'When helping hurts'...the Ugly Side of Aid to Nepal

Tourism has dropped off dramatically in Nepal since the earthquakes of last year. Many aid agents assume that the quakes are what harmed tourism the most. Actually, the majority of Nepal, including most tourist destinations were not directly affected at all by the quakes that tragically did affect a small minority of people.

In fact, the sensationalism around the quakes and pleas for financial help by I/NGOs with accompanying graphic photos of damage (to small pockets of the country) devastated tourism. Yes, humanitarian aid was necessary for a relative sliver of Nepal. That said, gratuitous photos and stories posted for months and months and even up to this day turned away tourists and continue to turn them away and that sensationalism has wrecked a vital component of the economy.

Shamefully, many I/NGOs are taking advantage of a natural tragedy by playing on worldwide attention and sympathy and posting gratuitous imagery of a very small minority of the country in order to solicit funding—even more depraved, most aid funds typically never reach the stated targets but are largely eaten up by administrators misuse if not outright fraud—the very people meant to be helping the situation are in many instances, deepening the suffering. Appallingly,  the poorest of the world’s poor are  used to solicit funds with the side-effects of keeping the  entrenched corrupt gang in power and bleeding the tourist sector dry in the process.

Well, after decades of indefinite aid and few positive results to show for it and much lethal devastation to account for (including total unpreparedness for natural disasters) I/NGOs cannot be given the benefit of doubt any longer. Perhaps aid workers really are trying to assist but in the process they are unwittingly ruining a culture and harming millions of people. Not only are they endowing indefinite oppression by a long-running ruling class but after the quakes they have been scaring off visitors and sinking a lifesaving industry. All the while, nearly the whole country including most tourist destinations have been open and were unaffected by the quakes.

Ironically, helping Nepal is causing harm. Foreign interlopers bear and continue to bear responsibility for the incalculable loss and indefinite harm done to Nepal in the name of ‘aid’, especially now as they short circuit one of the most vital sectors that keeps Nepal’s economic heartbeat going.

Aid agents are using the suffering to seek #deadaid funds that typically end up abetting dysfunctional elements of the ruling class. This inhibits progress and stifles development in deadly ways as chronic poverty and its many ills overwhelm the people.

If a foreigner must intervene in a country where they often do not understand even the basics of the language, the culture and the political situation, then the best way to meddle (if meddle they must) might be to assist the Nepali people to be free from their oppressors and government interference--namely, the freedom to follow their own dreams with their own talents and capabilities without interference, foreign and domestic. In other words, work towards a transparent, functional liberal democracy and do nothing else to interfere with the country in any way.

Otherwise, aid intervention tends to have the opposite effect by entrenching dysfunctional and corrupt systems and prolonging development issues.

Please find more information about the Nepal quakes and deadly foreign meddling in Nepal at this link, http://alolyo.blogspot.com/search/label/%23NepalQuake

Cheers for your kind consideration…keep on trekking, keep on enjoying the outdoor paradise of Nepal…a visitor's participation in the economy will be the best possible assistance anyone can imagine.

#nepalquakes #deadaid #freenepal

Baltimore Sun Throwing Shade on Nepal

Cheers for the coverage of Nepal (Another Crisis Looms for Nepal, Balitmore Sun, 2nd November, 2015). With all due respect to the esteemed author, it seems more a weakly disguised plea for donations than a news piece about Nepal.

Nepal needs less foreign interference (from entities both near and far) not more. Perhaps commerce and business can be given a chance in lieu of indefinite aid which entrenches the wrong people and contributes to the country’s endless political and economic woes.

Aid has not only dis-empowered people but has damaged the country's ethos while endowing a privileged gang with unmerited entitlements. Decades of aid interference has left Nepal (and many other developing economies) without measurable progress on economic development and without reduction of poverty among other critical metrics.

Aid entrepreneurs tend to (knowingly and most often unknowingly) abet dysfunctional elements of society and that keeps the citizens oppressed and without an opportunity to pursue their own talents and dreams.

