Given the usual <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/jajarkot-survivors-show-collective-resilience" target="_blank">delay in disbursement of reconstruction grants</a>, survivors have taken to building their own temporary shelters with neighbours helping each other out. A total of 26,550 houses collapsed while over 62,000 homes across 13 districts were affected by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deadly-earthquake-hits-w-nepal" target="_blank">6.3 magnitude quake</a>. The Bara-Parsa tornado reconstruction which is one of the most successful post-disaster rebuilding in Nepal could be handy at this point in time. The project fulfilled its mandate of rebuilding 869 houses in 97 days and in doing so, helped protect survivors from future disasters. The houses constructed had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-better-than-before" target="_blank">more features than government mandated</a>, they were eco-friendly and adapted to withstand the local climate, all at a cost less than previously estimated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240108130148_ce6fda601715b3278ad8d81e1106bae8556985d40a6d2d8181e3ac3552ed861f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240108130148_ce6fda601715b3278ad8d81e1106bae8556985d40a6d2d8181e3ac3552ed861f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5825" height="3883" loading="lazy" alt="Jajarkot eathquake"> <figcaption>Jajarkot earthquake. Photo: DURGA RANA MAGAR</figcaption> </figure>  There are five main elements to why Bara-Parsa tornado reconstruction was such a success and how it can be replicated with the Jajarkot earthquake: Leadership Much of the credit goes to leadership by the Nepal Army 28th Brigade Commander who was in charge of the project. He was clear on his vision, tasks, and scope from day one. His motivation, dedication, and hard work also led to diligence in the work. He was responsible for the welfare, safety and security of the 3,000 troops involved, choosing the right person in the right place at the right time.&nbsp; Coordination and teamwork It was not only the Army that was involved in the reconstruction. The Madhes Province formed the Assisting and Directing Committee under the leadership of the First Secretary to give provincial supervision and leadership. The Parsa-Bara DDMCs under the chairmanship of CDO carried out district-level assistance and supervision, and at the municipal level, Re-Verification Committees were established to facilitate the reconstruction that was led by mayors. Whenever any hindrance occurred, such as in data verification, procurement procedures, acquiring public land, all these bodies came together, discussed and reached a quick decision. The provincial government, both the CDOs, and most importantly, the elected mayors played a vital role and the army remained as a pivot. The most difficult part was getting down to the actual figure for houses destroyed. The preliminery figure was 1,453 houses, but after the CDOs themselves went door-to-door they brought the real number down to 869.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240114120140_c97fb76a9679623771f6ac8f54e745e1589e2533db542bb370543d526514d9af.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240114120140_c97fb76a9679623771f6ac8f54e745e1589e2533db542bb370543d526514d9af" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Bara Parsa tornado"> <figcaption>Survivors of Bara-Parsa tornado. Photo: KIRAN NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  Prompt decision making The rebuilding process was never stalled due to indecisiveness at any level. The Reconstruction Committee as well as provincial, district, and local bodies facilitated the process. To be sure, not everything worked out. For example, it was planned to provide local communities employment opportunities through construction labour. But even then their daily wage rate was agreed to, it was much higher than what the government had set. So the committee immediately decided to marshal 3,000 plus troops for reconstruction.&nbsp; Likewise, throughout the process there was no interference from any external elements, neither were they entertained. And the whole process remained transparent to everyone. Planning and management Based on a detailed survey and employing experts, the reconstruction plan was flawless. Reconstruction was divided into 12 clusters, and to be carried out in &nbsp;three phases with human resources, material, and technical requirements calculated accordingly. At times, since the reconstruction of one-third of houses was occurring simultaneously, ensuring a smooth supply chain of material remained an issue. Even the contracted manufacturers, especially of compressed cement blocks, UPVC steel windows and doors, and three-layered non-burn thermo-cooling roofs, were not able to provide the designated material according to the agreed timetable. Collaboration with other manufacturers, switching working priorities, and even facilitating the manufacturers helped to meet targets. The designs of the houses were also modified and categorised as per the availability of the land since many of the survivors did not have enough space to build standard houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240114120144_03ef5358f4379edca8a9db3c561893a58729ac6ca8b289ae21841266ef116e38.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240114120144_03ef5358f4379edca8a9db3c561893a58729ac6ca8b289ae21841266ef116e38" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Bara Parsa tornado"> <figcaption>Houses destroyed in the 2019 Bara-Parsa tornado. Photo: KIRAN NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  Legal assistance Likely legal hitches such as the construction material procurement system, and land acquisition process were taken into consideration from the beginning. The army leadership thoroughly discussed the issue with the government and got clearance and facilitation accordingly.&nbsp; This was crucial in unfastening legal knots. Provincial, district, and municipal bodies also helped the reconstruction committee on these occasions leading to the fast-track acquisition of public land, establishing construction bases, acquiring material, and so on. The Bara-Parsa Tornado reconstruction was not easy, it was hot and humid, at times there was heavy rain and floods. But an all-out effort from the state's mechanism, mutual trust, untainted intention, and will power of the engaged team made it possible.&nbsp; Many of these lessons, experiences, and courses of action can be useful in the Jajarkot reconstruction as well. But the most critical ingredient is political will to follow through. Shrijan Bahadur Malla is a DRR expert, a former Nepal Army officer, and involved in Bara-Parsa Reconstruction. You can reach him at <a href="mailto:shrijanmalla07@gmail.com" target="_blank">shrijanmalla07@gmail.com</a>&nbsp;

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Opinion

Building back better (and quicker)

