Nepal Now: On the move

Hi everyone. I’m Marty Logan. Thank you for clicking on this episode of Nepal Now: On the Move, where we speak with some of the huge number of people leaving – and occasionally returning – to this country wedged between India and China. Bharat Adhikari is another former migrant worker who returned to live in Nepal, but his story could hardly be more different than Sushma’s, who we heard from in a previous episode. I chatted recently with Bharat at the Himal Media studio in Patan Dhoka. After more than a decade working in the retail sector in the Persian Gulf countries of Oman and Dubai, Bharat and his family decided it was time to come home. He describes the aha! moment when he returned home from work one day and realized that his mother and daughter had almost everything that money could buy to make them happy living overseas – but not a community. Bharat broke the news to his boss in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the man suggested he was crazy. But Bharat insisted that it was the best thing for his ageing mother and young daughter, and finally convinced him (although today he still gets offers from his former employer in Dubai to return). Aside from the decision to leave his successful career in exchange for society and culture in Nepal, what I find interesting about Bharat’s story is that his first venture here failed. Well not exactly – he gave up on starting a new business when he realized that he would have to ingratiate himself with government officials. Bharat understood then that having worked only in Gulf countries, he needed to be operating within a disciplined system. Luckily he’s now found it in his new job. Please listen now to my conversation with Bharat Adhikari. Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

This is the first episode of our new micro-series: Nepal Now: Right Now. These pieces will fill the gap between regular full episodes of the show, which are published every two weeks. About 5 minutes long, they will be published on alternate weeks and will focus on past and upcoming episodes — including listener feedback — sharing news about migration and Nepal, and anything else relevant to Nepal Now.Let us know what you think of this new addition to the show, and about this first episode in particular. ResourcesArticle quoting Nepal's Prime Minister Dahal on youth migrationSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. I’m Marty Logan. Thank you for choosing to listen to Nepal Now: On the Move from the literally millions of podcasts available. This is our third episode since we shifted the show’s focus to migration — to, from, and within Nepal. And, I gotta say: I’m biting my nails waiting for feedback from you listeners — especially long-time fans. Good, bad or indifferent, I want to hear it. Your responses are the best way for me to see how I might improve the show. So please take a minute to leave a comment on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, email me at nepalnowpod(at)gmail.com, or leave a review on Spotify or Apple podcasts. Today we’re speaking with another returnee to Nepal, but one with a much different story than what we heard from baker/entrepreneur Aanchal last week. We’re calling her Sushma, which is not her real name, because she has received threats from people who were involved in sending her to work in Kuwait. Sushma has filed a report with police, but nothing had come of it as of March 31st. The good news is that she is back home with her children, who she was very worried about, and taking medication. Sushma left her village in Nepal’s Karnali region last November, and within a month was in Dubai, waiting to be taken to a job in Kuwait. She arrived there after a month but stayed only 3 months because she fell ill — but not before being threatened with harm if she didn’t go back to work. She also saw another worker being hit by a house owner, had her phone taken away, and was told by employers in another house that she couldn’t leave because “We bought you.”Back in Nepal, Sushma, who didn’t attend school as a child and used to earn money in her village by manually breaking stones, is now saddled with a huge debt after her family mortgaged land to pay the agent for her ticket home. But given what she experienced in her brief stay in Kuwait, that seems far better than other possible outcomes.This is the first episode where I worked with an interpreter, Pranika Koyu, who was in the studio with Sushma and I. She did an amazing job, but occasionally you might hear that I left out a voice when I shouldn’t have. That and any other editing errors are mine. A couple other notes: you’ll hear us talk about lakhs of money: 1 lakh is 100,000 Nepali rupees, which is about $750. Sushma says sometimes that the agent demanded 3 lakhs, 50,000 rupees for her return; other times she says 3 lakhs 20,000. We settled on the last amount. Finally, near the end of our conversation I ask Sushma about something I had heard earlier in the day about her police case. I deliberately deleted the name of the person who told me, for the same security reasons.Just one more thing: I recently found out that there are two versions of the show on Apple Podcasts. I have no idea how that happened but it means I need to delete one. The choice is easy: one has all the episodes and one has fewer; one has quite a few subscribers – I like to think – and one has only about 20. So that second one I’m going to delete tomorrow. If you listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, just be aware of that. And if you notice something has changed, particularly if you can’t listen to the show anymore, I suggest that you delete the show and then resubscribe or re-follow, however it works on Apple. If you have