Friday 28 September 2007

Terai violence

I've just had a three day break in Pokhara - my first holiday since May last year. So that meant a break from blogging as well. Pokhara enjoys twice the precipitation of Kathmandu and my trip didn't quite coincide with the end of the monsoon. It poured incessantly for the first day and a half of the visit.

In my post of the 5th August I mentioned the trouble that was simmering beneath the surface on the Terai, the southern plains of Nepal. Essentially this stemmed from the culture clash between the ethnic Indian (Madhesi) population and the immigrant hill people (Pahadi) who have been there for the last couple of generations. The Madhesi have been discriminated against historically and the pahadi have dominated society nationally as well as locally in the south.

In the past week this tension erupted into sectarian violence in Kapilvastu district, one district along from Rupendehi where we conduct some of our project work. It seems that there has been some kind of a pogrom going on - the first of its kind in many years in Nepal. Looking at the press reports, it was hard to discern who the actual victims were; maybe this is something that the nation prefers to talk around and overlook in the hope that it will go away. But today I heard from Dilip Bhattarai, Chairman of our local partner organisation, that the victims had been for the most part Pahadi people. He had joined journalists and human rights workers on a trip into the troubled area. They had found 1,000 homes burned, 150 vehicles destroyed, 33 people murdered, 100 missing and a rampage of destruction conducted against business interests. Although the violence has subsided for now, uncertain times still lie ahead and this may be but a foretaste of what might recur after the coming elections

On a brighter note, we have now raised £24,000 towards our appeal for the £30,000 required for two art workshops for child trafficking victims. I am always overawed by the generosity of the general public who continue to back throughout difficult times when institutional support can be very limited.

Saturday 22 September 2007

Things I don't understand about Nepal

There's a host of things here that just don't make sense in Nepal. But here are a couple of examples:

Nepalis universally seem to become very dewy-eyed about their country and its natural beauty. Of course this is broadly justified, even if those who exhibit such sentiments often have no experience of travel elsewhere in the world that would allow an objective drawing of comparisons. But if you take a walk down the lane from my house in Godawari and head towards the villages, you'll find some pretty little streams cut into the hillside. Or they would be pretty if they weren't full of rubbish; village refuse that could easily be burned.

This morning as I was walking the dogs, two goat kids ran across the road in front of us. They were followed by their lady owner who picked them up and fussed and cooed over them no less than she would have done had they been human babies. I can't understand these apparently strong positive emotions when the animals are ultimately destined for a quick head chop with a kukri. Equally I can't understand the apparent infatuation with human babies that does not seem to extend much into infancy. Instead of a head chop, many Nepali children experience a worse fate when they are trafficked by their erstwhile loving families to Indian circuses and the Kathmandu sex trade.

Friday 21 September 2007

Hearing dogs

I got back to Kathmandu yesterday morning after a visit to UK that had mixed fundraising results. Back at my Kathmandu studio the mosaic girls were hungry for new designs and I obliged with a commission from a UK supporter. Longstanding friend of the Trust, Anne from Cornwall, had written:


"I would like to commission a small mosaic of a dog, in appreciation of my own hearing dog, Chloe. I know that dogs are not usually appreciated in the Indian subcontinent, and I enclose a leaflet for the young lady to explain the work of the dogs and how vital they are to their owners.

Chloe herself has curly, black fur, which could make a dull mosaic. So a picture of a rainbow-coloured fantasy dog would be wonderful."

Dogs certainly aren't generally appreciated over here and this will serve as an interesting lesson in dog potential for mosaic artist Sunita. An example of dog neglect and public indifference is our dog Rosie who we found loitering outside our house when we first moved to Godawari. Just a pup, she was covered in raw mange and suffering from rickets. A couple of vet's visits and we took her from death's door. Before and after pictures are on the right. It didn't take much.

It might seem strange for a children's charity Director to focus this post on dogs rather than children. But then again it is good to reflect upon Gandhi's comment "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Nepal has a long way to go and it fails its children just as badly as it fails its animals.