Can Nepali mothers confer citizenship to their children? The short answer is YES. But if we rephrase this question to 'Can women independently, like men, confer citizenship to their children?’, then the answer is NO. &nbsp;
I write as someone with lived personal experience of prolonged legal battles, activism, self-education about citizenship concepts, and as someone who has transitioned into a lawyer.
The adoption of the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Act 2023 followed by the amendment to the Citizenship Regulation were positive steps. It took the country more than seven years to align the Act in line with the 2015 Constitution.
In terms of gender, it echoes all the constitutionally guaranteed citizenship rights of women – including the right to confer citizenship to her child where a father is unidentified.&nbsp;
This is certainly a step in the right direction, and one that shows the impact of continuous advocacy and activism for gender equality in Nepal. This provision allows a person born to or raised by a single mother to acquire citizenship by descent. However, conditions apply.&nbsp;
- The father has to be ‘unidentified’&nbsp;
- The person seeking citizenship should be born in Nepal;&nbsp;
- And both the mother and the person need to sign a self-declaration form confirming that the father is ‘unidentified’. &nbsp;
This is a constitutionally required condition only for women. Nepali men are considered full citizens with independent rights without the need to sign such self-declaration forms to confer citizenship to their children, irrespective of the mother’s citizenship status.&nbsp;
Another critical condition in the Act is that if the father is later proven to be a foreign citizen, then:&nbsp;
- The person’s citizenship by descent, which they acquired through self-declaration will be withdrawn;&nbsp;
- The person will then have to sign another self-declaration form stating that no citizenship has been acquired from the father’s country;&nbsp;
- This will then allow the person to acquire naturalised citizenship;&nbsp;
- If this self-declaration is later proved to be false, the person will not only be stripped of citizenship but also imprisoned for 6 months to a year and/or Rs50,000 to Rs100,000 fine.&nbsp;
Again, this punishment is based solely on the father’s citizenship status. This proves that Nepal’s nationality law is blatantly patriarchal as it reinforces that descent (bloodline) can only be inherited through males. If it is not a Nepali father, the child is not a citizen. &nbsp;
Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-waits-for-an-unequal-citizenship-law/">Nepal’s unequal Citizenship Law</a>, &nbsp;Ajay Pradhan
Some may say, so what? At least the person can acquire naturalised citizenship through a mother when the father is a foreign citizen. And at least there is an option for self-declaration when the father is unidentified.
But there are still these problems:&nbsp;
- Naturalised citizenship through mother is undignified.&nbsp;
Naturalised citizenship is not a right, but a State’s discretion. Granting it based on the citizenship of the mother implies that children of Nepali mothers are considered foreigners unless their father is a Nepali citizen. &nbsp;
- There is no legal definition for ‘unidentified. &nbsp;
This vague word ‘unidentified’ holds many societal connotations and one is that the woman has had multiple relationships and cannot identify who the father of the child is.&nbsp;
- The Condition of ‘being born in Nepal’ is discriminatory.&nbsp;
While claiming citizenship through a mother in cases of an ‘unidentified father’, it is mandatory that the person was born in the country. However, the person need not be born in Nepal to acquire naturalised citizenship through a Nepali mother and foreign father. This implies that there are additional restrictions to acquire citizenship by descent through a mother than earning a naturalised citizenship through her. This is subtly disguised as a benefit, but is a huge slap in the face to all Nepali women.
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-citizenship-amendment-bill-explained">Nepal’s Citizenship Amendment Bill explained</a>, Shristi Karki &nbsp;
These discriminatory laws empower citizenship authorities to unjustly deny citizenship, exposing individuals to the risk of statelessness. I stand as a testament to this reality as I was denied the right to birth registration and at 16, also denied a citizenship certificate. I lived as a stateless person for the first 7 years of my youth and was barred from pursuing higher education or accessing fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens.&nbsp;
Enduring humiliation came with snide comments like these:&nbsp;
“Poor kid, I wish I could confer my citizenship by acting as her father!”&nbsp;
“If we give citizenship to a child ‘like her’ then nieces and nephews from across the borders will also claim citizenship!”&nbsp;
“How can you not know your husband?”&nbsp;
“Give us the smallest clue. We will search and make him accountable.”
“No kid, it's not your fault, it's your mother’s fault –she should have known how to keep her husband happy if she wanted to ensure her children received citizenship.”&nbsp;
“Oh, just marry her to some Nepali guy and she can get citizenship through him.”
A young me could not speak then. But today I will say this: my mother and all women are complete beings in ourselves and our citizenship rights do not have to depend on men.&nbsp;
State actors argue that equal citizenship rights for women might lead to an influx of people from across borders. Our patriarchal citizenship laws haven't helped this xenophobia.&nbsp;
Is denying citizenship rights to children of Nepali mothers and foreign fathers enough to stop dual citizenship? Aren’t children of a foreign mother and Nepali father, where the mother’s country also provides citizenship an issue?&nbsp;
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/are-women-not-nepali-enough">Are women not Nepali enough?</a>, Sahina Shrestha
Turns out gender discrimination is not a solution to prevent fraud or dual citizenship cases in Nepal. How is it fair to punish women for the government's incompetence?&nbsp;
It is too soon to celebrate actual equality. Unless the current Constitution recognises the independent legal identity of women at par with men, women remain to be formally second-class citizens.&nbsp;
Nepal's Constitution and citizenship laws violate the state's human rights commitment under international treaties. And denying citizenship serves as a strategic tool for state discrimination, enabling justification by labeling certain groups as non-citizens.
Many individuals born and raised by single mothers are silently weeping as they visit ward offices and CDOs trying to find what they did wrong, and how they are different from other children with fathers.&nbsp;
These young Nepalis are not allowed to contribute to society, and this is a big loss to the country. Gender equality is always a win-win if only it is fairly implemented.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-immobility-in-nepal/">History of female (im)mobility in Nepal</a>, Upasana Khadka

Neha Gurung

No state for women

I see my body as an instrument,&nbsp; rather than an ornament. -Alanis Morissette  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240112060144_1c9d158e398a8dfb816ebb1b34dc57fd4f10da4439734c8b5f7e39472d28e46a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240112060144_1c9d158e398a8dfb816ebb1b34dc57fd4f10da4439734c8b5f7e39472d28e46a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1350" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="miss moti 1194"> </figure>

