Well, due to technical difficulties, the first blog entry has been delayed. We’ve been here almost three weeks, and time has whizzed by...
But first, I feel that I should start with a short update on the political situation here in Nepal.
Justifiably, Nepal has been awarded the “Basketcase of Asia” title from The Economist. And I suspect, if it were not for Swaziland, Nepal could claim that title for the world. The autocratic King suspended the constitution this past February and declared martial law—he placed the government (appointed by HRH) under house arrest. The Maoist rebels in the hills later on declared a cease fire, and joined an alliance of the other six major political parties. Their unified request is for elections. The King has tried to have the audience of foreign governments and the UN—but was snubbed by everyone but Tanzania and Burundi.
In true basketcase form, the Royal Nepali Army receives quiet military aid from the People’s Republic of China (whose present political philosophy is a rendition of Mao’s writings)—and the Maoists, who also claim roots in Mao’s political philosophy, receive money from communists in Northern India and a ‘tax’ they levy on aid projects set up by international non-governmental organizations doing work in their controlled areas.Last week, there was a one-day nationwide strike called by the alliance of political parties due to a military massacre outside of Kathmandu. At a village fair, one soldier became angry with the local boys after they hassled him for bothering the local girls. The soldier returned to the fair later in the evening, and sprayed the crowd with bullets, killing 11 and wounding 19. He was then shot. The leaders of the political parties have questioned whether he acted with or without orders...who killed him...and how could one man acting alone shoot into a crowd from a number of different angles...Since then, there have been demonstrations protesting the shoddy investigation into indiscriminate acts by the military—indiscriminate military acts are usually a little less obvious...
The bandh, or strike, resulted in the delay of a clinic camp at a government school—organized by the SEDIC, The Sherpa Education Development and Information Center. The following alternate date was set and a group of us set out to set up the mobile clinic at the school. Forty children were given treatment for scabies and worms—many more had diarrhea, and a few were identified with developmental delay, infected sores, pneumonia and night blindness due to vitamin A deficiency. The first symptom of vitamin A deficiency is night blindness—then, if left untreated, progressively leads to permanent blindness. It is common for pregnant women to describe severe night blindness as a normal symptom of pregnancy—as the pregnancy exacerbates vitamin A deficiency. All kids tell us that they eat tea, noodles and rice. All of them were stunted in their growth. One nurse’s role was to educate about nutrition—informing the children that a few dehydrated flecks of vegetables in the Japanese instant noodles does not count as a serving of vegetables (just as at home, telling young, pregnant women that the shredded green stuff in their Big Mac does not count as a serving of vegetables).
We’ve since arrived in Pokara, in central Nepal for a one month stint—me at the government hospital and Howard at a private hospital. With the assumption that we are Christian, we’ve been given Sunday off (normally a work day)...Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, the snow and the central heat...
