Namaste! Join me as I take you on an adventure through Nepal in the heart of the Himalayas. Submissions are open!
Posted 464 weeks ago
When are you planning to move to Nepal and help build your country? Nepal is struggling a lot due to the educated/rich elite moving to white countries leaving the poor Nepalese people alone to deal with corruprion and arab exploitation.
I moved to North America with my family when I was a child. I’m Canadian. My husband is Canadian. Ethnically Nepali but my nationality is not Nepali. I can’t even visit legally for longer than 3 months at a time so moving is a whole different issue. Even if I did, my Nepali reading/writing is at a 1st grade level so I wouldn’t be able to get a Nepali job. I don’t know if you know how tough it is to get a job in Kathmandu without “source” or a strong connection (which I don’t have). So really there’s no point in me moving back as someone who is Nepali only by ethnicity and place of birth. I wouldn’t be useful at all as a young professional if were to move there. I would lose the financial and social security I have here and would be struggling. Instead I try to do what I can (as someone who just started their career) by supporting various charities in Nepal via the local Nepali community or through people I know.
I mean if I moved there and everything were magically solved. Sure I’ll move. But I don’t have that power and let me tell you that Nepal didn’t get into this stage recently and it isn’t because kids started leaving the country with their families. This stuff has been happening since day 1 either it’s some royalty that pockets everything or an oligarch or some random politician. On top of that as a small landlocked country sandwiched between China and India, believe it or not Nepal doesn’t have a 100% say in what goes on in it’s own country. If anything India & China will never let Nepal be that strong & stable because that’s a threat to them both. I see where you’re coming from but to solely blame expats/diaspora for the problems that Nepal faces is ridiculous.
Today, I am thinking about the children who live in the streets of Kathmandu.
They are ignored, abused, and beaten, often ending up dead in the streets. When
I was younger, I was scared of these kids because I had been taught to view
them in a certain way: as dirty and diseased. However, they are often the most
vulnerable populations roaming the streets: many of these children come from
rural parts of Nepal, have been sold or trafficked, and are hooked on sniffing
glue or harder drugs. They are sexually and physically abused by locals, tourists
and police alike. They are often runaways from their homes due to domestic or
sexual violence. They don’t have a safety net and anybody to protect them.
The easiest way to feel detached from this problem is to
dehumanize the children who live in these streets. To treat and view them like
a problem, like criminals, like thieves. This often is what happens with the
children in Kathmandu as well. But we must remember: they are children, in need
of food and water and care and love. By circumstances beyond their control,
they have been robbed of what they deserve: a peaceful, enriching childhood, an education, a roof over their heads, and loving families.
If you are looking to donate, here is a great program that rehabilitate the thousands of children who
live in the streets of Kathmandu among other projects: http://voiceofchildren.org.np/donation.html. I implore you to educate yourself. Thanks.
It’s even worse for girls out on the streets because they’re constantly sexually abused and sold to brothels.
