom can put out 2-3 meters of cloth per day.

Give the Gift of Light

In Nepal, those without access to electricity generally rely on kerosene wick lamps (in 2.4 million households). This form of lighting is neither cost-effective nor environment-friendly. Fumes from the kerosene lamps affect the eyes and lungs and contribute to global warming due to the release of greenhouse gases. The quality of light is inferior and there is a high risk of accidental fire. Additionally, since kerosene has to be imported the government has to spend its limited foreign currency.

I am working with Nepali energy firms and NGO's that are developing these small household solar lamps. One group working on this issue is ECCA Nepal. This group has been very successful in distributing the technological know-how and awareness of these lamps across rural areas of Nepal. Microfinance mechanisms are in place for villagers to buy the lamps and solar panels on monthly installments increasing the amount of people able to purchase clean light.

Students studying at night with the help of the Solar Tuki.

The Solar Tuki and its solar panel. Two lamps and a solar panel cost the equivalent of about 50 USD.

ECCA works to train independent manufacturers and service technicians so that the Solar Tuki success story can be spread across Nepal. Even just a small amount of money can go a very long way to providing light to someone in need. During this holiday season give the gift of light.

Donations are accepted through Global Giving (click HERE to donate).

These lights are made in an impressively small 'factory.' Below are some images from the assembly point in Kathmandu.

A pile of partially assembled LED lights.

The manager of the warehouse, Rajan.

When You Just Can’t Say No

Well, sometimes you literally cannot say, “No.” Nepali has no directly translated word for the English equivalent of ‘no.’ There are at least three words that portray some sort of negation or non-affirmative response: chhaina, hoina, and chhahudaina (Romanized spellings vary). These three words all sort of mean ‘no’ but also don’t entirely get the idea across. So, as a result you have to use a verb in the negative form to say no.

There are some interesting consequences of a culture where you can’t simply say no. For one, everyone always knows how to get everywhere even if they don’t. There are also lots of ways of saying and using body language to say ‘maybe.’ The sub-continent head wobble that is so popular is a good example. In my experience, receiving a head wobble as an answer to a question without any verbal assistance means one of four things: 1) Yes, 2) Maybe 3) I have no idea what you just said, or 4) I need a second to make something up because I can’t say no.

I have fully adopted the use of the head wobble (I recommend using it if you’ve never tried). Just don’t rely on it for directions.

Nepal is making strides in the Human Development Index

From the Economist: "SINCE 1980 the country that has made the greatest strides in improving human development is Nepal, according to the UN’s annual Human Development Index (HDI). The index is a combination of three sub-indices covering wealth, health and education. The countries whose HDI has improved the most since 1980 are mainly in Asia. China and India have been helped by rapid GDP growth, but even slower-growing countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh have fostered human development by making progress in health and education. The countries where HDI has improved the least are mainly in Africa, with Zimbabwe at the bottom of the pile."

Tihar: The Festival of Lights

Tihar is the Hindu festival of lights where the goddess of wealth, Laxmi, is worshipped. Many houses and businesses are dressed up with the equivalent of Christmas lights. The countryside pulses with reds, blues, and greens at night. The last day of the festival is known as 'Bhai tika' when sisters give tika (colors on the forehead) to all of their brothers. Sisters travel to the homes of their brothers and put 7 small dots of color on each brother's head. Then a massive amount of food is exchanged for cash and everyone eats their share of sweets.

Preparing the colored powders for giving tika.

Dried flowers are also given to the brothers.

Giving tika.

Everybody gets involved.

After the brothers foreheads are painted the sisters also receive tika from the eldest brother.

An artist putting the finishing touches on a mandala on a crowded street in Thamel, Kathmandu.

The Mighty Bhote Kosi

A couple friends and I had a superb weekend away in Kodari in Northern Nepal. We were about 15 km from the Tibetan border in this gorgeous (or is it 'gorges') area. Running through the bottom of the gorge is the Mighty Bhote Kosi or the Rongshar Tsangpo River, which originates in Tibet.