any problems beyond that, please let me know. ResourcesSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. I'm Marty Logan. Thank you for listening to Nepal Now: On the Move. Let me know what you think of this episode, and if you have ideas for future guests. My email is nepalnowpod@gmail.com. I’ve done about 10 interviews to date for the show and I can see that it’s going to be much more difficult to find female guests than male ones, so please do send me tips about women who I might speak to. As a bit of a teaser, the people you’re going to hear from in future episodes have, for example: Gone to study in CanadaMigrated to work in Kuwait but had to return early and is now taking legal action against the people who sent them thereVoluntarily left a rising career in Oman to return to Nepal to share the country’s cultural values with their childWorked for some months in the US, then some months in Nepal, and continues to go back and forth regularly.The Covid-19 lockdown in New Delhi forced Aanchal Dutt to develop baking skills in order to satisfy her sweet tooth. Anxieties about her parents living hundreds of kilometres away in her hometown Surkhet, pushed her to give up life in the mega-city she had known from childhood to open a bakery in the small town once the restrictions had passed. Aanchal is one of a very small minority of Nepalis who are immigrating to the country instead of emigrating. But her/their story is important to hear if Nepal is to slow the now torrential flow of people leaving the country for what they hear are better opportunities abroad. Since I’ve been working on this revamped show, I’m quite sure that Aanchal is the only young Nepali I’ve met who hasn’t wanted to migrate and has actually returned here. The Cake House is now thriving, as a family affair, which I’m happy to say I witnessed when I was in Surkhet. (Btw, if you need a recommendation, the favourite sweet is cheesecake). Aanchal has also fallen in love with an alternative school that practises an holistic approach to learning, and is teaching English there. She says she understands why young people are leaving the country, but passionately urges them to return to help build a better Nepal.Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Thanks for listening to this first episode of Nepal Now: On the Move. I know there are literally millions of podcasts out there competing for your listening time, so I appreciate that you chose this one.My name is Marty Logan. I’m a Canadian journalist who has lived in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on and off since 2005. You can reach me with feedback on anything you hear on Nepal Now or ideas for guests at nepalnowpod(at)gmail.com. If you’re not familiar with the show, Nepal Now has been around for a while — I published more than 60 episodes from June 2020 to June 2023. And here we are again. Why am I back? you might be wondering. You can listen to the new trailer for a full explanation. The short answer is that I think I still have something to contribute to informing people — both Nepalis and foreigners — about this country and I think I’ve found a way to make it more engaging.To jump right in, today we’re speaking with Prem Awasthi. Prem worked for the United Nations in Nepal for 18 years, dealing with the growing number of humanitarian emergencies in the country. In December 2023 he moved to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. I caught up with him just hours before his flight left Kathmandu. We talked about the many practicalities of going as well as why he was leaving, and if it’s a good thing that so many people are migrating from Nepal. Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Welcome to Nepal Now, whose new title is Nepal Now: On the Move, for reasons I’ll explain shortly. Thanks for choosing this show from among the more than 2 million podcasts now competing for your ears. I’m back! And since my last episode was titled Thank you and goodbye! I guess I should explain. But first, if you don’t know me, my name is Marty Logan. I’ve been a journalist for more than 30 years, in my native Canada, Malaysia and Nepal, where my wife is from. We’ve lived here since 2016 and before that from 2005 to 2010, when I worked with the UN human rights office. Since 2016 I’ve been reporting regularly about health and human rights issues; I started Nepal Now in June 2020 and uploaded my last episode in June 2023.Actually, I’ve been thinking about reviving the show ever since recording that ‘final’ episode. I even kept paying to host it all this time, although I wasn’t uploading new episodes. I did that partly because I felt like I still had things to say. And also, I know that a small, but steadily growing, number of people were listening. That, I realized, is something special: that some people will devote time in their very full lives to pay attention to what I have to say. I also thought that with a new format I could share information in a more engaging way. After three decades as a journalist, I believe more strongly than ever that almost everyone wants to hear stories. They’re happy learning something new but happiest if that content is presented in an engaging way – to put it simply, a story about people that has a narrative arc. So in this series I want to talk about migration — which is a mammoth issue in today’s Nepal, with social, cultural, and political impacts that go beyond the economic ones we usually hear about — AND I want to make it more entertaining.And finally, honestly, I admit that I am happy performing. Hosting a podcast is a type of performance, and I enjoy asking questions and trying to make a connection with a guest in the short amount of time that we have together. Ideally this season I’ll be speaking