Nepal Day 3: Paparazzi Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and xiaobin gofar2006 11:55 pm

Day started really early. Walking down the empty streets when the day is breaking is a really weird feeling. Especially when you’re in a foreign land. I was making my way back to the bus terminal and the stray dogs were howling and barking at one another on the streets. There was no traffic at all – big contrast to the evenings when the lanes are packed with people and cars and bikes.

Saw Suman on his micro and he actually gestured to me to hop on, but Tara wasn’t around, so I signalled to him that he can go first and I’ll wait.

Felt like a paparazzi and I think Suman was pretty traumatised. He got a lot of unwanted attention and I think there were some who were jealous of all the attention he was getting. The whole morning was spent on the micro and spoke to him quite a bit. He doesn’t like to speak to us when there’s customers on the micro. So we grabbed any chances during breaks to speak to him and the driver.

Decided to give him a break about 11am and we went for lunch. The plan was to find him and catch him while he was having his lunch, but we lost him.

Tara brought me to New Road and I was going to start work in a new story about street children. A doctor there runs an organisation and programme that feeds the street children. It’s known as Bal Bhojan. He wasn’t in his clinic and we gave him a call to arrange for an interview tomorrow morning at 7:30am.

Went back to the guesthouse to get some rest and arranged to meet Tara at 7pm to try to catch Suman on his rounds again. Got news that he actually left early, but we just waited. Lucky for us, he was making his final round when we saw him and he let us follow him back to the garage where they park the vans. Met some of his friends and it was really nice. Will write more when I have the time.

Developed some photos of Suman to give him. It was a nice feeling to see him smiling at the pictures.

Tiring day, but eventful and enjoyable one.

– Contributed by Xiaobin

 

Nepal Day 3: A muddy trek later Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and azira gofar2006 10:53 pm

There was one thing that followed us to Nepal without us packing it from Singapore: The World Cup.

A big screen showing the semi finals outside our guest house invited a tireless loud and rowdy crowd throughout the night – And sleep became an impossible goal for most of us!

But despite that, the Video team was up at 4am, armed with dramamines, ginger nut cookies and bottled waters ready to head to the Mahadev quarry for our video story. We dozed (off) our way there with Timo, our trusted interpreter and the skillful mysterious driver who got us to our destination in record time with some gung ho manouvering which we gladly missed witnessing while faraway in dreamland.

Once there, our exploration led us to a community school (Shree Janajagriti Lower Secondary School), opened by Koreans and supported by several NGOs. It was a treasure trove in itself as we met Rumchandran, a 27-year-old teacher, who stumbled into our path and was kind enough to show us around his. The accidental tour guide invited us to a half-an-hour trek deep into his quarry village.

So after much muddy-trekking, barefoot river-crossing in the sun and rain, we ended up right smack in the middle of Mahadev Bensi, surrounded by hilltops and rivers , it was the hardest thing to do to switch the camera off once we started shooting.

With the kind of scenery you could probably only find in dreams, we were like children in a candy store as our camera savoured every little beauty that was fed to our senses. The people basically make a living crushing stones by the river.

The piles of pebbles they make are then collected by contractors to make cement and roads among other things. A pile worth 4 full days of work could earn them about 1,000 rupees – and it’s often a family affair as children as young as 3 also have their own mini hammer as they contribute to the pile.

Along the tour, Rumchandran introduced us to villagers who greeted us with a mixture of warm smiles and curious stares. He also took the opportunity to let the villagers know about his community school (which offered free education up til 4th grade).

During the supposedly half-hour trek (which eventually turned out to be 5 hours), we met an 18 year-old who fled from her hometown and sought refuge in the Mahandev after being harassed by Maoists Rebels to join their ranks.

There was also the story of the village girl with big dreams as we chatted up Chiza Rai, a 14-year-old girl who lives independently and dreams of becoming a doctor someday – Even though her mother has disappeared and her dad is a drunkard. (She was one of the girls who joined the Shree Janajogriti school after its initiative to promote itself and get more children to hit the books)

We could’ve probably spent the entire day there but weren’t prepared to of course…but getting the truest form of foot reflexogy while crossing the river barefoot was definitely an experience for us carpet-stepping city kids! We also had lessons in pebble-throwing and ‘catapulting’ among other things from Rumchandran and Timo…

Towards the end, once we were done with our interviews and footages, we had to guiltily decline Rumchandra’s invitation to his house for lunch because of the busy workload ahead..(and also primarily because it would’ve been another ‘half-hour’ trek).

But hopefully with the deluge of colors and characters we managed to capture today, I hope we could repay his warmth and hospitality simply by telling the stories of his village to the world.

 

Nepal Day 3: Visiting the godfather Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and melanie gofar2006 10:28 pm

Yesterday was a thoroughly busy and exhilarating day. I had three interviews, one of them was with a Nepal casino mogul. In real life, Richard Tuttle has such an imposing presence and you would never guess from the way he sounds over the phone (ie. soft whispering). But in his office, decked out in a suit with a giant diamond ring and two black pooches flanking him, he looked like the Godfather. Tomorrow I’ll be tying up the loose ends for my first story and I’ll be doing a lot of walking for my tourism story. *sigh*

– Contributed by Melanie

 

Nepal Day 3: Our first street protest Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and kaixin and michelle michE 10:17 pm

We headed to the Maoist administrative office today expecting to uncover more about the human rights abuses against women and how the rebels worked to reddress such grievances, but instead walked straight into the first street protest of our lives.

This unexpected story practically unfolded right before our eyes.

