<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/6369339f9c7e80680e03dfacjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>A ghost bicycle is tied to a tree near where Shyam Sundar Shrestha died on 27 October. The open drain is now covered. On the night before the 13th day remembrance at the site, this ambulance swerved to avoid another pothole and hit a tree nearby. All photos: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>Hundreds of children had been walking past the gaping open drain outside the gates of Laboratory School in Kirtipur every day for the past six months. Teachers had repeatedly asked the Kathmandu Valley water supply utility to cover the ditch. A parent who complained recently was told by workers: “Mind your own business.” A shopkeeper across road has lost count of the number of motorcyclists injured trying to avoid the gutter at night.On 27 October, yoga instructor Shyam Sundar Shrestha was spending the Saturday evening at his home in Chagal with his mother, Sabitri and sister, Shoba. He told them not to let his little nephews waste time playing with mobile phones.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933a39c7e80680e03dfadjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Shyam Sundar had dinner, checked his laptop, washed his face, and said he was bicycling out to Chobhar. His mother wondered why he had to go out into the dark streets, but did not say anything because her 41-year-old son had criss-crossed Nepal on his bicycle.Shyam Sundar was an introvert since childhood, his mother remembers. He lived frugally, ate little, dressed simply and had a passion for spiritualism and bicycling. He loved the great outdoors, and had followed his guru on a walking pilgrimage from Kathmandu to Kanya Kumari on the southern tip of India, a distance of 4,000km.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933a69c7e80680e03dfaejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="762" height="540"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>When he did not return till late that night, Sabitri Shrestha tried unsuccessfully to call her son on his mobile. Even though she was not unduly worried, she called around to relatives who reported a missing person to the Police.The call from the Police came early on Sunday morning: a pedestrian had found Shyam Sundar’s body inside an open drain on the road to Chobhar. The family was in complete shock, as weeping neighbours gathered around. At the site, Police extricated Shyam Sundar’s red bicycle and shoes, and sent his body to hospital for an autopsy.It was just the latest tragedy that brought into sharp focus the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19147#.W-e3dqcQ0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death trap</a> that Kathmandu’s road have become, with open manholes and drains, gaping ditches on dark streets without pedestrian sidewalks, and the lack of warning signs.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933a89c7e80680e03dfafjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="880"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Shyam Sundar’s death occurred down the road from where renowned conservationist <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/03/25/killer-on-the-run/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pralhad Yonzon</a> was killed almost exactly six years ago. Both were avid bicyclists, and their deaths have exposed criminal state negligence about road safety and the lack of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18714#.W-e3h6cQ0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bicycle lanes</a> that the city promised.Friends, relatives, colleagues and bicycle enthusiasts gathered on 10 November at the spot where Shyam Sundar Shrestha died for his 13th day remembrance. They paid tribute to a quiet, spiritual man dedicated to helping others. Away from crowd, weeping silently was Sabitri Shrestha.“I cannot describe to you what a decent man and devoted son he is,” she sobbed, still speaking in the present tense about her son. “He never says an unkind word to anyone, never raises his voice. He does not take sugar or white rice, eating only fruit and buckwheat, and has few cravings.”After his two sisters got married, Shyam Sundar was taking care of his mother in their Chagal home, his father having died when he was young. He worked as an English tutor and a yoga instructor, but never felt the need to make much money.Shyam Sundar’s five-year-old nephew points at a photo of him and says, “Pau.” Carrying him on her arms, Shobha Shrestha says tearfully: “He had just started recognising his uncle, and has been asking where he is. What do I tell him?”The ditch where Shyam Sundar died has now been covered with concrete slabs. But the night before the commemoration, an ambulance that had tried to avoid another pothole had rammed into the side of the road, just next to the white ghost bicycle chained to a tree that serves as a memorial to Shyam Sundar.As the small gathering observed a two-minute silence, Nepal Sambat