Camilla i Nepal

Red Cross activities - also in Norway

2010-06-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought?!

But, yes, back in Norway and the work is not over yet. We have two months of after work and information is an important part of this.

A warm welcome by Ole Jørgen Krohn-Nydal og Charlott Gyllenhammar Nordström in Trondheim. I had a presentation to my old co-workers and volunteers from my district chapter in Norway.

On Monday all the Youth Delegate couples had a presentation about their stay and work in a foreign country in a new National Society. This is Durga from Nepal who has been staying in Arendal in the southern part of Norway.

Now we are all warming up for the final presentation. Tonight is the night and students aged 16-18 is the target group. Update on this performance will come later :)

This is all of us Youth Delegates this year

The crew of Three

2010-05-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

Pabitra, Rajesh and Nilan are three of the most active volunteers in Lalitpur Distrct in the activities we have worked with. In Sankhu VDC there was one Youth Circle without any training, organizational knowledge or activities. When we asked if they would want it if we came and had an Organizational Development Workshop with them, they were very happy. When we asked the three volunteers they were eager to do this work almost all by themselves. The result was a fantastic 3 days workshop in a remote VDC for 25 new volunteers, developed and implemented by the volunteers.

Here are some pictures :)

Human Trafficking - Four voices

2010-05-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Dhading district is one of the source areas from where girls are trafficked to India and Kathmandu. It took us around 2 hours to go there, and here are some of the stories from the volunteers working on preventing human trafficking to continue.

The place
Dhading district is one of Kathmandu's neighboring districts and is supposedly the second largest supplier of girls to the Indian sex marked. The literacy rate is very low (43.48%), the district is hard to reach with car, as the roads are not in a particularly good condition, many people migrate for employment and the majority of the population are farmers working on subsidized land. The food shortage is a problem in the northern parts of the district, bordering to China, and this is also the place where most people are trafficked from.

The problem
Try to put yourself in the position of the mother who is not able to grow or by enough food for her three children and her family in-law. Put yourself in the position of the grandfather taking his grandchild to the marked and putting her up for bidding. Put yourself in the position of being a girl in a poor family, you have not had meat or milk for fourteen days and then your father says you will go to Kathmandu and work as a maid to help support the family. Or even better, being married to a rich and handsome Indian. Fake marriages is not uncommon and often girls get false promises of a decent job and sophisticated life in the city if they agree to go to India. The girls believe and agree to go with the broker to India where they usually are sold to brothels. Mostly the brokers are nearby relatives of the victims. Most of the parents are not informed of the job status of their children.

The people
Luko (20) and Pramila (17) are both Tamang. Meaning that they belong to the ethnic group most exposed to human trafficking in Dhading. We meet them at a training for strengthening the capacity of youth in three village development communities (VDC), where the problem is at highest scale. The two girls are highly motivated to fight human trafficking; -We will focus on anti stigma work, on publicly putting the problem on the agenda and on making the people in our village aware of this as a problem that the whole community has to face and do something with, it is not only the responsibility for the police. Dinesh (20) and Kuron (16), two boys from two other VDCs underlines the importance of both being together with other youths, to get inspiration and knowledge about the complexity of the problem and how they together can contribute in making a change for the people affected; their neighbors, friends and relatives.

The project
Norwegian Red Cross Youth have had a campaign the two last years to fight Human Trafficking and Nepal is one of three countries where we have implemented projects. Three VDCs are in foucus in Dhading, Nepal. Each VDC will form a Youth Action Team Against Trafficking, consisting of five boys and five girls. The action teams will be trained on anti-human trafficking, HIV-prevention, need analysis and street drama performance. My co-delegate Emil visited this street drama training two weeks before we went there to this project proposal workshop. At the workshop they planned their coming work the coming year; peer education, door to door visits, orientations, discussions, street drama shows, folk song competition in their communities. I can nothing but wish them the best of luck in this very important Red Cross work - preventing human suffering!

Maheshwori – the team leader

2010-05-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

I needed my phone fixed, and suddenly my contact person and two volunteers are at my gate to help - one of them is the First Aid team leader in our district, and has the main coordinating responsibility for the Red Cross activities these bandh days. I invite for tea and we talk about the last five days.

- As a First Aid team leader and a focal person in Lalitupur DC I have experiences from before, says Maheshwori. In 2006 we also provided first aid. Then I was leader for one group only, now I am leader for the whole district. She is an efficient woman; member of executive committee, coordinator of Women development committee and First Aid Team coordinator. She continues: - According to the situation the first day, we mobilized six teams, including the logistic team. As the days have gone by, we have been scaling down the teams, one day at the time. Today we had only one mobile team in the streets. The last days we felt that we have too many volunteers in the streets. We don’t go to the places people sleep, we stay in the streets.

What do you do in the streets?
- We bandage wounds, sprains and strains. The wounds are caused by all the walking. They have also cramps in their feet, and for that we give them cream and massage. Some have stomach problems, we advise them to drink lot of water and distribute ORS (anti dehydration powder for mixing with water), Maheshwori explains. The strike is a peace full strike. We don't need so many volunteers in the streets.

I ask her how it is to be a Red Cross volunteer these days. She and my two other visitors laugh, take another sip of the tea and sit up straight. - As Red Cross personnel, we feel very proud to be out in the streets. People know us and they have a lot of respect for Red Cross. Whenever they need us, we are there, and this they know.

So, what will the next day’s bring, you think?

- Tomorrow?! We will have to see the situation. Red Cross Action Team will be alert and first aid volunteers. They are informed and ready to join if needed within 15-20 min. We will always have one mobile team in the streets in Patan and the other five teams are on alert.