Miss Motivation

Body as an instrument

“Someone said curation is a generous act, and I said, no it’s a selfish act. I took so much from all of you!” Bunu Dhungana tells me over the phone while sipping her coffee at a borrowing bookstore in Delhi. When Bunu, who I’ve only known from a distance as an artist, reached out to me in August asking me to write something for her exhibit, I greeted her with surprise. No one had asked me before to be part of a collective. So, there was me who had never written for an exhibit before and there was Bunu who had never curated solo before. “Curation is an extension of my work,” Bunu explains. For her exhibition, she left the word “Mother” with a group of artists she had chosen, to see what they would come up with. During my two-month deadline, we embraced silence while thoughts simmered. As an artist herself, Bunu was highly interested in the process. And for me, who has never really had a tangible writing process, I didn’t have much to show her as the process, besides some images of my mother and brief notes on my phone. The process of creating is varied and subjective. Some days, it feels like the whole process is a slow-drawn retch-- a purgation of sorts.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024010714018_8a0f1f9ef66b079c56e2e840fafd77ab9bef7bc0155a2ac4db39f61331d8ea94.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024010714018_8a0f1f9ef66b079c56e2e840fafd77ab9bef7bc0155a2ac4db39f61331d8ea94" data-rendition-name="original" width="717" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="Binu Dhungana"> <figcaption>Bunu Dhungana at the exhibit. Photo: UJJWALA MAHARJAN</figcaption> </figure>  In retrospect, the procedure for this piece was just Bunu waiting patiently and quietly, while I thought. Even as an insular writer, I have always sought an audience. And Bunu was creating that for me and all the other artists she was working with. The larger exhibition, A matter of time, with Bunu’s curation titled Somethings in the Belly, brought together works by Asmita Badi, Ayushma Regmi, Irina Giri, Shradha Devkota, Tripty Tamang Pakhrin, Shristi Shrestha, Ujjwala Maharjan and yours truly. “I have done work on mother-daughter relationships before. And one night it came to me-- why don’t I ask people to respond to the word?” And so Bunu churned a cauldron of the term “Mother” for the bunch of us, so we would cast spells over ourselves to awaken memories related to our origin, sifting through the trappings of time.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240107140112_921b9f5d5e34b54343e1e597e0230c9255aa96e5d23b99c6ebb98cba0ba774f9.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240107140112_921b9f5d5e34b54343e1e597e0230c9255aa96e5d23b99c6ebb98cba0ba774f9" data-rendition-name="original" width="756" height="1046" loading="lazy" alt="A matter of time exhibition"> </figure>  Somethings in the Belly brings together a set of different mediums in the form of poems, short stories, letters, paintings, sounds and images. La.Lit’s These fine lines anthology of poetry was part of the curation guide for Bunu, so some of us in the collective had already appeared together before. Juxtaposed in the form of mixed genres of work, each strand in Somethings in the Belly reminds us about our existence, as it takes us back to the womb where we took form. The gestation is always ugly and often painful and so is the process of thinking about our mothers-- we inherit her suffering. Ayushma articulates the sentiment in one of her letters: 'So far we have perpetuated the suffering inherited from I don’t know how many generations of mothers who always kept every trauma locked in their wombs, only to birth them out in the form of their own children.' So, there we were, eight women, each transcribing our feelings for our mothers in our own ways. Ayushma embraced the simple yet intense epistolary format. Asmita did it in the form of a poem written/performed for her mother (translated into English by Prawin Adhikari). Ujjwala did it as performance poetry, standing in a courtyard, speaking of unspeakable things. Shradha put together seamless embroidery. Irina composed sound sequences guided by poetry. Tripti made images of her mothers. Shristi painted the intimate in Gouache. I wrote anecdotes about my mother and thought: our mothers bring us into this world but the only way we can bring them into the world is by offering our words or work. From the start, Bunu envisioned the exhibit as a process rather than an output. “We are so obsessed with output that it stops us sometimes. We have to let go of the idea of perfection.” Her first curation experience has been one filled with learning. She had started out, bordering on distrust, wondering if she would be able to do it. She didn’t know where to start, but once she put up the first work, it all came together like many narratives converging. The works are summed up in a catalogue where they are labelled, and artists identified. But at the exhibit space in Delhi, Bunu had a circle going-- like the womb-- where works were put up without the names of artists. “People were a bit thrown off by the fact that there were no names, but we wanted it to be a collective experience.” While she worked with each artist individually, she likes to call it a collective. “I liked being in process with you all individually. When I put it together, it felt like a collective-- the thread that connects all of you even though you were making work individually.” Bunu says that Somethings in the Belly collective has responded to her intrigue over the word “mother” in ways unexpected: “All of you gave it your interpretation and your work. My understanding was limited and my own thinking expanded beyond my own obsession, to hear you all.” Somewhere along the way, perhaps those of us who were part of her curation also felt freed to move on to the next stage of our lives from wounds we had been cradling over the years. Perhaps dwelling on the being of our mothers was a way of becoming all over again? “Now I realise why people do art exhibitions. Even if it is temporary. The process is beautiful,” Bunu says as she finishes her coffee, and we prepare to hang up. (Bunu plans to bring the exhibition home to Kathmandu in 2024. Somethings in the Belly was part of her fellowship for A matter of time, exhibited at India International Centre, New Delhi from 13-19 December 2023.)

