Nepali Times

Keeping the peace

Kashish Das Shrestha recently visited the Nepali peacekeepers in Haiti, and here chronicles fragments of a soldier's life, far from home.

Kashish Das ShresthaNation

Nation | From Issue #533 (December 24-30, 2010)
PICS: KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA

It seems we only hear about Nepal's UN peacekeepers when things go wrong. But this may have something to do with the fact that peacekeepers are deployed in the most difficult places across the globe, and the size of Nepal's peacekeeping contingents – Nepal is the second largest contributor to MINUSTAH in Haiti, and the fourth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping missions overall.

Still, it has been an unusually busy time for Nepali soldiers in Haiti this past year. First, there was the January 12 earthquake, which left Nepali peacekeepers unscathed, enhancing their ability to respond quickly to help the locals. Then there was the outbreak of cholera, which was blamed on a South Asian strain of the virus allegedly brought in by Nepali peacekeepers. And finally, there were the presidential elections of November 28, which MINUSTAH had a key role in ensuring the success of (though as with UNMIN, it is considered partisan).

Young officers gather at The Famous Bar within the Nepali camp's premises in Port-au-Prince after an evening of sports. 

Nepali troops pose for pictures during a rest stop at a place they like to call 'Nepal Danda' along the route between Mirebalais and Hinche, north of Port-au-Prince. 

While there are female members of the Nepal Army serving in Haiti, most of them are medics. Seen here however are MPs and a captain at the Mirebalais camp, the largest concentration of Nepali peacekeeping troops in Haiti.

Soldiers can be regularly seen working out at the small gym in the Nepali base in Port-au-Prince.  

Lt. Col. Krishna Man Shrestha addresses Nepali troops in Hinche on their 'commendable' conduct during the elections. In mid-November, when Haitians demonstrated against MINUSTAH nationwide, locals demonstrated against the Nepali troops here and four Nepali officers were injured.  

A temporary Junior Commission Officer's mess camp in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. On January 12, when the earthquake struck, all the Nepali troops here were gathered in this open field for an anniversary event. The quake struck minutes before the event started and the field immediately became a makeshift treatment centre.

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