Mike's Speech-Creating a More Inclusive Society: Promoting Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

Thank you all so very much for coming today.  This has been a long time coming, as we continue building the  infrastructure for sports for persons with disabilities throughout Nepal.  Although the 11 sports wheelchairs are being donated to NWRA, they are for all of Nepal.  My brother Bharat is very much with me on this as he wants to help be a part of growing sports in this beautiful country. 

I was so very happy to see the Danish wheelchair athletes in Nepal a few weeks ago, promoting basketball and table tennis.  The NSCISA is to be commended.  The recent tournaments in Darrang and Pokhara and the organisers are also to be commended.  There are also other things happening such as building accessible sidewalks from Jorpati to Boudha which will be a dream come true and a wonderful start to making KTM an accessible city.  I’ve recently met some Nepali architects and engineers who want to help in these efforts. 

Although we will focus on basketball over the next three days, this is really about sports for Persons with Disabilities, whether it is cricket for those who are site impaired, table tennis, rugby.  It is an individual’s choice in terms of what makes them happy.  Persons with Disabilities have the same rights to participate as anybody else and the Nepal Government has acknowledged this being a signatory to the UNCRPD. 

Now is the time to put aside any differences and come together to promote an inclusive society and opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.  This isn’t about money, as this event has been accomplished without any funds going to anyone.  This was accomplished because people want to help one another.  This isn’t about Nepal being a poor country, although I don’t really believe this, especially when I look at all of you.  Nepal is rich with resources, just look at those around you.  To me it is about working in a non-violent, collaborative, respectful manner to build a very strong movement.  This takes an entire society people from all sectors, civil society, government, corporates and others, those who strongly believe in unity.

My feeling is that this event shows unity. 

My friends Dan, Greg, Pete, Chuck, Shelley, Maralyn are here from WAW.  Without their initiative these clinics and the donation of sports wheelchairs, for the first time in Nepal, wouldn’t be occurring. Our partnership, through volunteering, started with a similar program in India in November 2011 where we all met Aamir Khan.   I want to thank all of the NGOs that we’ve spoken with and those who agreed to partner:  Nepal Wheelchair Rugby Association (NWRA)-Bharat and Sitaram and Choo,  Nepal Spinal Cord Injury  Sports Association, Aakash, a young man who cares deeply and his bosses who are leading in accessibility issues, Nepal Physiotherapy Association, Bikash Nepal, VSO Nepal, ENGAGE, working to create more volunteering throughout society-My friends Simo and the real boss of this newly formed Nepali NGO, Kalpana, the young adults volunteering from Thames who will be helping us to build capacity through coaching throughout KTM, CSRC (accommodation), Nepal Army (transportation), Nepal Basketball on Facebook, the government through Nepal Paralympic Committee and the National Sports Council, providing an in-kind donation of the Covered Hall as well as,

variety of corporates including DRAGONAIR/Cathay Pacific providing free transports of 11 donated sports wheelchairs from Los Angles to Kathmandu and sending Bharat to Korea to learn about wheelchair rugby, Chaudhary Group (CG Foundation) and my friends there including Nirvana Chaduhary, providing Wei-Wei and soft drinks, gold medals for all athletes and a banner,  the Himalayan providing four advertisements, Himalaya Television my friends Jini and Chang, providing media coverage, Bottlers Nepal, providing soft drinks, International College of Hospitality Management (ICHM) providing meals, Media Gallery, my friend Anmol, providing advertisement design, FORCE Nepal, media coverage, Pioneers, my friend Ramesh providing young volunteers through school captains, and Nature Trail Travels and Tours, my friend Bishnu providing transportation for wheelchair athletes.  I of course also want to thank the best Nepali wheelchair basketball coach Raj Kumar, who is very devoted to working with Persons with Disabilities. 

There are also many others who are with us and that includes everyone here.

Over the next three days, let’s have fun and enjoy each other’s company.  But let’s remember that this is only a beginning, we need to continue to dream, one day a national sports centre for Persons with Disabilities, competing on a regular basis at an international level, creating a more inclusive Nepali society. 

It’s up to all of us!  Go Team Nepal!

