There is a sound that is the most terrifying in the world. It is not the gentle hissing of a cobra as it stares down at you from the rafters. Nor is it the powerful roar of a tiger as you disturb it from its midday slumber. Nor is it the earth-shattering rumble of a rhino on the charge. It is the high pitched buzz of a mosquito. Now you may think that I am being over dramatic. But if you think about it, if you are bitten by a cobra, gorged by a tiger or impaled on a rhino horn, these are all credible injuries worthy of a little sympathy. However, if a mosquito bites you it looks like you are back in your teenage years with acne induced red blotches. What's worse they're itchy as well. And people just say, that looks sore - why didn't you use your mosquito net/insect repellent/coil/whatever. I spent the night before last in bed with the sound of mosquitoes all around me. I was inside the mosquito net, but had the distinct impression that they were actually inside the net with me. So, most of the night was taken up with swiping at thin air. All of this was of course hysteria, as there was only me inside the net. However, the mosquitoes still managed to feast on my feet - why they have taken to biting my feet is beyond me - as I woke up and found myself pressed against the net. Dope.
The last few weeks there have been some big steps forwards in Nepali politics, as those who have read the news will know. After the elections almost 2 months ago, the parliament met for the first time last week. At that session, they declared the country a secular republic, ending the 239 years of monarchy that had first unified Nepal. The king was given 15 days to vacate the Royal Palace, which would be turned into a museum, and he did following his daughter's wedding a few days later. This hasn't been an easy transition, as there still are people who believe the country should remain a monarchy and that the former king is an incarnation of Vishnu - one of the central 3 Hindu gods. Some of the more fundamental supporters of the king threw pipe bombs at the major bus park in Kathmandu, injuring a few people, and at the convention centre where the parliament is being held.
The former king Gyanendra, though, has had his days numbered since 2001 when he came to the throne. For those who don't know, nearly all of the Royal family was killed in very suspicious circumstances, supposedly shot by the then Crown Prince after his mother disapproved of his choice of bride. However, Gyanendra and all his family were not in the palace at the time, and many Nepali believe that the king was behind the incident and so trust in the new king was severely dented. His son, Paras, who was going to be the crown prince was not liked by the majority of the population as well. He was suspected of several hit-and-run incidents around Kathmandu and had the reputation of being a gangster. There were 2 more signs that showed that the monarchy was ending. Firstly, it was said when the monarchy first came to Nepal it was said it would only last 10 kings - Gyanendra was the 11th. Also, the first letter of Gyanendra's name in Nepali, Gya, is the last letter in the Nepali alphabet, indicating that his time was indeed up.
During the last few weeks though, the new ruling party of the Maoists have shown that they haven't turned away from their terrorist past completely. There still are reports of intimidation and 2 weeks ago they killed a Kathmandu businessman, bringing protests which brought the capital to a standstill. Their vigilante group, called the Young Communist League - many people replace communist with criminal - cause trouble everywhere they go. The old guard politicians still are reluctant to give up any power they used to have to the Maoists, making life more difficult for the new government. There are many questions still to be answered: What will be done with the Maoist army, residing in camps around the countryside? Who will be head of state, and what powers will that person have? Will the Maoists live up to their promises and reign in the splinter members of the party? How will the ethnic trouble in the Terai be solved by the new parliament.
As for my work with the NGO, I've been trying to find out how to get money. We have our first project, the building of the Health Post, but are lacking in funding. So, I've rather cheekily been ringing up the large international NGOs, and trying to talk to people that can help us. I've been slowly realising though that most of them will support world saving programmes - ridding Nepal from HIV/AIDS, stamping out poverty, raising the status of women and the low castes - all very noble and worthwhile causes, but no-one wants to seem to help build a small health post in a rural village that is desperately needed. However, there are thousands of ways of skinning a cat, so there should be more than one way of getting money to build a health post.
At the top of the stairs in the house is a room I don't go into. It's the puja room, where Aama and Buwa perform their daily worship. I'm a curious person, and wonder what it looks like there. It's very like temples for me here. I don't go into the sanctum of temples, as I'm not a Hindu I don't think it is appropriate. However, with my most vivid imagination I conjure pictures of what it looks like inside - gold plated idols covered in red abhir powder, butter candles burning, bells, extravagant wood carvings. One day, walking past the puja room, a pigeon flew out of it and gave me quite a fright. The next day as I was sat on the roof, I saw a pigeon land and hobble towards the puja room. I shooed it away, but less than a minute later it had returned hobbling towards the room again. So I left it alone, interested in what it was going to do there. Did pigeons also perform puja? As I looked into the room, there was the pigeon eating the rice offering that had been made. I stumbled and disturbed the pigeon who immediately flew into my head and away. The next day the pigeon returned, and this time with a friend. And so I've learnt - pigeons aren't as stupid as I first thought. Free food, cheap and easy date.
It's been 8 weeks here now, and I'm not too pleased with the progress I've made so far, but I'm hoping that things will soon start to move forward now. I am missing things from home, mainly my family, friends and marmite. We've been without the water main being connected for 10 days, but fortunately last night some water came. This has meant visits to the toilet have to be timed to perfection, which is quite tricky when I tend to get very little notice. There is still a severe petrol crisis in the valley, meaning that the queues for the pumps have become miles long. Tomorrow the government will increase the price from 80 rupees per litre to 100 per litre. This is the equivalent of about 80 pence, which some people in the UK will think is cheap. Consider though that the average wage in Nepal is less than 50 pence per day, and this is a huge amount for even the richest Nepali.
The government is new, the world food and oil crisis are slowly taking hold, there is still ethnic tensions in the south of the country and the vital, but sometimes deadly, rains are due soon. And we still need to build our health post. Fun times ahead.
SAM