with people multiple times – as they prepare to leave Nepal (or in some cases return here) and then at least once after they’ve arrived.Of course, migration is nothing new for Nepal. Gurkha soldiers are one of the country’s best known exports, and have been joining the UK and Indian armies, and other forces, since the early 19th century. But the scale of today’s migration is awe-inspiring, and to many people, troubling. We will talk to the Nepalis making those trips, and others linked to the migration phenomenon, to try and make sense of this mass movementBy the way, we covered migration in the second episode of Nepal Now 1, if you want to check that out. The link will be in the show notes.I hope you like the new music and the logo. The tune was composed by Jason Shaw, whose website is audionautix.com. The logo is by Sweven Visuals. Finally, thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal (ACORAB) and Himal Media for letting me record in their studiosIf what I’ve said interests you, listen now to the first full episode of Nepal NoSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me for this new episode of Nepal Now. I’m Marty Logan. You might have noticed that this is an extra short episode. Frankly, that’s because it will be the last one. After 3 years I’m saying goodbye. Why? Put simply, I don’t have the energy to keep the show going any more. I didn’t want to announce this at the end of the last full episode, because then I wouldn’t have had the chance to say this: Thanks to all of you who are listening and to everyone who ‘tuned in’ for one or more of the 64 episodes. I hope you took something away from the experience. I certainly did. I ‘met’ a lot of people, most of them online, as you do in this globalized world in the era of Covid-19. I especially appreciate the chats I had with younger guests — which is most of them : -). I think their approach to life rubbed off on me a little, and that’s a good thing. If I have one regret it’s that I wish Nepal Now had been a little more entertaining, as opposed to informative. My journalism, mainly reporting on women and children’s health and on human rights, often focuses on serious topics but, personally, I appreciate a good laugh. Looking back, I think that I should have included more of them in this work... Next time, I hope. A very big thank you to all of my guests, young and old, for sharing their time. I will single out the first guest, Nayantara Gurung Kakshapati, who very easily said yes to my invitation — and even loaned me an audio recorder afterwards. Special thanks to Lori, Shayne, Thom and Nicole, for encouraging me to keep going when I got discouraged way too early in this project. And to Suraya for helping me with social media, especially Instagram, where I was a total newbie. My biggest thank you goes to Niku, who was my advisor on all things Nepali, an insightful critic of my first drafts, and my biggest supporter. This might sound strange given that I’m ending Nepal Now, but I feel like doing this podcast helped to spark my creativity in recent years. I have always enjoyed audio as a medium for journalism and hope to continue using it in my future work. Till then, you can find me on social media and check out my latest work on my Linktree — I’m martydlogan. You will be able to listen to any episodes of the show that you’ve missed on your podcast app until mid-July. After that, they’ll have a home on YouTube — look for @NepalNowPod.Speaking of chuckles, I want to leave you with an outtake from another podcast I’ve hosted — Strive, by IPS News. Bye for now. Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me for this new episode of Nepal Now, the podcast where we highlight different ideas and actions to move the country forward. I’m Marty Logan. Thanks to those of you who filled out the poll on our last episode, about Jumli Marsi rice. It’s available if you listen on Spotify, and I post a new poll and a question there with each episode. This poll was tricky: Do you think the growing trend of selling nutritious crops instead of consuming them is good for farm families? That contradiction was reflected in the poll’s results, with most people choosing they ‘Didn’t know’ if it was a positive or negative development. If you’re listening on Spotify look for the poll, and a separate question, that you can answer about this episode. No matter where you hear Nepal Now, you can always send me a comment, or question, to martylogancomms@gmail.com. OK, on with today’s chat... I’ve noticed a huge difference in publicity around the topic of mental health since I returned to Nepal in 2016, compared to when I lived here from 2005 to 2010. The subject is highlighted in the news media more regularly, and certainly on social media. Also, there seem to be many more organizations offering mental health education or treatment, both to individuals and to organizations. For example, a couple years ago I interviewed someone from an NGO that is creating quiet spaces it calls ‘counselling rooms’ in schools in some pilot districts. You can find the link to that episode in the notes to this show. Growing recognition of the importance of mental health might be one of the few positive results of recent disasters, like the 2014 earthquake and the Covid-19 pandemic, notes today’s guest, consultant psychologist Sneha Agarwal Chaudhary. Still, it is alarming that the suicide rate in the country continues to rise steadily. Sneha and I also chat about a few popular perceptions / conceptions of mental health counselling, like the cost and confidentiality, then turn to discuss particular groups of people who make up the audience of this podcast. These include young people in general as well as those who leave Nepal temporarily to either work or study. I think the main takeaway from our conversation is: If you’re concerned about your mental health, find someone you can talk to.  