a country with many contrasts

Shiva by the Phewa Lake

Nepal has a rich geography. The mountainous north has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 6,096 m above sea level. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized.

Religions are present everywhere

 Hinduism is practised by about 81% of Nepalese - making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindu followers. Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is linked historically with Nepal by home of Budhha in Lumbini.

a dog in Kathmandu

Nepal (नेपाल) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres and a population of approximately 27 million (and 2 million absentee workers living abroad), Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, while across the Himalayas lies the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Nepal is the one of the worlds most undeveloped countries. One fourth of the population lives beyond the poverty line. County is greatly dependent on help given by other countries and NGO´s.

Malformed cow, worshiped in honor of God Laksmi

 A typical Nepalese meal is Dal bhat. Dal is a spicy lentil soup, served over bhat (boiled rice), served with tarkari (curried vegetables) together with achar (pickles) or chutni (spicy condiment made from fresh ingredients). It consists of non-vegetarian as well as vegetarian items served with non-alcoholic beverages. Mustard oil is the cooking medium and a host of spices, such as cumin, coriander, black peppers, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic, ginger, methi (fenugreek), bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, mustard seeds, etc., are used in the cooking. The cuisine served on festivals is generally the best.

a typical Nepalese meal

 Folklore is an integral part of Nepalese society. Traditional stories are rooted in the reality of day-to-day life, tales of love, affection and battles as well as demons and ghosts and thus reflect local lifestyles, cultures and beliefs. Many Nepalese folktales are enacted through the medium of dance and music.

Baburam playing the traditional flute

• This beautiful land has the worlds one of the most appreciated nature - still it is quite polluted in some areas.

• These lovely people are tolerant to other religions and cultures. They smile even through hard times - still there are cast discrimination which makes it difficult to go forward in life for those in lower casts. Cast discrimination is nowadays legally forbidden but still excists.

How much cold can a woman carry

• People are friendly and helpful - still there are a lot of domestic violence and there is huge inequality among sexes.

• Tourism is one of the most important income for the country  - still there are areas that people haven´t seen too many tourists with their money. Only few benefits.
• People wants all the best for their own country. The motto of Nepal is:  "Mother and Motherland are Greater than Heaven" - still the bright young people are forced work abroad because there are no opportunities for them in their own country. Huge intelligent lost for the country.
• You can find all the modern facilities and services from the Kathmandu and Pokhara - still the most of the country lacks even basic facilities. Most of the homes in rural area doesn´t have running  water. They might not have electricity, toilet or even enough space for the whole family in their home.

  

  Everything is protected

  

  Lunch restaurant on the move

  

  All kind of traffic on one of the roads in Kathmandu

  

  Friends

  "Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights."
  - Georg Friedrich Wilhem Hegel- 
  
  
   "I see that the path of progress has never taken a straight line, but has always been a zigzag course amid the conflicting forces of right and wrong, truth and error, justice and injustice, cruelty and mercy."
  -Kelly Miller- 
  
  
  What can you do except to be honest to yourself, love the Nepalese people and try to get to know this country and culture more?! And trust that the work we do help these people to find their own way to help themselves and their country.

Working with FEDO

Chameli Pariyar, president of FEDO Pokhara

 
Chance for Change is starting a new project in Pokhara. My work as a project development coordinator is to create the foundation for the work to be done here during next couple of years. Our first partner in this process is FEDO, Feminist Dalit Organization. In the future there will be network of partners in our program and work will be done in various different levels.


I have had an honor to live with Cameli Pariyars family during my first week of my time in Pokhara. She is truly a dedicated and inspiring person and talented speaker as well. Cameli is a president of FEDO Pokhara organization and uses all her time to work for the benefit of Dalit women.

Me and Rajani receiving tikka´s at one of the women group meetings

Women of the group we met

FEDO has been working since 1994 and in Pokhara since 2008. Organization covers almost the whole country and is working with eight priority programs:

1. Economic empowerment
2. Political empowerment
3. Justice and human rights
4. Violence against women
5. Peace-building and constitution
6. Health and sanitation
7. Education
8. Organizational development

VISION, MISSION AND GOAL OF FEDO

 

Vision

FEDO envisions a just and equitable society where Dalit women can live their lives with dignity and self-respect.

Mission

To eradicate gender and caste-based discrimination through the process of social, political and economic empowerment of Dalit women.

Objectives

-To increase and ensure proportional representation of Dalit women in all aspects of socio- political life.

-To improve the access of Dalit women to socio-economic resources, opportunities and services.
-To empower Dalit women to fight against caste-based discrimination and gender- based violence.

The UN´s country analysis 2011 opens the reality of women and specially Dalit women in Nepal. FEDO lists few of the challenges they face when working with Dalit women:

Since 1994 FEDO has worked defending and advocating for Dalit women’s rights. During this time, the organization has witnessed discrimination against Dalits and Dalit women at every level of society; from young Dalit girls being sent home from school for drinking from the same water source as classmates, to the killings of Dalits for marrying outside their caste.

Imprisonment, rape, torture, political intimidation, marginalization, murder and exclusion are just some of the tools of discrimination FEDO has encountered whilst carrying out its work, advocating for the social, economic, cultural and political rights, the basic human rights, which all Dalit women and Dalits are entitled to.

Some of the specific challenges FEDO and those representing Dalit women’s rights may face include:

• Arrest
• Imprisonment
• Slander
• Harassment
• Bureaucratic barriers

Challenges for FEDO will exist as long as Dalit women remain disempowered and lacking basic human rights. Nepal is still largely a patriarchal society upheld by rigid social structures, norms and values which support the unequal caste hierarchy. The patriarchal nature of Nepalese society and the caste system makes Dalit women especially vulnerable to discrimination.

Challenges to Program Effectiveness

• Low public awareness of the low status of Dalit women
• Low literacy rates and education opportunities for Dalit women
• Lack of mainstreaming of Dalit women’s issues in the government and state institutions
• Patriarchal cultural values
• Caste-based system
• Transitional phase for the government and consequent unstable political system
• Delay of Constituent Assembly elections
• Frequent bandhs (general strikes) which means the closure of public amenities making FEDO program delivery and communications difficult at times, particularly to more remote areas of Nepal

 Despite these numerous challenges, FEDO continues its advocacy for the elimination of caste and gender-based discrimination, in order to achieve its vision of a just and equitable society. 

I am looking forward to meet more groups, get to know this amazing work that FEDO does and see where our co-operation leads us!