Monday 17 September 2007

Neplish

This has been a particularly tiring visit to UK. On Friday evening I attended the Royal Army Dental Corps annual reunion dinner and amongst the 100 who sat down for dinner were eight dentists who joined up with me in 1982 - our 25th! Aside from the social exchange it's always a good source of funding with one chap handing me a cheque for £100 on the evening; more will follow. On Saturday evening I donned black tie again for the second evening in a row to attend a fundraising dinner in Bramcote army camp, near Nuneaton. This time I had to sing for my supper and deliver a speech (a process I never enjoy) and that was very well received. Afterwards two of our mosaics were auctioned for £200 each and we may double that amount overall in general donations that were handed to the organisers afterwards. This evening I drive three hours north to give another talk, this time to Macclesfield Castle Rotary Club. I don't know what to expect from that, but this Club has been very good to us in the past. A few years ago they linked in with partner clubs in Germany, Belgium and Holland and bought us a school bus for the refuge children. With hindsight that's been one of the best purchases we've ever made.

I enjoyed reading an article in the Daily Telegraph yesterday about the rise of "Indlish":

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/16/wenglish116.xml

Essentially this profiled a book called "Enter from the backside only" that muses upon the bizarre use of English in India that has become the accepted norm. Those standards have found their way to Nepal where much of the teaching is done by Indian teachers. One of these, Shailaja, is now the Director of our local partner organisation. Or is she? On her desk there is a name plaque announcing "Directress". On top of this there is what I call "Neplish", where someone tries to be clever and instead of using a simpler alternative ends up using entirely the wrong word. A case in point is today's Nepal news online (www.nepalnews.com.np) where a journalist has written:

"In the meantime, the Maoist leaders have begun their internal strategic discussion to evaluate the political developments since their announcement to defecate from the government."

Friday 14 September 2007

Lose your mobile

A couple of days' ago one of our supporters, Emma Triplett (www.hattitrading.co.uk) left her mobile behind in a Kathmandu taxi. Accepting the fact that the chances of retrieving it were just about zilch, she still got a friend to text the missing phone. To her surprise she got a reply. It had been found by a leading Nepali pop music star and TV presenter. When she went to collect it she told him about our work. He has now offered to conduct a private concert for the children. So last Saturday's show in Godawari could be a forerunner for something much bigger.

Wednesday 12 September 2007

Funding problems

This post is being written from Doha airport; I am en route to UK for a week. I didn't feel at all like leaving Nepal this morning. My little daughter Alisha is quite ill with a combination of an intestinal infection and a secondary lung/sinus infection after a very heavy cold. Bev took her to the doctor this morning for the second time in as many days and she has now been prescribed antibiotics. She's very frail and not eating very much, repeating again and again her first word "mummy" as she staggers around the sitting room. Nepal is a very unhealthy country to bring up children no matter one's living conditions. It just seems to be a focus for nasty, unusual bugs. But I am sure she'll be OK now with a bit of "tlc".

Chasing funds is a perennial problem of mine, particularly as the work and the need seems to expand exponentially. The problem has become very acute after receiving news on Monday of our being turned down for a grant by the philanthropic foundation, ArtVenture (see earlier post). I'd been optimistic of at least receiving something from them, given that they had approached us in the first place, but that wasn't to be. The timing of the refusal is terrible as my application was for a grant towards art workshops for circus returnees that are due to start next week. We've only raised a comparatively modest amount towards the overall cost through public donations and I will have to press some panic buttons in the UK once I've got over my jet lag. I am determined though not to scale back on what we deliver to the girls and see that the expertise I have put in place as trainers doesn't go to waste. The girls are so reliant upon us getting it right and I don't want to fail them - just as so many others have failed them in the past.

Tuesday 11 September 2007

New pictures

This evening I am packing frantically before leaving for UK tomorrow. So posting time is a bit limited. I thought instead I'd go for quality rather than quantity. See Phil Horgan's latest images from my mosaic studio, from the children's show on Saturday and from the Kathmandu refuge:

http://www.pbase.com/philhorgan/esther_benjamins_trust

Monday 10 September 2007

Japanese apples

I've got a couple of Japanese apple trees in my garden. Last evening as I was taking the dogs out for their final constitutional I flashed a torch at the trees and a flurry of fruit bats took off. Big beasts they were too. This seemed to indicate that the fruit was ripe and we'd have to move quickly before all was lost. So today our refuge children came to the house after school and descended upon the trees like locusts. The poor old bats will have paltry pickings tonight.