revellers on pickups roared past, there was the sound of fire crackers going off nearby. An ambulance rushed past siren blazing.Advocate Sunil Ranjan Singh’s son goes to Laboratory School, and he had complained many times to the authorities about the dangerous open drain. He said: “This is a failure at all three levels of government. They are all guilty, and the responsibility goes right up to the Prime Minister.”Singh wants to set a legal precedent by taking the matter to the courts so it will set a landmark decision on responsibility and compensation for such negligence in future.On Sunday after Shyam Sundar’s body was found, the Kathmandu Valley water utility (KUKL) covered up the open drain in half-an- hour. “If it was so simple to cover it and make it safe, why didn’t they do it earlier? Did someone have to be killed?” advocate Sunil Ranjan Singh asked.The police released the autopsy report over Tihar, it was as everyone had suspected: Shyam Sundar was knocked unconscious after falling off his bicycle and drowned in sewage half-a-metre deep.Despite the people consoling her, Sabitri Shrestha looked alone and forlorn. She joined her hands in prayer, and said softly: “I used to tell him don’t go where there are no roads, but he died on a road, right here in the capital. I hope no more Nepalis have to die like my son.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933ac9c7e80680e03dfb0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="591" height="1024"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>

Kunda Dixit

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Don’t go quietly into the night

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e2a39c7e80680e03333cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>At personal, family, community or national levels, we Nepalis are generally not given to maintaining high hygienic standards. Waste management is not our forté. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Littering is a national trait</a>, we are genetically programmed to dump garbage at our own doorstep, we let household sewage flow into the drainage system which empties into the river we worship.Jesuit missionaries who were the first European travellers to pass through the Nepal Valley en route from Tibet to India in the 17th century described the towns here as the dirtiest they had seen in their journey. In those days, that was saying something.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toilet trained</a>, Sonia AwaleGranted, Kathmandu eradicated open defecation in the streets within one generation. But other than that, we have regressed in every other respect of urban management, acquiring an international reputation for polluting our rivers, poisoning the air, and tolerating squalour.Google <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/cleaning-up-everest,1408" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mt Everest</a>, and the top news items will be about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expedition garbage</a>. Search <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/incompetence-of-kathmandu-airport-magnified-during-shutdown,2086" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu Airport</a> and this pops up: fetid toilets and a terminal building redolent with the odour of urine. Kathmandu is no longer known as a valley with historic temple towns, but a dust bowl with garbage landfills along a reeking river, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Sick-city,108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">air so toxic it is unbreathable</a>.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nature-calls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nature calls</a>, Sonia AwaleWe spoke to anthropologists, urban planners, ecologists and governance experts to get to the bottom of this chronic failure to pick up after ourselves. They said the problem is not confined to Nepal: disregard for waste management pervades the subcontinent from Peshawar to Chittagong.Flush toilets were invented during the Indus Valley civilisation, but today Pakistan’s rivers are sewers. Mass defecation by the tracks greets passengers on early-morning train rides in northern India. Plastic landfills are new topographical features on Dhaka’s outskirts.Are there cultural reasons that span religions, ethnicities and nationalities for this regional inability to recognise and handle waste? Is it the inherent fatalism in our societies? Does it have a gender angle in our patriarchies? Are individualism, greed and selfishness factors? Are we hardwired to wallow in our own waste?Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-to-take-a-dump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Where to take a dump?