Regarding the earthquakes over five months ago, only a relative fraction of Nepal was severely affected then, and the worst hit areas have been and are receiving attention. Unfortunately, earthquake relief has become another political game. An unsatisfactory constitution was rushed through by a ruling establishment motivated by ‘aid’ funds dangled as a carrot—that is, foreign interference (despite good intentions) played an unsavory role, and it led to an eruption of protests backed by India and a supply crisis in urban areas of Nepal, most significantly Kathmandu…although the well-looked-after aid entrepreneurs are not likely to feel the pinch relative to most Nepali people.

Another bone of contention with this story, I don’t know of any “high altitude areas” requiring “delivery of urgently required supplies such as food and shelter materials” before being “cut off with the onset of winter”. In fact, I cannot think of any villages at all throughout Nepal that might be “impossible to access” unless an ungodly amount of snow fell.

Even then, if such villages do exist, and if there is some unexpected heavy snow early in winter that temporarily blocks trails to villages that implausibly do not have enough supplies to cover for a few days, then, in that extremely unlikely scenario, helicopters are the logical delivery means for urgent supplies until trails re-open within days.

Alarming stories and photos are damaging one of the largest and most hardworking industries of Nepal, tourism. The tourism industry can immediately benefit Nepal and the many people who rely on if for work rather than the very few who rely on the top-heavy donor industry (which tends to support only the wealthy ruling elite). Continued tales of disaster and crisis are turning tourists away unnecessarily. Most if not all of post-quake Nepal is open for tourism and has been for a long time. The people are ready and eager to receive visitors.

In my humble reckoning, it seems foreign interference is a cause of many of the difficult issues that Nepal faces including lack of preparedness for a natural disaster -- a result of a lack of development and progress for the foreseeable past in spite of nearly six decades of ‘aid’ and over 50,000 I/NGOs now operating in country…instead of a nation dazzling like Norway or Switzerland, it is wallowing in troubles...and that begs the question...what are tens of thousands of I/NGO’s doing in Nepal? Transparency is paramount, especially in dysfunctional systems...can these I/NGO's reveal their operations, pay scales and data regarding their activities?

All the while, most aid entrepreneurs enjoy a lifestyle in the upper crust of Nepali society (despite claims of hardship) and reside in luxuriant housing, often with servants, and revel in posh comforts not dreamed of by the majority of Nepalis. Most aid workers are enjoying high-living at the very top economic echelon of Nepal. Even more curious, most do not have local language and culture skills for the country that they are working in.…giant, red flags all around for those wishing to operate in a place that has for decades ranked in the bottom tiers of transparency and corruption indices.

Simply put, despite the best of intentions, aid agents tend to endow dysfunctional elements of society including the ruling establishment and a privileged gang with unmerited entitlements. That tends to prolong the very issues ‘aid’ aims to serve--severely hampering issues of development and progress--with fatal results for the disenfranchised population.

To these INGO’s, please cease and desist. Quitting Nepal might be the very best thing imaginable right now for the benefit of the honest, hardworking people of Nepal. Or, if you absolutely must do something, if you cannot resist traveling overseas to effect change in a faraway land, then only try to clean up governance and not abet and endow dysfunction directly and mostly indirectly. With a decent government, then the people of Nepal will be free to do for themselves what aid aims to do for them. Better yet, leave this beautiful and tender culture and its people alone. Focus on the home front and the (many) problems closer to your own homes. Cheers and good-speed. Come back soon as a tourist to enjoy the endless natural and cultural wonders of Nepal and help uplift the economy the right way.

As a side note, the Tharu ethnicity, mentioned in the Baltimore Sun story do not have “close ties with India”. Tharu are considered to be an indigenous, malaria resistant people of the jungle plains. They have a distinct culture, traditions and lifestyle and they identify very little with India. The Madhesi do tend to have ties to India but by no means “occupy the bottom rungs of Nepali society”. Many top political posts have been filled by Madhesi people including Ram Baran Yadav, president of Nepal from July 2008 to October 2015.

Delivering 'aid' to a developing economy is about as precarious as crossing the log bridge pictured above--better not to try. Photo by Alonzo Lyons

"Nepal is in crisis, and it has nothing to do with the earthquake"

Nepal identifies culturally with India much less than might be suspected especially while nationalistic and devout Hindu Narendra Modi is at the helm of its meddling neighbor, The hills people of Nepal have a distinct culture, traditions and lifestyle, including the janajati Tamang, Magar, Gurung, Rai, Limbu, Kami, Tharu and other ethnicities such as the Sherpa, Thakali, Manangi and Bhotiya with origins and close ties to Tibetan culture. All of these aforementioned groups identify little with India.

