The Big Sandal

People's Love for Toilet

Along with life and other properties, people of Sindhupalchok lost their toilets in the devastating Earthquake of April 2015. However, due to their habit of using toilet, they're doing whatever they could to revive their toilet. 

The hygiene and sanitation status in the rural countryside is usually poor. After the massive campaign by UN Habitat through the support of Global Sanitation Fund, and local implementing partners--SEBAC Nepal and Janahit--the district was about to declare Open Defecation Free (ODF) on the last week of April 2015. However, the earthquake that appeared swept almost everything, including toilets. The repeated aftershocks that followed damaged the remaining toilets among other properties. 

Despite the disaster, people are using their toilets by all means. The campaign has imprinted deep impression of sanitation behavior among people. Those villagers who used to go to the nearby forest, or crop field for defecation before, are now using their makeshift toilets. It is indeed a great leap forward. 

After the disaster, people's endeavor to revive their toilet has a great variety. Some people are using available grass, tree branches or leaves for making temporary walls. Likewise, others are even using stone slates to plastic to make their toilet pan usable. 

Moreover, some toilets are even riskier for people. Those toilet include the broken heavy stone wall of the toilet posing potential danger to the lives of those users. 

The massive ODF campaign of UN Habitat together with Janahit has profound effect in building a habit of defecating in toilet among the people of Sindhupalchok. Now, even after the disaster, the urge to use the broken toilet is indicator of peoples' concern for using toilet. 

A local NGO of Sindhupalchok, Janahit is now implementing Toilet Revival Campaign in Irkhu and Kubinde VDCs under UN Habitat's CERF project. 

Gendering Water

 Disrupting water source due to earthquake has made the situation even worse for women because fetching water has predominantly been the women's business in rural Nepal.

Among other household chores, bringing water is what women are responsible for in most households throughout the country. It is one of the daily task that is not considered economically important. The role of women is assigned to execute most of the in-house works has been exclusively given to women through ages. 

After the devastating earthquake of 25th April 2015, the affected district Sindhupalchok, among others, is facing severe shortage of water. In fact, most of the water source have dried, some of them are relocated, but only few number of new ones have emerged. According to local people, the first quake of 25th disrupted water source; the second gave birth to several new sources; however, the third stronger aftershock dried most of them. 

Due to the repeated aftershocks the risk of drying water source is larking. 

Safeguarding water sources is key concern of the government and the civil societies. In addition, several international organizations are also working in WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) in Sindhupalchowk. Currently, most notably, 26 INGOs are working in water supply rehabilitation. Among them Red Cross is trucking water; UNICEF, World Vision, Oxfam, Malteser International, Lutheran World Federation, CESI, HELVETAS, Mercy Corps, 

Care Nepal are working to repairing water tanks, installing water pipes, rehabilitating water sources as well as distributing container pots. Most of them have either formulated new water users' committee or revived the old one. However, presence of women is not so much. 

Due to the incessant efforts of the donors and the government body water availability is gradually improving. According to the update of WASH Cluster--the group of donors working in sanitation and hygiene in the district--several water supply schemes are being built, water sources are being revived, and access of water is being improved. 

If the nature favors with less or no aftershocks the endeavor of all these organization is reaping its harvest. As a result, water supply schemes will be revived soon, and most of the households will be able to drink clean, safe and pure water. 

However, the access of water to every households is not going to lessen the burden for women. Many water sources, if they got revived, are still far away from their homes. Next, many houses lack male members of the family. They are either in the other country, working as labor or migrated to the nearby town for employment and study. As a result, water fetching is being more skewed to women; and they're seemingly becoming responsible for it. 

Earthquake in Sindhupalchok has suffered people much; however, women are more suffering due to lack of sufficient water. The effort of all the donors and government have improved the access of water, yet, women are the ones who carry water from the nearest accessible point to their homes. 

Building Hopes: Building Homes !

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Mp8X3nfepM95xKLqXidTs45FQLvn5hAyLGiaOBVwf_c/edit?usp=sharing

The Unforgettable Walk

The Making of God

Some people are really crazy. They've bizarre idea to show their love and devotion for somebody. They make temples of their loved ones, and make them God for worshiping. 

Developing world is characterized by feudal society laden with massive poverty and illiteracy where some elites want to grab power by using the people's trait of believing. People belive because there's no other option left for them. They've to believe in Karma which says that poverty and sufferings are the result of their past lives. It is an act of God. Their poverty and illiteracy make them belief, and even worship on whatever the local powerful ones tell them to do. 

Moreover, those elites are the ones who have created all those idols, Temples, Mosques and Churches. Since they make it, they're the authoritative agent to the powerful creature--the God. They're close to God, they say, so that they can rule over the rest of the masses. 