</a>, Bhushan TuladharFinding an excuse in cultural determinism for unhygienic behaviour is a cop-out. The reasons lie instead in the failure of education, collapse of governance, lack of accountability, in corruption and impunity. It is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-plastic-wars,612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filthy politics</a> that force people to live in filth. Dirty streets are a metaphor for dirty politics.We are confronted with evidence of chronic state failure everywhere as we move around Nepal: the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-ecology-of-worship-bagmati,3380" target="_blank" rel="noopener">putrid Bagmati</a>, government hospitals which spread infections instead of curing them, vehicle emissions that have made Kathmandu so toxic the daily pollution average is five times higher than the WHO threshold.Nepal’s holiest temples are the dirtiest parts of its towns. Cremation sites, instead of evoking transcendence and spiritualism, feel like purgatory. Devotees throng festivals in uplifting mass displays of faith, but once the gods have been appeased, they go home leaving mountains of trash and the gory remains of sacrifices.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-sewage-canal,1161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleaning up the Bagmati </a>every Saturday is a valiant gesture, but alas, it is doomed because it does not address the structural root of the solid waste problem. Two weeks ago this newspaper printed <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/industrial-scale-litter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an investigation into why plastic bag bans have been sabotage</a>d by successive governments: the manufacturers enjoy political protection.Plastic bottles are the new global scourge. We reported that Langtang Valley alone has 5 million discarded plastic water bottles, used once and thrown away. Yet, by placing a value on the bottles, they are now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/virtuous-cycle/." target="_blank" rel="noopener">being collected for recycling</a>. To reduce single-use plastic trash, Nepal has to upscale such upcycling.This week, the world marks World Environment Day with the theme #BeatPlasticPollution. There is growing global awareness about ocean plastic that is killing marine life and contaminating seafood.Also in this issue we look at the government’s <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/%20jajarkot-open-defecation-free,2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open-defecation free campaign</a> which, although it has raised awareness and reduced child mortality, has concentrated on building latrines but not on sludge disposal and ensuring water supply. There is a danger they will spread the infections they were supposed to control.A civilisation is judged by the way it manages and disposes of its waste. Ministers sweeping streets for tv cameras, or donning masks to test vehicle exhausts are just for show. The government has to go far beyond tokenism with policy reform and its implementation.Smart cities are those which have learnt to generate energy, produce fertiliser and recycle raw materials from their waste. To be smart, Nepal’s municipalities do not have to reinvent the wheel. The solutions are all there. Just Google it.

Getting our shit together

Climber, expedition leader and later a supplier of bottled oxygen to Himalayan mountaineers, Henry Barclay Todd died on 3 November 2025 in his favourite place on earth, Kathmandu.&nbsp;
Todd was larger than life, a metaphor often used, yet it could not be more fitting. Standing nearly 2m tall, and possessing an unshakeable will, he lived life on a grand scale, both in body and spirit.&nbsp;
Todd was a pillar in the Himalayan climbing community, supporting many mountaineers across Nepal and Pakistan, making it possible for them to fulfil the dream of standing on the world’s highest peaks. He believed deeply in the strength, skill, and potential of the Sherpa people, and offered them opportunities that might otherwise have remained out of reach.&nbsp;
“Thank you, Henry. Your trust changed my life. Rest in peace, my leader, my teacher, my friend,” said Dorjee Gyelzen Sherpa in his tribute.
Born in 1945 to Royal Air Force officer Henry Todd and May Todd of the Women’s Royal Air Force, Henry spent his early years in Singapore. He led a lively childhood with his two brothers, far removed from the mountains that would later define his path.&nbsp;
A gifted swimmer like his father, Henry never pursued the sport professionally. Instead, after returning to Dundee as a teenager and attending seven different schools, he set off for London, where he began working for an insurance company before finding his true calling in adventure.
Henry Todd first came to Nepal in the mid-1980s and made his first attempt on Ama Dablam in 1987, an expedition that marked the beginning of an extraordinary and colourful climbing career. <a href="https://www.himalayandatabase.com/" target="_blank">The Himalayan Database</a> lists 61 expeditions that he led in Nepal alone — there were more in the Karakoram, Argentina and the Alps.&nbsp;
But Todd would joyfully say that a few hard Scottish ascents held a more personal meaning to him than even the greatest Himalayan summits.