As today’s conversation includes talk of suicide – please take special care while listening. ResourcesNepal National Suicide Prevention Helpline — Telephone 1166Previous episode on mental health – Training teens on mental healthNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: Apoxode Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Thank you for being here for this new episode of Nepal Now, the podcast where we highlight different ideas and actions to move the country forward. I’m Marty Logan. Here’s something new — did you know you can listen to Nepal Now on your smart speaker? Just ask Siri, Alexa or whoever you’re talking with to ‘play Nepal Now podcast’ and you’ll hear my voice. OK, on with this episode, one I really enjoyed because our initial discussion about why the Government of Nepal invested 13 years into improving a strain of rice – even if it is the famous jumli marsi red rice -  mophed into a broader chat about poor farmers growing crops for export instead of for personal consumption. As its name suggests, the rice is grown in Jumla, a district of the Karnali region in west Nepal, typically described as one of the country’s most remote and poorest areas. I remember going there 17 years ago with the World Food Programme as it helicoptered in rice during an ‘emergency operation’ because prolonged drought had withered crops. But things are slowly improving. For example, a major hospital, Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, is regularly praised for providing services, rather than for the lack of such, which is often the reason rural health facilities make headlines. Today’s guest, senior scientist and molecular breeder Resham Babu Amagain of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council, tells us that he thinks the livelihoods of poor farmers are also improving, largely because they are now selling what they grow – to Nepal’s middle class, eager to indulge in what they consider nutritious local food. (A 2018 photo of the current prime minister, and his predecessor, dining on jumli marsi helped to cement the rice’s reputation). Before we play today’s chat, a quick reminder that you can show your appreciation for the work that goes into making Nepal Now clicking on the white ‘support’ button at the middle left of our homepage and making a contribution. If you have any questions or suggestions about this, or about the show in general — feedback on what you hear, an idea for an episode, or anything at all — you can write to me at martylogancomms@gmail.com.Please listen now to my chat with Resham Babu Amagain.ResourcesKathmandu Post story about the improved jumli marsiNepali Times article on jumli marsiNepal Agricultural Research CouncilNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: Apoxode Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Thank you for being here for this new episode of Nepal Now, the podcast where we highlight different ideas and actions to move the country forward. I’m Marty Logan. A quick reminder that you can back the work that goes into creating this show, by clicking on the white ‘support’ button at the middle left of our homepage and making a contribution. If you have any questions or suggestions about this, or about the show in general — feedback on what you hear, an idea for an episode, or anything at all — you can write to me at martylogancomms@gmail.com.If you’re at least in your 20s you’ve probably heard of Tootle. It was the first ride-sharing app to operate in Nepal, starting in 2016. Today there is a multitude of competitors, from Pathao to InDriver, Bolt and more. In this episode, Tootle’s founder, Sixit Bhatta, tells us that he’s happy to see how the marketplace has developed since his project to track a bus on its route evolved into one of the country’s earliest forays into the so-called sharing economy. And he adds that he’s moving onto new things. Hint: They’re about as far away from Kathmandu’s traffic jams as he can get, both literally and figuratively. But you have to wonder how things might have turned out if the government hadn’t delivered a ‘knockout blow’ to his new, local business via a tax bill that today’s ride-sharing ventures, backed by international resources, do not have to face. Sixit is surprisingly philosophical about this, preferring to focus on the ground that Tootle broke. That includes getting customers used to taking a lift from a motorcycle-riding stranger and — for the drivers — losing the ‘shame’ of accepting money for their work.I think you’ll be surprised at his answer when I ask Sixit for one piece of advice he would give to entrepreneurs just starting out... I was.Please listen now to my chat with Sixit Bhatta. Resources Book mentioned by Sixit – Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenanceTootle Facebook page (not updated)Nepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: Apoxode Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. Thank you for being here for this new episode of Nepal Now, the podcast where we highlight different ideas and ways of moving the country forward. I’m Marty Logan, and I hope you can hear those birds chirping in the background. We just had a light rain so they've come out to celebrate. Before we get into this episode, I want to let you know that you’re now able to support Nepal Now financially — if you wish. Go to our website, nepalnow.buzzsprout.com, then to the narrow black box titled Nepal Now +, where you can click to support the show. I’ve also included the link in the notes to this episode. This is strictly voluntary; we will not restrict new episodes to people who support