Staff of some organizations in Dolpa [Karnali Zone, western Nepal] will lose their job if they do not construct a toilet in their house by the end of this fiscal year in mid-July 2009.
This follows a request by the District Drinking Water Office to all offices, schools and organizations to construct toilets to make the district an open defecation free zone.
Fewer than 12 percent of the population in Dolpa use a toilet.
On my trek in Ladakh last September, I joined a group of villagers having a tea-break in the fields where they had been harvesting the wheat. They were debating whether to buy a tractor or not. Some argued that it didn’t make sense because they already had cattle which could be used to do the threshing in the traditional way for no extra cost. The tractor not only costs money to buy, but you also need to buy petrol. One of the older men said that he would love to use a tractor before he died!
Another issue was how to respond to a letter received from a tourist agency inviting the villagers to serve as porters for foreign trekkers. Some of the younger men were keen to go to earn some cash, but others argued that it was harvest time, and the women couldn’t do it on their own. In the end, the decision was to stay and do the harvesting. There was, in fact, no great urgency to leave the village since my guide informed me that the villagers get paid (by an NGO I believe) to stay put and help preserve the environment for the endangered snow leopards.
If you would like to add a comment, please feel free to do so. You may have listened into a similar debate, or have views about the impact of new technolgies on traditional cultures.
The dates of Hindu holidays of Dussera and Diwali in 2008 are as follows:
Dussera: 6-10 October
Diwali: 28-31 October
Most schools in India and Nepal will be closed at these times.
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We have added PayPal as a new payment option for our donors and sponsors. Payment through PayPal can either be via a PayPal account, or by credit or debit card.
Jim Coleman
Director, HELP
Many people have praised the HELP website for its clarity and ease of use. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in using the services of the company that designed and hosts it, please visit Real Free Websites.
I can recommend them highly, not least because they can design you a free basic website and host it for only $6 per month. However, if you do make any payment for more complex web design work from Real Free Websites, they will donate 10 percent to HELP!
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