Losing Ego and Appreciating Others

“That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion (ego), trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it”

From R.E.M. Losing my Religion

By nature, it seems that ego drives us, makes us who we are, enabling  us  to achieve.  But I also find that ego gets in the way, forces us to view others through our own rose colored glasses, expecting things to be a certain way, when we inherently  know that they can’t or should not .

One might think that having lived in India, and now in Nepal, would lead me to look at things differently.  On many days, this is the case, as I do have more patience and understanding for different ways of living and being.  But in many moments I revert back to my, “don’t let me fool you by my laid back California upbringing”,   type A personality. 

It isn’t easy being a human being, as we tend to want things done “our way”, as if somehow we know the way.  The reality however is very different, as witnessed by the very confused state of the world.  This didn’t happen by chance.  One can see  investment in one’s ego  in many people, especially world leaders as how they try to exert their power over citizens, or make it known that their country is now the “big guy on the block”.  The rhetoric, the “my guns are bigger than yours”, the movement of weapons threatening others, is all something that is quite frightening and screams out, “we will show you”. 

Growing up with my parents and two sisters in a Jewish household  in America , there always seemed to be a need for acknowledgement, to be well educated and achieve in the classroom or at home, the need to have stuff, the need to have a professional job,  or trying to keep up with others, more in a material sense than anything else.  I do feel privileged to have grown up in the US and I would never trade this upbringing, but when I think about how much of the world’s resources Americans use,  I wonder what this is truly about.  When I witness how others also admire or want to live this lifestyle I feel that it is a path which only leads to the earth’s further destruction.  But I don’t want to be selfish and deny others, because I’ve had this experience.  On the other hand, I also feel that many might hate me or totally dismiss this lifestyle because they know “the way”. 

My life has gone in the opposite direction, living on a volunteer’s allowance, in which I’m comfortable, but where I would be in dire poverty in the US.  While I might marvel at gigantic homes and the amount of stuff within these homes, I wonder why this type of status is necessary, especially given the fact that I can peer out my window from my flat in Sanepa Chowk and see people living in one room “shacks” with no amenities. 

Given this environment, the need as a human being to want more resources for ourselves and our families, selflessness,  doesn’t seem to be part of our core fabric.  Yes, maybe in some, the saints of the world, people such as Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., those living in monasteries/nunneries,  those who dress and eat the same food and don’t have stuff. 

I think a lot about my son, who is living as a postulant in a monastery in California as a devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda.  Whenever I speak with him, which is maybe once every six weeks or I’m able to see him, once or twice a year, he always seems beyond happy.  As if somehow, he has transcended ego and is leaning towards selflessness.   He doesn’t spend time on the internet and  at this point in his training,  is somewhat restricted in his outside dealings primarily spending his time in service. 

Although my life is devoted to interacting with the outside world, to networking, planting seeds and trying to make things happen, I also feel that service is  key.    However I question whether I  can be selfless, not needing recognition, doing “good” things without letting others know while not thinking further about this,  and  living without expectations from others.  Given the constant bombardment of wanting/needing to achieve, seeing what others are doing and the inequities in life, which really drives me, this isn’t easy.  By keeping the image of my son in my mind and his chosen path, somehow I feel that I have a chance.  I think that it all comes down to thinking less and less about this and letting the thoughts of recognition pass without dwelling on them 

I wonder how different the world might be if we all could be a bit more selfless and really appreciative of others and their lives.   But maybe this is totally opposite to the human condition.  Possibly, if we all try to be a  bit kinder, more empathetic and less ego driven, the world would presumably be a better place, not only for ourselves, our families and friends but for anyone born and fortunate enough to spend time here. 

The Fertility of Imagination-Civil Society

Civil society in the form of NGOs/INGOs seems to be regularly attacked as not providing much help to those in poverty, de-politicizing rights holders, by providing them  with a few “crumbs” to keep them pacified . In speaking with some friends, they also seemed to feel, that on some level, many civil society organizations are not effective.  In Nepal, I’ve come upon the term “bottom-up, rights based and non-governmental (BORING) approach to development,  and Gaisasagiri or NGOism as negative in the sense of equating this with the “intense de-politicization of the disadvantaged population”.   In the civil society organisations that I’ve worked with these somewhat negative connotations  couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Civil society plays a vital role in providing empowerment opportunities, raising awareness regarding vital public issues and capacity building, in order to impart skills which rights holders can use to advocate for themselves.  Without civil society doing this type of work, there would be a much greater economic divide.  Through civil society advocacy, people living at the lower rungs of the economic ladder have a voice and are not totally forgotten. 

