Mobs, Barricades, and Schools Oh My!

Mobs, Barricades, & Schools - Oh My!

We arrived in Bhagalpur late last Monday night, nearly past midnight.  It took much longer to get there than any of us had imagined.  16 hours to be exact, about six more than what was projected.

We had the usual mishaps along the way!  And by usual, I mean in the Nepalese sense.  Possibly for any other country, what we encountered would be quite unusual.

Assassinations, Strikes and Roadblocks:

Shortly after our departure, a Banda was called in response to an assignation attempt on three leaders of the Maoists Party.  If you recall, the Maoists were responsible for the overthrow of the King in 2006.  They rebelled for the decade prior seeking political and social change.  The Maoists were the peasants who saw a change in leadership ideal for their voice as commoners.  Through propaganda (some believe), the rest of society was convinced of the need for this revolution.

However, after six years since the overthrow, Nepal has gotten much worse.  Those who originally supported the cause are now rethinking their positions and many believe the monarch was better for the economy.

My position is still unclear.  I can only communicate what I see, and what I see is a dwindling currency, a country without a constitution, I see corruption at every level (particularly police and politicians), I see rising prices for dry goods and produce, and I see innocent villagers suffering the most at the hand of an unstable government.

Nepal, I fear, is at the brink of an economic downturn and a political uprising.  There is no real (or least respected) leader.  The Prime Minister they do have gets booed in public while university students hold protests calling for his resignation. Now yesterday, three leaders of the Maoists have been shot with the intention to kill.

Bandas (strikes) were called closing down all roadways.  The one road in and out of the Kathmandu came to a standstill.

We were held up for hours while traffic was blocked in both directions.  It was a full-on gridlock of Nepalese vehicles, sometimes four deep on a narrow Himalayan mountain road meant for two.

I felt like the crowd of people standing around and in-between the cars, buses, and motorbikes were going to accidentally push me off the 300-foot ledge drop.  I retracted away from the cliff and sat back inside the small hot Suzuki taxi decked out in racing strips we hired to drive us from Pokhara to the village. (Not that I prefer racing cars for cross-country road trips, but these are the norm for taxi appearance!)

“This could take hours!” I professed quite loudly with a huff of frustration.  “I have a school to build!”

Another hour passed while sitting in gridlock.  I myself was melting from the exhaust blowing into my window from the large buses that had us surrounded on three sides.  It was taking everything in me to not storm right up to them and demand that their engines be shut off.

But alas, my annoyances were met, as traffic started moving again.  Someone, somewhere had the idea to walk up the mile-long traffic line and direct the smaller cars and micros to pull through while the buses waited.

Rounding another two corners, it was clear to me that we were going nowhere fast.  Further, up the road in Munling, the road splits off; those going to Pokhara veer right while anyone wanting to head down to the Terai must take the left.  Pokhara traffic was given the green light; everyone else would have to wait until 5pm when the strike was finished.  It was 10am when I heard the news.

“We must get through,” I pleaded with Dipak, Nabin, and the taxi driver.

“Oh no, this is impossible Katie,” Dipak explained.  “They don’t let anyone through during Banda.

I refused to take ‘no’ for an answer and stormed right up to the mob of people blocking the road.  They looked like they were about to riot.  During Bandas, the mobs will generally injury the drivers and demolish the vehicles of those who try to pass the barricade.

This information did not deter me.  I put on my charm and pleaded with them to let me through.

“I’m building a school for poor people in Koshi Tappu!  I must get through.  I have very limited time,” I explained in the most sincere voice.

After 15 minutes of Nepalese negotiation, I think someone said okay, so I ran back around the corner and motioned for the traffic driver to start pushing our vehicle through the herd that had considerable gotten bigger since I first spoke.

They searched the vehicle for our contents to confirm we were headed to Koshi Tappu for this school project.

There was chaos while I escorted the car through the crowd.  People were yelling and some looked very angry that I was trying to break the barricade.

We eventually broke free, and with the largest smile I could muster, I kept repeating ‘Dand-u-bhat’ (thank you) as we walked away.