The groups that potentially identify with Indian culture have a growing disgust towards outside interference. Modi has blundered here, and China is stepping in to the void on Nepal’s request. At the very least, opening supply lines to the north for landlocked Nepal will increase flexibility.

That said, the energy crisis is mainly in urban areas, especially Kathmandu Valley. In rural areas, people rely much less on cooking gas, petrol and products from India.

Still the many aid organizations headquartered in the valley seem to want not for resources that the majority of citizens have been suffering for. These aid entrepreneurs are enjoying a lifestyle in the upper crust of society as they impinge upon Nepali society in petrol guzzling SUV’s, reside in luxuriant housing, often with servants, and enjoy posh comforts not dreamed of by most Nepalis. Still, they claim hardship while enjoying high-living at the top economic echelon of Nepal.

Notwithstanding the protests raging in the plains and the Indian embargo, foreign agents are a key component of the problem that has Nepal teetering on the brink of failed state status and lacking in development and progress for the foreseeable past. Aid agents tend to endow dysfunctional elements of society including much of the ruling establishment and a privileged gang with unmerited entitlements.

Decades of interference by foreign agents including an indefinite aid paradigm has damaged Nepal severely--most significantly by keeping the wrong people in power while aid agents try to cover for a broken system (despite the best of intentions, many aid workers operate without local language skills and are blind to local culture).

Banning INGOs might greatly assist in pulling the financial carpet out from under the deadweight, malignant political establishment and that might be the best anyone could possibly imagine for development. That might allow the honest, hardworking Nepali people the freedom to pursue their own dreams with their own capabilities and efforts unencumbered by donors, diplomats, politicians, an entitled gang and meddling countries near and far.

The comment above regards the following story, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/11/02/nepal-is-in-crisis-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-earthquake-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ 

Indian embargo has led to a fuel crisis in Kathmandu Valley. Commuters riding atop minivan, photo by Alonzo Lyons

Lumbini, Nepal, birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, later known by the title of Buddha. Photo by Alonzo Lyons

'SOS, Inc. -- The Tricky Ethics of the Lucrative Disaster Rescue Business'

Ben Ayers is an acquaintance and a fascinating and talented guy. He is quoted in this article, "The Tricky Ethics of the Lucrative Disaster Rescue Business" (by Abe Streep, WIRED magazine, August, 2015). “There is the issue of those flights going to pick up wigged-out tourists instead of going to pick up really fucked-up people in Gorkha.” 

I agree with him while humbly contending that indefinite aid to Nepal has severely crippled her politically and economically and even damaged the cultural ethos. 

Of course, assistance is necessary in a humanitarian crisis. Unfortunately for Nepal, foreign agents have been operating since the 1950's with little oversight beyond toothless internal reviews that often overlook and reinforce mistakes and errant campaigns. Ironically, decades of 'aid' contributed to the pathetic situation of complete unpreparedness for a natural disaster and inability to respond for lack of essential infrastructure including roadways, medical and civil facilities and other networks and operations managed by skilled and knowledgeable people.

In reality, prioritizing 'aid' over commerce all these years has severely hampered progress and development and indoctrinated a donor mentality with adverse effects worse than any virus or natural disaster for that matter. It has wounded society to the core. In particular, foreign agents tend to abet and endow dysfunctional elements of the status quo (knowingly and most often, unknowingly). If the talented people of Nepal had been left to their own initiative for the last six decades without the interference of foreigners and the ruling establishment as well as a privileged gang with unmerited entitlements then the dazzling Himalayan skyline and beyond would have been the limit. Nepal would be a paradise for the locals and not just transitory tourists. Instead of paradise, it has been led astray and is continually teetering on the brink of failed state status. 

With all due respect, if foreigners truly want to assist, if they believe that they can travel overseas to effect change in a foreign land (typically enjoying high salaries that put them in the 1% of the very people that they aim to ‘aid’), then the best thing imaginable for development and progress would be to free the people from oppressive and corrupt governance including bureaucrats from the Mechi (eastern border) to the Mahakali (western border). Then the people could pursue their own dreams and ambitions with their own talents and capabilities.