Over the decades, he crossed paths with many legendary climbers like Anatoli Boukreev, Jerzy Kukuczka, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington as well as celebrities including members of Pink Floyd and Nobel Prize laureates whom he befriended.&nbsp;
He had a gift to never name-drop, but would simply mention that he had had lunch with Minnie Driver (niece of his long-time friend Andra) or that he had bought his first car from Donald Sutherland. For Todd, these were not bragging rights, they were simply part of the colourful tapestry of his life.
Todd’s life was filled with extraordinary experiences from surviving plane crashes, avalanches and earthquakes to quietly solving countless problems, which was one of his favourite past-times. His hands, famously large and steady, were always ready to help whether in the chaos of the mountains or the calm of a base camp.&nbsp;
With his sharp sense of humour and the beloved exclamation “Whoopie!”,he could bring lightness even to the toughest moments. He never tired of taking on challenges or helping when someone was in need, and he enriched so many people’s lives with his endless stories.
His legacy is immense. He helped build the human backbone of Himalayan climbing, enabling generations of climbers to test themselves in the world’s highest places. With his passing, an era of bold, spirited Himalayan guiding has come to a close.
Todd survived by a loving family, many close friends and a global community of climbers and Sherpas who will never forget him and his endless tales.&nbsp;
His family said in a statement: ‘Henry’s strength, warmth and unyielding belief in others will live on far above the clouds. He was indestructible in our eyes and in our hearts, he always will be.’
There will be a memorial service at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu on 8 November 2025 around lunchtime.

Henry Barclay Todd, 80

The autumn mountaineering season is not over yet, and already there have been 12 fatalities on Himalayan peaks in Nepal.
Of the 1,450 climbing permits issued, 436 were for Mt Ama Dablam (6,812m), 374 for Mt Manaslu (8,163m) and 186 for Himlung Himal (7,126m). There were deaths on all three mountains.
The death of two French climbers on Ama Dablam happened before unseasonal blizzards hit the mountains. But Cyclone Montha from the Bay of Bengal brought on high winds and up to 1m of snow in the peak trekking and mountaineering season.
This increased avalanche conditions, and made helicopter evacuation of stranded and injured climbers difficult. Lower down the mountains, more than 1,000 trekkers from Nepal and around the world were stuck in the Annapurnas, Manaslu circuit and the Khumbu.
However, there have also been allegations that it was not just the weather that delayed rescues. Multiple levels of bureaucracy and the need for flight permits to restricted areas like Manang and Manaslu critically delayed evacuation flights.
Italian climbers Farronato Stefano and Caputo Alessandro were found dead in their tent at Panbari Himal Camp I (6,887m) in the Manaslu area. They had been trapped by heavy snowfall since 28 October, and their bodies were found on 4 November by a team from the expedition organisers, Sherpa Alpine Trekking Service. The team was made up of high level mountain guides and expedition leader Valter Perlino.
The team had been climbing to Camp 3 but decided to descend to base camp because of thrombosis in Perlino’s left foot. The two climbers who would eventually get trapped decided to break at Camp I, a decision that would prove fatal after the projected six-day snowfall arrived two days early.
“They were sleeping in a tent and were buried under 2.5 metres of compacted snow. It happened during the night between Thursday and Friday. While they were sleeping, absurd,” said Perlino.
A deadly incident took place the morning of 3 November, when five foreigners and two Nepalis died in an avalanche on Yalung Ri at 5,630m in the Rolwaling. They were part of a larger group of 15 that were acclimatising for an attempt on the nearby Dolma Khang (6,332m).
Local authorities in Gauri Shankar Conservation Area say calls were immediately made to helicopter companies as well as various ministries in Kathmandu that have to issue permits to fly to the region bordering China.
But the permits for rescue flights to Rolwaling Valley were delayed by eight hours. Rescue flights in these areas require permission from the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Ministry, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
Experts say this should be exempted in times of emergency when time is of the essence. CAAN spokesperson Pratap Babu Tiwari claimed to not know of the avalanche on Yalung Ri and deflected questions to the permission department.&nbsp;
There was a similar tragedy on Himlung Himal in Manang as well. Australian Chin-Tark Chan, 49, was climbing with 8K Expeditions and fell ill on 27 October at about 6,800m, developing snow blindness and loss of mobility. The guides immediately called the US insurance company Global Rescue for authorisation of a longline rescue.