Pratibha Tuladhar

Suburban Tales

Our mothers’ silences

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” - Mother Teresa  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231229061240_33d45f7de24af809c0c6676d28654fce3f4d0f072b552eea455404078482ce92.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20231229061240_33d45f7de24af809c0c6676d28654fce3f4d0f072b552eea455404078482ce92" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="2700" loading="lazy" alt="miss moti"></figure>

I alone cannot change the world

Nepal’s history of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">urbanisation</a> is said to be 500 years old with the conglomeration of Kathmandu Valley, and even till recently, Prime Minister <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16913">Girija Prasad Koirala</a> called Nepal a country filled with villages (गाउँनै गाउँले भरिएको देश). But villages were never separate from cities. The two remain in a symbiotic relationship. And, sorry, but Nepal is not filled up with villages anymore. &nbsp; The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-demographic-dividend">proportion of Nepalis living in urban areas</a> grew from 23% (2011) to 66% (2017) using criteria such as land use, population density, social services, and infrastructure. But that is only a half-truth.&nbsp; Income source diversification has taken place among village dwellers if not villages all across Asia and in Nepal. The nature and size of household and nature of social relations in villages have also changed rapidly. Access to media for national and global information, the nature of imagination, and the village dwellers’ hopes and fears have also changed.&nbsp; The rise of the urban culture has brought out the previously circumscribed sense of personal, political and economic possibilities and imagination. This applies to all rural dwellers, but in particular to Nepal’s women, Dalits and other identity-marginalised. It is a different matter that not all are in a position to realise what they imagine.&nbsp; At the heart of the rural-urban categorisation is the nature of social relations – whether they are durable, intense, narrow-yet-sharp, and shared within a kinship network and the neighborhood. &nbsp; With urban decay, there is an over-romanticisation of the rural in Nepal as being natural, pure, clean, or honest. There is surely a lightness of being while visiting villages and a tourist enjoys the destination not so much for the nature of the destination itself but because the visitor is able to briefly forget the city’s struggles. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">Cost of living in a big city</a>, Ramesh Kumar  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231226091232_8a76986624f62473167b9f4e6d2867c371570492fd83de13d19f6d290b49f884.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20231226091232_8a76986624f62473167b9f4e6d2867c371570492fd83de13d19f6d290b49f884" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="Sankathan launch"> <figcaption>From Left: Rabin Giri with Chaitanya Mishra and Niraj Bhari during the launch. PHOTO: Nepal Literature Festival/Facebook</figcaption> </figure>  There are those who have permanently moved to rural areas or their ancestral villages, and tried to go native as journalists <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/taste-of-nepal">Kedar Sharma</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/novelist-returns-to-non-fiction">Narayan Wagle </a>have done and recount in a conversation in the Nepali language volume संकथन (Discourse) on Nepal’s rural world published by Niraj Bhari and edited by Rabin Giri. This reverse trend to overwhelming urban drift is unique enough to be remarked upon. &nbsp;&nbsp; The longstanding discourse of a self-sufficient and even subsistent village families is passé as the idea of Nepal being somehow unique in relation to the rest of the world. &nbsp; Rural and urban are not opposites but mutually connected, and one feeds on the other. For example globalisation and capitalism have entered the interior and caught the most valuable resource there: labour power by the scruff of the neck and yanked it out. Migrants from villages of Nepal entered specialised and diverse occupations in cities in Nepal India, Malaysia, East Asia, West Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. Within a hierarchically globalised system, ‘sovereignty’ is often nominal. World-scale international flows and not merely internal structures and processes today shape the ship of state. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A village is no longer what it was. It is still small, but it has changed as Sujata Tamang, Basanta Basnet, and Basanta Thapa observe in their contributions. The people who live there are also not the same. This historical hastening was slow to arrive in Nepal, but picked up by the 1980s.&nbsp; In addition, the rural has not been the opposite of the urban. One, fed on the other. The changing village comes up in many of the chapters in this book, among them that by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/letters-from-the-western-front">Mohan Mainali </a>and Nabin Poudel of the ‘lonely village’ which gave life to many stalwarts but which has been forsaken. &nbsp; The change that takes place in rural settings is often not something that people there prioritise, as Indu Tharu writes. In the larger scheme of things, all of us are the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/exploring-the-genetic-roots-of-the-raute">Raute described and photographed by Kishor Sharma</a> for the volume. We are all unrecognised and feared in some way or other, and share their powerlessness and predicament. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rakesh Chaudhari writes that villages of Nepal now suffer the same blight as the cities. The city is supposed to be an artificial space that is somehow impure, dark, sly, immoral, etc. Cities certainly need improvement. And we aspire to live in a livable city in which a minimum of stable and relatively relaxed social relations can be built.&nbsp; I really doubt if the notion of a village-within-a-city can be realised, as proposed by Abani Adhikari. On the other hand, cities like Kathmandu can indeed be improved with the idea of regenerating social relations.&nbsp; Kunda Dixit’s composition in संकथन tells us about both the need to reimagine cities as also about the unlikelihood of such re-imagination. Instead, he draws our attention to a powerful pull of historical reversal in which city dwellers, given the nearly overwhelming dynamics of pollution and climate-induced heat stress, willingly desert urban centres, and go back to live in the village. This is a warning we should all seriously think over and possibly act upon as citizens, authors, journalists, politicians, policymakers.&nbsp; In his essay in this collection by former prime minister and urban planner <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/dreams-and-nightmares-of-the-nepal-conflict">Baburam Bhattarai, </a>PhD, posits that a ‘rural revolution’ is no longer necessary in Nepal. It depends on how we define ‘revolution’, but we should try to empower rural areas and the people there to become far more assertive vis-à-vis the cities, its inhabitants and governments seated there.&nbsp; Part of this, of course, has to do with the handover of the constitutionally mandated power to local governments, as pointed out by Parvati Sunuwar and Rabin Giri in his editorial in संकथन. &nbsp;So, there is indeed, a need to revive the “गाउँ गाउँबाट उठ” chant.&nbsp; The rising up, however, must not be of the Maoist variety. It has to be built up by realising the potential political strength of the agricultural labourers, the peasantry as well as larger farmers.&nbsp; It is also needed because much of the popular struggles will be waged in the city or, as Hari Sharma reminds us, in the immediate periphery of the larger cities. The latter struggles will occupy much of national politics. &nbsp;&nbsp; Political basis of rural decline globally is the flow of natural resources, labour, and capital. On the other hand, we must also recognise that it is a historically change-prone routine. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-is-it-vital-to-protect-the-chure">Siwalik/Chure</a> and the lower Mahabharat were key world sites of human habitation and progress for thousands of years.&nbsp; Despite the Maoist armed struggle and a new Constitution, the state has remained completely unresponsive to the agricultural and employment needs of rural peoples. Political representatives have neglected concerns of rural areas they were elected from. The puny state investment in agriculture could do with the feminisation of farming. Dalit, Madhesi and subsistence farmers fall between the cracks because of their feeble political voice. The village is therefore politically poor.&nbsp; And when the poor migrate to the cities, the Nepali word पलायन has come to have negative connotation. The nationalist over boil has also contributed to the discourse of the coffins that arrive everyday with bodies of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/50-diaspora-diaries-in-nepali-times">migrant workers</a> from the Gulf or Malaysia – even when we know that the death rate in that age cohort among similar demographic groups within Nepal may not be that different.&nbsp; Finally, this rural cultural feebleness has also found coinage in the discourse of ‘fatalism’ – especially among illiterate village dwellers. Between 25-30% of farms in Nepal are estimated to have been abandoned in the past two decades. This is a huge figure with huge consequences.&nbsp; It is outrageous that there is an absolute absence of political and policy initiatives to address this. There has to be a national framework to reverse this trend with ownership, taxation, rent-fixing interventions.&nbsp; It should also lead to the formation of mid-size and larger farms, competent government, private extension agents and researchers, a system of subsidies. A techno-economic framework for dis-fallowing and cropping must be undertaken.&nbsp; Seasonal high-value low-labour farms that grow trees, fruit, tea and coffee, herbs, vegetables and other ‘opportunistic’ crops can be grown on fallow terraces. Processing centers, integrated cropping and marketing systems can add values to what is grown. &nbsp; Denser, roadside settlements with transportation facilities and formation of market centers would prevent urban encroachment of farmlands. These centres should have quality public health and education system that are affordable and accessible. Many of these initiatives have to be implemented by and through local governments with support from the other two tiers. This will also have the enormous benefit that political parties will be forced to grow from local grassroots upwards. Unaccountable leaders and parties will then risk withering away.&nbsp; We need a new discourse of governance that germinates at the grassroots. And not by means of old and rootless ideologies but through political and policy practice at the level of workers, producers, sellers, consumers. Adapted from Chaitanya Mishra's address at the launch of the collection, संकथन on 23 December. Professor Mishra teaches Sociology to MPhil PhD students at Tribhuvan University. His research focuses on macrosociology, politics, social change, and social stratification &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231226091248_07d3720b0bba58089b114fabcfeb01c47bd1b77ebfbaf7956124eb8093351bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20231226091248_07d3720b0bba58089b114fabcfeb01c47bd1b77ebfbaf7956124eb8093351bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1335" height="837" loading="lazy" alt="sankathan details"> </figure>