Civil society helps to bring people into politics in order to advocate for themselves.  A prime example of this is the land rights movement throughout Nepal, where local activists work to develop, in harmony with community members, empowerment opportunities.  All of this occurs at the ground level, in a rights based fashion and in collaboration with government at all levels.  I’ve found that people who have lived a primarily agrarian lifestyle and have been voiceless throughout their lives, become powerful voices of change for themselves and their families, once they are made aware of their rights.  This also enables the rights holders to have greater passion and assertiveness vis-a-vis politics, locally, as well as nationally.  This can lead directly to national policies which take into account those impacted.  In the disability sector there is a saying, which I first learned in India, stating that, “nothing about us without us”.  This also seems to also be the case in the land rights movement, facilitated through civil society organisations.

Through working for three years at the National Trust, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of  India, I came into contact with more than 900 NGOs, throughout the country working in the field of developmental disabilities.  These civil society organisations made it possible for Persons with Disabilities to have a direct link to the Indian Government. More importantly the NGOs enabled those with disabilities to collaborate, making the movement much stronger.  The strongest voices in this movement were those of Person with Disabilities and/or those having direct family links . 

Another example, although from the West where I was the Executive Director of an HIV/AIDS NGO,  is that through civil society we were able to help those living with this disease to bring their issues directly to legislators at the State Capitol and local political bodies.   These actions were about facilitating and providing empowerment opportunities for lower income, disenfranchised People Living with HIV/AIDS, to advocate for themselves. 

Civil society in Nepal is also helping to bring the conversation regarding Violence Against Women (VAW) and other gender issues into a national conversation.  Women’s organisations are the ones that have again helped to give voice to those who might have thought that they were in a hopeless situation.  Through continued advocacy and government engagement, in the longer term, women will make further societal gains, not only in Nepal, but throughout the world. 

Civil society also helps to ensure that good governance is in place at all levels, including in NGOs/INGOs.   This is a not an easy task, but through individual capacity building and learning to advocate for one’s rights is very possible.

There will always be those civil society organisations that are not “worth their weight”.  But this has more to do with individuals than anything else.  Painting a sweeping generalization of anything in life makes little sense.  Although the words behind the BORING acronym, do make sense, I would rephrase this because the work is  EXCITING and INCLUSIVE.  This is about working with the voiceless, the disenfranchised, those who have been forgotten and focusing on a rights based approach facilitating right holders to receive their fair share of the economic pie, leading to the same type of life which we all long for.  In fact, this is what the civil society organisations that I’ve worked in and am aware of, are doing. 

Michael Rosenkrantz, Kathmandu,  possesses an MBA and an MA-Sociology and has worked in the NGO and government sectors.  Michael has been Executive Director of NGOs in the US, and has worked at the top levels of local government  and volunteered for the Indian Government in the field of disability.  Michael presently works, as a VSO volunteer, on Corporate Social Responsibility issues and in land rights through Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC).

I-MAN goes back to Dang

Bhojman, a work colleague, had invited I-MAN to his village, Sonpur, but then he wasn’t invited, but then he was, but then a bunch of people died because of the cold and then I-MAN’s dear friend Arat stepped in and said I-MAN has to come to my home in Ghorai to witness the festival of Maghe Sankranti.  I-MAN was prepared to stay in Kathmandu, but then he was walking, at 5 AM from Sanepa Chowk to Teku to find a taxi.  Finally, after a 20 minute walk, a taxi was located and whisked I-MAN through the some-what deserted back-roads to the New Bus Stand, which I-MAN had confused with the Old Bus Stand.  Some NPR 500 later, I-MAN was waiting at the New Bus Stand, in the early morning cold for Bhojman who soon arrived.  By 6:10 AM the pair were on the bus and there was no speaker above his head! 