us, but it will help pay for the time that we put into the show. And, I must say, for me it is also a vote of confidence in our work. If you have any questions or suggestions you can write to me at martylogancomms@gmail.com. Thank you.Today we’re speaking with Dr Mandira Sharma, a human rights activist, founder of the NGO Advocacy Forum, and senior international legal advisor at the International Commission of Jurists. She was involved in the very first exhumation of a body in a conflict-related case in Nepal, in 2007, and has been training in the process since then as a non-medical expert. Mandira says that Nepal has been slow to undertake exhumations to try to find some of the more than 3,000 people said to be ‘disappeared’ during the conflict, from 1996 to 2006. It has also neglected to develop technical expertise and policies and guidelines to undertake the work. We also chat about how exhumation fits into the four pillars of transitional justice and if Nepal is neglecting most of those pillars. Finally, Mandira argues that the state of the country today, including economic under-development and political instability can be traced back to the impunity that has reigned over Nepal since before the conflict.Importantly, in the days following our recording, a case was filed in Nepal’s Supreme Court against Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Known as Prachanda when he led the Maoist uprising, in 2020 Dahal admitted that the Maoists were responsible for 5,000 of the 17,000 people estimated killed during the conflict. Starting on Thursday, the Supreme Court will hear if the prime minister should be investigated for that crime. And a warning before we start: This episode discusses exhumation of the bodies of victims of conflict. Please take care while listening. Resources-       Mandira Sharma on Twitter-       Ongoing news about the case against Prime Minister Dahal-       Support Nepal NowNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

You can now support Nepal Now. Hi everyone. This is Marty Logan. Apologies for the long delay between episodes. I finally made it home for the holidays after four years being delayed by Covid and took advantage with a longer than usual break. So, welcome back to Nepal Now, if you’re a return listener; greetings to those of you who are here for the first time. What I’m trying to do with this podcast is highlight some alternatives to the usual routes and ideas about so-called development in Nepal. If you have any suggestions for future episodes please write to me at martydlogan@proton.me.We’ve all made asses of ourselves at one time or another. Unfortunately for me, it seems that those are some of my most enduring memories. But today’s guest actually made a career out of it — not of messing up but of being The Ass, the author of a satirical column that ran on the back page of the Nepali Times newspaper for more than two decades. As full-time publisher and editor of the weekly paper he says that writing the column went way beyond horsing around. In fact, more than once during our chat he describes satire as serious business — it’s a way to hint at what is really going on in the halls of power without playing by the regular rules of journalism, but if you cross a line and hit too hard — or too low — you could find yourself in a heap of — well, you know what. The Ass says that after decades of poking fun at Nepal’s leaders he started to repeat himself — which isn’t surprising as the politicians themselves have been revolving in and out of the top posts for just as long. At some point he also realized that the reality of party politics was actually more ridiculous than anything he could dream up. So, The Ass is out to pasture and today says he is sleeping like a foal once again. We also discuss the birth and evolution of Nepali Times, which started off as a cash cow — apologies for the mixed animal metaphors in this episode — but soon became known as a media that reported on life in Nepal beyond the Kathmandu bubble, particularly during the Maoist insurgency, from 1996 to 2006. A quick note: early in the episode The Ass talks about the panchayat, which was the party-less system of government that reigned in Nepal before democracy was restored in 1990. ResourcesThe Ass' column, BacksideNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Hi everyone. This is Marty Logan. Welcome to Nepal Now.It’s been an up-and-down year for me, and for the podcast, as I’m sure it has for many of you. But thanks to support from you listeners I’ve been motivated to keep it going. So thank you all for that. These will be my last words through the podcast for 2022, but before I say goodbye I want to ask you to do one more thing. I’ve created a very short survey to help me decide if we should tweak Nepal Now in 2023 and I need your input. I’ve pasted the link in the notes to this episode. Filling it out should take you no more than 2 minutes — no exaggeration, it took me under 1 minute.Besides doing the survey, you can always contact me with ideas for guests or any other feedback at my new email address: martyloganstuff@proton.me.Thank you in advance. And special thank you's to Thom, Nicole and Lori for their encouragement, to all the guests who shared their time and ideas with me in 2022, and especially to Niku, whose support goes way beyond Nepal Now.Bye for now. I’ll talk to you again next year!ResourcesPlease fill out the surveyNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Welcome to Nepal Now, the podcast where we explore new ideas and innovations to move the country forward. My name is Marty Logan. Thank you for joining me today a in my noisy neighbourhood. It feels like it’s construction season in this part of Kathmandu – but on with the show