Comment

Nepal is not a country of villages anymore

At the National Kidney Centre in Kathmandu, a substantial number of the staggering 800 patients who come for regular kidney dialysis are migrant returnees from the Gulf and Malaysia.&nbsp;
Last month alone, 90% of the 90,000 Nepalis who went abroad were migrant workers. Most of them went to West Asia. They are healthy when they leave, but are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/too-hot-to-work">exposed to extreme temperatures</a>, and many return with ruined kidneys.
Nepal is suffering an epidemic of renal failure due to the workers’ continuous exposure to excessive heat, chronic dehydration, harsh work environment, and the tendency to go for energy drinks immediately after returning from work. The problem will get worse in coming decades with nonsurvivable wet-bulb summer temperatures in the countries where Nepali migrants work.&nbsp;
Truth be told, renal failure is not confined to migrant workers. Increasingly high numbers of young Nepalis are suffering from lifestyle-related ailments. Individuals as young as 25 are living with high blood pressure, fatty liver, and diabetes, among others.
In the past 40 years, Nepal has seen a dramatic transformation from a country with mortality mostly from infectious diseases to one where people are living longer but are dying due to lifestyle-related ailments. A <a href="https://nhrc.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BoD-Report-Book-includ-Cover-mail-6_compressed.pdf">2019 study by the Nepal Health Research Council</a> found that non-communicable diseases accounted for 71% of deaths in the country.&nbsp;
Diabetes, high blood pressure, and the irrational use of painkillers are some of the main reasons behind this figure. Kidney failure can be prevented if diabetes and hypertension are controlled in the initial stages.
Renal health is very much linked to the quality of life and economy. Patients do not suffer alone, often they are the sole breadwinners and their condition will greatly impact their families.
As per the World Health Organization, 10% percent of Nepal’s total population (300,000 people) suffer from kidney issues, 30,000 of them are in the final stage, and 3,000 need dialysis or transplant every year.
The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases is a global phenomenon but developing countries like Nepal face a double whammy as we continue to battle preventable infections too.
The chances of survival for people suffering from renal failure are slim, but the good news is that the government provides dialysis and transplantation services free of cost.&nbsp;
Currently, over 90 health facilities throughout the country provide free dialysis services to over 6,000 patients with renal failure. Over 3,000 patients have undergone kidney transplants since the service started about a decade ago, including a former prime minister and other senior government officials.&nbsp;
Every year Nepal spends Rs2.11 billion on the treatment of patients with renal failure. Local governments also provide monthly livelihood allowances to those with kidney failure or undergoing transplants. This is the highest amount the government has been spending for any single disease.&nbsp;
Even so, the focus is on the treatment of the 3,000 people living with kidney failure and scant attention has been paid to 270,000 others who suffer from some sort of kidney disease, and another 270,000 who are at risk of kidney disease.
Providing free dialysis service is not a sustainable solution. Authorities concerned should promote prevention, and encourage renal failure patients to opt for transplants. Despite the legal provision that allows any immediate family to donate a kidney, many with renal failure cannot find one.&nbsp;
Road traffic accidents are one of the biggest causes of deaths today and a kidney from brain-dead donors is a viable option. But this requires increased awareness about organ donation.
Preventing kidney disease is the best way, and the first step is to launch awareness campaigns, the cost of which is minimal compared to the treatment cost of renal patients.
The public should be told about the dangers of obesity, excessive consumption of alcohol, tobacco, salt, and junk food as well as insufficient intake of vegetables and fruits. Regular exercise, drinking plenty of water, and cutting on sugar should be promoted.
Screening is crucial to early diagnosis and a lot of lives can be saved if testing for non-communicable diseases is made free once a year for all age groups. Even then, most Nepalis do not undergo tests unless it is an emergency.&nbsp;
The government has established laboratories at the health post level to carry out the test, but very few make use of the service. People can monitor protein levels in urine and do a creatinine test, a measure that shows how well one’s kidneys are performing or filtering waste from blood. The tests cost just Rs100.
Above all, these awareness campaigns should be launched at the school and community levels so that we have an early chance to save every kidney from severe damage. Before things get worse, we Nepalis and Nepal can bring down the burden of non-communicable diseases, cut medical costs, and save lives.
Rishi Kumar Kafle is a senior Nephrologist and is the founding President of the National Kidney Center in Kathmandu.