Any other actions other than cleaning up governance tend to do have the opposite effect, i.e., endow a dysfunctional system and privileged gang with unearned entitlements. More power and leverage to the wrong gang has been prolonging issues of development and progress with extremely dire consequences for the honest people of Nepal including an inability to cope with a natural crisis and the pox of chronic poverty with its lethal ills.

Nepalis deserve better. Poor governance for the foreseeable past put them in a position of vulnerability. Apart from post-disaster humanitarian relief, Nepalis are more than talented, knowledgeable and capable enough to do what needs to be done in their homeland…if foreign agents and organizations and the political establishment would simply be willing to get out of their way for once after six decades of stifling interference that has dis-empowered the people.

As Dr. Dambisa Moyo cries out about her own motherland, “Let my people go!”

Painting of handcuffed anjali mudra, i.e., 'namaste', by Barnaby Codling, all rights reserved.

#NepalQuake, #Nepal, #AidBully, #AidEntrepreneur, #AidRiddenNepal, #DeadAid,  #FreeNepal, #DonorDarlings, 

Rebuilding Nepal: The rubble must go -- A Skeptic's Take

With all due respect to the talented author, her primary sources for the Al Jazeera piece (Rebuilding Nepal: The rubble must go) are organizations with vested interests--NGOs, the UN, the government—entities that have earned skepticism over decades of aid-industry ventures in Nepal. Rather than pay them more heed, the citizens of this great nation would do well to hold these groups up to greater scrutiny and demand transparency and hard evidence with quantifiable metrics, e.g., poverty reduction, worthy of 5-6 decades of aid and billions of dollars spent including dazzling salaries that put aid entrepreneurs in the top 1% of Nepal society, the very society that they endeavor to assist.

More reliable and convincing sources of information in this piece about the afflicted areas would be residents themselves from the rural areas most affected by the quake. A relatively small percentage of Nepal was badly damaged by this natural tragedy and people in these areas are receiving humanitarian aid and are also working together as communities to rebuild themselves. These worst hit areas will likely need a lot of continued assistance but this fraction of Nepal is not representative of the entire country regarding reconstruction needs by a wide margin.

It is extraordinary to read of the “urgent…task of reconstruction…small window of time… winter, which will be particularly brutal” juxtaposed with Executive Director of the National Society for Earthquake Technology’s statement, “Timeframe is not an issue…Nepal can be rebuilt in the five years outlined”.

It would be more convincing to hear from voices outside of the organizations that have monopolized aid. Despite the small pockets of Nepal in real need of humanitarian relief, the whole country seems to be portrayed as in dire need of outside help. An unsavory side-effect of that broad depiction is the complete sabotage of one of Nepal’s most vital industries—the hardworking tourism sector. Painting the picture as one of dire need  (e.g., “debris still blocking streets”) unnecessarily scares off potential visitors and is killing an integral industry that could immediately endeavor to revive Nepal’s post-quake economy.

.

The graphic portrayals though meant to help bring in more aid funds do real harm to many people especially, those who rely on tourism and their dependents. From hoteliers, restaurateurs, taxi drivers, goods sellers and suppliers, guides and porters, families and dependents and everyone else in between Kathmandu and tourist destinations and back again, such misrepresentations cause harm.

The following links are a bit scathing but at least might provide a counter-perspective to the implausible pleas in the Al Jazeera article for more money…Can these organisations iron out issues among themselves and get to work with the 4.4 billion USD that has already been pledged? This amount itself can scar Nepal indelibly if it goes to the wrong gang…and elements of that gang are very much aware of the wildly lucrative opportunity born from the true victims of tragedy.