I want to say another thing, Maheshwori says, as the tea is finished, phone is fixed and the mosquitoes are getting more annoying: In 2006 we did not have a mobile team at our district. The volunteers had to walk for 5-6 hours every day and it was not always that they reached the places they were needed. Now we have a mobile team with a car and this is great progress. This means that we can reach the places we are needed in few minutes. We don’t have a Red Cross car, we are renting one. This also gives the volunteers a big relief, to know that they don't have to walk for a loooong time.

May-days in Kathmandu 2010

2010-05-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

I count 13 motorcycles in front of Nepal Red Cross headquarter today. Usually there are at least 60-70. It is nation wide general strike and Red Cross is of course ready and out in the streets.

Photo: The street outside Nepal Red Cross Society is quiet and empty. A strange sight!

Five cars in the streets
Two days ago, 1st of May 2010, masses of demonstrators filled the streets of Kathmandu. We have strict security regulations, telling us to avoid non-essential movement, and today's ride to work was with marked Red Cross car. The streets were filled up with people - some playing football, others reading the newspaper. We maneuvered slowly around the big stones blocking the road and met four cars on our way; one from UN, a Press car, a water truck and Red Cross ambulance.

Volunteers in action
Red Cross in Nepal has mobilized over 300 volunteers in 23 districts. In our district, Lalitpur, our volunteers have been placed at four different posts and one as a mobile team. They are all in the streets to provide emergency services purely on humanitarian ground. So far they have been mostly occupied with distributing water purifying tablets and re-hydration solution to avoid dehydration.

Indefinite strike
We don't know when the strike will end. What we do know is that our volunteers will continue to do a great job, being out in the streets; taking no side they will provide the necessary aid on a humanitarian ground.

A nerdy blog post on election process and organizational structure in Nepal Red Cross Society

2010-03-28T21:11:00.002-07:00

Every 4 year there is an election at district level in Nepal, and lucky for us – this year was such a year. By lucky I mean that the opportunity to watch and be a part of such a process is both interesting and important to get a fully understanding of how our new national society works. Last weekend the district board was changed, and this is what happens:

To form a district chapter (in Nepal there are 75 districts, and each one of them has a district chapter) you have to have at least 10 sub chapters, consisting of at least 50 members. In Lalitpur District we have 15 active sub chapters and out of them, each sub chapter can send 5 representatives to vote at the district assembly, but for being sent out as a delegate from your sub chapter, you have to have been a Red Cross member for at least 5 years. These 5 people will choose the new District Executive Committee consisting of President + 12 members. This is not necessarily done by voting; this year 19 members from Sub Photo: Two delegates voting

Chapter level wanted to be members of District Chapter, but after negotiations and lobbying, one and one withdrew and they were left with a list of 12 persons that the Annual Meeting clapped on to show agreement and the new District Executive Committee was recognized. The same thing happened with the President election; two candidates, one withdrew and the new one was recognized.

Then the President chooses 5 extra persons from Sub Chapters that has not been elected into the Committee – based on loyalty and trust, says Devi at my office. I have a hard time grasping the process, as it is so difficult from Norwegian Red Cross. Devi draws an organizational map and is very patient in his explanations on my sometimes very stupid questions. Then, he says, the President chooses who will be in positions as vice-president, treasurer, secretary etc. He also appoints leaders of all the sub committees in the district, based on their expertise (we have in our district these committees: woman development, community development, disaster management, Junior/Youth, health and ambulance and organizational development). In addition, the President appoints one person to sit in Ex.Com from the

Photo: The District Executive Committee discussing

Government – to ensure a good cooperation and development of our Red Cross Chapter in Nepal.

So, how can this affect our work, Emil and I ask each other. Well, on Friday last week we went to Banepa with 8 of our Youth leaders to learn from their experiences of having a Youth committee consisting of Youth for Youth. The newly elected President seams glad to support our work in developing such a structural change also in Lalitpur, and we will have closer talks on the subject on how this committee might be included in the District Chapter work on a day-to-day basis. The Youth themselves find this very important and is ready to fight for their rights to be heard when it comes to developing Red Cross as an organization in Nepal. We’re crossing our fingers for this to happen before we leave – only two months left now and there is still so much to do!

Next year will be election at national level; the campaigns for presidency will start soon and last for 14 months. This is something for the next years youth delegates to look forward to!

Photo: Youth Exchange project: We had our own poster printed :)

Youth Conference in Nuwakot

2010-03-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

Two days of marking the 30th Youth Conference in Nepal Red Cross Society is over and we hope the Juniors, Youths and Teacher Sponsors are satisfied and ready to continue their important work for this coming year!

The pictures show Nuwakot city; Red Cross Rally to mark the opening of the conference, candle lights for each year and district participating at the conference and Emil and me holding a presentation on Norwegian Red Cross Youth.

Spending the day with Nilan and Suman

2010-02-22T01:45:00.001-08:00

Women are walking to and from the temple near by the office with small plates of sacrificing gifts and candle lights. We meet at the office, Nilan, Suman and I. The time is 6.25 am, and we pack our bags and start our journey Taiwa to have an IHL dissemination. It's a bandha (political strike), only a few bikes and motor cycles are on the road, so we start walking.

30 minuets - tops!
Are you sure it only takes 30 minuets?, I ask when we have walked for 15 min and are hardly out of the city center. Nilan and Suman have insured me that it is not so far ever since we started walking, but I have my doubts. Eh, actually, we have never walked here before, so we don't know, Nilan says, as we pace along the quiet streets of Kathmandu's outskirts. The hour and 40 min we use to come there gives us though very good time to prepare mentally for the task and gives a good energy in our threesome of IHL dissemination first-timers.