The most frightening thing for I-MAN about going back to Dang was that he would sit next to another speaker which would surely want to put another scar over his right eye in order to make things symmetrical.  But this bus company was smart as they had a flat speaker not facing any seats.  I-MAN was quite happy about this as the children across from him started putting candies in his mouth. 

The bus driver, of course, didn’t have much of a driving record and had been in jail several times for incidents related to crashing buses and having them fall over cliffs.  Never-the-less I-MAN was quite happy when at one stop a very dear relative called from a distant land, that sometimes crept into I-MAN’s dreams.  This put a big smile on I-MAN’s face for the rest of the trip.  I-MAN was also quite happy that he would be spending two evenings at Arat’s home and could show off his scar to Arat’s family.  Also he was looking forward to renewing acquaintances with the Dragon, Spider and A-MAN, and of course Arat’s mom and her brothers and their wives, but most of all Arat, as I-MAN had a special fondness for her.

A-MAN, a Nepali Superhero

Once the bus arrived at the village of Sonpur  and Bhojman jumped off, I-MAN had about another hour to go and felt a little uneasy, but knew that his little friends who continued to feed him candies would help.  Sure enough the candy kids got off at the same Ghorai stop.  I-MAN stepped off of the bus, and there was A-MAN who jumped into I-MANs arms as they flew up into the sky renewing their acquaintance.  Prakesh and Arat were also there and I-MAN gave both of them big hugs.

They all walked back to the Ghorai home where I-MAN gave Arat’s mom a big hug and checked out the friendly mouse in the bathroom.  It was just as I-MAN had remembered and they all went to sleep preparing for the big festival. 

On Monday morning, I-MAN, Arat and her mom set out and took a bus to the festival site.  Now I-MAN had been to this site before when he had previously visited an orange Sadhu man.  I-MAN remembered the peacefulness and tranquility but he also remembered the then quiet animal sacrifice site.  I-MAN could hardly believe his eyes as there were people and oranges, peanuts, a movie house and balloons everywhere, as far as the eye could see.  I-MAN immediately found some sadhus and asked them to take some photos with him.  There were also boats giving rides in the lake.  I-MAN had remembered that these boats had huge holes in them and was wondering how somewhat miraculously they had been repaired.  People were also bathing and washing off their sins, floating candles, the usual kind of thing that people did when bathing, in well, not quite clean waters.

I-MAN's Cousin with some Sadhus

I-MAN walked and walked and couldn’t seem to  get past the mounds of oranges and peanuts.  The movie house, which appeared to be a huge cardboard box, was playing a kung-fu movie.  I-MAN poked his head inside, but nobody was watching the movie, although the audio was very loud.  I-MAN found some sugar cane and a young lady came right up to I-MAN and said hello, I’m so and so and where are you from?  I-MAN was somewhat baffled, but was quite happy that this young woman had come right up to him and I-MAN told her so.

Prakesh and A-MAN had also arrived and they said ok it is time to witness the sacrifices.  I-MAN, being a vegetarian, was somewhat wary but he also wanted to take photos and maybe make a movie.  Yes I-MAN was full of contradictions, even for a young superhero.  The trio saw some people roasting headless bodies and cleaning entrails and lots of fur in big piles.  I-MAN wondered what kinds of animals these might have been and whether or not they screamed or knew that their heads were about to be taken from their bodies.

As the trio crossed a thin bridge where people were pulling the long white entrails into spaghetti, I-MAN soon found his answer.  There between a double line of people were at least 35 headless, what used to be sheep.  A little further away I-MAN saw the bloody chopping block.

I-MAN watched as a sheep was led up to the block with one man holding the rump and another man holding a rope tied to its front end, while a third man took a 10 foot sword and sliced off the head.  This was all done in such mechanical fashion as many people looked on.  The blood was running but there were no screams from the sheep, as they knew that they were going to a place where there would be no chopping and the people in the present world would be grass which the sheep would eat.  I-MAN neither saw any sheep shivering and wondered why people chopped off heads out in the open.