Politely Don't Believe the Hype
&

Working from the Ground on Down

#FreeNepal, #AidBully, #AidEntrepreneur, #AidRiddenNepal, #DonorDarlings, #NepalQuake, #Nepal

'Nepal pushes to finalise constitution despite concerns'

Continued insightful coverage on Nepal by Al Jaz…leave it to the expert reporters Saif Khalid assisted by Anuraj Acharya, and especially T. Bell and M. Hutt -- trustworthy Buddha-eyes on Nepal.

my response to the article on Al Jaz website was the following:

excellent reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.

excellent reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.
http://alolyo.blogspot.com/2015/08/working-from-ground-on-down.html

image taken from: http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/chill-homie-you-need-to-let-that-shit-go/ reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.http://alolyo.blogspot.com/2015/08/working-from-ground-on-down.html

cellent reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.

http://alolyo.blogspot.com/2015/08/working-from-ground-on-down.html

excellent reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.
http://alolyo.blogspot.com/2015/08/working-from-ground-on-down.html

excellent reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.
http://alolyo.blogspot.com/2015/08/working-from-ground-on-down.html

excellent reporting. would that I/NGOs and other  foreign agents pull out support for the charade. most continue to subsidize it unknowingly, and thus the establishment carries on same as it ever did with sustenance flowing in from international players. unfortunately, a windfall amount could change everything indelibly...perhaps for the worst. now is the time to call for evidence-based aid with transparency from top to bottom. is proof of aid's actions, cash-flow and effectiveness too much to ask? otherwise, a vulgar amount of funds might drive down and disenfranchise an impoverished people even more,  people without an advocate and without representation.
http://alolyo.blogspot.com/2015/08/working-from-ground-on-down.html

"Working from the ground on down"

'Nepal isn't Haiti' aid organizations are urging donors to believe.

They have good reason to be insistent...a vulgar amount of money is at stake--billions...

...billions...

The aid industry is even bullying the media to not report on misdeeds, that is, to not compare Nepal's aid paradigm to Haiti's fiasco--lest potential donors become justifiably wary and pull back. Aid entrepreneurs seem to be fitfully concerned about losing 'their' money and losing a chance at a financial jackpot wrought by a horrific tragedy.

And with a game-changing amount, then perhaps Nepal might become so disfigured as to be rendered unrecognizable--sunk forever if the wrong people receive as much power and leverage as a pornographic windfall would afford the ruling establishment--ever more leverage and more sway over a long-disenfranchised, impoverished citizenry.

"Nepal is not Haiti"...is supposed to reassure potential donors...

Actually, the aid scene in general in Nepal is likely worse than Haiti, and for that matter, perhaps worse than anywhere in the world. Are aid entrepreneurs willing to truly see the suffering behind mounds of expensive paperwork, reams of photo opportunities...to bear witness to the appalling fashion show behind the clutter and faux-scenery of a donor darling playground? For anyone with eyes to see, suffering is palpable in Nepal and deathly. Most donors and aid workers do not see it, pretend not to see it or worst of all, blindly believe that they are championing the very people being oppressed by the establishment, an establishment that aid helps to endow.

Therefore, I kindly request evidence-based reassurances that the aid business is on track and on task. After six decades and billions of dollars and endless schemes, can the aid industry please present evidence in their own defense worthy of six decades of otherwise lost time, effort and money? For example, in flagrante delicto many hydro projects have been funded (profanely funded) without materializing...that money didn't just disappear into thin air...the people should track and chase down and prosecute every last accomplice for stripping them of years and years and years of prosperity and the pox of poverty that took its place. Poverty and its effects include hunger, illness, educational failings and much more up to death associated with it and its lost opportunities.

For once, will the aid industry at least consider that they might be doing some harm (rather than curiously proclaiming that they are not Haiti)? This question is not unreasonable, especially when tens of millions of people are suffering every day and have been suffering for decades upon decades for want of progress, health and opportunity. Will the aid industry ever consider it might be doing some harm? Should not that be the first question of all before an aid entrepreneur packs his/her bags to effect change in a distant foreign land?

Until then, until we see clear, transparent, and objective proof worthy of billions of dollars and years and years of critical time wasted--lost time and lost opportunity borne by an impoverished people--people without a defender, without an advocate, without a champion, without representation--then, I will continue to believe the aid industry is generally misguided in Nepal and beyond. Hopefully, I might, even if in the smallest way, be part of a growing voice for overdue change in aid to Nepal...otherwise, taken as a whole, aid tends to support the very people keeping Nepal undeveloped and paralyzed in failed folly. In sum, aid, taken as a whole (from my anecdotal viewpoint), probably could not have done more harm to Nepal had that been its aim.