Autonomy + Youth = can it work?
We arrive Taiwa Youth Circle only 30 min late and of course not everyone from their groupe have arrived, so it gives us 10 min to make the last preparations. As this is a Red Cross Youth Circle, we start with a round of feares and expectations. I find this method a good one to make everyone comfortable talking in a group and for us it is very important to inform the participants of what they can expect from our presentation and maybe we need to do some changes in the presentation. There were a lot of expectations on learning about Norwegian Red Cross Youth, so we included this under the part about National Societies. For me this was perfect, as I love to talk about how Red Cross Youth in Norway governs themselves and that they choose their own focus and activities.

Rules of war in peace time - why?
Nepal Red Cross teaches about international humanitarian law (IHL) in peace time to prevent major violations in war time. We as Youth in Nepal Red Cross Society are, as I understand, the most important parts of the Red Cross puzzle to spread information and knowledge about the rules of war - both for international wars and armed conflicts and for civil wars. The issue of civil war in Nepal is a part of the youths recent past, and they are curious about what rules actually applies at what point. An interesting discussion in the group of 26 youths between 14 and 23 years is on the difference between Human Rights and IHL. Nilan, Suman and I does our best to facilitate the discussion.

The value of a walk
Due to the bandha, we dad to walk back again to town. Nilan and Suman had just finished their first IHL dissemination ever and I mine first in Nepal. We were bobbling over with enthusiasm the frst half hour, and our walk towards Kathmandu continued, we used the time to evaluate and reorganize a bit of the program for next time. It was a very useful time to both give positive feedback and to get into details that they were confused about. So thanks to the bandha (the pro-monarchy party demanded a referendum on constitutional monarchy, a Hundu nation and federalism, before the new constitution is promulgated by May 28th 2010), I think we made great progress in our dissemination package.

Tea, eggs and dhal baat tarkari
We started the day at 6am an around 1pm we was almort back in town, when Suman invites us for a combined breakfast and lunch in his home. So we went there, had tea and biscuits in his room before his mother and sister invited us up to the kitchen for what Nepalis eat every day several times a day: A lovely plate of rice, bean sauce and vegetables.

So, who want to put on a condom?

2010-02-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

20 youth at one of the public schools in Patan paid more than expected attention at this days HIV orientation.

Emil, my co-delegate, has the main responsibility for the orientations related to HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted diseases and he did a great job making the youths understand both how it transmitts and how to protect yourself. In Nepal, about 1,600 cases of AIDS are documented and 10,546 persons with HIV infections. UNAIDS estimates that approximately 75,000 people in Nepal are HIV-positive, but due to stigma and discrimination and lack of knowledge, they either do not seek counseling or go to a doctor to check out their symptoms. One of the important jobs Nepal Red Cross does, and what we as Youth Delegates can assist them with, is spreading information and focusing on protection in everyday life.

And then it was my turn. This was my first condom demonstration ever, and I was quite nervous. But I think the participants in the orientation was even more nervous then me in the beginning, and after a while, we all relaxed. They were between 17 and 21 years old and right in the middle of our target group as the biggest group in risk of being affected by the HIV-virus. And after some giggling, they were very eager to try for themselves.

Training for Teacher Sponsors

2010-02-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

In Nepal Red Cross, Teacher Sponsors are one of the most important puzzles in the school based work. This week is a five days refreshing training for them in Lalitpur District, focusing on School Based Disaster Risk Reduction.

What is a Teacher Sponsor?
There is one teacher at many of the schools that have a special responsibility who coordinates with the teachers, the students and Nepal Red Cross Sub Chapter and District Chapter. They initiate activities and coordinate happenings. The students are active in their Junior Circles and some months ago, Emil and I participated in one of their street drama and demonstrations.

International cooperation
Finnish Red Cross and EU is funding the project to prepare the children for disaster. This can be earth quake, landslides and flooding. A round around the table gave an interesting view of what the project has done for both the Red Cross at their schools and for their disaster preparedness in the society in general. One of the women told that they need to learn more about first aid, another told a story that they had a big fire at their school while they had a training, and what they had learned by the Red Cross in this project was absolutely crucial for them being rescued out. As a Red Cross volunteer, it is very good to hear that these kinds of international cooperation also seem to inspire students at grass root level to participate in both Red Cross and their own future.

Can we come visit you?
One of our goals while we stay in Nepal as Youth Delegates, is to disseminate about Red Cross and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and give orientation on Human Trafficking and Sexual Health. This was a perfect occasion to meet the Teacher Sponsors of 11 of 30 schools in our district. We spent some hours with them and had a good talk, inviting us to their schools.

Selling and buying people

2010-01-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon that is driven by demand and fuelled by poverty and unemployment (UNFPA 2006). According to the UNFPA, four million women, children and men are trafficked globally in a year. South East Asian and South Asian countries are the homes of the largest number of internationally trafficked persons.

Photo: Umita form Lalitpur District in Nepal Red Cross posing for a Anti Human Trafficking Campaign in Norway when she was a Youth Delegate in Norway 2 years ago.

The situation in Nepal
It has been estimated that every year around 12,000 Nepalese girls and women are trafficked to India from Nepal. According to a report of Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, around 40,000 girls are working in cabin and dance restaurants in Kathmandu. Out of them, half are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. Nepalese girls and women are highly demanded in the sex industry in India.

Nepal Red Cross' work
Norwegian Red Cross is funding six districts in their work to enable youth to combat HIV, trafficking and social discrimination. A special project for me as a Youth Delegate in this setting is the project in Dhading district, just north of Kathmandu, which is supported by the Norwegian Red Cross Youth. In Dhading the focus is on early warning, giving knowledge to the poor people living there on how they can get information on their employer and anti stigma. The project is mainly focused on youth age 12-25, as they are the people in the risk zone of being trafficked in this area.