But I-MAN knew that maybe this might not be as cruel as the meat industry in his home country, SU.  He knew that sheep, pigs, goats, cows and other animals used to feed the carnivorous hordes were sometimes kept in small pens with poop everywhere, something knows as factory farms.  On some level I-MAN didn’t like this killing, as after all he survived on fruits and vegetables, occasionally some tofu and paneer.  But on another level, at least the sheep had maybe had a good life living in a village and had not been penned up having to sleep in their own feces, while polluting the air that the people breathed. 

The trio decided to leave the sacrifice area and walk to a temple. There were so many people waiting to pray, some holding chickens, some holding other kinds of things, like flowers, to give to the gods.  As the trio continue to walk on the road to leave, more and more people were coming in, so they decided to go to a restaurant and try some veg noodles.

The restaurant was located in a perfect place, right next to the entrance of the festival area.  I-MAN had been to this restaurant on his last village to Ghorai, but that was before the restaurant had officially opened.  The veg noodles were pretty good tasting and I-MAN and A-MAN and Prakash were now ready to leave. 

But this was more difficult than first thought given all of the people coming in.  In fact there were so many motorcycles, buses and people that nobody was moving, it was as if this was a gigantic game of freeze tag, with everyone frozen.  The trio decided to board a bus, but that bus driver thought that he would go up a hill and I-MAN knowing fully well the driving habits of bus drivers in Nepal, said let’s get off and walk. 

Since there were so many people and buses and motorcycles the trio decided to walk on top of this holy mess.  That proved to work as the trio slowly made their back to the Ghorai home.  I-MAN,  as usual took lots and lots of photos of the colorful Nepali people.  There was even one boy wading in a stream.  He seemed to be quite overjoyed to see I-MAN and jumped up and down in the water.

Back at the Ghorai house, I-MAN knew that it was time for a hair-cut and his second ever straight razor shave and face massage.  It was just as I-MAN had remembered from the last time that he was in Ghorai, so very relaxing.  After this it was time for a shower to get off all of the travel dust.  In fact, I-MAN had acquired at least five kilos of dust all over his body and he felt as if he needed to shed this extra weight, even if the water was cold.  Fortunately the bath area had a large drain, because if it hadn’t, I-MAN would have suffocated from all of the dust that came off of his body.

I-MAN felt pretty good after this and went outside to play with some children, including A-MAN, who had made a ball out of rubber bands.  I-MAN had noticed many children throughout Nepal making these rubber band balls and was happy to finally get to play with one.  The balls didn’t bounce that well, but they were inexpensive and most families could afford these.  The thought crossed I-MAN’s mind to buy a bunch of round balls and give them to children, but then he thought better of this idea, which might cause some kind of revolution and then he might get kicked out of Nepal, which he really didn’t want to occur.

I-MAN wondered how this revolution might be reported in the Nepal history books, i.e. first a Maoist Revolution, followed by a ball revolution.  I-MAN, having most recently come from America, although as we  know, originally from India, just didn’t want to have this on his conscience, especially because he thought that the then American President Obama, would really never play basketball with him.  I-MAN just took a load of rubber bands and threw them up into the sky, where many young Nepalis were waiting to catch.

That evening I-MAN said good-bye to Arat who would be leaving early the next morning for Kathmandu in order to take some test the following day.  When I-MAN awoke Prakesh put him on a bus for Sonpur Village.  Upon arriving I-MAN had to wait for at least one hour at a bus stop, until his friend Bhojman arrived.

Bhojman came on a motorcycle with some friends and Bhojman indicated that the and I-MAN needed to take a bus to get to Sonpur. 

Once arriving in Sonpur, a real village, I-MAN was introduced to Bhojman’s wife, daughter and his parents.  Bhojman was building a new house, but that didn’t matter much to I-MAN as he was happy to be back in a village.

He also noticed something that he hadn’t seen before.  That was the fact that none of the toilets, or outhouses, had a roof.  This was the first time that I-MAN had ever sat in a roofless toilet and given that fact that I-MAN was quite obsessed with toilets, he added this one to his long list.  Once I-MAN left the roofless toilet he just couldn’t wait to have to relive himself again.