It tends to subsidize the entitlement gang, political establishment and government functionaries and does so for the worst. Together they generally have drowned the hopes of millions of Nepalis day after day, year after year, decade after decade and so on. Foreign agents tend to align with precisely the wrong gang, prolonging and perpetuating deathly problems. I would love with all my heart for the sake of Nepal and Nepali people to be proved wrong about aid...until then I will fumble along as I speak out against it (and hopefully speak up for Nepal and Nepali people) as much as I can.

And what now is most needed post-quake? In terms of rebuilding in rural areas, structures in the hills collapsed, and mostly homes need to be rebuilt--and many have been already.

This rebuilding is something local people are adept at as a community without much outside support. Many have already accomplished this rebuilding of their own homes through their own and community-wide efforts. This is something they have done since time immemorial without a single rupee or nod from any outside source or consultation. 

Still, pleas for schools pull at donors' heartstrings. What human with red blood can withstand a plea for a school--ultimately for kids, for education and opportunity...Schools have become the target as they are the most likely to reach a soft spot in potential donors' judgment.

But what exactly will be rebuilt here with regards to schools..will they become the same as they were pre-quake...many empty shells where education was desired but not often delivered for want of teachers, staff, salaries, supplies and for want of material, administrative and economic support necessary for a school to function. Basically, will it just be a building with the name of 'school' on the outside?

What I mean to point out is, what of these schools after they are built? Who will staff them, supply salaries and instructional materials and a decent curriculum? Material support was a major issue in most schools pre-quake. Who will follow up once the newly erected structures are in place? Or, is the structure the only goal and education an assumed side-effect that has been greatly missing all along in many rural areas? Is this overlooked or do aid workers believe education will materialize on its own after a basic framework is established (and after hefty salaries and photo opportunities are collected by I/NGO entrepreneurs and administrators)?

Certainly, outside funds might make re-building, education, and nearly everything else easier if they truly hit the target in a transparent way and have proper, unbiased oversight and rigorous follow-up and most importantly community support, too. And that is precisely what is suspicious about the aid paradigm up to now...how infrequently they have hit targets (do most of them even know their targets if not the local language and cultures they are affecting?) and can provide concrete stories of success.

Moreover, at this point, it is not going to kill anyone to not receive more outside funds, whereas, on the other hand, a vast amount of money that helps subsidize and endow a dysfunctional system could potentially do vast harm as it continues to oppress the majority of vulnerable people in a way that results in illness, suffering and yes, even death...one outrageously tragic example, over thirty Nepalis are coming home in body bags a month after perishing abroad in hideous work mostly in Malaysia and the Gulf for lack of opportunity at home--a direct outcome of the flawed establishment that is greatly enabled and endowed by the aid industry. Knowingly and most often unknowingly aid is helping to keep a dysfunctional system in place.

No, now is not the time to defend Nepal's aid paradigm as 'not Haiti' --if that is the best claim and the catchphrase the aid business chooses to put forth right now. They already have 100,000-plus spokespeople on salaries in favor of aid (i.e., Nepal has over 100,000 I/NGOs and therefore, that many CEOs of I/NGOs). Given the tide in favor of a dubious industry, that industry might very well benefit from a few more critics.

In fact, focusing on the rare few in the aid industry doing things right does a disservice to the Nepali people at a time when billions are at stake and more oversight and care is most needed, not less. Overlooking the faults is not the answer if it means overlooking the suffering, the backbreaking suffering that aid has been a party to for the foreseeable past.

Now is the time to #FreeNepal and demand of I/NGOs at the very least transparency (in amounts received, amounts spent and on what and substantial proof of it including amounts of salaries of all members in said aid organization), accountability, oversight...or better yet, free Nepal of foreign intervention altogether by throwing a malnourished, abused baby out with the bathwater and pull the plug on a dysfunctional status quo rather than inoculating the zombies with billions...billions...

Lack of money is likely not the root of problems, nor are funds the likely solution. Will more money lead to any resolution and progress and if so, can the aid industry provide substantial proof of that?  
Until evidence arrives, more funding seems to have had the opposite effect...which leaves me to ponder the earnestness in proclaiming that 'Nepal is not Haiti'? 

