It’s just one of thousands of villages. But it’s the one we have visited the most. The earthquake destroyed almost all the houses and left the rest damaged. What next?! It was a beautiful, thriving village – until 25 April when most was turned into rubble. But already now, some villagers are trying to rebuild […]
Chief District Officer of Sindhupalchowk, Krishna Prasad Gyawali, just abandoned his post. It’s not “dereliction of duty”, he explains, but a call for help! On Wednesday, four days into the earthquake aftermath, one of the worst hit districts had still not received the most basic relief aid – like tents, food and medicine supplies. Thousands of locals are without homes, many have lost their food granaries, and all Gyawali could tell them was: “I can’t help you – come back later”. Scores of villagers who just lost everything started protesting, and now Gyawali refuses to return until the government delivers.
The tragedy that has hit Nepal is still hard to fathom. The loss of life, the injuries, the terror under the endless aftershocks, the destruction of homes, public buildings and centuries of cultural heritage… On the night of the quake on 25 april, we wrote on facebook: “Our thoughts and heart-felt condolences go out to […]
India is by far Nepal’s biggest foreign investor and trading partner historically. But China is catching up more than ever. Last year, Nepal’s big neighbour to the north invested more money than India for the first time! In addition, though India is still ahead in commerce, accounting for 53 percent of Nepal’s foreign trade, it’s share is down from 60 percent in 2006, while China’s share is up from just 3 percent to 31 percent! In other words, since the end of the Maoist conflict, Chinese investment and trade in Nepal has been going only up. How is that visible out in the districts? Well, here are the latest major examples.
“Agriculture in Nepal is always risky and therefore if you try to change something it becomes even riskier”. Whoever said that – and many did – has a good point. But it also seems that the willingness to try something new at local level is growing. New entrepreneurial initiatives in the local economy are now frequently turning up in the news. Indeed, climate change is drying up…
These days our thoughts go out to Nepal’s young boys and girls who are about to face the SLC examination. Known as the “Iron Gate”, the examination is feared by thousands of youth every year – and for good reason. The odds of passing are simply poor. It’s not just that many of the students […]