Bhojman decided he would take his daughter and I-MAN on a little tour of the village, which proved to be quite a fun undertaking.  Most of the villagers had never seen anyone like I-MAN before and they were quite curious, walking up to him and pulling his ears, trying to pull out a hair or two from his head, pulling eyelashes.  I-MAN took this all in stride and only said, “Namaste” and explained what he was doing in his limited Nepali.  Of course there was also some dancing and laughing and sitting in a kitchen with about 50 other people. 

I-MAN was beside himself with pure joy.  Many photos were taken and there was even some music.  I-MAN could only marvel at the, seemingly simplicity of it all.  There, of course, were the frustrations with people eating candy and just throwing the wrappers anywhere.  But I-MAN would always ask the people to pick these up and find a dustbin.  (On the ride back to Kathmandu, I-MAN observed some young adults eating chips and then mysteriously the bags would disappear.  I-MAN spoke to them and wrote an article about this that was published in a newspaper,http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/perspectives/fullnews.php?headline=At+your+disposal&newsid=MTg1Mg== ).

After a night of sleeping in Bhojman’s home the duo left for Kathmandu as it was time to return.  Fortunately there were no speakers and I-MAN even thought that the scar over his left eye was starting to disappear.  I-MAN was happy to have spent some time out in the rural areas where most Nepalis struggle to make a living.  As usual though, I-MAN found lots of smiling people who were all too happy to welcome him into their homes.  I-MAN certainly couldn’t wait until his next adventure in learning how to become a world citizen and having more respect and understanding of those that would never have the same life as he was so blessed with.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200502666995115.276887.1410846536&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200502550152194.276886.1410846536&type=3

Holistic Development

Holistic Development

Through volunteering at Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), a 20 year old Nepali NGO working in the areas of land and agrarian reform, women’s empowerment opportunities and livelihoods, I’m learning about effective development approaches.   At CSRC we work with those who are landless and help them advocate for their rights in obtaining land certificates.  Most recently I was able to meet with a number of CSRC supported Cooperatives and Village Land Rights Forum (VLRF) members in Mahottari, Saptari and Siraha Districts.  VLRF’s are the ground level bodies that are the basis for the land rights movement in Nepal.  My objective was to learn and determine how I can facilitate assisting people in rural Nepal with their livelihoods, i.e. connecting corporates, government programmes/schemes and potential collaborating NGOS/INGOs with VLRFs and Cooperatives.   The reality is that livelihoods are only one part of a necessary holistic approach to working with villagers. 

I need to connect with people experientially, enabling me to be more passionate about my work.  I can never truly be in another person’s skin in Nepal, given the fact that I grew up in the US.  But first hand experiences do lead me to be much more empathetic.

The meetings mostly took place outdoors, sitting on a covering on the ground.  At CSRC we have a strong focus on women and gender and this was evident from the meeting attendees.  Owning land in Nepal is at the base of a complicated development process.  Some of the members that I met were farming “leased” government fallow land, which is a good modality for providing this basic resource to the landless, especially in an agrarian society.  Complementary to this is how to make the best use of forest land through collaboration with Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), of which some of the VLRF’s are already associated.   Many members were performing daily wage labor, e.g. crushing rock and/or agricultural work in order to feed their children, however,  men were generally earning more than women, while some payments were made only through six kilograms of rice, approximately NR 90.  Others were working as tenant farmers in which case they had to give 50% of what they farmed to the landlord. 

Cooperatives are a very effective means for saving money and in turn making micro loans to members.  At CSRC we have 2600 VLRF’s, but only approximately 63 cooperatives, presenting a great opportunity.   Livestock, goats and buffalo, are extremely important, but I found that some members didn’t own any, putting them at a major disadvantage, in terms of livelihoods and the ability to consistently provide nutritious food for their families. 

Government funding and in-kind contributions through such bodies as Ward Development Funds, VDC’s, District Soil Conservation Centres and District Agricultural Offices, is a positive way to connect with civil society organisations.  Some of the Cooperatives and VLRFs were taking advantage of these opportunities.  Further development of CSRC’s front line leaders/activists needs to occur in order to assist the groups that they’re working with, to collaborate with these government partners.