Saving kidneys to save Nepal

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”&nbsp; -Albert Camus  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023122210124_aa47865385fae05eca11269b60bd7d7c8e81a346a73c9c77750ddc740a6396ac.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2023122210124_aa47865385fae05eca11269b60bd7d7c8e81a346a73c9c77750ddc740a6396ac" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="2700" loading="lazy" alt="miss moti 1191"> </figure>

In the depth of winter

It is when travelling beyond our borders that we Nepalis realise how much we take for granted the political and media freedoms we enjoy here at present. A recent trip to northern Thailand offered an opportunity to hear from Burmese exiles about their country’s tragic descent into conflict and suppression.&nbsp; Johnny Adhikary is a Nepali-speaking Burmese social activist who has been helping fellow Burmese of Nepali origin as well as Nepali tech workers trapped inside Burma, connecting them to the authorities through voice messages and even handwritten notes.&nbsp; Adhikary has never been to Nepal, the land of his ancestors. He is among the 300,000 Burmese of Nepali descent and has been forced into self-exile because of the suppression by the military junta which staged a coup in 2021, and has been fighting pro-democracy activists since.&nbsp; In the past month, the Burmese Army has been losing ground to ethno-separatists, having to retreat from the only two checkpoints on the Burma-China border.&nbsp; Adhikary has also been involved in the rescue of Nepali ’cyber slaves’ who were trafficked by Chinese organised crime groups luring them with high-paying IT jobs. The Chinese-owned call centres in Burma are involved in internet financial fraud and online scams and are known to physically torture workers and hold them captive without pay.&nbsp; After a crackdown in China itself, the mafia moved to Burma, Cambodia and Laos, recruiting IT professionals from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Nepal. The Nepal Embassy in Bangkok says 25 Nepalis have been rescued so far, and sent home. This week it sent embassy personnel to rescue two more Nepali IT workers stranded in Burma. Borders demarcate national jurisdiction, but for these international crime syndicates in the age of global communications physical frontiers do not matter. This is the end of geography. And the instability in Burma makes it an ideal base for their operations. The Burmese of Nepali ancestry, on the other hand, have been living in the country since the first wave arrived here during British rule. Others are descendants of Gurkha soldiers in the British Army who stayed behind after fighting the Japanese at the end of World War II.&nbsp; Most Burmese Nepali have preserved their language and culture, however, the younger generation have gradually assimilated into mainstream Burmese society. Some Nepali families have returned to Nepal in various phases over the past decades, including when people of Indian origin were driven out.&nbsp; Thailand has been the country of refuge for Burmese pro-democracy fighters, dissidents, journalists as well as some Burmese of Nepali origin. In many ways, this is like Nepalis who fled to India during the Maoist conflict, or Indians who have escaped unrest to Nepal.&nbsp; But unlike the Nepal-India open border, the Thai-Burma frontier is heavily monitored by the Burmese military and it is not easy to cross over. “We had to leave our country Nepal, and now Burma, does this mean we have also lost our right to be citizens?” asked one Nepali Burmese in Chiangmai. “We are stateless refugees, where is a country we can call our own?”&nbsp; These words reminded me of the citizenship debate in Nepal as well. Of the hundreds of thousands of Madhesi Nepalis who do not have citizenship, and the perception in the Madhes is that the Nepali state resettled Nepalis from Burma in the Tarai.&nbsp; Although the Nepali-speaking population in Burma has largely kept out of politics, they are affected by the pro-democracy movement as well as the violent crackdowns by the Burmese military. A group of Burmese Nepalis have formed the Gurkha Defence Force to fight the government.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231219071212_530894ff84fe5f5eff1677c0704f6e504f3b29f481f2f7e399eb192b9d208b07.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20231219071212_530894ff84fe5f5eff1677c0704f6e504f3b29f481f2f7e399eb192b9d208b07" data-rendition-name="original" width="1036" height="547" loading="lazy" alt="Gurkha defence force"> <figcaption>Gurkha Defence Force made up of Burmese of Nepali descent fighting the Burmese military in Burma.</figcaption> </figure>  One Nepali-speaking descendant of a Gurkha soldier who is a commander in the force was visiting Chiang Mai clandestinely, and told me: “We are fighting with fellow Burmese for democracy and end to military rule, we hope this is the last time we will have to take up arms.”&nbsp; Like other Nepali-Burmese, he wants the land of his ancestors to galvanise international support for the pro-democracy cause in Burma. He says Kathmandu could help by providing travel documents for Nepali-origin exiles in Thailand.&nbsp; Nepali soldiers in the British Army were instrumental in the defeat of the Japanese in the Burma front in 1943-44. In fact, the Japanese were so impressed with the loyalty and bravery of the Gurkhas that they even recruited some Nepali Burmese into their own military to fight against the British, and in effect against fellow Nepalis.