Visit MS-Denmark

by Lene B. Olsen & Bente Rasmussen

From July 13 to 27, BASE and MS Nepal jointly organized a visit for a delegation from Denmark. The delegation comprising young and energetic representatives from the Operation Days Work (OD) Secretariat took to the highways in Nepal. Their mission was to find out who the former bonded labourers are. They went to Bardiya and Kailali districts visiting the BASE working areas and the ex-kamaiya settlements, which are basically the recipients under the OD program 2002. This article is based on Danish Development worker Lene’s experiences while travelling and working together with the group through the long, humid and hot days packed with impressions.

It was with some mixed feelings that BASE and myself received the news from the OD secretariat that 10 female and two male high school graduates were coming to visit BASE. So many questions were in our heads. Would it be safe to travel to the rural areas these days during the state of emergency? Would the rain stop us? What about the heat? Would the group be able to adapt themselves to the rural context without too much disturbances?

Excitement overcomes disappointment

I went to the airport to welcome the Danish group from OD. After quite a long wait I, finally, saw the very last passengers of the Gulf Air flight appear in a big OD group. I realized that something was missing -- they looked rather empty handed; they had no luggage. For a moment I thought that they wanted to travel light. However, it turned out that the luggage was never put on the flight from one of the transit places on their long journey from Denmark to Nepal. Despite the loss of their luggage they seemed more excited than disappointed. The snow-capped mountains and the chaotic scene of people and cows sharing the same streets and pavements, the first things they noticed after landing here, was totally different from what they were used to in Denmark, where they have only one hill(ock)--little bit smaller than the Swayambhu hill -- and where bicycles have their own small road (no stray cows and bulls) and pedestrians patiently await the green traffic signal even if any vehicle is plying on the road.

After a few days' stay in the capital, the group set off for the west. I was supposed to guide them. Our first destination was Butwal where the group first encountered the heat of the Terai. All the participants asked me the same question: “will it also be that hot in Bardiya and Kailali?” The only answer I could think of was: “Yes, and even more…”

Aliens from Mars?

When we reached Nepalgunj it was really hot. Field trips to various ex-Kamaiya settlements in Bardiya was our programme for the next morning. The big number of participants made us divide the group into two. It was necessary to minimize the disturbance our presence might cause in the rural side and not to become too conspicuous. Our intention was good but we are too naive to expect that a group of 1.70-1.90 m tall blond youngsters from Denmark might ‘naturally’ fit into the context and go unnoticed– even though all female member of the group were in kurta suruwal.

Wherever we went an ocean of people gathered staring at the foreigners as if they were from Mars. But the young Danes tackled the difficult situation surprisingly well. When they met groups of curious people they sat down and started small talks with them with the help of BASE facilitators. That made the atmosphere easy and very relaxed and the huge groups of former Kamaiyas eagerly talked to them. This gave the group the opportunity to get some insight into the situation of the former Kamaiyas. Some had got land ownership certificates and some had not. The frustrating situation for those who had not gotten land touched the youngsters. Why had the government not recognized them? Why does nobody take this situation seriously? -- were some of the big questions, which were difficult for the Danes to understand.

Our trip continued for days throughout the western Terai. We visited many settlements of the former Kamaiyas. The picture became much clearer. For those who had got some land life still meant something and their optimism manifested in "crazy" activity of building houses, in many cases with material support from government and donor agencies. But there were other settlements where people had not yet received land ownership papers; frustration and restlessness prevailed all over.


Free But…

On the fourth day, we reached Kailali. The Kamaiya movement was started from Kailali and the second anniversary of the Kamaiya Liberation was celebrated the day before our arrival. Immediately, we went to the Manera camp, 7 km. north of Dhangadhi, to meet the people there. Of course, the group was interested to hear about the achievements of the past two years, and furthermore to hear about the anniversary celebrations. We met with the ex-Kamaiya leader of the camp and together with a group of former Kamaiyas we went to his newly built house. The house was not big but cosy and nice. We were warmly welcomed, no doubt about that. As we sat there listening, the leader told us his story composed of many plots and sub-plots-- the humble life while working for the landlord, the freedom movement, the liberation, the life as a refugee after the movement, without house and food, and the struggle for land.