"The [aid industry] doth protest too much, methinks" -- paraphrase of Hamlet, Shakespeare

"There are good deeds and good intentions and the distance between them is as far as heaven and hell...and you're working your way from the ground on down." --Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals

Live from Mars, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
"There are good deeds and good intentions and the distance between them is a far as heaven and hell."

Another Quake felt it in Thamel, Kaydoo, 22nd July

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) website an M4.0 Light Earthquake struck just WSW of the Kathmandu Valley on Wednesday (June 22nd, 2015 at approximately 10 PM local time). 
The epicenter is reported at 27.639°N 85.196°E with depth at approximately 12.3 km (~7.7 mi).

Clearly and briefly felt by residents of the Valley. 

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002z9c#general_summary

#NepalQuake #Himalaya #Kathmandu

Politely, don't believe the hype, and by all means, please don't spotlight the hype

Totally alarmed at sensational photos of Kathmandu and Nepal still being posted on social media. With the exception of a comparatively few places (which have been identified and are receiving care and attention), Nepal is doing quite fine. The images are alarming and turning potential tourists away precisely when the economy needs them most. Posting them is not doing one of Nepal’s most vital industries any favors and directly injures the many people who rely on tourism from hoteliers, restaurateurs, taxi drivers, goods sellers and suppliers, guides and porters and everyone in between from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp and back again. Posting gratuitous images seems a self-serving ploy to elicit money for dubious projects without regards to a greater whole affected by a graphic mis-portrayal. 

With the exception of a very few places, Kathmandu and all of Nepal are open and ready for tourists and the people are totally looking forward to receiving visitors, again.

One illustrative example, a friend’s home was damaged in a remote village of Gorkha District, not far from April 25th quake's epicenter. His father received 15,000 rupees (about 150 USD equivalent) from the local administration. With those funds he has already fixed up the home and built a new two room shelter that is quake-resistant. The community there has worked together and swiftly rebuilt each other's homes and more.

Contrast that with many mind-blowing stories of deception including filing of false pleas from people with undamaged property to gain (and get) sympathy money—actively doing a disservice to real victims in true need.

It is sickening dishonesty when the task of recovery is acute for some people. I don't know how people can justify taking the opportunity to feed off the misfortune and misery of others, and that includes carpetbagger foreigners capitalizing, too. Sensational photos are not helping and can paint a false image of the situation and discourage visitors and sabotage a hardworking industry that could otherwise immediately endeavor to revive Nepal.

With all due respect, the best a foreigner can do is visit and encourage others to visit this enchanting land. Nepal will be glad to welcome all with a legendary hospitality and endless natural and cultural treasures.

#NepalQuake #DonorDarling #Corruption #FreeNepal

'Volunterrorism' in aid-ridden Nepal

For the people traveling overseas to effect change in a faraway country, may the Himalayan trekker’s adage light the way, ‘The Himalaya might change you, please do not change them.’

My apologies if the message is harsh, especially to the rare aid worker making a true diffeence...however, the effects of foreign intervention on a country I love has been deathly harsh. Therefore, I feel the need to speak out now more than ever as Nepal re-builds.

If anything, work to free people of oppressive governments, that is the best that we can do for those of us who cannot resists getting involved one way or another. Then the freed people will be free to pursue their own dreams and life with their own skills and talents.

#Corruption #FreeNepal #NepalQuake

RE: Do they have what it takes to rebuild Nepal? ...in other words, coitus interruptus

Another perceptive article by Mister Bell. One bone of contention is his curious opinion that “the government and donors…deserve great sympathy and consideration”…for the very problems their coital relationship has spawned.

Heaps of profiteering on the backs of average citizens “deserves great sympathy and consideration” because...the bullies are experiencing conjugal problems (coitus interruptus between the donors and government) of how to move forward with…likely more of the same? Six decades of feeding off impoverished citizens is enough.

The Nepali people have long been without a champion, those who come to assist often end up aligning with patriarchal, ruling conservatives and the entitled establishment (with unmerited power and privilege), thus perpetuating a deathly tragedy.

With over 100,000 I/NGOs operating in Nepal, and sixty years of ‘development work’ you might imagine it to be a dazzling gem of advancement on par with Switzerland…instead, Nepal has been stagnant if not backsliding. The only thing that appears to be dazzling are the salaries, perks and lifestyle of the ‘donor darlings’ and the ruling class and government functionaries fostered by ‘aid’.