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepalis-show-solidarity-with-burma-protesters">Nepal and Burma have a shared history</a> of democratic struggle. Burma’s freedom fighter and first leader Gen Aung San and Nepal’s first elected prime minister B P Koirala both fought for freedom in their countries the 1950s and 60s. Aung San designated the mountainous Kachin State as the homeland for Nepali Burmese.&nbsp; But after Gen Ne Win seized power in 1962, more than 200,000 Nepali-speakers were evicted and settled down in Mizoram, Nagaland in India and in Nepal. The Nepali refugees from Burma were mostly settled along the Tarai by King Mahendra, who had a strategic campaign for the trans-migration of mountain people to the plains bordering India. Many Tarai towns have neighbourhoods that are still called ‘Burma Tole’.&nbsp; Although the Burmese refer to Nepalis as Gurkhas, not all the families are descendants of soldiers. After the 1988 uprising, many Burmese Nepalis fled Burma and in 1995 even opened a liaison office for the imprisoned <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17820#.YBuCwDEzbIU">Aung San Suu Kyi</a>’s National League for Democracy in Kathmandu. Suu Kyi herself wrote a book about Nepal and has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-remembers-aung-san-suu-kyi">close connections to a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu.</a> And there are thousands of other Burmese Nepalis who fled to Thailand in 1964 and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lost-village-of-nepalis-in-thailand">they and their descendants have been there</a> ever since. China has historically supported the Burmese military for geopolitical reasons, and the two countries share a 1,300km border. Chiang Mai’s own location close to the Burma border makes it a strategically important listening post, which is why the Americans, Japanese, Chinese and Indians all have consulates here. Mae Sot is the Thai town on the border, with Myawaddy on the Burmese side of the border. Beyond is the war zone, and also where Nepali-origin Burmese and ‘cyber slaves’ are trapped.&nbsp; The Nepal Embassy in Bangkok may need to open a liaison office in Mae Sot and keep in close touch with Thai security forces, foreign ministry, civil society and media. But the embassy suffers from a lack of resources and personnel.&nbsp; It is not just in Burma that Nepali IT personnel are held captive by the Chinese mafia, there are reports of them also in call centres in Laos and Cambodia. Six of them have been rescued from Cambodia and one from Laos, but others remain.&nbsp; The Nepali diaspora is now spread so far and wide that wherever there is a conflict in there world, be it <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/6-nepali-kia-and-4-pows-in-ukraine">Russia, Ukraine</a> or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/hamas-releases-thais-but-where-is-bipin">Israel</a>, there are Nepalis caught up in it. Nepal’s government and foreign ministry must keep a better record of where its nationals are, and in case they are in war zones, must have contingency plans for their rescue in an emergency.&nbsp; In the case of Burma, it is not just Nepali call centre workers who to be rescued, but Nepal also needs to support the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and those of Nepali origin.&nbsp; <a href="https://twitter.com/Kishore_chandra">Chandra Kishore</a> is a Birganj-based commentator who writes this monthly column <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/the-outcasts">Borderlines</a> for Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra <h2>“Please rescue us”</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121907128_15a7ca4382abf0b5b1dd8a7b1fd6fed19c5bec65539e31a07732a4745126253c.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2023121907128_15a7ca4382abf0b5b1dd8a7b1fd6fed19c5bec65539e31a07732a4745126253c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1212" height="726" loading="lazy" alt="letter to the embassy"> </figure>  A Nepali from Rupendehi has written a letter to the Nepal Embassy in Bangkok asking that he and 11 other Nepalis be rescued from the Thai-Burma border where they have been held captive for the past four months by a Chinese call centre. Most of the Nepalis were said to have been recruited in Dubai by a Chinese woman identified as Ms Johana and promised a customer service job in an IT company. However, they were beaten, tortured and made to work without pay in an internet scam to cheat users around the world. ‘We asked to be released but they ignore us, instead they put us in prison and handcuffed us for 7 days and they are asking us for ransom money to release us,’ says the letter signed by a Nepali whose name we are not disclosing for his safety. “if it goes on like this we will take our life one day.” The letter also accuses the Chinese organised criminals of applying electric shocks to them. ‘Please save our life as we have no any option what to do now in that situation,’ the letter says, and includes the names of the other Nepalis who are from Lamjung, Kathmandu, Makwanpur, Jhapa, Arghakhanchi, Sarlahi.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231219071216_61a555fd721ecbac52f043483cfd34016d5283f19aed837b680799019532b61e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231219071216_61a555fd721ecbac52f043483cfd34016d5283f19aed837b680799019532b61e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="Rescued Nepali workers"> <figcaption>Two Nepali call centre workers managed to escape by paying a ransom of $10,000 each to the Chinese in Chiang Mai.</figcaption> </figure>  Two Nepali call centre workers who managed to escape by paying $10,000 each ransom money to the Chinese are in Chiang Mai, and the Nepal Embassy is trying to fly them to Kathmandu this week.&nbsp;