Early intervention
In Dhading, Red Cross is responsible for selling of the application form for passport as an income generating activity. While people come at Red Cross to ask for application form for passport, an information package consisting of anti trafficking,
HIV prevention, tips for safer migration messages will be provided to them. This prior information may help to the applicant to assess risk of migration, nature of job and reliability of the sending company which eventually may help to take appropriate decision for migration.

“Røde Kors Ungdom” in Nepal
Norwegian Red Cross Youth supports the project in Dhading. This year’s project is mainly funded with the help from two schools in Norway’s fund raising campaign, namely Børstad and Sarpsborg Ungdomsskole. The project was started by the first Youth Delegates in Nepal, and all the delegates have been following the project at some point or another.

Our work so far
We have been so lucky to visit a anti human trafficking project in Palpa, the annual review and planning meeting for these projects last week and this weekend we had a workshop at our own district in Lalitpur, to get started with focusing on the problem in our own district. This is new work for both us and them, but we had a very good workshop where we did both a small baseline survey and introduced a few low budget activities to the 18 youth participating. We have already scheduled a second meeting to plan the implementation of their ideas in their Youth Circles, and I have to say is both inspiring and motivating. I'll update you as soon as I can! :)

Photo: The participants at the workshop interviewed people in the streets of Patan to get an overview of what people knew about the problem. They also asked if they thought this could be something that might affect their family and what should be done to stop the problem. The answers were used when we worked on the individual project proposal for each Youth Circle.

Lost in translation?

2010-01-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

“I copied and pasted all your blog posts into Google Translator,” says Nirajan. I can take a hint and will from now on write more in English. But I have to admit that, as all the participants at our trainings and workshops tells us; it is not as easy to express thoughts, feelings and reflections in English, but as they take the challenge, so will I!

So much has happened since last my last blog post, and it is time for a short sum up. I also take Nirajan, next year’s Youth Delegate to Norway from Nepal, wish seriously and will try to communicate in a language people that are important in my everyday life in Nepal also can understand.

Our biggest festival

24^th December 2009: Happy to Christmas! is written on the cake our co-workers at head quarter has ordered to mark our biggest festival and celebrate with eating oranges and handing out presents. We talk a bit about what traditions are important in our families, I tell them that every year my family goes and has dinner at each other almost every day for one week, we eat and eat and eat. They compare it with Dashain, their biggest festival that we celebrated in October, where main focus is on food and family.

4 in the morning – the end of December

31^st December 2009: Linn Synnøve and I are safe asleep in a bed in Tikkabairab. We wanted to do a new year trek from Kathmandu to Nagarkot the southern end of the Valley was the plan initially, but that suddenly changed when we found out that the map has no walking tours and what was “just a few minutes” turned out to be two hours, and that was particularly frustrating when it turned out that we missed a turning point and walked two hours in the wrong direction.

We met nice people all the way, helpful or not, we have some great memories from the trek :)

Here we're trying to find the way...

Oh no! Wrong way! But are we sad? Not at all! Lynn Synnøve even takes a few extra knee bending to show how much fun it it to walk just for fun!

The women in Tikkabairab

First night we had nowhere to stay and decided to try our luck in a nearby restaurant. Three lovely women were working there and they rented a room. They offered us one of their beds, and after eating dal bhat tarkari and drinking hot Tomba, we squeezed together five persons in a small room in about 10m2 with walls covered by stunning beautiful Bollywood actresses and one big white house with fence by the lake. That night it rained for the first time in two months in Kathmandu Valley, and I woke up several times during the night to put on warmer and warmer clothes and thanking these three hospital women in my heart for taking us into their rented home and sharing a small part of their life with us. The next morning we went to the local photographer to document our stay in Tikkabairab.

Enabling Youth – enabling us

In our bi-monthly reports, the first part we as Youth Delegates are to answer is: “Describe your main activities during this period (including preparation, your participation & major achievements). – Any challenges?” Next report will focus on giving training in IHL, arranging Human Trafficking workshop and participating on Red Cross meetings organised by Nepal Red Cross. A common challenge is communication with spoken words. Body language goes only so far, but spending three days with two women and one of their sons at our field trip to Myadhi last week did wonders for both understanding and trying to communicate in Nepali. At this annual review and planning meeting for all the Norwegian supported Youth projects to Enable Youth to combat HIV, human trafficking and social discrimination, it was nice to see that the number of participants were equally men and women. As a women, I was immediately included in the women activities; going to temple in the morning as a big group, eating at their table, going to bed when the child in our room was tired. I wish my Nepali was better, I wonder how it is to be a women in Red Cross in Nepal – the woman with a son had no choice but bring him and the other women told me that she had never married, she did not want to. I was in a position to talk to them and try to understand their world, their way of living, their hopes and dreams in life. But I was not able to communicate what I wanted to know and some of what they told me, I was not able to understand. Some because of language, some because my world and way of living is so very different from theirs, some because I don’t dare to ask – am I frightened by the cultural differences, of stepping wrong, of making a fool out of me or out of them? This is for me to find out. This I think is one of my biggest challenges at the moment. What is lost in translation?

Participants at the Annual planning and review meeting

International Humanitarian Law in Lalitpur

2010-01-16T23:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekends Red Cross and International Humanitarian Law training was a big success. With 18 participants and 20 intense hours, we trained trainers and planned for starting IHL dissemination already next week! Oh, it feels so good to be a Youth Delegate :)

Landet som stoppa opp

2009-12-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Vi visste det kom til å komme – Røde Kors har sendt oss en oversikt og avisene skriver om det daglig. Men plutselig lå gatene tomme og ikke en bil var å se. Maoistene startet i går sin tredagers lange streik i hele Nepal.