In fact, rather than receiving sympathy and consideration, the bullies themselves would do well to have sympathy and consideration for the society from which they profit, especially considering that their lucrative employment places them in the top 1% of the society that they traveled overseas to change.

The 99% have to put up with INGO bullies and the government bullies they undergird -- a government bottom feeding in annual corruption indices. Let the I/NGOs and diplomats at least consider that over half century of aid has propped up and bolstered the myopic old-guard ideology and its oppressive ways and means with lethal results.

Conservative rulers have dominated for centuries, and their leadership has done immeasurable harm to Nepal. Yet, wayward leaders and their entourage are continually able to bend the ears, minds and hearts of diplomats, donors and expats in their favor (often fueled by drinking rumpuses and banquet dinners).

The dereliction of office is tantamount to waging war on Nepali citizens. The real effects of malfeasance can certainly be as ravenous as war (e.g., sections of Kathmandu, including the Bagmati and Vishnumati rivers were post-apocalyptic pre-quake).

Is it then too far-fetched to suggest that blood is also on the hands of the ‘donor darlings’ and diplomats for abetting (knowingly or through lethal ignorance) a dysfunctional system that imperils the general population causing harm and suffering up to death of men, women, children and infants?

They have even driven many sons and daughters out of Nepal--robbed of opportunity in their motherland--to take on great risks and unmanageable loans to pursue work abroad. Frequently, they end up as slaves with no homeland representation, and on average, over thirty people die every month and their corpses are sent home in body bags.

The Nepali people don’t need to have sympathy for the bullies in government and from abroad interfering and throwing up obstacles and prolonging hopes of real change for the better.

Remove the deadweight, cancerous bureaucrats, politicians and I/NGOs and give the people the freedom to follow their own dreams with their own capabilities and efforts unencumbered by smarmy donors, diplomats and politicians.

#ThomasBell #NepalQuake #Corruption #FreeNepal 

RE: [Shamefully] Awkward Moment

Brilliant wordsmith Mahabir Paudyal very perceptively describes the open dirty secrets that everyone already knows about and from which lethal suffering results...Office holders and government and I/NGO administrators have for decades robbed able and talented Nepalis of a chance to move Nepal forward with their own dreams, capabilities and efforts.

The following are excerpts from Awkward Moment, an Op-Ed in My Republica, 23 June 2015:  

"Most of what happens within these agencies—such as how most things they do is limited to paperwork, how only staffs benefit from grants and assistance—remain hidden. INGOs are often manned by privileged people who are often critical of the government but defend their position or stay quiet for fear of losing their privilege."
"One doubts government ministers and donor representatives will be able to visualize these disturbing images while they are shaking hands, faking smiles, exchanging pleasantries, and serving or being served with sumptuous meals inside a comfortable hotel in Kathmandu."
"It will be no surprise if the conference ends up being a mere ritual."

#MahabirPaudyal #MyRepublica #NepalQuake #Nepal #Corruption #FreeNepal 

RE: A Small Step Forward in Nepal

What a refreshingly well-written and insightful opinion piece by an informed and talented Thomas Bell. As hinted at by Bell, an unfortunate effect of quake philanthropy will be abetting a dysfunctional government and status quo.

Wayward officials and factotums have long used their station and leverage to look after their own interests and their own kin, kith and wider entourage in a self-serving way rather than acting as proper functionaries and serving the whole community impartially. They have imprisoned Nepal in an endless bandh – a country under the thumb of its own unethical administrators and an oppressive societal structure with paralyzing entitlements.

Office holders and administrators have robbed able and talented Nepalis of a chance to move Nepal forward with their own dreams, capabilities and efforts. Poor governance has fatally prolonged development and has endowed the nation with chronic poverty and the troubles it brings of ill-health, hunger, malnutrition, lack of education, lack of opportunity, exploitation, suffering, injury, disease and premature death.

With the exception of necessary emergency relief, taking away foreign aid and intervention might be the best chance to pull the plug on cancerous politicians, cannibalistic bureaucrats and their accomplices whom aid otherwise enables and empowers. 

#ThomasBell #NepalQuake #Nepal #Corruption #FreeNepal