International

Namaste from Nepal!

So it’s already November (which I can’t believe) and I am really into my work here in Kathmandu now, with lots of work still ahead.  U of O and CECI have definitely placed me in a great internship and I am really happy with my host organization, my office and my work. 

I work for a small NGO called the Professional Development and Research Center (PDRC).  It works towards helping Dalit (those on the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system) youth acquire higher education.  It finds students from all over western Nepal, the most under-developed region, helps bring them to Kathmandu, find scholarships, get acceptance into colleges and universities, and find housing.  PDRC’s staff literally works 24/7 to help these students, and I am pretty sure that I have never really seen people work this hard for anything in my life.  They are an extremely dedicated, passionate and determined group of people that care very much for the Dalit community and for Nepal.  I have learned so much from being able to work with them and be in their office.  Both the President and Executive Director of the organization are always ready to discuss Dalit issues, their thoughts on Nepal, their goals for PDRC and their students’ stories with me.

 I have also been able to enjoy countless lunch time political discussions in the office with colleagues.  It’s been really interesting to hear their perspective of Nepal’s political situation, especially coming from a Dalit and NGO perspective.  I get to hear all about the Maoists and Nepal’s recent history over a bowl of beaten dried rice, or sometimes noodles, and a cup of black tea with more sugar than I’m use to (though recently the tea has turned into instant coffee, which makes me wonder that perhaps it is thought that the bideshi in their office prefers instant coffee to delicious tea? Instant coffee…*shudder*).

PDRC seems to have a continuous flow of work to get done, which means that I am always busy and get to contribute, even if only a little bit.  I have been doing a lot of documentation and communications work so far, meaning that I am helping to write reports, create a brochure and a newsletter.  I am also hoping to be able to help with some project proposal work, but time is running out so we’ll have to see what is possible.

It’s also been really great working at the center because I get to meet so many people.  I sit at my little desk in one of the office’s two small rooms on my computer, and get to talk to the constant flow of people coming in and out (and work on my Nepali!).  Sometimes I get to chat with the organization’s board members and hear about all the work that they are doing outside of PDRC at different NGOs and places like the Carter Center and UNICEF.  But most of the time I get to talk to students.  Even when the conversations are in both their broken English and my pretty much non-existent Nepali, I always learn so much from them.  They are a very inspiring group of students that I’m sure a lot of university students in Canada could learn a thing or two from.  Most come from rural Nepal, some from places where roads hardly exist, and are the students that still managed to pass entrance and high school exams with no resources and in many cases living in poverty.  The ones that decide to stay in Kathmandu for college or university are so dedicated.  It’s easy to see why PDRC staff work so hard.  I got to speak to one girl a few weeks ago who was telling me about her medical entrance exams that were coming up.  She said that she wanted to be a gynecologist and then continued to tell me about how the state of Nepal’s health, hygiene and sanitation are completely unacceptable.  When I asked her what she was going to do about it, she said that she was going to try to help and teach with her medical degree and then become a politician to change Nepal.  Coming from a 19 year old girl in developing and politically unstable Nepal, this was pretty impressive and definitely inspiring.

So, to sum up this blog entry: I love the organization I was sent here to work with and I feel so incredibly lucky to have been placed with them.  I will feel happy if I am able to leave them with even a fraction of what they’ve given me since I’ve been here.  This has definitely been an excellent introduction for me in really starting to understand what development in developing countries is all about.  Even after such a short time here, I’ve began to realize that real development doesn’t come from kids like me learning about International Development in school, it comes from inside a developing country.  Nepalis working towards development for Nepalis and Nepal, without Western leadership only support, is how countries like this one are truly going to grow.

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