Situasjonen for ”mannen i gata”

Alle butikker og veier er stengt. Offentlig transport er tatt ut i streik og det er kun Røde Kors, FN og ambulanser som får slippe gjennom veisperringene. Dette fører naturligvis til at de som er avhengige av å reise for å komme seg på jobb eller hjem til jul, blir satt i en vanskelig situasjon – og må ta beina fatt. Skoler er stengt, offentlige kontorer er stengt. Men dama som kommer på døra vår hver morgen kom i dag også. Hun kunne fortelle at de setter opp busser for de som er avhengige av den type inntekt, men hun var usikker på hvordan det blei i morgen.

Over t.h.: Røde Kors-biler og ambulanser var det eneste å se i gatene i dag.

Man skal holde stengt, og de fleste gjorde det, men dama på jørnet serverte likevel te.
Kan'ke overleve uten den daglige dosen chia! Men hun, som alle andre som hadde
"litt åpent" var stadig på vakt og klare for å dra for gardinene og holde "stengt".

Kort om den politiske situasjonen

Det har ikke vært et fungerende parlament i dette landet side vi kom i september. Siden i høst har det vært en politisk dead lock over landet som forsøker å få på plass en grunnlov som etter planen skal være ferdig i mai 2010. Mye tyder på at det kanskje ikke kommer til å skje. Maoistene (UCPN) kjemper for ”civilian supremacy” og har nettopp erklært 13 selvstendige stater i Nepal.

Dagens aviser: Alle annonserer streik og de engelskspråklige avisene er rimelig oppgitte over politikerne.

Søppel i gatene - dette kommer til å hope seg opp over noen dager.

Over alt var det sport og spill i gatene. Her spiller barna fotball på Ring Road,
hovedåren rundt Kathmandu som vanligvis er en 4-5-6 fils vei.

Hva gjør vi?

”Hvorfor sykler dere i dag?!” spør en kollega som kommer to timer for seint på jobb. ”Hæ?” ”De kutter opp dekka på syklene deres hvis de ser dere, altså!” Mange i området vårt syklet tidligere i dag, men i området rundt jobb ser vi ingen, alle går. Heldigvis har vi hamstra litt mat sånn for sikkerhetsskyld for noen dager siden. Jeg håper de fleste andre også har gjort det, streiken har vært varslet for lenge siden og er en del av det offisielle programmet til Maoistene. Vi får smøre oss med tålmodighet og innse at vi nok ikke kommer til å få gjort så mye som vi trodde vis kulle få gjort denne uka, og heller bruke tida på å lese seg opp og forberede flytting og julefeiring.

World Aids Day today

2009-12-01T01:26:00.000-08:00

In Patan (Nepal) we celebrated World Aids Day with blood donation :)

Blood donation at the middle of city center in Patan.

One of the volunteers proud with blood donation certificate

Food for the brave and needy (donors)

At Patan Mangal Bajaar, old city center

Blood...

A weekend with HIV

2009-11-29T03:51:00.000-08:00

The feedback from last weekends training on the participants pictures combined with the fab tunes from Dum Dum Boys was great, and since we as Youth Delegates learn from experience, I did exactly the same thing for this weekends HIV/AIDS Basic Training Course. Here goes!

Tell your friends and family!

2009-11-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

The message from the Youth in Lubhoo (Lalitpur) is loud and clear. Yesterday they arranged a rally and street drama in their village to create awareness about Earth Quake risk management.

These youth are from the Junior Red Cross Circle at their school. The school has a project on Disaster Risk Reduction. Lubhoo village has a population of 5000, and is at big risk for being destroyed in an earth quake.

It is estimated to be an earth quake in 2009-2010 in Kathmandu Valley. Red Cross in Nepal has a big focus on people preparedness for this matter.

These posters say: " Disaster dosn't discriminate between rich and poor, powerful and powerless. So be aware of it and be prepared in time ", "We must implement the activities focusing on post disaster problems. Prepare the disaster preparedness plan" and "Let's unite for Risk reduction!"

'
The street drama is a very effective way to gather people in the middle of the day. Curios village people gathered to watch the enthusiastic students giving a great show on disaster risk reduction. This picture is from a scene where a traditional medicine man tries to convince the audience to by a medicine against earth quake and the man with the black cape and masc is the ghost from someone who died in an earth quake.

Emil and me posing in front of the sub chapter :)

Om å utvikle og å utvikle seg

2009-11-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

Nøkkelordene var CDP, WHW, OA, ICS og så videre. Ja, jeg skriver under på at jeg var mer enn en smule fovirret!

Representanter for Norges Røde Kors. Som ungdomsdelegater har Emil og jeg vært deltakere på det årlige møtet for CDP (Community Development Project) som i år har vært holdt i Pokhara. Med spektakulære omgivelser ved foten av Himalaya har vi i tre dager gått igjennom alt som har vært bra i 2009, hva man har lært og planer for neste års prosjekter. Dette lett krydret med ”Partners voice: The Real Field Experience”, en god dæsj ”Voice of beneficiaries” og et knippe evalueringer.

Møteblogging... Jeg skal si som sant er: Ja, jeg sitter på et foredrag om måloppnåelser og skriver dette innlegget. Det er nok veldig interessant og så absolutt relevant, men den simultane oversettingen fra oversetteren som jeg egentlig tviler på at har noen spesiell kunnskap om hvordan gjøre denne type jobb. Eller kanskje nepalesere bruker usansynlig mange ord på å si veldig få ting? Sannsynligvis er det en blanding, sjekk ut dette; ”eeehh, what CDP had planned, so it was not so found this in the project”.