Excitement filled the car as we sped off down the gorge.  The plus side was that the roads were now clear for hours.

The negative side, we had to go through several more police checkpoints and one final mob barricade.

The Village and Project:

The school is half way finished.  There had been another delay due to electricity problems.  The carpenter who is making the doors and window frames only has electricity for a few periods in the day for use of his table saw.  If we recall, Nepal participates in load shedding, which means power is cut for several large portions of the day/nights for sale to India.

The villagers haven’t been able to work full-time for this reason.  They’ve built as much as they can of the structure, but until the doors and window frames are installed, they cannot continue.

This puts construction back one more month.

I made the 45-minute walk to the school site from Bhagalpur, where we are staying.  Dipak’s Aunt and Uncle have graciously allowed for use of their home.  Ba (grandfather) has given me his bedroom, which comes with a fan and several breezy windows.  It is more than generous.

That evening, we had Pork Dal Bhat!  They killed a pig – it was nasty as I predicted, but I kept reminding myself that bacon is delicious.  Providing I didn’t find any eyeballs in my curry, I kept thinking I could manage this beast.

I have met the 10 labors, three on-site managers, and four teachers.  I presented the enrichment material that I purchased in Kathmandu.  The teachers were more than ecstatic.  Though minimal by American standards, I had to remind myself that sometimes the best can't be done.

There’s a dozen or so ways to create the perfect classroom, but in Nepal that is just not possible.

I bought every chart that was available from Everest Publishing Company!  I literally took their catalog and ordered one of each.

Then I went to ETK Books where I purchased more charts (Good Habits, Medicinal Plants, Parts of a Body, Multiplication Tables).  I tried to find the most useful visual aids but considering what I have to work with it’s difficult.

I started compiling the books for the library from the government bookstore.  My Nepalese friend Yogi took me to all the shops in Kathmandu the week prior

Buying products here in Nepal is not that simple.  They really don’t have warehouses or bulk purchase options.  You really can’t order online or even over the phone! There definitely aren’t any websites.  

So first, how did I go about this?  Trial and error I suppose.

First, I went to a local primary school and got the name of the bookshops where the textbooks and charts were purchased.  Then I went to those bookshops, which then directed me to the publishing company.  Often times, the publisher was in India, but the ones located in Nepal I was able to drive to.

This process took the entire day!  However, once I finally arrived to the source I was able to negotiate a discount on my purchases.

“The American people are paying for the school to be built,” I explained. “Now I ask that the Nepalese people help contribute to the cause as well.”

This generally seemed to touch their hearts in some form, and every place I visited was able to give me a decent discount.  One publisher donated an entire series of textbooks for the teachers to use!

What the Teachers are Asking For:

At the moment, school enrollment has increased from 75 students to now over 100!  As soon as the villagers heard of a new school being built, many enrolled their children. 

Wonderful news of course, but now this means that our original building size is too small! This also means that two more teachers need to be hired!  Let me worry about the school addition later, but right now, we must focus on finding the funds to hire more teachers.

I am exploring all options for funding, with a focus on sustainability.  Yes, I could pay the teacher’s salary for one more year, but this does not solve the problem after I’ve left.  We need a more solid form of funding, and I’d like to focus on income generation for the school.

I’d like to continue my idea for the Sivapuri ‘low-caste’ Primary School I visited outside Pokhara a few weeks back.  That being, using animal husbandry as a source of income generation for the school. 

I’ve discussed my idea with my on-site managers in Tappu and they are keen to it.  We are exploring options of a possible chicken farm.  A simple investment for me, but a large return for them.  Just like the Sivapuri Income-Generation Project, this school too could wreak the benefits from this type of sustainability.

Every two months, 200 chickens could yield 108,000 rupees (US$1241).  That’s 648,000 rupees ($7448) a year.  The annual salary for four teachers is 384,000 rupees ($4413).  We are still calculating the overhead, but the possibility of a decent profit margin is very feasible.

I will leave you now with this notion of sustainability fresh in your heads.  I am open for suggestions if anyone would like to give their two cents!

Look back in a few days for an updated blog!