as they say!Like what seems to  be a growing number of Nepalis, Rumee Singh always had an itch to return home and use her abilities to improve her own country. She went overseas to finish her education and then scored a “cushy” job in the corporate world in New York, but when a year-long stint in Dubai ended, she and her Nepali husband chose to return east instead of west. The move paid off. Her work has been recognized with an investment from something called the UNICEF Innovation Fund, which puts money into development solutions based on blockchain technology. (Don’t worry – Rumee and I describe blockchain in simple terms in our chat coming up).Rumee’s innovation, Rahat (‘relief’ in Nepali) is a digital payment system for humanitarian emergencies, such as following natural disasters like flooding. It’s a way to get money, or even goods, to affected people using mobile phones. Rahat’s advantage is that every transaction is tracked and because it uses blockchain, anyone anywhere can go online and see all those dealings — creating a huge barrier to corruption. It's simple, but also complicated in some ways, explains Rumee. For example, not everyone post-disaster has access to a phone, so those people might actually receive physical cards that they can exchange for money or goods. Another wrinkle is that even people who do have phones don’t always know how to use them — even for simple things like receiving a text message — so Rahat has to do digital literacy sessions in some areas. But overall, results from early tests have been positive and now Rahat is doing a pilot project with the UNICEF country office here. If all goes well, Rumee thinks that her innovation could succeed beyond Nepal, especially because Rahat is based on blockchain, which is borderless. She encourages her countrywomen and men overseas who are considering a move home to take the plunge. It can be frustrating, she says, but it’s also cheaper to set up a business, the talent pool is deep, and it’s familiar territory. If you have any thoughts about this episode, or ideas for future ones, let me know. My email is marty@martylogan.net. ResourcesRahatUNICEF Innovation FundNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Thank you for joining me today. I think it’s fair to say that the discussion you’re going to hear raises at least as many questions as it answers. We’re talking about domestic abuse and women who leave Nepal to work abroad. Labour migration is a huge part of the country’s economy and, as I think this episode reveals, it has a major impact on many other aspects of life here. Earlier this century the money that migrant workers sent home accounted for close to 1/3 of Nepal’s entire economy; today it is closer to a quarter – still a major chunk of what keeps this country going. Today I’m speaking with Dr Arjun Kharel, assistant professor of sociology at Tribhuvan University and a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility. He and co-author Amrita Gurung recently published a paper that looks at spousal abuse experienced by 148 Nepali women who worked in various countries overseas. Much has been reported about women migrant workers who are abused in their working countries but this research focuses on domestic abuse faced by women in Nepal before and after they worked overseas, mostly in Persian Gulf countries or Malaysia. These are – aside from Nepal’s neighbour India – the main destination countries for Nepali workers, women and men. One of the main findings of the research, which surprised the academics, is that women migrant workers did not face higher levels of abuse after they returned home. Researchers expected that because there is such a stigma about women who go abroad alone, specifically that they will hook up with other men that female migrants would be ‘punished’ after returning home. Another surprising finding was that the women surveyed believed that it was OK for men to beat women in certain circumstances, for example if they were not caring for children properly. In that sense, their opinions matched those of Nepali women in general, whereas researchers thought that exposure to another culture might affect the migrants’ thinking about abuse. Other questions that I think the research raises include: how many Nepali women who leave for overseas work are abused and how big a factor is that abuse in their decision to leave? Arjun does have answers based on his research, as you’ll hear, but I think this needs to be examined further. Also, why isn’t more being done to prevent domestic abuse in general, which in turn might reduce the number of women who feel they have to leave the country? I could go on, but instead please listen now to my chat with Dr Arjun Kharel to learn more. ResourcesResearch paper — Women's Participation in Foreign Labour Migration and Spousal Violence: A Study on Returnee Women Migrant Workers in NepalOur earlier episode – The Labour Migration TrapNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed underSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

