Ready for a depressed Nepal

During the three years that have passed since Nepal’s peace agreement was signed there has never been as much trouble as now. In the past months the Maoists have led numerous strikes and protest – and right now it is the third day of a general nationwide strike which has paralyzed the country. Schools, airports, some roads and public transportation are closed down, industries and restaurants have been attacked and vehicles vandalized.
With the continuous problems in Nepal our project with Youth Initiative is more relevant than ever. A constitution for the country should, according to the peace agreement, be formed by May 2010, but with the current conflicts between the Maoists and the governing parties it seems difficult to reach that goal.

We are five Danes who are leaving for Nepal in a couple of weeks. Two of us (me and Karin) leave early to have time for some preparatory meetings with our partner organization Youth Initiative before our seminar in Kathmandu from 13th-17th January, and then Christina and Christine stay longer afterwards to have time for evaluation, accounts and future plans. Casper is the only one who has got a proper job and therefore can’t take as much time off. Yes, it’s hard to be a student, I know!

Due to the strike in Nepal our seminar participants have difficulties getting online. They have to find internet cafes, so we still need a few confirmations and actions plans from them to have a full participants list. But apart from that everything is ready for our seminar. We have a programme with many interesting lecturers, challenging workshops and social evening activities like a cultural evening and dinner with members of parliament.
The seminar participants are each being trained to facilitate six debates for a local audience in different regions of Nepal during the months following our seminar. It is our intention that these debates will inform and challenge the locals on their views of democracy. With more than 250 years of monarchy, the last 10 years with civil war and more than 13.000 people killed by the Maoists, it is not like there is a great experience with that…

/Mette