Hvor er kvinnene? Av over 100 deltakere her teller jeg 13 damer. Da har jeg inkludert meg selv, to danske delegater, ei fra British Red Cross, ei fra Kirgistan og ei fra Tyskland. Det er med andre ord ikke mange kvinner i posisjoner som er med på å sette agendaen eller definere hva som er viktig på et strukturelle plan. Kvinnene er de som stor sett er utøvere på grasrotnivå, men litt oppover i systemet vokser de ikke akkurat på trær. (Emil, som ikke har noe bedre å ta seg til enn å sitte og sniklese på blogginnlegget mitt, lener seg frem og sier”Du er så feminist ass!” når jeg skriver dette. Hm, må man være feminist for å reagere på en litt småskjev maktforskjell internt i egen organisasjon?). Å sette fokus på kvinners deltakelse i styrende posisjoner har vært, og kommer helt klart til å fortsette å være en av mine kjepphester her.

Foto: Chandra og Santa fra Mustang.

Ikke bare møter. Pokhara er for nydelig til å sitte inne i et rom uten lufting tre dager i strekk, så i morges var dagen for en padletur på innsjøen og en tur opp på fjellet. Herlige turen :)

For dere uinnvidde: WHW=Women Health Workers, OA=Operational Alliances, ICS=Improved Cooking Stove.

Smak av hverdagsliv

2009-10-22T22:24:00.001-07:00

Foto: Avislesing på jobb i en pause. Overskriftene er som så ofte den
politiske deadlocken og mennesker påvirket av landets fattigdom.

Må man ha noe spesielt spennende å komme med for å skrive et blogginnlegg funderer jeg over og googler fenomenet. Det ser ikke sånn ut, jeg puster lettet ut og bestemmer meg for å skrive litt om hvordan det er å være i Nepal.

Melk og avis på døra
Vakta vår kommer med avisa og kl 8.15 er det ei dame fra en landsby litt utenfor området vi bor i som kommer og selger oss 0.5l fersk kumelk for 20 rupies. Melken må kokes og språklæreren vår kan fortelle at den ikke er like god som bøffelmelk, men grei til å lage yoghurt og rispudding av. Vi får se hvordan det går med det prosjektet, foreløpig er den glimrende koke søt te med krydder i eller til å ha på havregrøten.

Lager dere mat selv?
- Og hvem koker risen, spør nesten alle vi møter. - Vi bytter på å lage mat, og ofte blir det sånn at den som ikke lager maten, vasker opp, svarer vi. Jeg vet ikke helt hva folk tenker om det svaret, de fleste smiler og ler, og for å være ærlig spiser vi mer ute enn hjemme, det er både praktisk og lønnsomt.

Dus med trafikken
Litt etter halv ti hver dag hiver vi oss på sykkelen og strener mot jobb, en ca 15 minutters tur gjennom Patans humpete, smale, støvete og støyende gater. Instinktet mitt gjør at jeg stadig presser andre folk over på feil side av gata og enkelte rister oppgitt på hodet av en utlending i trafikken. En av kollegaene våre sa her en dag: Haha, now you look like real tourists! i det vi hentet frem syklene våre da arbeidsdagen var over. Så mye for å skli inn i miljøet.

Emil er sjuk
Og jeg kjeder meg litt på jobb. Vi har såvidt kommet i gang med å planlegge fremdriften i arbeidet vårt, men alle er på en slags post-Tihar-bølge her og det er ikke mye som skjer. Jeg rusler en tur over til kontoret på andre siden av gata der alle de som jobber i distriktet vårt er, men føler meg litt til overs, etter noen høflighetsfraser og tedrikking begynner de å snakke fort på nepali seg i mellom, jeg irriterer meg over å ikke kunne språket og tusler etterhvert tilbake for å skrive videre på artikkelen til Røde Kors Avisa i Sør-Trøndelag.

Om å oppleve styrke gjennom kunnskap

2009-10-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

"You drive by rules, we drive by situation", sier Bipul, kontaktperson og prosjektkoordinator, da vi setter oss i bilen klare til å ta fatt på den ti timers kjøreturen ut av Kathmandu til Palpa district, vestover i Nepal. Nå er vi nettopp hjemme fra en ukes felttur. Vi besøkte prosjektet Enabling Youth to Combat HIV, Trafficking Social Discrimination, finansiert av Norges Røde Kors.

Kvinnegrupper. Det er som å komme hundre aar tilbake i tid, overalt er det kveg, geiter, høns og mennesker som bærer ved til denne og neste dags matlaging, sekker med ris, kurver med vannkrukker. Enkelte har fått plass i fullastede jeeper, de sitter på taket sammen med bagasjen eller henger på utsiden i de fullstappede kjøretoyene. Men de aller fleste går og går og går. Så gjør også vi. Veien til det første kvinnegruppeprosjektet vi besøker har så dårlige veier at vi lar Røde Kors bilen stå og tar beina fatt i to timer. Kvinnene vi skal møte har også gått i minst to timer for å treffe oss, men i tillegg har de først laget mat til hele familien, tatt morgenstell og forberedt resten av dagens måltider.