The roaring river.

A friendly local who offered me the equivalent of a grapefruit (it was delicious).

Scattered all through the valley were seemingly endless intricately made stone stairs.

The tall mountains on the border with Tibet could just be seen to the North.

A worker taking down the rope swing gear (here's some more info) at the end of the day.

Prayer flags blowing in the afternoon breeze on the bridge spanning the river.

A man crosses the bridge after finishing a day of harvesting.

The Rice Harvest

Early November is rice harvesting time. From sunrise to sunset farmers and their family members, friends, coworkers, and rented hands are working away in the fields. In a matter of weeks the land has gone from wavy fields of green to flat expanses of dirt.

The rice stalks are cut and piled into hand-sized bundles.

The bundles are moved to the processing station.

The rented machine is jammed. This clever human-powered device quickly separates the rice seed from the stalk.

The machine is back in action.

The pile of rice stalks after having the rice removed. This circular piling method supposedly makes the remaining material dry faster than simply scattering it on the field.

Break time.

Having a good time of all the work.

WWE, Nepali Style

WWE style wrestling is immensely popular in Nepal. I get odd looks when I tell people I don't follow the body slamming moves of the Undertaker. Some people are also slightly confused and disappointed when they learn that WWE wrestling is not 'real.' WWE was quite real in Siddhipur last week. The Don Bosco School hosted a wrestling match.

The welcome poster.

The reigning champion.

It looked almost painful.

There were hundreds of people in attendance including many of my students.

Dashain: the Festival of Feasts

Dashain is a big deal in Nepal. It is said to be the equivalent of Christmas in the Christian world. Schools, shops, and government offices close for up to a month. People move all over the country to visit family members and be together for the offerings, feasts, and prayers. Two of the more important parts of the holiday are the sacrificing of a goat by each family and the giving of tika between family members.

Below is a photo essay from the eighth day (Asthami) of Dashain when the goats are sacrificed. There are some graphic images of dead animals. Skim over photographs as necessary.

Goats in Kathmandu on display before they are sold.

Our goat having his last meal.

The moment of sacrifice. The man wielding the knife is a friend of my family. He rode in on his motorcycle, drank tea, killed the goat, cleaned his knife, and rode onto his next sacrifice. He completes more than 100 goat sacrifices in a day. It is extremely important to sever the goats head completely from the body in one clean swing. If more than one cut is necessary the family will have bad luck for one year. The man is quite talented.

There was a quick movement of hands to catch the windpipe to keep the lower end of it from receding into the body.

Ujjwol with the still warm goat head.

After the goat was brought inside, my father smeared the fresh blood on his hands and pressed them against the brick above the main entrance to the house. All houses that sacrifice a goat must make the hand prints. I was told that this is a tradition from the days of the kings. The king would go around town after the sacrifices and would give a goat to each house that did not display handprints.

Manju boiling water for the cleaning process. Notice the plastic wrappers used as fuel. In the winter when it gets chilly, many households without heating systems will burn anything they can find including garbage.

The family removes the hair from the body using boiling water, metal cups for scraping, and razor blades.

My dad and brother cleaning out the lungs of the goat (an effective technique).

A hearty pile of goat meat, lungs, stomach, heart, and other innards.

Manju cooks up some of the meat in the house's old kitchen. The amount of smoke in the room was unbearable.

That's me receiving tika from my grandmother (hajuramma). Tika is a mixture of rice and colored powders that is imprinted on one's forehead. The oldest member of the family gives tika to all of the younger members. Then the next oldest member gives tika to all the younger members and so on. Most people wear both red and yellow tika. Widows wear only yellow.

A small shrine set up in my house including guavas, tea, vegetables, and our goat's head. This collection of offerings stayed assembled (unrefrigerated) for more than a day.