Global Rescue refused, saying a rescue at that height would violate Nepal’s aviation rules and put the pilot at unacceptable risk. They asked the guides to transport Chan to Camp 3 at 6,400m to a permitted altitude. Seeing it was a life-or-death situation for its client, 8K called in an aerial rescue anyway, but the helicopter could not land due to bad weather. Chan died slightly below Camp 3 on 29 October.
Global Rescue said in a statement that it was ready to send in a helicopter after Chan had been transported to Camp 3, but several hours were lost for that attempt, and the weather did not get better in the next few days.
To underscore just how dangerous helicopter rescues in the Himalaya can be in bad weather, a chopper from Altitude Air skidded off the helipad at Lobuche below Mt Everest while trying to rescue trekkers in whiteout conditions.&nbsp;
CAAN announced a ban on flights during blizzards or dense fog. While rescue missions are often heroic and courageous, they should not be foolhardy if conditions are unsafe and the risk to pilots and rescuers too high. This autumn was a lesson for future expeditions and for the Nepal government.&nbsp;
The Italian duo on Panbari were caught out by snow that arrived two days ahead of schedule, but the group on Yalung Ri should have postponed their ascent after multiple warnings from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to avoid high altitudes.

Deadly autumn in Himalayan climbing

Traditional donors have sharply scaled back their aid commitments to developing countries over the past year. Some, like the United States, have virtually eliminated their aid programs. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), official development assistance (ODA) from member countries <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2025/04/official-development-assistance-2024-figures.html" target="_blank">declined by 7.1%</a> in 2024, its first annual drop in six years. This trend was not limited to a few major donors. Of the 33 members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), 22 slashed their aid budgets, and only four countries met the United Nations’ target of allocating 0.7% of gross national income to ODA. The outlook for the coming year offers little hope for improvement, as major DAC donors have announced additional cuts. Most notably, US President Donald Trump’s administration has suspended most foreign aid and dismantled the Agency for International Development (USAID), which dispersed most US government aid dollars. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom plans to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrkkv4gd7o" target="_blank">reduce aid spending</a> from 0.5% of GNI to 0.3% by 2027. Similar retrenchment across Europe and North America is reshaping international assistance, disrupting humanitarian and climate-related programs, and creating financing gaps in critical sectors such as health, education, and clean energy. In our 2017 book <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/going-beyond-aid/B48F59C6D8D2790D403A1A0C44B37612" target="_blank">Going Beyond Aid</a>, we urged developing-country governments to reduce their dependence on foreign aid, not only because it was becoming an unreliable source of funding, but also because other, better ways of financing development were becoming more available. That message is more urgent than ever. As reliance on aid becomes untenable, the international community must mobilise a broader array of financing sources to advance green and sustainable growth. This includes national development banks, industrial investment funds, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investment in public markets, as well as innovative mechanisms such as debt swaps and public-private partnerships (PPPs). These tools can unlock domestic resources, attract long-term investors, and create synergies between public goals and private capital. Equity investment offers a promising avenue for engaging non-traditional development partners while reducing developing countries’ dependence on debt. Government investment funds, public and private financial institutions, and other private actors can participate by taking equity stakes in public enterprises, financing infrastructure projects, or joining PPPs. Such participation not only alleviates debt burdens but also improves the performance and management of public assets. As government-funded, mission-driven institutions, public development banks (PDBs) have the potential to provide patient capital for green and sustainable investment in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs). Building on the <a href="http://www.dfidatabase.pku.edu.cn/index.htm" target="_blank">pioneering database</a> of public development and financial institutions created by the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, future research can identify effective ways to harness these institutions to fuel low-carbon growth. Responding to growing demand from the economies of the Global South, development partners have increasingly adopted an “entire value chain” approach to the