Hjertelig smilende kvinner og nysgjerrige blikk møter oss i Maldap. 500 mennesker bor her og de har ikke nok mat, vann eller inntekter. Vi teller ca 25 kvinner mellom 18 og 55 år som alle er en del av rosjektet som fokuserer på økt sosial inkludering, kunnskap om seksuell helse og Human Trafficking. Flere har med de yngste barna sine og som tilhørere er seks, syv nysgjerrige menn. I fire måneder har de truffet hverandre jevnlig og hver gang er det et nytt tema som diskuteres. Det gir oss selvtillitt å ha kunnskap, sier flere av kvinnene. Vi kan diskutere med mennene og faktisk vite hva som er rett og ikke. Før visste vi heller ikke så mye om Hiv, vi hadde hørt rykter, men nå vet vi. Når vi henter vann eller vasker klær snakker vi med de andre kvinnene i landsbyen, det er viktig for oss aa gi alle tilgang på den kunnskapen vi får i gruppene.

Vi møter to kvinnegrupper i Palpa, begge har samme grunnlag, tema og struktur. Dette er praktisk utdanning av de aller fattigste med minst tilgang på ressurser og som er mest utsatt for menneskehandel på et eller annet vis. Ved hvert møte betaler alle 10 rupies *ca 70 øre* til et fond som kvinnene i fellesskap bestemmer hvordan skal brukes, noen låner til å kjøpe ekstra varer til butikken sin og noen midler spares til krisesituasjoner, som hvis noen trenger ambulanse.

Training for gutter. I tillegg er vi med på en trening for unge gutter som er ferdig med grunnskolen men som ikke har noen jobb å gå til. Guttene sitter som tente lys under demonstrasjonen av kondom og er sjenerte i diskusjonene omkring forelskelse og følelser, omtrent som hjemme i Norge igrunn. Dagen etter i en annen landsby møter vi gutter som gjennomgikk denne treningen for noen måneder siden, og vi spør hva som har vært morsomst. Vi øvde mye på å snakke med hverandre og med andre, og vi har hatt samfunnsmøter, gateteater og snakket med foreldre og søsken om Hiv og menneskahandel. I Nepal er det også et stort problem at kvinner som for eksempel er enker ses på som onde hekser som støtes ut av samfunnet, og mye av arbeidet i gruppene rettes mot denne gruppen.

Skolegrupper for ungdom. Siste dag i felt møter vi ei jente på 16 år som forteller at hun etter å ha hatt en trening i en av Røde Kors sine Junior Circle grupper skrev et brev til broren sin. Han har, som så mange av de andre mennene i landsbyen, reist til India for å jobbe. Broren min ble så glad da han hørte om hvor mye jeg hadde lært, og han oppfordret meg til å virkelig jobbe hardt med å spre denne informasjonen. Men så fyles oynene hennes med tårer og hun får problemer med å fortsette historien. Tårefullt forteller hun at broren nå er sporløst forsvunnet og ingen har hørt fra ham på flere måneder. Det er med klump i halsen og dyp respekt for landsbyboerne og Nepal Røde Kors sitt arbeid vi tar fatt på hjemturen til vårt trygge hjem i Kathmandu, vel vitende om at vi har juice i kjøleskapet og er bare en taxitur unna deilig italensk pizza hvis vi vil.

Ivrige ungdommer i Lalitpur District!

2009-10-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

Foto: Umita var Ungdomsdelegat i 2007/2008 og forteller
om Røde Kors Ungdom i Norge. Foto: Gruppebilde med alle møtedeltakerne.

Endelig fikk vi møte de frivillige vi skal arbeide sammen med de neste 8 månedene! Jeg skal ærlig inrømme at jeg har vært klar for dette øyeblikket i lang tid nå. Ikke overraskende ble møtet på ingen måte som vi forventet oss, vi forsto nesten ingen ting av hva som ble sagt, men vi fikk ihvertfall formidlet grunnene til at vi er her og at vi gjerne vil være med å hjelpe. Vi er allerede inviert på tre arrangement, morgendagens Condom Day, Tihar om en uke og training uka deretter. Godt å være i gang!

Foto: Basu, meg og Bhuwan etter møtet.

Øsende regn i Nepal

2009-10-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

Over 40 mennesker er døde, 1000 er fordrevet fra sine hjem, 17 000 familier og mer enn 100 000 personer er berørt av de siste dagers kraftig regnskyll sørvest i Nepal. Nepal Røde Kors arbeider lokalt i de 12 distriktene det er meldt om oversvømmelse med å mobilisere frivillige og ressurser til å ta seg av ofrene.

– De fleste som er berørt av det heftige regnet er fattige. De bor gjerne i dårlig bygde hus som ikke tåler slikt regn, forteller beredskapsjef i Nepal Røde Kors Pitambar Aryal, da vi møtte ham i går på hovedkontoret. Det er travle dager på Disaster Management kontoret for tiden, han forteller at de kontinuerlig arbeider med å få en oversikt over situasjonen samtidig som de mobiliserer helikoptre for å få folk ned fra hustak og trær.

8 distrikt er berørt, de frivillige og ansatte i distriktene har sålangt hovedansvaret for arbeidet, men en del mennesker bor også i fjernere strøk der det er vanskeligere å komme til. Dette er hovedprioritert kartleggingsarbeid nå, og er viktig for å legge opp en strategi for det videre arbeidet med de berørte.

Dersom regnet fortsetter vil utviklingen kunne bli svært uheldig. Det er innhøstingstid i Nepal nå, ris og hvete sto for noen dager siden klare til å bli mat ute på jordene, men mye av dette er nå ødelagt av regnet. – Monsunen skulle vært over for lenge siden, sier Aryal, det voldsomme regnet kommer overraskende på oss alle. Nå må vi prioritere å hjelpe de som har mistet hus og hjem først, vi må forberede nødhjelpspakker med tepper, telt, mat og vann, understreker Aryal, mens han venter på dagens oppdaterte rapport som skal komme nå hvert øyeblikk.

Vi får et kjapt bilde av ham mens han forklarer litt om de berørte områdene, før han blir oppslukt av en epost og vi ser vår besøkelsestid som over for denne gang.