Chandra Kishore

Borderlines

Burmese of Nepali descent flee to Thailand

In the summer of 2018, on the very first trip to Dolpo, I saw a wild snow leopard as it cat-walked along a slope before vanishing into the icy vastness of the Himalaya. Our team was there to learn more about this elusive animal and understand its inter-relationship with communities, as well as assist conservation efforts of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and Shey Phoksundo National Park (SPNP). Along with SPNP staff and local citizen scientists, we rolled out various assessments that had been over half a year in planning. The challenges of this extreme trans-Himalayan terrain were aggravated by unpredictable weather and unfulfilled commitments. Perseverance, adaptive management by a dynamic local colleague and the support of local partners were crucial in protecting the snow leopard, which has been called ‘God’s Pet’.&nbsp; Our ecological and socio-economic surveys identified challenges and also opportunities to strengthen work by our predecessors, laying the foundation for the integrated project by the DNPWC, SPNP and World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF) to benefit both people and cats. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/trekking-to-save-nepals-snow-leopards">Trekking to save Nepal's snow leopards</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama On International Day of Mountains on 11 December, we realise that so much has been achieved, despite challenges including our collective confinement during the Covid pandemic. Here are five milestones to mark five years of the project: 1. A global snow leopard conservation hotspot Snow leopards and their ecosystems are among the least studied of the big cats, globally. The Nepal government prioritises research to better understand the species for informed conservation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231211031228_35a857dd5be2953c13836508cb272e5d8e17eb3c688e3950f4e3534887edc655.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231211031228_35a857dd5be2953c13836508cb272e5d8e17eb3c688e3950f4e3534887edc655" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Shey Phoksundo National Park snow leopard NT"> <figcaption>Karma Tarkey is a former SLCC Chair whose conservation efforts culminated in his unopposed election as the Ward Chair in 2022. Photo: SANJOG RAI /WWF</figcaption> </figure>  With the crucial engagement of local youths as citizen scientists, there is diverse research and periodic monitoring to guide and improve conservation efforts. We know more about snow leopards than ever before, strengthening the conservation prospects of this flagship species of mountain ecosystems. The SPNP hosts about 90 individuals, and is a global hotspot for snow leopard conservation – a matter of immense pride, opportunity, as well as responsibility for Nepal. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/snow-leopard-redux">Snow leopard redux</a>, Tayama Rai 2. Integrated conflict management More snow leopards translate to increased human-animal contact leading to livestock loss. But by integrating knowledge of snow leopard behaviour, the local socio-economic context and by addressing practical challenges, livestock losses have been reduced and communities affected have been compensated. Pastoralists have been trained in mesh wire fabrication and improving livestock corrals to avert surplus killings – instances when snow leopards kill multiple livestock without eating them. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231211031228_2a4315df8fe5dd5d8274ed8c6e166f6947d9872d71a62f157ea45edef501f7bb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231211031228_2a4315df8fe5dd5d8274ed8c6e166f6947d9872d71a62f157ea45edef501f7bb" data-rendition-name="original" width="2110" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Shey Phoksundo National Park snow leopard NT"> <figcaption>Parliamentarians visited SPNP in 2020 to understand grassroots issues. With tireless efforts of many institutions including the DNPWC, a recent win was an amendment to the government’s Wildlife Damage Relief Guidelines, including doubling the ceiling of relief amount and explicit inclusion of mountain livestock varieties. Photo: WWF NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  If snow leopards are unable to enter livestock corrals, surplus killings can be virtually eradicated, as has been reported by the community from piloted improved corrals. With most households owning yaks and mountain goats, there are efforts to scale this out to benefit the wider community. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/bridging-the-divide" target="_blank">SPNP has played a catalytic role to capacitate community leadership</a> and granted over Rs20 million of government relief to local households in the past five years. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepali-conservationist-among-rolex-awardees">Nepali conservationist among Rolex awardees</a>, Nepali Times <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FkiIwR3LeEtM%3Fsi%3DEe_JLzUaRDGT6Q9x&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> 3. Secure livelihoods Safeguarding livestock is crucial to secure local livelihoods. Which is why it is even more important to diversify livelihood options but these are inherently limited for mountain communities more so now due to heightened geopolitics and the increased impact of the climate crisis.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231211031228_44bbf6b2ce52bb4938fbe84b217f32053c7edc7b4a64aa9269d247dd1b87ab1b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20231211031228_44bbf6b2ce52bb4938fbe84b217f32053c7edc7b4a64aa9269d247dd1b87ab1b" data-rendition-name="original" width="737" height="1217" loading="lazy" alt="Shey Phoksundo National Park snow leopard NT"> <figcaption>Tshiring from Dho Tarap village is a trained veterinary technician. By saving injured animals, he is busting local myths that livestock injured by wildlife are doomed to die. Other local youth are trained in disease surveillance and control, which is becoming an increasing risk. </figcaption> </figure>  We supported livelihoods that have immediate returns but also long-term prospects that benefit the wider community, and preserve local cultures and nature while also enhancing their resilience as best we can. 4. A bright future As remote as SPNP is, it is never far from the impact of globalisation. There are new roads in Dolpo, and local governments have been leading efforts for electrification in remote parts of SPNP. The project has been contributing to their larger initiatives to assure clean energy access to local communities.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231211031228_570c4c29ebe6508330899263bd673112162cfa449eb598967c14cb1e66dd4f9e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231211031228_570c4c29ebe6508330899263bd673112162cfa449eb598967c14cb1e66dd4f9e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1152" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="Shey Phoksundo National Park snow leopard NT"> <figcaption>Technicians install panels of a solar mini-grid in Kugaon – a remote village in upper Dolpo, that could easily take us 10 days to reach from Kathmandu. Now, 36 households here have the first solar mini-grid connection facilitated by the local government which has prioritised clean energy connection. Photo: PEMA TSHERING GURUNG</figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-leads-in-snow-leopard-study-6bo3zybk">Nepal leads in snow leopard study</a>, Nepali Times 5. Conservation stalwarts Engagement of the community is key to snow leopard conservation. Local knowledge in planning and implementation is mandatory, but it also creates new expertise in environmental protection. The project supports education and has helped form and capacitate diverse youth groups, including one with aspirations for sustainable tourism management and stronger linkages to the local economy. One of the challenges, however, has been effectively engaging women. Even so, last year, women groups of Dolpo led a massive undertaking removing nearly 8,000kg of solid waste from rangelands.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231211031228_a3ea977d3ad71b0f2968dd8974eae7a854054898f07be45cec69744807ee29a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231211031228_a3ea977d3ad71b0f2968dd8974eae7a854054898f07be45cec69744807ee29a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1498" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Shey Phoksundo National Park snow leopard NT"> <figcaption>SPNP youth and the WWF team at WWF headquarters in Kathmandu. Photo: SNEHA TAMRAKAR/WWF NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  These milestones are an expression of the immense effort by government officials from Kathmandu to the remotest parts of Dolpo most notably DNPWC, SPNP and various rural municipalities, communities and youth who have worked tirelessly, and all the experts and donors. This is also a call for help. This is still a work in progress and needs further intervention to help the SPNP protect the snow leopard and its ecosystem.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bridging-the-divide">Bridging the divide</a>, Sheren Shrestha and Ghana Shyam Gurung Sheren Shrestha is Manager of Wildlife Programs with the WWF currently overseeing planning and management of Snow Leopard programs.