Try it

I never imagined I could do some work around editing a blog site. With this idea, I also never tried to do it. However, one day when one of my teacher came to asking help to have a blog for a project then I could not say no to him even if I knew just a very little things about the blog. I just said, "ok I will help you". With the pressure on my mind of having to help my teacher, I started looking into tutorials on making a blog on Youtube and other internet pages, I kind of did. I do not say I made a perfect blog, but I made a decent blog at least. At the end I just realized, if you want to do something then you need to keep trying. Here is the blog: www.cpdsruhuna.wordpress.com

An Introduction to Nepal

I am perplexed how to introduce my country, whether as a proud country where Buddha was born; the country which was known as a symbol of peace in the world some three decades back or as a country which was at its worst state ever for over 10 years or as a country where peace has not been availed even after eight years of commencement of peace process.

For me, introducing my country is the challenging one. Well, at this point you might think there are so many things that I can introduce Nepal with. But I take a different approach. I would like to introduce my country with the current scenario. I want to introduce my country with things that has brought it in the lime light in the recent days so that it keeps me reminding that there are still  lot of things that needs to be done.

Nepal as a country is well known to the world for the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest and the birth place of Buddha. However, in recent years it has also been known as a country that went through a decade of armed conflict.

It is a country where national level political leaders go abroad for their health treatment but they forget about the people who die because of lack of proper access to health facilities. Even if they make their way to the government hospital, it is just to find that the hospital is closed because there is an ongoing strike.

It is a country where students burn down an entire library over a personal dispute. A library established in 1990s was completely destroyed and some 2000 books and large number of thesis were turned to ashes. Students also do not hesitate to open a fire following the dispute over bidding for the construction of the campus building.

It is a country where a parent whose son was killed has to fast till death in order to even file a case against the culprit. They fasted till 47 days and broke it only after the assurance from the government representative that they would proceed the investigation. However, they resumed their fasting later fasted almost for a year. Unfortunately, the husband died while he was on fasting and recently the wife broke the fasting. Still, Justice seems to be at far distance.  

It is a country where the Constitutional Assembly Election was held twice, 2008 and 2013 as the first Constitutional Assembly could not deliver a new constitution even in its 4 years of life and was dissolved. Personally, I would have agreed on extending the Constitutional Assembly even for 8 more years given that every single CA members would only focus on the Constitution writing process. But that did not happen and it is still not happening.

It is a country where an individual is held in custody when slapped a political leader but so called leaders are not even touched when they openly take responsibility of the acts of terror like, throwing petrol bombs in public vehicles, explosions, threat to not to participate in the election, and so on.

It is a country where people do not drive either on the right side or left side, we literally drive everywhere. People wear helmet on their motor bike and seat belts not for the safety reason, rather to get away from the fines by traffic police. Let one day be a free helmet and seat belt day, I am sure more than 90% of them will be helmet and seat belt less.

I come from a country which is decorated only when some high profile people come to visit as if we all Nepali people like unclean Nepal. The holes on the street will be black pitched again, streets will be washed, buildings repainted, flowers planted along the road side, and so on. I just wish we have such high profile visitors every month.

By introducing my country with those above mentioned incidents and situations, I am not trying to undermine the positive things that are happening in Nepal. I am well aware that there are few positive activities happening despite of the challenges we have. However, remembering the negative or not the good ones makes me think of things that I can do to make it right.

Peace!

I went to visit Jaffna in Sri Lanka which is also known to many people as a place where most of the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict took place as LTTE were based on Jaffna. I went to a historically and culturally important place where it is believed to have Buddhist Kingdom some hundred or thousand years back. I saw this statue of Buddha and it made me think of the teachings of Buddha and made me question to myself if I have been using the philosophy of non violence by Buddha as a student of Peace and Conflict Studies and also being a citizen of the country where Buddha was born, Nepal.  

Life

I went to the beach after a long time with an intention of taking few photos. Out of many, this was one of them. I just took a photo without any predetermined ideas or philosophy behind this picture. I just thought this picture might look good.

As I began to edit this picture, I suddenly started realizing life. I see this small creature attached to a huge stone. I then realized determination and commitment are things what is most needed in life. I would say in everything. If you are determined and committed towards something you will achieve what you want to.

Volunteering Story

I was going to Northern Ireland for a year as a volunteer at the Corrymeela Community residential site. Corrymeela works in the field of Peace and Reconciliation. A question I received often was “why don’t you get a job and start earning here in Nepal.” It was hard for me to explain my feelings. However, I was sure that this experience was something that was good for me.