This has been a good week for volunteers and there's definitely an international flavour about the place. Marie Vollmer joined us from Germany last Tuesday and after the initial shock of the end of the monsoon rains seems to have settled in very well. She's off to Hetauda tomorrow to work with the hostel girls and most importantly to "be there" for them. Alex Hunter, the potter (www.alex-hunter.com) came in on Thursday and was bowled over (forgive the pun) by Saturday's children's show. I said to him that he'd have to throw some pretty amazing pots to follow Nick and Sue's performance as volunteers. Somehow from initial meeting I've a feeling he will. We've also been joined by Australian Linda Beasley who has come to live in Nepal. Linda is a keen mosaic artist and will help shoulder the burden of running the mosaic studio, preparing designs, teaching and all in all making a success of it. Alex, Linda and I had a meeting today to discuss the forthcoming art workshop that we'll be running for former circus girls, starting next week. Such meetings are very exciting; no one has done this kind of thing before.

Saturday 8 September 2007

Today's children's show in Kathmandu

It went very well. We had children in the audience from three children's homes all within walking distance of the venue. The performers excelled themselves. I found myself a little unsettled by the playlet that showed the innocent village girl being trafficked to the circus. The circus owner and agent could be seen discussing the deal, examining the merchandise and finally beating her. The reason for my disquiet was some of the younger members of the audience laughing at these scenes but then again it was supposed to be a black comedy. The true drama was that these girls were acting out traumatic events from first hand experience and there would have been no laughs in reality. It must have done the actors and the former circus girls who were included in the audience a world of good to see the self-important circus owner being mocked with his turban, cigar, paunch and strut.

I also found myself quite moved to see a play being acted out by Bhejendra. Not only was he the lead actor but he'd also written the play. His female co-star was Sunita. Bhejendra had been freed by us from Kathmandu jail in May 2001 and is now attending one of Nepal's top schools that has done so much for his personal development. Sunita was rescued by us from a circus on Boxing Day 2004 and with our support came top in her (rural) District school exams at the start of this year. We then moved her to an even better school in Kathmandu. Based on today's performance she could be at drama school.


Otherwise the show consisted of dances (Western and Nepali), songs and an awesome display of gymnastics by Bijay and Aman. These two are former circus children now turned muscle men through their daily training at the national stadium in Kathmandu. I have no photos of their performance - it was too good to be looking through a viewfinder (sorry....).

Friday 7 September 2007

Christmas thoughts

This is the time of the year when we start aiming off with planning Christmas gifts for the kids in our care. This may sound premature or a modest activity in the overall scheme of things to be planning for in any great depth. However, given that we will be issuing well in excess of 100 presents and also just how much a modest present means to children who have never had any decent gifts, then it is very necessary to plan thoroughly. We are always helped out by the British Army wives' club in Kathmandu and the British School who make a massive effort to procure and wrap the personalised gifts.

Looking at the lists of recipients the other day, I noted how around half of the circus returnees are Christian. The main religion in Nepal is the Hindu faith with Buddhism being the second largest. Only a few percent of the population is Christian. The reason for this anomaly is that many girls adopt Christianity when they are inside the circus. They will construct little shrines like the one pictured and make special prayers that they will survive the abuse and life-threatening acts. If they survive they become committed followers. I met four of them coming from church last Saturday and took a picture of them as they looked so happy and radiant in their saris, clasping their bibles.

And now a plug. Once again The Esther Benjamins Trust will be selling charity Christmas cards. And as per normal, through very kind sponsorship of engineering firm WhitbyBird in London, 100% of the purchase price comes to the Trust. This year the card shows a mosaic design of mine entitled "The running of the deer" with imagery based upon 18th Century Indian court painting. The original mosaic, which has been made by former circus girl Rina, will be available for purchase by card recipients through an online auction that closes just before Christmas. See here for further details and for the unique design:

Tomorrow is a big day for the children and teenage girls who have been rehearsing for the show that we're laying on for refuge children in Godawari. It must feel odd for them to be performing voluntarily for an appreciative audience rather than posturing before the leering adults who make up a large part of the circus audiences in India.