I reached out to Gyanu Adhikari wondering if I had missed the boat. I wanted to speak to him about co-founding The Record, an online news portal that started publishing in 2014, but the website had stopped posting new information this past July. I probably should have contacted him two years earlier, after I started this podcast, but I think as a media person myself I just took the website for granted as another media portal not as an experiment in providing news without advertising and in multiple formats. So I was happily surprised when Gyanu agreed to an interview – but startled when he said that what he really wanted to discuss was his optimism about Nepal’s future. It’s rare to hear that view. Instead, what many people seem to want to talk about are government failures: the lack of action on air pollution and to combat health crises like Covid-19 and the ongoing dengue outbreak. Myself, I can easily get fixated on the glacial progress toward solving long-standing issues, like lack of healthcare in rural areas and the mind-boggling neglect of preparations for the inevitable disasters that occur during the monsoon. So it was really good to hear from someone who can see beyond the obvious problems. Back to The Record, and journalism in Nepal more broadly. Here I think Gyanu was hopeful rather than optimistic. Hopeful that some young, entrepreneurial media people would build on The Record’s record, in particular counting on subscribers instead of advertisers to generate the resources to keep the portal running, and with an eye to maintaining its independence. That would be easier today than when the site was launched thanks to huge advances in online payment services, Gyanu pointed out. Perhaps the new operation could be bilingual too, he suggested.This conversation reminded me of my chat with Shailee Basnet, who has climbed Mt Everest and is now a stand-up comic, motivational speaker and mentor to young women. When I asked her in 2021 why so many Nepalis were reaching global heights, as climbers, chefs, performers, etc, she made it sound like a natural evolution, part of the country’s so-called development if you like. I still feel that it is largely the people of Nepal who are leading the country forward rather than its leaders. As you’ll hear, Gyanu disagrees with me. Listen to our chat now to learn more. ResourcesWebsite of The RecordGyanu Adhikari on TwitterNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Welcome to Nepal Now, the podcast where we discuss new ideas and approaches to move the country forward. My name is Marty Logan. Thanks for joining me for this episode, which, if you’re counting, is #52. You might be wondering what happened to the video version of the last episode, my chat with Sanjib Chaudhary. Well, that’s a good question. I received a rough cut and suggested two changes — and weeks later I’m still waiting for the updated version. I promise to let you know if it ever appears.If you’ve been listening to Nepal Now for a while you’ll know that I sometimes switch up the usual 1-1 interview format. A couple episodes back I was at a college collecting opinions from journalism students, and before that I twice visited a village in Sindhupalchowk district, to see the state of maternal health. Today is also different. This episode is based on an interview I first recorded for Strive, a podcast I host for Inter Press Service – or IPS – News. We talked so much about Nepal, as an example, that I thought you might be interested in hearing it too. The focus is human rights, specifically a new approach to assessing countries’ human rights performance. I’ve been reporting about human rights for many years and I know that more often than not governments will respond to articles about serious violations, including killings, by saying that it didn’t happen that way or even if it did, it was a one-time incident that doesn’t represent a pattern. I think those types of reactions might be happening more often in this age of misinformation and disinformation. Too often the issue ends there, with no consequences. The great thing about today’s topic, the Human Rights Measurement Initiative’s Rights Tracker, is that it quantifies governments’ performances, based on objective data, in some cases, and on in-depth interviews in others. It’s not a perfect system, as you’ll hear, but combined with the existing ‘naming and shaming’ approach, it could be a better way to ensure that human rights are respected.Please listen now to my chat with Stephen Bagwell from HRMI and the University of Missouri, St Louis. ResourcesHuman Rights Measurement InitiativeNepal page on HRMI's Rights TrackerNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Welcome to Nepal Now, the podcast where we discuss new ideas and approaches to move the country forward. My name is Marty Logan. I hope you don’t mind a slight digression to start. A few weeks ago I met a friend, someone I see every few months. One of the first things he said to me was, 'I see your podcast is on a break'. We chatted for a while and later I realized that I had no idea he kept up with the show. This has happened to me regularly this year: every so often I meet someone who says they've been listening or that they met someone who mentioned Nepal Now. When I started the show more than two years ago I imagined it becoming a viable piece of journalism, one that might generate a buzz, or at least a mention, among people interested in development and positive change. From what I can tell, that has not happened. I think we've gathered a small audience, like my friend above, which is relatively stable but not evidently growing. This has discouraged me – and I will admit, after musing over the future of Nepal Now regularly during the past couple of years, that I might discourage too easily. But now I wonder if I've failed to communicate clearly to you, dear listeners, my vision for the podcast. So I will say very clearly now — I'm not doing this as a hobby, but as a journalism initiative. And frankly speaking, I think that we could have, and should have, more listeners, but I need your help to spread the word and attract more fans. That’s how we will make Nepal Now a sustainable venture. So please, share this episode with at least one other person you think would like it . You can click on the share icon (the one with the up-pointing arrow) in your podcast app, which is probably where you’re listening now. On social media it's even easier — just