Civilians from all walks of life – directors of a local travel companies to humble housewives – gathered at the Maoist-run “People’s Court” to protest its closure by the authorities.

As our translator Shailee spoke to one man about his grievances, a large crowd started to form around us. Kaixin quickly took the opportunity to snap pictures, while Michelle soaked up her first experience of being in a growing angry crowd.

While 1 man spoke of his anger at the authorities, others echoed his words, while some others tried to get their stories in as well. Emotions swelled in the sweltering heat.

Finally after readying their banners and leaflets and agreeing on slogans, the group of 60 or so arranged themselves into 2 neat lines – men and women – and marched onto the road. We followed beside them. The already-disorganised traffic came to a stall as the group chanted and squatted on the road. We took the opportunity to interview some motorists while Kaixin exhausted more than 2 memory cards.

People pointed and stared (a kid or two tried to join the protestors), horns flared, but assumably such protests were so common such that most people seemed nonchalent. Motorcyclists simply drove on the sidewalk.

Though it may seem a little anti-climatic that the peaceful protest lasted only about 4o mins and the only authorities that took obvious notice were a traffic policemen and 2 soldiers, this is really only the surface of the deep political implications and tensions between Maoists and the official judiciaries, and the fight for the people’s trust and loyalty.

We’ll keep you posted.

– Contributed by Kaixin and Michelle

 

Nepal Day 3: Desmond says Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and desmond gofar2006 9:33 pm

What I’ve experienced during the last 3 days is just too overwhelming to be put into words.

After 1 day of meeting various people and discussing story ideas, all of us branched out to work on our stories.

What I found most difficult to handle was the tendency to have a “Singaporean” expectation at situations and circumstances in Nepal. Things that can be done in a day back home have to be given a two-day allowance. It’s easy to get frustrated at bureaucracy and the relative inefficiency here.

Street names never sounded so foreign and the MRT is sorely missed. Despite so, the experience has been fulfilling thus far.

With the help of the local translators and journalists, we were able to assimilate relatively into the Nepali culture. Personally, my story ideas have so far brought me to the Nepalese prisons, children’s homes — places I never could have imagined myself to be in.

And I suppose that’s why I love journalism.

 

Nepal Day 3: Making headway into prison Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and yanqin gofar2006 9:26 pm

Today was another long day spent shuttling from one location to another, with moderate success. Attempting to get photos of the prison and the prisoners was still fruitless, but speaking to the prisoners actually gave me a bit more confidence about accomplishing the task.

We will be going back tomorrow to talk to more people so that the story can be more complete, and possibly make some progress on photos. I think we are limited mainly by time, and perhaps if we had more time to work on our relationships with them, gaining access won’t be that difficult.

It was a day whether we can’t say we didn’t make any headway, but it just feels like there is a long way to go, and that our work is far from done.

– Contributed by Yanqin

 

Nepal Day 3: Dropping by a Nepali home Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 

(july) nepal day 3 and xinyi gofar2006 9:07 pm

Sharon and I went to get clearance from the Ministry of Home affairs for our Jhapa trip before meeting the second-in-command Bhutanese Leader for a long afternoon interview in his “office” – a sparse room with just a chair, a printer, table and a computer – which also doubles up as a sleeping place for some of the bhutanese refugees.

The day went smoothly enough contrary to expectation, since I’ve pissed the government guy off by calling him at 10 pm the night before ( after he finally warmed up to us, he told us he was so angry because he was watching soccer at that time! haha). After giving us our clearance, we proceeded on our interview with him and got so many quotes out of him without him knowing that we were acting as “journalists”, since we only told him we are uni students interested in the Bhutanese refugees issue as students, which is technically correct! haha. What a waste we couldnt get a pic of him, security was tight in the government complex (which was like walking into a big secret garden once you cross the gates) and they did not let us bring the camera in. oh well.

This is my second day on the Bhutanese refugee story, and honestly it has been overwheming. In fact, I felt really helpless and drained after the interview with Mr Thinley Penjore, a politician who was driven out of Bhutan on exile after he opposed to Bhutan’s gov ethnic cleansing actions and sectarian policies. He basically added another dimension to the whole refugee conflict – the political one – and it finally dwelled on me how tricky the conflict is and why has it been unresolved for such a long while, and doesnt seem to have the possibility of being resolved anytime soon. My heart really goes out to the refugees, and I really hope the subsequent stories that sharon and I are going to do will bring justice, however small it is, to their plight.

On another lighter note, my personal highlight of the day is getting the chance to visit a true-blue Nepali home. Shyam and I sent Sunita, the keeper of our guesthouse (which I am REALLLLY falling in love with, “third world” or otherwise ) home today, which is a 5 minute walk from the guesthouse, and she insisted that we drop by her house to say hi to the family and have a cup of tea. Despite Shyam repeatedly declining, our two cups of tea were subsequently also served with two tasty poached eggs which Sunita cooked on the spot for us, “hiding” herself behind a flimsy kitchen partition.

Sunita’s house is not big, and at least 5 of her family members have to share one sleeping space which I presume was smaller than a 1-room flat in Singapore, but the hospitality and warmth that She and her family members just that one night totally humbled me. It’s somehow indescribable, but I’ll never the moment when Sunita’s dad, probably in a goodwill gesture to make conversation, came up to me and pointed to a mole on my face and said “Ramro” ( meaning nice in Nepali) befrore pointing to his own mole on his face. We both laughed heartily together, cherishing our new-found “connection”, never mind the language cultural or whatever differences.

Which reminds me, Sunita has invited me back to her house again for a meal before we go, and If I couldnt refuse.. i better think of a good present to buy her..

– Contributed by Xinyi