green transition in recent years. This strategy facilitates transfers of low-carbon technologies, diffusion of digital innovations (including trade in services), and industrial modernisation, enabling countries included in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to accelerate their shift toward sustainable development. Empirical research supports this approach. An analysis covering 139 countries <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-first-evidence-of-a-take-off-in-solar-in-africa/" target="_blank">finds</a> that, following policy directives to incorporate green and low-carbon principles into the BRI, carbon intensity (CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP) among participating countries declined significantly between 2013 and 2022. These findings are consistent with another <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-first-evidence-of-a-take-off-in-solar-in-africa/" target="_blank">recent study</a> showing how China’s solar-energy expansion has helped transform Africa’s power sector. Investment in infrastructure and industrial development can also generate positive spillover effects. Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jors.70023" target="_blank">shows</a> that the presence of at least one Chinese-financed infrastructure project in a second-order administrative region (comparable to a municipality) is associated with a 5% increase in nighttime luminosity – a widely used proxy for economic activity. Neighbouring regions experienced a 10-15% rise in luminosity, indicating that the benefits of such projects extend well beyond the immediate investment site.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251104131124_1a11d248a89b0785bc7d7f1d9f721e7e7a2563cbd579c3c672a0900220c19171.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20251104131124_1a11d248a89b0785bc7d7f1d9f721e7e7a2563cbd579c3c672a0900220c19171" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="405" loading="lazy" alt="development aid and China"></figure>  These outcomes underscore the critical role of infrastructure investment, particularly in energy and transportation projects. By improving electricity access, affordability, and connectivity, they reduce energy poverty, bolster public services, and stimulate economic activity in underserved areas. To meet the evolving challenges of development finance, both traditional and non-traditional donors and creditors should move beyond aid and adopt multidimensional strategies that combine trade, investment, infrastructure, green technology, and digital connectivity, including fintech solutions, to support EMDEs. Importantly, such collaborations should be viewed as a mutual learning process in which partners assume complementary roles and shared responsibilities. To be sure, there have been missteps along the way. China’s financing of coal-fired power plants before 2021, for example, had slowed reduction in CO₂ emissions. But these outcomes, once recognised as policy errors, can help strengthen accountability and foster self-correcting mechanisms within the international development ecosystem. Through ongoing learning and adaptation, global partners can build a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable framework for development finance. © <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/">Project Syndicate</a> Justin Yifu Lin, a former World Bank chief economist and Senior VP, is the honorary dean of the National School of Development and director of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University. Yan Wang is Senior Academic Researcher at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.

Development finance must shift away from aid

This is the 73rd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. Excerpts from conversations with Malaysian-based workers from Jajarkot, hired under a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/fee-free-migration-is-possible" target="_blank">responsible recruitment drive</a> 18 months ago. Some of the candidates were previously interviewed last November 3.&nbsp; Jeevan Shahi As the eldest son, I support 10 family members: my wife and two sons, my parents during illness and festivals, my brother’s family while he prepares for the civil service exam, and my sister who is a student. If one person living abroad helps 10 family members, I am content to be a migrant worker overseas. My sons are now 14 and 12. They are growing up quickly, and I miss them. Mostly, I miss my elderly parents. They tell me they think of me when they are eating good food, especially when my mother cooks meat. My mother also misses me when there are fresh apples or cucumbers from the field. I worry about my parents most.