Many interesting comments on posts in the last few days (Facebook). Some comment publicly, some message privately, thank you for taking the time and caring about what is happening here.
I leave Nepal in a few months, at the start of monsoon, the end of a three year assignment. I'll be back a few months later but I need to freshen up and prepare for the next stage. My connection with Nepal goes back many years now and I've given a fair bit of blood to the place, there are those closest to me who understand how much. I know it's worth the effort because as a conservationist I understand how important this nation is. However, there is a frustration about what is happening here.
Nepal is incredibly wealthy in natural resources, incredibly wealthy. It has nearly 28 million people, a strong intellectual property. It shouldn't be in the state it's in now. Natural disasters can be coped with by human spirit and there is an international community which cares. The real test of a nation, of a people, is the will to care about each other and for individuals to truly love their country.
I know the situation here can be turned round, this has been evidenced in other countries with far less resources. It requires will. It worries me I don't see that.
The turn around will takes courage, conviction and care. It means hard work. It requires strong leadership, of others, of self.
Nepal can do it. The mountain spirit can relight... but there has to be the understanding that to succeed the hand that is held out to receive has to be in parallel with a hand that gives...