The reality of village life is that projects needs to be holistic and include health, education and livelihoods components with a focus on gender issues.  Homes need to have solar panels, rain water needs to be harvested and stoves that don’t depend on firewood, need to be used.  Collecting firewood takes an inordinate amount of time to collect as the forest is usually some walking distance.  Access to basic healthcare needs to be provided, along with toilets.  Further awareness and practice needs to occur regarding enabling women and men to equally share household responsibilities and to allow women input on all decisions.  It is also vital that children have access to positive learning environments and that parents understand the importance of keeping both sons and daughters in school to the point of obtaining an SLC. 

The members that I met expressed a need for community shops so that they could get their basic necessities in their village.  They also wanted to do poultry, pig, buffalo and goat farming, sewing, leaf plate production, developing a village market place, as well as other ideas. 

In order to adequately engage in holistic development it comes down to the government, civil society organisations, including INGOs/NGOs, and corporates working together to  assist rural Nepal in obtaining an adequate share of resources and ensuring that children have as much opportunity as those living in urban areas.  Organisations with expertise in one area, e.g. health, must work collaboratively and seek out partnerships with those working in, e.g. education, livelihoods, land rights, etc.  My field visit has experientially shown me that we cannot work in silos, if people are to be given hope that things will be better for future generations. 

My Uncle Alan-A Life Remembered

I walked past a number of funeral pyres at Pashupatinath and stopped and stood to the side of one in which I saw a body being cremated.  I gazed quite intently at the shroud being consumed by fire.  There seemed to be nothing else in the world as my mind was focused only on the moment.

When I returned to my flat I found out, on Facebook, that my father’s youngest brother, Alan Rosenkranz, was no more at the age of 70, after an 11 year battle with cancer.  Alan had tried all kinds of drugs and therapies to try to rid himself of the cancer that would ultimately take away his body and his life. 

Alan was only 14 years older than me and as a youngster I idolized him. He lived in New York and was married to Rose, and was in a partnership with his father, my grandfather, in a manufacturing business, employing 75 people at its peak.  I don’t know if this was really what Alan wanted to do with his professional life, but he took it upon himself to grow the company.

When I was growing up, Alan would come to Los Angeles and teach me about rock n roll, which he loved, and take me to baseball games.  I would always bawl my head off when he left to return to his home in New York.  When I visited him as a teenager, I remember trying to copy his somewhat, what seemed to me, angry demeanor, just wanting to be more like him. I remember his home on Long Island, which always seemed pretty incredible and full of really cool stuff.  I was able to spend an entire summer with Alan and his family when I was in graduate school.  Alan always seemed very young to me, a child in a man’s body, but in a very good sense. 

I have a really strong memory of attending, with Alan, a Yankees-Angles doubleheader in the Bronx, when my family was visiting New York.  I must have been maybe 7 or 8 and the fans in right field were calling the name of Angels outfield Willie Smith to the point where he had to be moved to left. I remember returning that evening to my grandfather’s home and being in awe of a thunderstorm as I was trying to go to sleep, something I hadn’t experienced growing up in California. 

Two other episodes that stand out for me.  The first was when I first came east to attend graduate school and I went to Alan and Rose’s home to visit and buy some winter clothes.  They took me shopping for my very first down jacket, which I ended up wearing in October during a few snowflakes.  My friend Bill, who was from New York, was only wearing a vest and a shirt.  As he saw me approach he could only laugh at how bundled up I was.  The second episode dealt with Alan and Rose hosting an engagement, i.e. a getting to know one another, party.  It was very kind and I remember how happy Alan was. 

I don’t know whether Alan ever did anything extraordinary in his life, most people don’t, something to be remembered by the masses.  But he did lead quite an incredible life, at least what I know of it, from the time that he was an infant.  When Alan was only two months old his mother passed away and he was placed in a home for one year, until my grandfather found another wife to care for his young family.   My father and another uncle, who were also quite young at the time, were taken care of by friends, while my grandfather worked to support them all.  I never was able to speak with Alan about how this all might have impacted him, but I’m not sure that he really wanted to speak of it. 

Alan’s only son Howard posted the following on Facebook, “he remained just as active and anxious and energetic and optimistic and vain and kind and stubborn and humble until the very end and I'll miss all of those things that made him who he was for the rest of my life”. 

