Ania Goes to Mt. Everest

Ania left for Nepal to climb Mt. Everest. This expedition is especially significant to Ania because this will complete her seven summit challenge- climbing the highest mountain in each continent.

I have been meaning to write this blog for a while but things are pretty busy here at St. Olaf. In less than seven weeks, I will be the first person from my family to graduate from college. The emotions are running high. at the same time, the peace school project is rolling on. I interviewed few people for the teaching position. All of them are amazing people with such a good sense of the world that exists outside of the United States. I was surprised to see the number of applicants from IVY league schools. Some of them were even in graduate school.

I am working with Erin Carson and my friends here at St. Olaf for fundraiser set for April 29th. Erin is truly amazing woman who has been supporting me from the first day we met here at St. Olaf. We hope to aware people about the status of children in Nepal and how they can be part of building this war torn country.

Back to Ania. I met Ania Lichota at the European Summit for Global Transformation (ESGT) in November 2009 in Amsterdam. This was all made possible by Rebecca Self. She is the driving force behind many of us who keep on working hard to help others in need. After my presentation at ESGT, Ania decided to help me with building the first peace school in the country. The recent fund raising trends have been amazing. I wrote this story for the Huffington Post about her expedition. Ania is such an inspirational and selfless person. She has been helping the UNICEF and the Polish Orphanages in raising money for number of years now.

Everest within reach

Since she left for Nepal, Ania has been dealing with number of bad news. In her blog, she writes that her father suffered from a stroke and one of her close friend passed away. She even contemplated returning but her father inspired her to go ahead with her plans.  Our prayers and thoughts are with her father and hope he gets well soon. Our thoughts and prayers also goes to her friend who passed away recently. Let’s hope that the bereaved family gets peace and love and the departed soul rest in peace in heaven.

My thoughts and prayers are also with Jen Lemen who is currently in Rwanda helping struggling family that she has been part of  for years now. Jen is a gem. Truly inspirational woman.

In the last few months I have learned to withstand people’s pressure,  intimidation and insults. I have become so used to and they do not bother me anymore. On a different note: few weeks back I received a letter from St. Olaf College President Anderson saying that I have been awarded the President’s Service Leadership Award. Honestly speaking, I was little sad. I feel like I do not deserve all these awards and recognition because I am just beginning my work. And I have not done anything to this point. They have nominated me for another award. I just wish I could decline all those and stay away from the spotlight all the time. I am scared that things like awards might steer me away from my focus of helping war affected children and healing the post conflict society. They are my focus and attention. I do NOT want to be highlighted in anyway whatsoever.

On the other hand, it is truly amazing how people are willing to help your cause if they believe in you. Few months back I contacted an organization called Project H-Design and talked with Matthew Miller, the architect of the organization. They go around the world and help design sustainable buildings for schools and more.  I was really impressed with their work. Matt will be traveling to my hometown to help us with our school design this summer. Lately, I have been collection tons and tons of information about sustainable way to design building in remote settings like ours. I have so many ideas and it will be exciting to work with Nepali and American Architects on the project.

In the mean time. I am also working on my speech for the graduation. If selected, I really want to give an inspiring speech

Two days after I graduate, I will be flying Berlin to participate in six-week long Humanity in Action (HIA) Summer Fellows Program. I am excited to meet young people from all around he world and see how we can work together to make our world a better place.

If you feel like supporting our work in Nepal, please donate through this link. Every penny of your contribution counts. I will ensure that 100% of the donations go to the peace school project. We will be posting all the financial details in our website once we being building the school.

Got to do my homework now.

Change Starts From Here

After much thought and soul searching, I made a decision to come to the United States for studies. I left Nepal four months after the historic People’s Revolution in 2006.

Because of the hardships we go through and the pervasive thought of “nothing can be done,” attitude, I do not think I was very optimistic back then about Nepal’s future. But I have always been wildly naïve dreamer who thinks everything can be done and solved soon enough to make everyone’s life better.

Things have changed in the last four years of my stay in this beautiful country but some of my daily routines have never altered. I wake up in the morning and browse through all the possible Nepali news websites. There is nothing positive and hopeful. It only makes me angrier. Ministers misusing taxpayers’ money in visiting countries we don’t even have good socio-economic relations, Prime Ministers and others taking their whole family to attend UN and other conferences and the story goes on and on. I do not understand taking jumbo team to such conferences when they cannot even articulate country position coherently, as very few of them speak English. I do not understand why a minster from Nepal would want to visit another country instead of focusing on solving our own problems? They should be ashamed of themselves for such visits. In addition, they do not seem to be inspired by the developments and good governance in those places. Otherwise, they should return with a zeal and aspiration to make our nation like the same. I do not understand our so called “leaders.” There is not a single politician in the country that I admire or that I want to tell my children to grow up and be like him/her. NOT A SINGLE POLITICAN has vision for the country. Everyone wants a big house, a nice car and some bank balance. I do not understand their psyche. I honestly don’t.

