I was warned by Dr. Fitzpatrick that it
would happen about halfway through the trip--feeling as if I actually live here.
The first few weeks I spent every waking second seeing, learning, talking,
eating, as I usually do when I travel. Then I got to the point where I was just
living day-to-day life as the Nepalese do. I've been back to city life for a
couple weeks, and I've realized that the month I spent in Jhapa district was
the most meaningful part of my trip (though every part has been meaningful in
some way!). In the countryside, though there are not typical sites to
visit or typical adventures to endure, this is where I learned most about
Nepal.
The wealth disparity is
most apparent in Jhapa district, with wealthy families and politicians
living in multiple-story concrete houses, many with air conditioning (that's a
biggie). Across a bridge and fewer than a couple kilometers away lives the
village people, living on a couple bucks a day. The villages in Jhapa were
relatively prosperous and the people were relatively healthy, because of equilibrium of
supply and demand of livestock, fairly easy access to market/resources, and
increasing social capital. Most of the households in these villages had some
electricity for mediocre lighting and maybe a fan or two. My general
observations were that the village people were
happy, particularly the women I met. The creation of the Heifer
women's groups has brought the ladies together to talk about raising livestock
and have empowered them to continue making their own sources of income.
It wasn’t until I visited a neighboring
district, Sunsari, where I witnessed the true poverty. Upon arriving in the
remote villages, the people had a different persona about them. This is not to
sound cliché, but the people looked tired. There
was minimal livestock, and sanitation was poor. Heifer, with the help of
partner organizations and political groups, have assisted this village in
starting acres of grazing space—many types of plants and grasses—for future
livestock. This visit was successful in that we learned that their grazing
space was almost ready for a project intervention, whereas Heifer and the
partner organizations will provide livestock.
Living in the countryside for a month
enabled me to live truly like a Nepali. Sometimes, it’s a rough life: sweating
in 100 degree weather with no fan because the power is out again, not working
or schooling some days because of a political strike (can’t drive anywhere or
your motor bike could get blown up), getting stuck on one side of a river for
hours because of lack of infrastructure, praying that monsoons won’t cause
damage or casualties, and hiding under the mosquito net at night from a
multitude of unknown insect varieties. But overall, it’s a sweet life: seeing
the same faces every day and ‘namasting’ to passerbys, eating amazingly
delicious food made from fresh vegetables and fruits, sitting in the presence
of others and simply spending so much time with others (though most of the time
I couldn’t communicate), watching Bollywood films and Indian soap operas,
drinking fresh, right-out-of-the-coconut coconut water, waking up at 5:00 a.m.,
working hard, yet at a much slower pace, playing cards, reading, and enjoying
life.
I’m currently in Pokhara, a beautiful
lake and mountain town, where I have done a little bit of work and observations
of markets, but mostly relaxing and eating and shopping. I love it here way more than the busy city! Tomorrow Katie and I
leave for Chitwan, where we will meet our friend Emily for a one night stay in
a national park resort. Katie and I will continue on to the outskirts and live
in the countryside for about to week. This is where I will continue my
fieldwork and learn about backyard chicken, this time in the Chitwan district.
Namaste from beautiful, sunny Pokhara!