Notwithstanding the post-liberation hardships they are undergoing, the ex-Kamaiyas do not underestimate what they have achieved. "I can sit here in my own house talking to you, looking at my own fields”, said our host to a Danish participant's question- “What has been the biggest achievement of freedom?” While we were taking, a police car rolled up to the side of the house. The car stopped and seven armed policemen stepped out watching us. The atmosphere changed suddenly with lots of tension surrounding us. It seemed that our session turned to an end. We went to the car. Answered the questions the policemen asked us and left the area.

While driving back to Dhangadhi there was some sort of frustration among the Danes. As one of the Danish participants put it, “He is free now, but not free to talk, now what will happen to him?” Nobody in the car could answer that question.

No Rains

A part of our program was to give the young Danes quite a thorough introduction to the Tharu village life. Hence, on the sixth day we reached Karmala village. The big problem in the Terai this year has been a lack of much needed rains. Rice plantation was delayed and everywhere you saw people looking thoughtfully to the sky. In the Tharu community there is a saying: if the rains do not come women should dress up like men, and the rains will come.

The Danish group took the situation--and the saying also-- seriously. One Danish girl suggested that if she is allowed to plough the field, which is a male job, maybe that would help the rains to come. That suggestion generated a lot of enjoyment among the villagers. The girl rolled up her trousers and stepped into the muddy field and took control of the oxen and the plough. She did it very well. But the rains were to adamant to fall.

After finishing the ploughing the next step was to plant the rice saplings. The Danes were more than eager to do that. The villagers stood aside as advisors, while the Danes clumsily tried to separate the plants from the bunch and plant them in more or less straight lines. The villagers really had a hard time to understand how difficult it was for the youngsters to do the work. Many times we explained that we do not have rice fields in Denmark and this sort of manual work was a totally new experience for them. The work went on with big laughs and enjoyment. Suddenly the person who provided the rice bunches started to through the rice plant bunches in a manner that made the mud splash on the group. In order to be polite the group just ignored the splashes and continued their work. Again splash! Then one more splash! Finally, the group could not ignore the provocation any longer. One of the Danish participants took a bunch of rice plants full of mud and through it back to the villager who had started the game. Within a few minutes the group and the villages were having a mud fight causing huge laughs and excitement.

During that following night the rain started. The girl who had ventured into ploughing the day before was very proud. Maybe that was her contribution to Western Terai.

Meeting Officials

Well equipped with a wealth of information about the situation of the ex-kamaiyas and the Tharu villages we reached Gulariya, where BASE has its new district office, which is responsible for the implementation of the OD programme. In Gulariya, we had arranged meetings with the District Land Reforms Officer and the District Education Officer. What concerned the Danish youth the most was the lack of progress in land distribution and reluctance of the government to provide teachers to the schools to be built by BASE under the OD programme. It was my impression that the two government representatives could not convince the Danish students. This was reflected in a press conference, where one of the Danish participants quite roughly stated that it is not the Danish students' responsibility but that of the government to provide education to the children of ex-Kamaiyas. However, at a time when the government has not been able to reach out to the children of the ex-Kamaiyas with education programmes, the OD programme can function as a kick-starter.

Going Back

After nine days on the roads we finally returned to Kathmandu. The group was very tired. Sitting at a restaurant at Thamel and enjoying western meal the group members regretfully realized that now they had had their last dal bhat a la Terai, at least for this time. Ahead lies the challenging part of mobilizing young Danish students in collecting and donating the salary of their one day’s work to the education project in the Terai. The group of 12 Danes are going on big campaign tour at Danish high schools and technical schools telling the students about the education project in Nepal and about the ex-Kamaiays' struggle for freedom and land.