As much as I am trying to focus on completing another paper
for the last compulsory course of the program, I cannot. While I concentrate on
reading the books that are required for the course, other thoughts keep
sneaking into my mind as the experiences that I have had so far here in
Kathmandu are quite overwhelming and thoughts-invoking. So, no better way to
get rid of these thoughts than writing them down (or typing them up to be
exact).
Last weekend, I found myself yet again wandering around the
touristy area of Thamel looking for a hair salon since I was desperate and
determined to get a haircut while I am here. It is too expensive in Finland and
the result I got was not worth the money I spent. Well, I was not really
satisfied with the haircut I got here either but at least it was cheap. The
hairdresser was sweet and welcoming even though I was 2 hours late for the
appointment due to the rain. It was fast and cost me less than 2 euros
comparing to the 15 euro haircut that took more than 2 hours to be done in
Jyväskylä from an amateur vocational student.
Of course, small talks are inevitable while having a
haircut; especially in a collectivism society like Nepal. Basic questions:
where are you from? What are you doing here? How long have you been here? How
long are you going to be here? She was much surprised when I told her that I
was from Vietnam. Cannot blame her. I think very few Vietnamese travelers know
of Nepal or consider traveling to Nepal since it is typical among our society
that when we go abroad, we’d better go to rich countries like those in Europe
or North America. This might go off track a bit but I find it laughable that
when I talk to some younger Vietnamese students studying in Jyväskylä about
going to Nepal, they find it strange and ask me if I am going there to do some
charity work because they often go to France, Italy, Germany or even Greece for
their internships or exchange programs. I don’t really bother to explain since
it’s a waste of time explaining things for those with that kind of mindset. Alright,
back to the hairdresser. So, when I told her that I was doing my internship at
a non-governmental organization here in Kathmandu, she did not understand what
I was talking about. However, I suddenly remembered the same reaction coming
from a waiter in a coffee shop I went to the other day. And when I changed my
answer to the abbreviation NGO instead of full-on, spelled-out “non-governmental organization”, she immediately
understood and so did the said waiter.
Very interesting …
Now, when I am doing some thinking and also reading a piece
about aid work in Nepal from the book Development Brokers and Translators by
David Mosse and David Lewis, I realize a very interesting fact. In this piece
that I just mentioned, the author provided some statistics on the dramatic
changes in the number of NGOs registered in Nepal: “From a mere 250 in 1989,
the number of organizations registered with the Social Welfare Council in
Kathmandu shot to 1,210 in 1993 and to 5,978 by 1997.” (p. 195) Then I went on
doing some simple searching on Google to find out the most recent number. I
found an official number on an online news outlet called Kathmandu Insider
published in 2011. Apparently, as of 2011, there were approximately 50,000 NGOs
and INGOs including ones registered with the Social Welfare Council (SWC) and
those which were not registered. The official document listing registered NGOs
from SWC has total 1,126 pages listing 30,284 INGOs and NGOs. http://www.swc.org.np/SWC_NGOs_Total.pdf
That is a tremendous number of NGOs and development workers
in such a small country like Nepal. That number also gives us a hint of the
amount of money pouring into developing Nepal every year. The article on
Kathmandu Insider goes on analyzing the number: “Acting Deputy Director of the
SWC, Uma Paudyal, informed that about 34,000 NGOs have been registered with the
council to date. Moreover, there are many NGOs which have not yet registered at
the SWC. She estimates that the total number of NGOs in the country must be
around 50,000 already. Interestingly, given the population of the country,
34,000 NGOs means one NGO per 872 people! Or if the NGOs are centered on VDCs,
eight NGOs can focus on one Village Development Committee (VDC). Similarly, 202 INGOs are working with the SWC,
according to the latter. That being the case, it would not be wrong to expect
far more from these non-profit organizations.” Unbelievable, right?
 |
| [I saw the sign of this project just across the road from Chinese Embassy] |
First, it’s obvious that the term NGO has become a popular
concept to Nepali, especially those living in Kathmandu. However, from the
experiences I've had so far, I doubt that aside from development workers and
their families, most Nepali do not understand what NGO even stands for;
evidently the cases of the hairdresser and the waiter (and now, when I think about it, it's the same case with the guy who sells momo near where I live and claims to be my friend after selling me momo twice, haha) . I think they might have
a vague idea what NGO workers might be doing but not really the whole picture.
And of course, due to the huge number of NGOs, the expat community here in
Kathmandu is incredibly large. There are two common questions posed for
foreigners here: “Are you here to trek?” and “Are you working for an NGO?” Just
like in Vietnam: “Are you here to travel?” and “Are you here to teach English?”
And some Western NGO workers in Vietnam would be angry when asked if they teach
English because they think that’s stereotype.
Secondly, I have to ask myself very obvious questions: With
that incredible number of NGOs, why is Nepal still considered among the poorest
countries in the world? What have they done for the past 25 years that this
status hasn't changed at all?
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