We the Nepalese people have been fooled again and again. Political parties and politicians show up at your doorstep before the elections with flowery promises. They do not care about our problems before and after elections. There is no accountability. There is no sense of serving others. Everyone seems to enjoy the government perks. It just makes me sick. I have closely worked with few Nepali leaders who are at present at the forefront of political landscape. I was shocked by their ignorance and stupidity. They live in this big bubble of elite, corrupted and mindless leeches in Kathmandu. For them, Indian Ambassador’s press conference matters more than the plight of people dying in Jajarkot and Dailkeh. Our politicians visit New Delhi more often than they do our villages where people are dying of diarrhea and malnutrition.  They think that US AMbassador to Nepal chats with Obama everyday! I am sure Obama may very well have no idea who the ambassador is.

I can go on and on. I have always hated our politicians. Why don’t they understand that if the country is developed everyone can have a nice house, a car and bank balance? Where is that sense of responsibility and hunger for rapidly moving forward? While India and China have outpaced us in everything, our government watches India encroach our land every day. They do not want to anger India by raising such issue because Delhi will replace that government next day. Not a single party has been able to stand up to the ruthlessness of Indian hypocrisy.

The answers to these questions is simple; at least that’s what I like to think.

EDUCATION stupid! With few exceptions, most of Nepali politicians never had proper education. They rose in party ranks not because of their capacity or goodness but by the number of years they spent in jail. The de-facto evergreen dictator Girijia Pd. Koirala killed the development of democratic institutions since he rose to power in 1990. Very rarely will Nepal have a leader who will sacrifice everything to protect family hegemony in national politics. He not only installed Madav Kumar government (who lost in the elections from two places) but also made his daughter (also lost in CA elections) deputy Prime Minister. These people do not have the slightest sense of patriotism and spirit to do good for the people. Their mind is corrupted and clouded. They all want a seat in the government and then loot the national treasury. There is this old euphemism in Nepali, daiba sanga murkha ni darauncha (Even God fears ruthless idiots). These murkhas will never realize the need for radical change in the country. They will never realize that there is now new movement reupting in the country to slowly wipeout this status quo which has strangled our people and the nation for so long. Monarchy was sent to grave but a new republic was born. But the same tainted faces are leading the change. Thus, we cannot and should not expect anything good from them.

I do not trust majority of so called NGOs and INGOs working in Nepal. Majority of people have lost faith in them. They have become puppet of our leaders. Some honest grassroots organization can never dream of getting support from these NGOs in Kathmandu while they pour millions to Nepali NGOs run by wives and brothers of government ministers and high ranking officials. These NGOs want to prolong their stay in the country because they benefit from it. Nepalese politicians and officials worship them like God. One of the best examples would be United Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). They have huge office in Nepal and UN has poured millions of dollars but the constitution drafting process has stalled. The former Maoists guerilla cases are unresolved. These missions can wag their finger  to our politicians and make things work in a second but they do not want to do so. Why would you want to expedite the mission you are assigned to when you can enjoy the highest privileges and perks in that country?

What’s Next?

The young generation is the only hope for Nepal. From my interactions with youth in Nepal during the summer of 2009, they all are waiting for a leader who can lead and inspire people to move in a different direction and reject the status quo. People’s frustrations are now surfacing in many different ways. The resurrection of arms groups in the southern part of the country is just one of many stories.

Most Nepali youth want to go abroad in quest for better life and future. No one wants to return home. I do not blame them. When people ask me of my post-graduation plan, most of them are surprised by my blunt and quick answer: “Return Nepal.” Many of my friends still do not believe that I will actually go back. With each day nearing graduation, I am ever more resolute to return. Someone has to make sacrifices. We can no longer afford to let the hooligans and thugs run the country.

I can no longer sit in my comfortable room in my fancy dorm at St. Olaf and wish I could make some difference back home. I live in two worlds and it’s hard for me to reconcile the differences.  I am not happy when I read about little Nepalese children dying of diarrhea and malnutrition. I cannot be indifferent to the daily hardships and sufferings of people in my village where I spent formative days of my life.

I am beginning my journey by building first peace school in the country. I was selected to attend the best school in Nepal from this remote village in Gorkha. My life changed in ways that I could have only imagined back in the village. I am just one story and one life. We need countless stories to move our nation forward. We need schools that teach our students to strive for honest actions; enough of rote learning and outdated curriculas. We need idealists, we need naïves, and we need dreamers. We have the potentials but young generation is not getting the opportunity to explore their vocation and dreams. I want to be one of those dreamers. I want to be one of those naïves.

Yes, I have been too busy trying to figure out the best ways to translate my ideas into actions and also trying to finish my school works. My personal relationships have gone astray because I am too busy with these “not-so-cool” things. I often do not have answer to those people who tell me it’s all too big and ambitious and that I am naïve.

Yes, I am immature, I am naïve and I am a dreamer. If we stop dreaming, I do not know how and when we are going to liberate Nepalese people from entrenched poverty and sufferings. If I am not willing to sacrifice, I do not know who will be the one? I do not know how can we wait? I do not know if I will ever succeed but at least I want to give it a try.