Back to Dhankuta & wrapping up
Originally I expected to stay in Terhathum for around three weeks, similarly to our plan for Dhankuta and data collection within that district. However, a few events played out that made us make our way back to Dhankuta after only a little over a week in Terhathum.
A) We received an email immediately upon arriving that our in country partners were planning a workshop that they wanted us to attend (never mind the fact that we actually don't speak Nepali) July 2nd - 3rd.
B) Turns out no one in Terhathum actually harvests the products my partner Alli and I are working on. In Dhankuta they harvest it.
C) The hotel room... well it certainly created conditions that made me more than excited to come back to our buggy Dhankuta hotel and appreciate it in all of its fully-accessorized bathroomness.
So we're back! Yesterday and today were spent at a workshop that was held between our two partners, ForestAction and Rural Reconstruction Nepal, as well as local entrepreneurs, community organizers and micro-lenders. Despite not fully understanding what was going on most of the time (reminded me of all of those workshops in Ecuador that were held in Quechua), the various parts that were translated for us seemed to be really interesting and overall it seemed to provide a great forum for various stakeholders to get together and discuss the current constraints as well as the proposed solutions. I'd say it was a success! It also included a free breakfast and lunch, which the grad student in me appreciated greatly.
Currently we're still working on gathering data on the latter half of our value chain - the involvement of contractors and processing and production companies in the khayar marketing process. Still we continue to hit barriers of working around a 'timber mafia' which controls information as well as hidden transactions, as well as the standard issue of not being able to get correct numbers due to tax evasion of the companies. On top of that, there's the issue of how to represent these situations within our presentations. Do we just call out what's actually going on in front of those controlling these corruption mechanisms, which could risk their relationships with the partners we're working with? Or do we completely overlook the serious issues in order to appease all parties involved? Needless to say, we're working on a balance between the two.
As for our personal lives - everyone's spirits have seemed to elevate greatly since hitting the half way point. Some days it would just rain and we'd begin to believe that we're absolutely never leaving this country, and other days it feels like home is just around the corner. Now that we're down to our final three weeks, it helps to consistently remind us to appreciate our surroundings and our lifestyles here. The views in Dhankuta (while certainly not measuring up to the views of Terhathum) are so gorgeous, and being that I'm headed back to flat Minnesota it makes me even more appreciative of watching the clouds rise up over the mountains and burn off throughout the morning. Yesterday, Alli and I strolled through the parts of town that we hadn't reached before, prior to going to our favorite banana-selling lady and stocking up on our fruits and chocolates.
Tomorrow is the fourth of July! We're hoping to maybe travel to another more touristy town (cross your fingers for tourist restaurants that involve American food) to get a break from working and explore somewhere new. Keep in mind, we haven't had a day solely of 'fun' since around May 29th, so this trip is way past due. If our plan of travelling falls through, the back up plan is to buy Lay's potato chips, order an apple pie, and drink a lot of coca-cola and pretend its our own version of a picnic.
And for anyone keeping up with the news and aware that we have a fellow MDP team in Cairo - they were evacuated this morning and will be home in a matter of hours!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday week, and I'll be stateside in about 22 days.
