Election and after

We left Biratnagar on March 24, taking our few valuable possessions and plenty of work to the airport by rickshaw, waving goodbye, hopefully temporarily, to our shopkeeper friends. When the small plane arrived, a goat in a plastic linen basket was unloaded from the hold along with the inanimate luggage. We had an uneventful journey, with splendid views of the mountains and arrived at the Pacific Guest House by midday in time to get our passports to immigration for new work visas.
On our first evening I was phoned by someone from VSO London thanking us for agreeing to facilitate a workshop the following day – this was news to us, but we had an interesting time working with Nepali NGOs on NDVP (Nepali Diaspora Volunteer Programme). This is a new project for Nepalis in the UK to come ‘home’ for a short term placement. It is already operating successfully in India, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Cameroon. On Friday, with Sheila, the ECD ‘expert’ to buy puppets for the ‘puppets against discrimination’ workshops, which will start in the Kathmandu valley and probably Biratnagar – a new challenge for David! The rest of the week was spent planning the VSO conference, meetings with VSO education staff, ‘networking’ and chatting with the new group of volunteers. Evenings out with old friends, including Helen and Ian who we worked with in Ethiopia. Exhausting, after our solitary existence in Biratnagar.
After a week, we moved into Judith’s apartment as she was going to China on holiday. We arrived on Sunday morning to find her still there, having been to the airport for the 11:30 flight to Beijing, to find that no such flight existed. She eventually left on Tuesday. We squatted there happily for the next 3 weeks. The landlady, Bagwati, is a retired teacher, with hair an unlikely shade of orange who spends her days tending her orchids, while her husband still works part time at the university. We have shopped at the supermarket, spending more in one visit than usually do in a month on treats such as goats cheese, strawberries and olives. The price of fruit and vegetables has shot up, and supplies are short. Load shedding is worse than in Biratnagar, with only a few hours of power most days. There is no water in our neighbourhood; we are fortunate to have a hand pump and well in the garden, and pass huge queues of people at standpipes whenever we go out. On days when we don’t need to go to the office we work by the swimming pool at the Manaslu hotel, where we can not only swim, but also shower in hot water.
The temperature has increased daily, with thunderstorms most afternoons, reflecting a stormy run up to the election. One of the mosques in Biratnagar was bombed, killing three people, and the city has been under curfew. Joseph has arrived safely. More reports of violence each day, with the PM urging restraint. Many government employees are protesting about their roles as polling officers; the government has offered each one of them a life insurance policy of Rs1.5m as an incentive. An eight day public holiday starting on April 7 has been announced, helicopters have started security reconnaissance, and the borders have closed.
On April 9 we carried our bags along the road north of the palace, passing the back of the royal stables; we had identified these by the smell walking home late one night, and were delighted to stand on tip toes and see beautiful horses in spacious stalls with their own electric lights, while the rest of the city was in darkness. What will happen to all the king’s horses and all the king’s men after the election? 57 of us managed to squeeze onto a bus for 30 that bumped along the dirt track by the Bagamati river to the Vajra hotel, a traditional Newari building, now pleasantly shabby, with beautiful gardens. Three days of intensive workshops and discussions, where we enjoyed working with other volunteers. A very interesting mix of volunteers here, with almost half from the Philippines, Uganda and India. We finished with a riotous party on Friday night, fuelled by rum punch. New Year celebrations in the rest of Kathmandu (it is now 2065) were sober affairs, following a ban on alcohol over the election period. We were able to keep in touch with news by satellite phone to the risk management office; election day was eerily quiet, with no public transport and all traffic banned from the streets. We were delighted to read the headlines on Friday morning “Nepal stuns itself and world”, referring to the relatively smooth and peaceful electoral process. Only 4 people were killed (!) and problems of violence and intimidation at less than 100 of the 21,860 booths. There are a few constituencies where the polls have been delayed by a week, following the murder of candidates during campaigning. Early results show a lead for the Maoists. It will take some time for all results to be declared as there are both first-past-the-post elections and a complex system of proportional representation.
The Maoist lead has increased daily. Some claim it is the result of intimidation, but young people seem overwhelming to have supported the Maoists as a way of getting rid of the ‘old guard’ and the stagnation of many years. I was greeted by “hullo comrade” when I went to the dentist.
We have been given the ‘all clear’ to go home as soon as our workplaces are open. My ETC is currently used as a counting centre but we have tickets for Saturday 19th. Our enforced stay here has passed relatively easily, helped by having a place to stay, and we have been busy with VSO work, planning strategies with other volunteers doing similar jobs and visits to the Ministry of Education. The MoE complex is at Sanothimi 16km east of Kathmandu, a journey that can take 2 hours in traffic. We are so grateful for our 10 minute bike ride to work in Biratanagar.
We had a lovely last evening in Kathmandu in the Garden of Dreams, a beautiful restored garden in the grounds of an old Rana palace. Peter had planned a surprise birthday party for his wife Rosemary; there was a full moon, delicious food and drink with many friends and some goodbyes to those ending their placements next month.
Saturday April 19 – flew home along the eastern Himalaya. We got off the plane into what felt like a hot bath. Although all our outside gates were still locked, the padlock on the front door had gone and the flat had been searched. Apart from our stash of Indian rupees, we don’t think anything else is missing and there was no damage. The thieves must have scaled the back wall onto the top floor, where they broke the door down to get access to our staircase. The good news is that we have both water and electricity this evening, and the mango season has started.