In an instance, cadres of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) made a temple of PM Narendra Modi in Gujrat in an attempt to prove them to be greater lover and devotee of the powerful Indian man. Those cadres build the temple of Mr. Modi so that BJP can be religiously institutionalized, and their cadres can get a permanent hold in the society. But, this shrewd man denied the temple from being built, saying that it is against the Indian tradition.  

However, majority of other notable Indian spiritual orators--who have declared themselves a God--are making their temples. It is not the first time a temple was made of a person in India. There are temples of Superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Rajanikant; and politician Sonia Gandhi. Moreover, there are many temples of modern day religious orators.   

Moreover, some people need God not to tighten their grip in power, but to hold them calm. They need something to hold on, to calm down, to carry on or to believe in, so that they're occupied. Besides, they also want to show other about their affiliation with the powerful one which they worship. As a result they've created God out of their mind and started worshiping. 

People make God to satisfy their own need. They create God either to show them strong, keep in top hierarchy in the society they live, make them closer to power, or keep them attached to something. 

Does Neutrality Prevent Intervention ?

Non Alignment Movement was created during cold war to safeguard its members from the intervention of USA or Russia, but it has failed to do so. 

The neutral status of Ukraine could not defend its sovereignty which forced it to join the western military pact—NATO. The Ukranian parliament voted to officially associate it with the stronger military force of the west, in a bid to save its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the invasion of stronger eastern neighbor. 

The middle-of-the-road position couldn't save Ukraine from the intervention of Russia. Non Alignment Movement (NAM) which was created at the height of the cold war in 1961, to counter the effect of western imperialism and Russian communism, is still campaign with 120 member states on board. But the alliance of almost two third of the world’s nations could not save Kiev from Kremlin’s unlawful intervention.

Now, the question arises. Is neutrality a threat to sovereignty, territorial integrity and peace of an independent nation?

Neutrality has fewer space in the current world order. The world is very much divided. When the world was divided into the aforementioned power blocs, some rich countries--Europeans and Baltic states were still their allies. Even after the fall of Russian empire, the world was almost unipolar with the US as the powerful polar star. However, the rise of China, India, Brazil and South Africa, and forming BRICS, including Russia, has made the world multi-polar. This signifies that countries are aligned towards their respective influential poles. Even the UN security council is deeply divided between cold war era power alliances, i.e. US (UK and France) and Russia (with China). 

At this juncture, especially the LDC and LLDCs are more vulnerable to encroachment from the old as well as new power blocs. India has still turbulent border dispute with its neighbors, especially Nepal, where SSB of India is often said to move border pillars. In addition, China's presence in the South China Sea is hostile for Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. 

Especially, after Ukraine joined NATO, the neutral path of two thirds of the countries of the world is in limbo. It has neither protected them from encroachment of the powerful, and the new powers are constantly emerging. As a result, neutrality has become the connotation of surrender.  

Economics and the fall of nationalism

Economic insecurity and harsh taxation system have forced people to goodbye their citizenship.

The feeling of one’s attachment to the country of birth is gradually fading. Although the USA attracts immigrants globally, the citizen is already packing their bags for other countries leaving their citizenship and permanent residency. Whereas, thousands of immigrants are risking their lives entering Australia and Europe. The major reason behind, among others, is the economy.

The figure of Americans denouncing their passport has soared lately. Particularly, the new tax law, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is infuriating many expats. According to Federal Register, 776 US citizens bid their final goodbye to the US. Whereas, altogether 2,999, a 221% increase from the previous years of denouncement, was seen in 2013.

Similarly, a large number of Russians left their country in 2014 than before. Russia’s official statistics service, Rosstat, shows the exodus of 186,382 Russians in 2013 and 122,751 in 2012. Besides Putin’s policy of isolating Russia from the outside world, and the glimpse of severe recession due to western sanction made them to think about their future outside Russia.

Nearly half of China's business leaders with more than $16 million of wealth have investments overseas, according to the research firm, Bain Consulting. Now, China’s fortune of hundreds of billions of dollars, and waves of millionaires are flocking out of China to overseas. The wealthy are moving to protect their wealth, their health and their families. As well, with increasingly cracking down on ill-gotten gains and corruption, several politically connected rich are eyeing for safer shelters abroad.

The exodus of the citizen of the big economy to safe havens for securing their hard gotten wealth shows that economy greater role than nationalism. The era of utter nationalism where people were motivated to serve, live or even die for their birthplace is gradually shifting to economic domain. The globalization has further made the border permeable for those willing to migrate.

In a nutshell, if you want to retain your citizen, don’t impose more economic burden over them. Simple!