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141128_5f55dcd01a1c236a250fe116e0f869a50b2866cac33cff9bb7ae375293dfef2a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251103141128_5f55dcd01a1c236a250fe116e0f869a50b2866cac33cff9bb7ae375293dfef2a" data-rendition-name="original" width="914" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Jeevan Shahi in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  I recently sent them a smart phone which my father is still trying to learn how to use. Until recently, I could only see their faces when my family members were visiting them. I watched them this Dasain, and it made me homesick. Once my father learns to use the phone we can have more frequent video calls. Before coming to Malaysia, I had only gone to India to work. But when I saw that we did not have to pay any recruitment fees for this job, I thought, why not give it a try. It turned out to be a good decision. Otherwise, I would have gone to India where I could earn Rs20,000 at most. Here, with overtime, I can earn over Rs100,000. With my savings, I have bought land near the market in Kohalpur where I moved a few years back. I plan to build a house and run a small ice cream business there.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141124_76e080f9d75412f596dfd0fb8b4f6628e02028ccef78c3c5234d83442cd0d275.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251103141124_76e080f9d75412f596dfd0fb8b4f6628e02028ccef78c3c5234d83442cd0d275" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="908" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Jeevan Shahi with friends in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  I have to think about a viable business plan because unlike in the mountains, you have to even buy water in the Tarai. My father has suggested we bring down two of our buffalos from Jajarkot to Kohalpur for the ice cream venture. I am not impressed with the watered down milk from the dairy. I will have to invest in ice-cream makers, refrigerators, physical facilities and several pushcarts. I will engage all my family members, and believe that it will be a lucrative business.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025110315118_4da135fcd504e80ae82263cc7b983aab9a43b02702cb5bce6e20f69522ffa021.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025110315118_4da135fcd504e80ae82263cc7b983aab9a43b02702cb5bce6e20f69522ffa021" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Jajarkot earthquake"> <figcaption>3 November 2023 Jajarkot earthquake.</figcaption> </figure>  I vividly remember the earthquake two years ago. It still makes my body tremble. We had gone to Jajarkot to my parents’ house from Kohalpur. We were fast asleep when the earthquake struck at 11PM. When the house started shaking, we thought it was ghosts. We rushed outside. There was no phone signal, and people were blowing whistles. We dared not go back to the house. It was difficult to go to sleep. It was Jajarkot’s black day. Janak Bahadur Singh Within a month of arriving in Malaysia, my mother fell sick. She needed surgery and had to be rushed to Nepalganj and medical costs were more than Rs400,000. We relied on loans, including from colleagues in Malaysia to cover the costs.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141132_019978d723ded0ae568d84f0b3bea41739ae6b128a4b90966ab8b780df93709f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251103141132_019978d723ded0ae568d84f0b3bea41739ae6b128a4b90966ab8b780df93709f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot NT"> <figcaption>Janak Bahadur Singh in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  When there is a family member abroad, it is easier for folks back home to borrow money from local lenders. I have now paid off my loans, and my mother is doing better. I had to postpone plans to rebuild our house, but now I have used my savings to pay an advance to builders. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/quake-survivors-migrate-for-work">Quake survivors migrate for work</a> But just before Dasain, my brother’s two daughters were swept away by a river in Nepalganj and drowned. We are in mourning and have postponed construction for six months, and hopefully the advance will be reimbursed. Since we will not be using my savings immediately for the house, I might invest it for my sister’s plan to migrate to Japan. Srijung B K It has been two years since the earthquake, and 18 months since I came here. We have not &nbsp;received support from the Nepal government other than the Rs50,000 to build a temporary shelter. With my overseas earnings, we have bought land in the market area since the family home is in a remote area. My long-term plan is to start an agro-vet shop and poultry farm, for which the new location is more suitable. I hope to start building a house in the coming year.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141132_e015105d653f019750cb6e364da5188672581167a97ea07f9f4575a8e0b5e5f6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251103141132_e015105d653f019750cb6e364da5188672581167a97ea07f9f4575a8e0b5e5f6" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot NT"> <figcaption>Srijung B K with his family in Jajarkot.</figcaption> </figure>  This is my first overseas work, and I plan to stay for another six or seven years if all goes well. I miss my family and the village environment back in Jajarkot, but it helps that many of us from my village are also here. Remittances have helped my family cover household expenses. My father used to support the family with his carpentry job but his health is failing as he ages. So I have stepped up.