After two weeks in Hetauda, I am slowly starting to feel settled at the safe home and have started developing a routine that goes a little something like this:
- 5:30 – Workout
- 6:45 – Help children with HW
- 7:00 – Nepali Class
- 8:45 – Dhal Bat lunch
- 9:00 – Chiya/newspaper until the staff meeting
- 10:00 – Work, work, work
- 12:00 – Chiya Break
- 1:00 – Snack Break
- 3:00 – Chiya Break
- 4:30 – Help children with HW
- 6:00 – Dance Class
- 7:30 – Dinner with my WPC Family
- 8:00 – Practicing Nepali with the children
- 8:30 – Back home, reading, and getting ready for bed
The blazing heat forces slowness during the day and as a result a network of early raisers. Each morning I and many predominately male Nepali’s awake and rush to the streets for a morning walk. At first, being the sole jogger causes endless stares, questions, and confused expressions. However after about a week I noticed an uptake in people’s pace, a few fellow joggers, and even a handful of solo lady walkers! Yesterday, one lady even started to join me in broken English stating “I’m running!”. Whether she knew it after our short stretch together or not, it totally made my day.
Women play an important role in Nepalese society from what I have observed today. Professionally most families rely on the income from both parents to feed and educate their families. Common shops [pasels] constructed out of a corner of a home [ghar] is typically operated by women [aimie] and men [manis] alike. You will also see many women selling homemade food [khana] on various street corners. Clothing [luga] plays such a large role in their society, an opportunity frequently utilized is to work independently as a seamstress for an additional source of income. Despite allowing women to work, they still operate under medieval expectations of women. For example, I missed a dance class one night and a friend asked me the following evening if I was too tied up in the kitchen [vanchha] to go. During most introductions, the 3rd question I receive is “are you married?” followed by utter confusion and clear concern when I say no [chhana]. There is also an expectations for women to be accompanied by a male once the sun goes down, which eliminates my freedom after 6 pm. Even typing this I am kindly reminded not to sit [basnu] outside for fear of “boys” [kaeta]. I feel grateful to experience these differences first hand, and also sweet relief that it won’t last forever.
And yes you heard me correctly – I joined a dance class. Despite preconceptions that I would become a yogi over the 6 months that I am here, I quickly learned that yoga is practiced solely amongst a particular Hindu sect if you are outside of the Kathmandu tourist district. Instead, dance is a huge part of modern culture. The safe home children are often singing a traditional Nepali song and begging me to record their latest dance moves. Music videos are playing in stores. Everywhere you go you hear a Nepali song playing from somewhere. The class I am in is similar to Zumba for the dancing newbies, backed by the latest local pop music and on a lucky day, Bey. *Confession* I like to show up early to watch the stellar dance moves in the advanced class and then secretly copy them in the privacy of my room later.
The team I work with is so spectacular it makes the day fly by. Most of the day is spent in discussion, over tea [chiya], or in the open office environment. The level of collaboration is necessary, especially when all work that is performed comes second to the 30+ children living in the home. Because of this, our daily meetings largely focus on the wellbeing of each child, followed by administrative updates. So far I have continued to spend a good percent of my time helping with technology related things as I mentioned before. Last week I helped them set up corporate email accounts to create a more professional means of communicating when email is deemed necessary. A few days ago I was able to demonstrate my PowerPoint skills (thank you WMP) and ability to develop planning materials for our awareness program implementation. Over the next couple of months, my focus will be to help develop content and participate in the deliverance of a program that advocates against human trafficking in schools throughout Makwanur.
When I arrived in Nepal, my expectation was that the population is fairly ignorant on the topic of trafficking, but instead I have found that this topic is discussed almost daily in the news and there are a wide array of NGO’s with missions aligning to WPC. Articles cast light on traffickers that have been caught and women rescued. There are a few governmental programs in place to help prevent such as strict border guards and free counseling sessions. The trouble is spreading the awareness of the issue and availability of services to the more remote villages who are without TV, radio and often newspapers.
One of the sources of trafficking resides in the fact there are simply not enough job opportunities in Nepal so it is very common for Nepalese people to apply for international positions through various organizations. Many of these organizations are honest, providing people with great opportunities to make more money for their families. The trouble is it opens the door for traffickers, or brokers, to easily mislead individuals (mostly women) looking for work and need help figuring out the application process. In order to work abroad you first need to apply for a visa and pay a fee. Like most systems in Nepal the paperwork is intensive and difficult to navigate, even when you go through an organization that helps with the process. That is why when offered an opportunity to speed up the visa process and a promise of an allotted amount (usually in USD), it is hard to turn the offer down. Yesterday the government expressed the need to crack down and investigate organizations that provide abroad job opportunities, but similarly to the constitution, it’s great to talk but let’s see it put in action. Our goal with the program is not to necessarily discourage working abroad, but rather provide knowledge to the risks that are involved and tools to do so properly. Last week our team got energized [shakti] about different fundraising opportunities and ways to spread awareness throughout our community, so look forward to hearing more about that in the near term.
That’s all she wrote folks. Enjoy your Sunday.
. 
culture; fire, wind, water, earth, and sky. This was a home to the elderly or cripple who did not have a family to care for them where they could pray to the elements to bring them towards enlightenment.
Journeying Jennifer 