Her kan du støtte Røde Kors sitt internasjonale nødhjelpsarbeid.

Fra Kathmandu mot Himalaya – og tilbake igjen

2009-10-05T02:50:00.000-07:00

Mat og familie. Dashain har åpnet mine øyne for hvor nært menneskene i dette landet er knyttet til mat og familie. Byen tømtes nesten for mennesker i løpet av feiringen fordi så mange reiser hjem til bygda si. På hvert et gatehjørne var det forhandlinger om matpriser og slakting av dyr – gjerne midt i gata, av barn som av voksne.

Tikka hos Rabina. Vi var så heldige å bli invitert hjem til Rabina, vår kontaktperson på distriktskontoret til både middag og til Tikka dagen etter. Tikka er de eldres velsignelse og gode ønsker til de yngre for det kommende året. Vi fikk Tikka av både moren og bestemoren hennes, og seremonien foregikk slik: Først fikk vi orange og en sort tikka øverst i panna. En kvast med grønt gress ble plassert i håret, et rødt bånd rundt halsen og 20 rupies i handa. Det er heller ikke slik at man kan gå fra noens hjem uten å ha fått noe å spise eller drikke, så den dagen ble det mye Dahl Bhat og cola.

3400 moh. Siden familie er førstepri i Dashain, og våre familier er hjemme i Norge, bestemte vi oss for at dette var en glimrende andledning for å ta vår første ferie. Og akkurat det angrer jeg ikke på et sekund. Vi tok turen til Pokhara, vestover i landet, og fra der dro vi på fire dagers trekking. Det var ubeskrivelig deilig å komme litt ut av dalen vi bor i og til frodig natur og høye fjell. For min del har jeg ikke vært så høyt oppe noen gang i mitt liv, den ene dagen klatret vi 1500 meter nesten rett opp. Den tredje dagen var det ingen kjære mor, men opp og hoppe før kl. 04:45, på med klær og frem med lommelykta for å løpe opp 500 meter for å se soloppgangen på en liten del av Himalaya – og for et syn – vi så 12 fjelltopper på 7000-8000 meter! Men denne turen var også en genial måte å få et lite innblikk i hvordan man lever livene sine på landsbygda – det går ingen veier og alt som man ikke dyrker selv må bæres opp enten på muldyr eller av en selv.

Tilbake igjen. Rommet vi sitter i har en grønnfarge som den leger har på frakken når de skal operere. Gjennom de tre store åpne vinduene her oppe i annen etasje overdøves vår tastaturklimpring av biltut, skråling fra den offentlige vannhenteplassen like under og slipelyder fra de titalls minifabrikkene som lager fantastiske religiøse statuer i messing. Vi har vår første arbeidsdag på distriktskontoret og er allerede langt inni planleggingen av workshops og møter med ungdommene. Herlig!

Curry og kardemomme

2009-09-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

I nesten to uker nå har vi vandret rundt i himmelske dufter av curry og kardemomme, blant fargesprakende sarier og hjertlige smil. Nepal er et lite fjelland klemt inne mellom Kina i nord og India i sør, på størrelse med en tredjedel av Norge. Det bor over 26 millioner mennesker her og landet regnes for å være et av verdens fattigste. Nepal er et land med en kompleks sammensetning av mennesker, språk, etniske minoriteter og kaster. Det er mellom 90 og 100 etniske minoriteter i landet og over 100 forskjellige kaster. Landet har en turbulent fortid som har satt preg på dagens humanitære situasjon, for mer inngående om denne bakgrunnen sjekk ut landinfo.no. Vi skal blant annet arbeide med opplæring i Regler i Krig, Hiv/Aids, Human Trafficking og organisasjonsbygging med ungdom i Nepal Røde Kors.

Nepal Røde Kors har tatt varmt i mot oss, og etter et par uker i landet har leve- og væremåtene såvidt begynt å krype under huden min. I Norge har jeg lagt igjen behovet for å bruke venstrehanda som en daglig støtte – fra nå av får høyre klare seg på egenhånd! Jeg har også lagt igjen behovet for å dusje i varmt vann, behovet for å måtte forberede seg til møter og behovet for å planlegge dagen i detalj.

Hver første lørdag i måneden møtes distriktsstyret og sist lørdag var intet unntak. Her ble vi invitert til å presentere oss selv og arbeidsplanen vår. Hvordan distriktet kan få mest mulig ut av vårt arbeid og utnytte at vi skal være her i ni måneder skapte stor debatt. Det er til stor glede for oss at interessen for å følge vårt arbeid nå er satt inn i en konstruktiv plan og vårt arbeid skal være fast sak på hvert månedlige møte. Dette gir ekstra motivasjon for å gjøre en virkelig god innsats. Nå gjenstår bare å møte ungdommene vi skal arbeide med, men som man sier: ”After Dashain!”

PS: Blogginnlegg gjør seg naturlig nok best med bilder, og det finnes mange, men nettilgangen er ikke alltid like medgjørlig her i landet. Derfor: Bilder også "after Dashain!" (Dashain er en festival som kan sammenlignes med vår julefeiring og starter offisielt i dag og varer i ei uke. Mange har valgt å starte den for mange dager siden. Det er en festival der familien og mat er i sentrum.)

To delegater = co-delegater

2009-09-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Emil Flakk (21) og jeg skal sammen bo og arbeide i Nepal de neste 9 månedene.

Vi har, sammen med de andre delegatene, nettopp fullført tre ukers kursing med Fredskorpset og Røde Kors Ungdom. Nå vil tiden vise om vi har klart å forberede oss på det uforberedbare? Vi reiser til Kathmandu 13.september.