Thursday 6 September 2007

Internal trafficking to the sex trade in Nepal

A couple of days ago we chaired a coordination meeting of international agencies that are working against trafficking. The topic under discussion was the growing problem of internal trafficking to the domestic sex trade in Nepal and the recent development of larger numbers of minors being abused in bars, massage parlours and so-called "cabin restaurants". Nepal has traditionally been a very conservative country and Kathmandu has no red light district. It's a long way off being like Bangkok but those who hold to that comfort of that knowledge and feel there is no need to do anything are wrong. It's just a matter of time and it is probably already be too late to put the genie of the Nepal sex trade back into the bottle.

One of my rather conservative Nepali friends attended the lecture and was taken aback by some of the revelations. Facts like sex being on sale right across the country - large towns, small towns, by the roadside. Facts like minors as young as 10 being abused and that the paedophiles who are doing this are not "dirty foreigners". In the main they are Indian and Nepali men who are seeking out younger and younger children.

We now have to work out what to do about this problem. The sad reality is this is just about impossible given a financial triad that we have to contend with. The first element of the triad is the large amount of money that is involved in these crimes, sums that offer potentially substantial kick-backs to corrupt and indifferent police and poliiticians. The second is the pathetic financial circumstances of the communities and families that provide the girls and the third our very limited resources as development organisations. As the lecturer, Helen Sherpa, pointed out the girls come to Kathmandu and earn money, are given nice clothes, make up and a mobile. If rescued and returned to their villages they end up scouring the hillsides for firewood in a life of unremitting drudgery. And if they come to us many organisations offer training that leads to menial work. Even my girls - who are earning really good salaries making mosaics - have an income that cannot compete with a girl in a Kathmandu massage parlour.

The whole subject is bleak and depressing. My gut feeling is that because of the triad there is nothing that can be done to prevent the slip that is seeing Kathmandu and its girls losing their innocence. The best that can be done is to intervene on behalf of the children who are being abused and we'll give that a try.

Tuesday 4 September 2007

The spooks of Bhairahawa

Bhairahawa lies in the southwest of Nepal and it is where our first children's refuge was located. It's now home to around 50 children and teenagers in the care of the Trust, a mixture of dependent children of prisoners, former street children and children that we have rescued from the circus. They are accommodated in the so called "White House", "Red House" and "Blue House" buildings. Based on information I received today it seems also to be home to some ghouls...

Undoubtedly Bhairahawa is a creepy place. Bev and I lived there for the first year and a half of being in Nepal and we felt very isolated as the only foreigners for miles around. It was a case of lights out at 6 p.m., bolt the doors and wait for dawn. We had the company of one another and when the electricity didn't fail us (as it did very often) also of Hindi television. If I went back to the UK for charity duties Bev was left on her own, with only the dog, Bryher, as a comfort. Had there been an incident during the night no one would have helped, least of all the police, who refused to leave the station after dark. On occasion in the small hours you'd hear foxes howling outside in the very human way that they do. At times like that it felt rather like Rorke's Drift.

Today I learned that the Red House apparently has a ghost. The story of this began a couple of months' back when something happened there that spooked the security guard. A similar incident - undescribed - occurred the following evening such that he ran away and slept in one of our other premises. A change of guard happened and that was that. Until about a month ago when the former circus girls staying at the house reported hauntings in the upstairs of the building and began sleeping downstairs. Our poor local Director, who'd probably thought he'd seen everything by this stage in his career, called in an exorcist last evening. This seems to have had little effect (unsurprisingly). Magam, our staff male chef, stayed with the girls until midnight with nothing happening. But between midnight and 2 a.m. one of the girls felt something touching her leg, like a caress. She screamed and all the girls were terrified. They huddled in a group with lit candles around them until 4 a.m. when fatigue forced them to sleep.

My colleague, Nick Sankey, has told the local Director that the chef shouldn't be staying in the same room as the girls. He's right. But I've deliberately made light of this by agreeing and writing to the Director that I'd hate the ghost to end up caressing his leg by mistake. Seriously though, this is a problem and the girls have now been moved to one of our other buildings. I do believe in presences from the afterlife, some pleasant (see my interview with the Times in the link at the bottom of the page) and some highly unpleasant. Personally I think there are rather more of the latter in Nepal.