So today was an interesting day.
We stayed up fairly late last night chatting and getting to know one another. we all then woke up far too early!
Our first port of call today was the offices of CMN. CMN is an organisation working for and with the people of Nepal addressing the root causes of poverty throughout the country. The organisation has a policy (a good one) of not duplicating work that is already happening – so they do not set up shop in an area where people are already doing the work/ They also work in the poorest areas of Nepal:
Bajhang
Doti
Mugu
Rukum
Rupendehi
Palpa
Dhading
Okhaldhunga
Sunsari
I won’t go into all the details of the work that they do – I would have you here for days! If you go to their website you can browse to your hearts content, let me instead share with you what stuck out for me during our visit.
UMN used to be an organisation focused on implementing the projects, in 2003 they made a strategic decision to become an enabling organisation – instead of doing the work, they work with local agencies and local people and help develop their capacity to implement and support the work. All the work that UMN is involved in has a preventative approach to it. UMN is seeking to work with it’s partner organisations in a capacity building role – both technical and organisational. They work closely with the Nepali government – they are currently coming to the end of a 5 year agreement with the Government about the work they can do and where and are negotiating a new 5 year agreement.
The areas UMN works in are known as clusters, the work in these areas is based on what is best for that locality, this is decided in consultation with local government agencies. UMN aims to be fully accountable to all their partners.
Another really interesting part of the work was the work they do with HIV/Aids. HIV/ Aids is a problem in Nepal – although it is not reaching the same kind of levels that we see in Africa. There are ‘officially’ around 75,000 people diagnosed with HIV/Aids in Nepal, although there will be many more who suffer from the disease but will not/ cannot be tested due to the stigma of HIV/ Aids, the lack of available testing stations or the fact that the tests are prohibitively expensive, as are the proper after care procedures – follow up checks and good, healthy food.. For some people, it can be a good 3/4 days travel to get to a clinic where they might be tested for HIV/Aids – expensive not only for the test, but for the transport and for the accomodation. Even the places which have the equipment to perform tests may not have the staff trained to use the equipment, or the money available to maintain the equipment in good working order.
There is a presentation which we were shown that I am hoping to get a copy of that you will be able to download and look through at your own pace. we are also trying to get some video clips to show you a bit about the work they do. But that will have to wait until we have more bandwidth to work with!
UMN works from a model of Integral Mission – not just evangelism, not just social action, but both intertwined with each other. As an example they pointed us to John 4: 1 – 26, drawing us to the ‘evangelical’ portion of the passage where Jesus talks about never being thirsty again (vs 13/14) and also to the ‘social’ aspect of the story – the fact that Jesus talks to a marginalised woman and works with her to change her life. UMN do not see evangelism as bbeing something that can be done seperatley to social action, neither do they social action as something that can be done seperatley from evangelism.
This afternoon, we made a short visit to the slums along the banks of the Bagmati River. The people who inhabit this area are mostly people who have moved to the area from the rural areas in Nepal and so have no land or means to obtain a home other than to live in this mini shanty town in the middle of the city. It was a bizarre experience. We were there for 20 minutes, if that, and spent most of that inside the primary school. The kids their were delighted to see us – they loved Suzi because she was chatty and friendly, Joanna because she was giving out shortbread, Chuli because she was asking their teacher lots of questions and me because I had a camera and could take and show them pictures of themselves – it was like being surrounded by 20 of my nephew Joshua, desperate for a shot with the camera. When I was taking kids photos and showing them, I was very conscious that I didn’t want to accidentaly miss anyone out – consequently I spent the entire time there taking kids pictures and showing them to everyone.
The area really made me wonder. The pure joy that was obvious in the life of these kids, who really have nothing, compared to some of the kids I meet in Aberdeen and have met elsewhere in Scotland. Would they be so joyous if they had so little material posession? Despite this, the strain of life in the slum was plain to see on the faces of the parents and other adults living there. They were still amazingly friendly, very smily. Yet I’m sure they were wondering what we would/ vould do to help them. I was wondering that. It was amazing to share in the joy of kids who were so happy to have visitors, but what impact can we really have made on their lives in that 20 minute whistle stop tour? I almost judge the 4 of us for making the visit. Sure, it’s opened our eyes, but that is inly going to help them if we do something about it!Their living conditions are horrendous – mud for a floor, whatever materials they can scavenge for walls and a roof, no idea where clothes come from, let alone food (except for the chickens we saw wandering around and the small crop plantation at the back of the area). I know this slum isn’t as ‘bad’ as some of the slums in India, or Africa or South America, but it’s still heart wrenching to see. When I visited the unrecognised village in the Holy Land I was shocked at the conditions – but even they have a life of luxury compared to the folks we met today.
I pray that our visit today will ot just be a footnote on our trip, but that it is something that inspires us to action, whatever that action is, to help make the world, this life, a better experience for those that we can.
Peace Out