With many questions, excitement, and anxiety, I arrived at Corrymeela. After rigorous training for a month I was assigned to work with a group of young people from mixed backgrounds who were there with a program called SEED. Northern Ireland has a long history of conflict and violence. Catholic and Protestants have been (and continue to be) divided, which frequently brings tensions and violence. Even after an agreement between the conflicting parties, violent activities can still be seen.

With the troubles of Northern Ireland on my mind I was a bit nervous to work with the group. However, I did overcome my nervousness and welcomed them on the site. The group arrived and right away I could easily see how uncomfortable the group members were around one another. There could be two reasons for that, one because they didn’t know each other and next because of the religious barriers that they have been going through. It was a residential program and the group was there for two days and two nights. With some ice breakers, the first day was over. As a volunteer I also participated with the group activities. I was quiet all of the time. I would smile when they would smile or laugh; not because I was feeling shy (well perhaps a little), but mainly because it was hard for me to understand their English. Trust me, Irish English is a tough one to understand, and it is harder when you are listening to a young person speak. I felt so uneasy with the language barrier that I went to my volunteer coordinator and requested for her to not have me work with any more youth groups. Despite feeling nervous, I continued to work with the group for the weekend. During this time we shared life stories, went coasteering, and participated in workshops; at times situations would be tense, but they would quickly transition into being fun.

 At the end of the weekend I was so glad to be part of the group. The participants who were so uncomfortable with one another when they first arrived were now emotional to leave the group. Individuals and groups were hugging each other. They exchanged Facebook accounts and even created a Facebook group so that they could continue to build on their new relationships. For most, this was the first time the participants had interacted with or befriended others from the “other” side (in terms of religious sectarianism). Experiencing this amount of change in just a single weekend allowed me to see how important and vital small programs like this can be.

Sports for Development and Peace

My 18 months old nephew kicks the ball when I ask him to score a goal.  Every Saturday Tudikhel is full of young people playing different sorts of sports. Sports in general have been very popular all over the world and have been able to stay inside the hearts of people. There must be very few people who would not love one or the other type of sports.

  

Sport like football has a very long history of origin and often is known as the king of the sports. It has something that attracts people and brings them together. In case of Nepal, recently we have seen how football and cricket united the whole citizen and made them a single Nepalese at the time when people are/were divided based on political identity, ethnicity and ideology. Football has always proved itself as a tool to unite people whether on the ground or outside of the ground.   

Generally, football has been used as a tool of entertainment. However, it has some time been also used as an instrument for propaganda and a tool of state control. Documentary by an English television channel, BBCFour titled Communism and Football; and Fascism and Football explains the way the state or the leader used football to fight their political ideology. Football pitch became the arena where political ideologies were jugged.

Regardless of the history of the exploitation of football, there has been number of initiatives that have used football for positive changes in the society. Star footballer Didier Drogba became so influential that his call to stop the continuing fighting in Cote d’Ivoire after his national team qualified for the 2006 World Cup led to a five year ceasefire agreement.

Once Bishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize winner 1984) said, “Sport does have a meaningful and powerful role to play in the social transformation of society if care is taken to provide the necessary conditions for success”. With this philosophy, Football for Peace (f4p) has been running its program in more than 9 countries. It recognizes the potential of football as a medium to teach positive personal values that lay foundations for enhanced inter-community relations. The program aims to teach values like Trust, Responsibility, Respect, Inclusion, and Equity to the children below 16.

Soccer without Borders is another example. They have been running the program in three different countries with a mission to use football as a vehicle for positive change, providing under-served youth a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion and personal success. Many underprivileged and socially excluded groups, especially refugees in case of America has benefited from this project.

Recognizing the importance of sports in our lives, this year the UN announced 6^th April as an International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says, “Sport has become a world language, a common denominator that breaks down all the walls, all the barriers. It is a worldwide industry whose practices can have widespread impact. Most of all, it is a powerful tool for progress and for development.”  In context of Nepal, despite of the impression of no future with sports, there is no doubt that Nepalese are a sports lover. There is a tremendous opportunity to use sports in country like Nepal especially when we are at the post conflict stage as a tool to bring young people together and work with them for the positive change in their life and society in order to support the peace building process. “Reaching to them” is a successful step.