Rescuing a Nepali Girl (V) Losing contact and finally meeting her again

After returning to Germany I naturally tried to keep in contact with Rita through the email account of the organization that she was with. Unfortunately it turned out, that this was much more difficult than I could have imagined: The first two messages I sent shortly after my arrival in Germany were left unanswered. For the third message – though – I eventually received an answer from ...

How I rescued a little girl: Arriving in Kathmandu

From our flight I mainly remember this little girl sitting by my side – tense from head to toe – almost terrified beyond the capacity to breath. Me trying to distract her – telling her some jokes, or some silly story. In this flight we met by chance another foreigner whom I had already met on my flight to Nepalgunj a few months earlier. We talked a little and I just remember Rita staring at him like he was the ...

The harsh reality of being a woman in Nepal

Two days ago I read an article in the Annapurna Post about how in a village in the Terai where a public college had opened up, the daughters-in-law were finally given permission to study even though they were married (!). I really hate the situation women are still in nowadays in Nepal. But before damning the situation, let us look at the particulars first. You ...

How I rescued a little girl: Leaving home

Well so we had become friends. And my stay in that village was soon going to be over and I was to return to Kathmandu. Which I was happy about for myself, but the thought of leaving that kid behind to that very probable kind of dark future and in a present that was already bad enough to begin with … this thought really troubled me. But it was not like ...

Rita and I are becoming friends

The Nepali Podcast First part of the story What happened was this: I was staying in this village for quite some time, and I had developed this habit to have a cup of tea in front of the Nepali Hotel where I would also eat Dal Bhaat for lunch and dinner every day. I am the kind of person who really enjoys solitude and stillness ...

Rescuing little Rita

My Nepali Podcast Well this is the beginning of the story when I rescued a little girl from a harsh future. But it is also the story of me separating a young girl and her father and leaving her alone in a situation without any real guarantees that her future will be truly better. Which one is the real one? To spoil the ending for ...

Nepal: An insightful outsider’s perspective

My Nepali Podcast Often times I still feel weird and presumptuous to be writing about Nepal and the language as if I was a better expert on the subjects than any Nepali. Often my inner censor awakens and shouts at me: “Who do you think you are, talking about this? You better shut up!” But then I remind myself that I actually believe that such ...

Corruption in Nepal – is there a way to get rid of it?

The Nepali Podcast is part language practice for myself and part an introduction to this blog post. To further elaborate on my thoughts I will explain now in greater detail in English. I personally believe that the way corruption is institutionalized in Nepal is maybe the biggest obstacle in the way of a economic and social prospering in Nepal. Corruption is based on a very ...

The “bathroom”: Personal Hygiene in Nepal

Having lived in a variety of conditions in Nepal, I also got to know a great variety of “bathrooms”. The best bathroom was a marble bathroom with a proper bath tub and running hot water. What is not really a luxury even in an average Western household, was regarded as a luxury by me … I was just too aware of the many ways of ...