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141132_bbf661fd1d162cd5cad4498bf2c0dab1d9f9b8c9a19e5b668b064645266ec843.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20251103141132_bbf661fd1d162cd5cad4498bf2c0dab1d9f9b8c9a19e5b668b064645266ec843" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot NT"> <figcaption>Srijung B K in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  Khadak Singh After the earthquake I came to Malaysia, and with my earnings have paid off our Rs800,000 loan for my father’s medical expenses. I have also bought land in Kohalpur. Paying off the loans is a big relief to the family, since the debt trap created a lot of tension in the household. Now we are free from that burden. I plan to stay here for another five years or so. Other than the first tranch of the Rs50,000 we received from the Nepal government to build a temporary shelter, there has been no other help. We added some of our own money to make decent temprorary living quarters.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141152_dc34256f7287bd30d6167c20cd252d291bf0d7b6b8d839fec57664bebc329e32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20251103141152_dc34256f7287bd30d6167c20cd252d291bf0d7b6b8d839fec57664bebc329e32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Khadak Singh being interviewed for the Malaysia job.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141152_f65cfd8888d9aec696b89c544985617fa4d58234aff51e0bc9e103bdda1a9d29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251103141152_f65cfd8888d9aec696b89c544985617fa4d58234aff51e0bc9e103bdda1a9d29" data-rendition-name="original" width="1143" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Khadak Singh in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  Uncertainty about government reconstruction guidelines for more support has delayed our plans to rebuild our house. I don’t have much expectation, but will build a house regardless in Kohalpur and bring my family down. I continue to write <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQvM_yAUETg" target="_blank">songs</a> in Malaysia, and when the time and situation allow it, I plan to record them in a studio. When I last migrated to Malaysia, it was just to get out of Nepal and I did not achieve much. This time, I am planning better and working hard to achieve my goals. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cQvM_yAUETg?si=AKM2UNMYBHytckNq" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Bir Bahadur Karki When I was working in Saudi Arabia, I had once visited a goat farm in the desert. After seeing how 150 goats were raised in such an arid place, it made me think of everything we could do in our village where there is more vegetation. These thoughts kept recurring, and I was so determined to run a farm back home that I resigned from my job and returned to Nepal. Many advised me I could get better returns if I invested elsewhere, but I put all my money into buying land and building sheds for goats, chicken, and fish ponds. I did not have much experience, but started with different goat breeds. But they got sick and I suffered heavy losses. I sought help from the government, but there was no support besides a small grant and recognition as a ‘best farmer’. I struggled to pay my taxes, so I decided to migrate overseas so I could save enough to invest in agriculture in Nepal. My heart is still in it, and my only hope is to one day become the best livestock farmer. So far, I have saved Rs1.5 million and am planning to eventually set up a dairy farm in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141156_ce2b2ce11895128c1b66688a16944ae08d7b0f9e8e2118d88d402f0a97ab04af.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20251103141156_ce2b2ce11895128c1b66688a16944ae08d7b0f9e8e2118d88d402f0a97ab04af" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Bir Bahadur Karki in Malaysia. Right: with his mother in Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  My wife is already doing lemon and orange agriculture back home, with saplings from the government although we don’t have much income from that business yet. I advise her from Malaysia, and we both discuss and make decisions together. I am confident that we will do better in future. My family in Jajarkot is still living in a temporary shelter. There has been no housing grant, and the guidelines are confusing. My wife was expecting when I came to Malaysia, and there is no male member of my family after my father died. I have put in extra effort to build a comfortable, well-insulated shelter. My son was born three months after I came to Malaysia. I was extremely nervous when my wife went into labour. When my sister-in-law called to tell me that the baby was born, I was relieved and shared the good news with my friends. I plan to stay on in Malaysia since I have some debts to pay off. I will be home next Dasain, and that is when I will get to see my son for the first time.

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