My feeling is that my cousin’s statement is what made Alan extraordinary for those that knew and loved him.  Alan went to great lengths to take care of himself, exercising regularly until his body could no longer handle this.  He worked trying to build a business, after his manufacturing business moved to Pennsylvania, failed, and was somewhat rebuilt on a smaller scale by Howard and Alan. He did have tremendous energy and although we drifted apart during later years, whenever I spoke with him, I could feel his strength and vibrancy, whether it be talking about sports or world issues or family.  He did love to talk to everyone, an extrovert.  I’m not sure that he totally understood me, but who really understands others, but I felt his appreciation and interest, as he seemed to soften his approach towards life.  As I recollect he did always live his life outloud!

One could also see his extraordinariness from the fact that he helped to raise a daughter Michelle, who is a strong woman in both her professional and personal life.  Alan and his wife Rose were fortunate to have five grandchildren. 

Alan has had a definite impact on my life, mainly because he showed so much interest in my formative years.  My love of music and sports, which Alan helped to nurture, are two things that remain important in my life,.  Alan led a complete life and although it was cut short, he will live on for generations, similar to the ashes that I watched flowing into the Bagmati and eventually into the Ganga. 

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Alan-Rosenkranz&lc=4129&pid=163536714&mid=5453085

Nepal's Female Activists Show the Need for International Action on Gender

On International Women's Day I will be celebrating the many women I have met in Nepal who are challenging inequality by fighting for their rights. I am volunteering with international development charity VSO to help women from poor and isolated communities own the land they work on.

I work with an organisation which is fighting for agrarian reform, women's empowerment and better economic opportunities. The Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC) represents over 200,000 Nepalese landless people and tenant farmers, many of them women, who have farmed their lands for generations but still have to hand over a portion of what they grow to powerful elites that own their plots. This is because they don't have the certification giving them a legal right over the land they use to support themselves.

Despite providing much of the agricultural labour force, only 10.83% of women own land. They are often single-handedly responsible for caring for children while the men in their families go to earn money abroad due to a lack of opportunities in Nepal. Many women see land ownership as a key tool by which they can gain stability and have a real say in decision-making. As advocated for by CSRC, in 2010 the Nepal Government made it possible for women to receive joint land ownership certificates, which is helping to increase land rights for women, but progress is slow.

Achieving gender equality in Nepal will require a shift in the power structure of the country, and it will not be easy. The government voices support for land reform, but implementation of this commitment is a gigantic task. CSRC is organising sit-ins and advocacy work in order to convince elites that providing land, even for subsistence farming, is the best way to avert social unrest.

I recently visited one of CSRC's 2,600 Village Land Rights Forums (VLRFs) which comprise the land rights movement throughout Nepal. I met Shreelaxmi and her colleague Omkala, two women who are leading the fight for farmers in Palpa District. They are very committed to the cause, both working long hours and even resorting to sleeping at their office when they can't come home to their families. CSRC's focus on involving women in the land rights issue has produced many strong female activists who are determined to help the landless in Nepal.

Female activists leading the fight for land rights in Nepal: Shreelaxmi addressing one of the Village Land Rights Forums (VLRFs)

Shreelaxmi and Omkala are unmarried, which is somewhat unusual for women of their age in Nepal. They are also unusual in that they are grappling with an issue where men have traditionally made the key decisions. Shreelaxmi, Omkala and others like them in the land rights movement are challenging patriarchal assumptions and the idea that women should be treated as property. Through the VLRFs, women are able to express themselves and draw attention to the issues directly impacting them and their families, especially young girls.

Grassroots movements like these do promote gender equality, but they must be matched by international pressure on states to do more to ensure women have influence over their lives and in their communities. Discussions around the framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals will intensify this year, and VSO is campaigning for a strengthened stand-alone goal on women's empowerment to solidify international resolve on the issue. This should include targets on female representation, which will strengthen the presence of women in decision-making. Just as important are measures that account for women's experience of discrimination, which reaches out to grassroots movements like the land rights movement in Nepal, and includes them in reporting on the progress of women's equality.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michael-rosenkrantz/international-womens-day-female-activists-nepal_b_2788223.html?utm_hp_ref=uk