share one of our posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.Thanks very much. Now on with the episode.Today we’re chatting with Sanjib Chaudhary. He’s a communicator I got to know through his Twitter account, where he posts about the food, flora and fauna of Nepal’s tarai or plains region. Many of his Tweets are about the culture of the Tharu indigenous people, who are native to the tarai, or Madhesh region. Sanjib himself is Tharu. And now, since it seems to be a day for speaking frankly, I have to tell you. When I invited Sanjib on the show I assumed that his social media activity was driven by Tharu nationalism, or Madhesi nationalism. But after you listen to our conversation I think you’ll agree that’s probably not the case—Sanjib just wants to share the new things that he discovers on his travels. And one other confession: I put Sanjib through the nerve-wracking experience of recording this episode in visual as well as audio format. Sure he works in communications, so putting on a lapel mic, posing for cameras, and being told you can move your hands here but not there was nothing new to him. But it’s still something he didn’t sign up for when I invited him on the show. This episode will be available on the Nepal Now YouTube channel as soon as I work up the nerve to see how funny I looked on video.ResourcesSanjib Chaudhary on TwitterSanjib on InstagramNepal Now social linksSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Welcome to Nepal Now. My name is Marty Logan. I’m back after a long break – thanks for joining me. Today we’re doing something different. On Aug 21st I was at St. Xavier’s College in Kathmandu, talking with journalism students about podcasting. Actually, I tried to keep the talking part to a minimum — our main task was to create this episode that you’re listening to now. The theme of the session was: When you’re a journalist, how will you do journalism differently?  I was impressed with the ideas expressed by the students, who are between 18 and 22 years old, and still have three years of studies to complete. On the positive side, one noted the growing accessibility of global news, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. But others pointed out faults of Nepal’s media, including the lack of female talk show hosts and the concentration of media in the capital, Kathmandu.    They also offered many suggestions for improving the industry. One shared her passion for becoming a voice for the voiceless, another of covering stories about minority communities, and a third would aim to tackle fake news and misinformation. More than one student believes it’s important to divert the current focus of Nepal’s journalism from politics to other aspects of society. Other approaches, like storytelling and citizen journalism, were also offered as new directions. A quick note to say that the sound is more echo-y than usual today because we recorded in a classroom at the college. I forgot to record the questions during the session so I added them afterwards.ResourcesSt. Xavier's CollegeNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.

Welcome to Nepal Now, the podcast where we discuss new ideas and initiatives to move the country forward. My name is Marty Logan. A lot has happened around menstrual health issues in Nepal in recent years. And it seems that all that work is bearing fruit. In its last budget the government pledged to drastically cut the tax and import duty on menstrual hygiene products, while a toolkit created by a group of organizations will soon be distributed in government schools. Today’s guests have taken very different routes to contribute to better menstrual health. Working with 80 young Nepali illustrators, Sophie Maliphant  has just published the book Kumari’s Adventure with her Moon Cycle to help young girls, and others, to understand the changes in their bodies with menstruation. Gyan Maharjan has been called Nepal’s Pad man for his efforts to create chemical-free, climate-friendly pads and make them available country wide. And Neeta Timsina has introduced menstrual leave for employees in her company. Of course much more remains to be done. As Gyan points out, only one-third of the bathrooms in government schools have reliable running water, a prerequisite for good hygiene. While chhaupadi, the practice of segregating women — usually in small, unsafe sheds outdoors — after giving birth or when having their periods, happens mostly in Far Western Nepal, women in every type of household in all parts of the country face discrimination when menstruating. And, as we all know, government budget pledges are only the first step to seeing changes made on the ground. Finally, we people living in the capital Kathmandu – particularly those of us who spend much of our days online – have a skewed understanding of life in Nepal. Awareness-raising efforts need to focus on the country’s villages. Here, recently elected local governments, which have proven to be effective in other health and education ventures, should be enlisted as partners. Please listen now to my chat with Neeta Timsina, Gyan Maharjan and Sophie Maliphant. This is episode #50 of Nepal Now. Thank you to everyone who’s helped us reach this mark, and to you for listening. After two years we’re going to take a break and will be back in September.  Meanwhile, if you haven’t been with us from Day 1, please take the time to check out our 49 previous episodes. ResourcesKumari’s Adventure with her Moon Cycle — Book by Sophie Maliphant and othersX-pose Nepal — Gyan Maharjan’s organizationZendatum — Neeta Timsina’s company Nepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeSend us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Nepal and Himal Media for use of their studios.