T
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he situation on the ground has
not improved much in the Western Nepal despite the political changes and the
initiation of developments from the government. The issues like poverty,
illiteracy, health related problems and migration are some of major problems in
these regions. How to tackle these issues? What could be the
symptom of the existing poverty? We strongly believe that the transformation of
the heart can bring the changes in others as well. Having not sought to
transform the heart, our labors probably would have gone in vain. That is
what Christ Jesus did two thousand years ago. He always looked at the heart of
the problem. The world does not seem to be bothered by this problem.
Jesus did not come to establish a so called religion or any religious
kingdom rather his ultimate mission was to transform the human heart and life
and establish the Kingdom of God. And we are just doing what he asked us
to do – the mission that demands a transformation at the core of our heart.
Development begins from the changes in human heart therefore; Christ is the
reason for the transformation. Having said so, the Human life and Development
cannot be separated since they go hand in hand. The development is all about
the individuals’ attempts toward the overall good, therefore it should begin
from scratch and, the starting point is the changes in human lives.
Geographically, there are plenty of challenges that we observe as
transportation has been an obstacle in those regions.
The
gospel has been fairly widely shared in Bheri and some parts of Rapti (Dang)
including Seti (Kailali) and Mahakali (Kanchanpur and Dadeldhura) especially
through the Assembly of God and NCF (Nepal Christian Fellowship) churches.
Assembly of God churches are the growing fellowships in the Mid and Far Western
regions. The independent churches however are very active in the last decade to
take the gospel to other parts of the region as well. This is a positive move
in building the Kingdom of God in Nepal.
Mid-Western Region of Nepal:
Rapti (Dang,
Pyuthan, Rolpa, Rukum and Salyan)
Karnali (Dolpa, Humla, Jumla, Kalikot,
Mugu)
Bheri (Banke, Bardia, Surkhet, Dailekh and Jajarkot)
Far Western Region of Nepal:
Seti (Kailali,
Achham, Doti, Bajhang, Bajura)
Mahakali (Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, Darchula)
It is primarily assumed that the
Doti, Achham, Dadeldhura and Baitadi seem to be more needy areas where one
should be observing carefully. The Mid-western regions are not much better such
as in Karnali region where travelling is one of the major difficulties that we
have observed. The problems range from one end to another in both regions as
political parties opted to divide the regions on the basis of ethnicity and
races. Nonetheless, people from these regions have discarded such a divisional
move through the recent general election. They have given the mandate for
integrity and sovereignty.
Few months ago, one of my friends
was defending the development of those regions. I however, do not think that
the reality has been improved much looking at the amount of progress in those
regions compared to the other parts of Nepal. Transformation of livelihood and
the standard of the peoples’ status was not so impressive. The Mid Western
Region and the Far Western Region comprise 23% of Nepal’s population and 42% of
its area. The two regions are home to 703,500 adolescent girls and 1,588,175
women of reproductive age. [1] This factor is to be noted
when we talk about the development of these regions. I therefore, would rely on
the women who could be a wonderful instrument to bring the changes tomorrow. It
won’t be wrong to assume that the population of women may triple the population
of men as the most of the male folks have been pulled way to gulf countries or
in India. This is a reality of rural Nepal. However it is very sad that
the government statistics do not even count those thousands of migrants who
bypass to India daily. Their problems and issues are always swept under the
carpet as neither government nor civil agencies take notice of those groups of
people. This is very sad. The lack of employment and livelihood
opportunities for both men and women primarily lead people to migrate to India.
The absence of male groups in the villages of these regions forces the women to
take up the new challenges in the family and society. Obviously, there
are plenty of issues that cause the problems in these areas. Robert Chambers
outlines the “deprivation trap,” in which five clusters of disadvantaged people
interact with each other to trap other people in a situation of disadvantage. [2] And one of the five
clusters is poverty (others are as isolation, powerlessness, vulnerability and
physical weakness). The issue of poverty is very much linked with the other
four clusters too where people have paid less attention when it comes to
eradicating poverty. However the root cause of the Far West is not that people
are poor because of poverty. There existent phenomenal problem is that
darkness (lies, deception, evil) that has robed the people of power and made
them vulnerable and thus made them isolated from all possible access of
opportunity. Charles H. Kraft uses three important encounters- Truth, Allegiance
and Power- which are not the same, but they are each intended to initiate a
process crucial to the Christian experience aimed at a specific goal. [3] The concern of those terms
gives a clear notion that truth leads to understanding through teaching,
allegiance leads to a relationship through witnessing and power leads to
freedom through spiritual warfare.
Nonetheless, another major part
of the problems of the Mid and Far West is the so called Patriarchal Socio-cultural system that hinders the people from change. In one way or the
other, women are mostly isolated or over-burdened as male folks have to go
abroad (both gulf and India) to earn the bread and butter for the family.
Case Study[4]
Her
name is Mai. She grew up in an illiterate farming family in rural Myanmar
– in an area that suffers from an extreme and rare famine, which is caused by a
50-year bamboo flowering phenomenon. The bamboo, which only flowers once every
50 years, attracts a plague of rats, which then attack human crops and other
food stores, leading to famine and disease.
But
Mai was able to attend school, and was successful enough at her studies to be
able to travel to India to study for a Masters for Theology. For many,
that would have been the chance to leave their past behind – but not for
Mai. Despite the fact that the most recent bamboo flowering, in 2006, led
the destruction of about nine-tenths of the harvest and the bamboo
traditionally used for homes and building, Mai chose to return home to use her
education and skills to make a difference in her community.
She
is now the first female minister of the Mara Evangelical Church in Myanmar,
establishing church and community based initiatives to tackle poverty in the
rural areas. She works with women, helping them to taking the lead in
developing themselves and their families, and challenging established practices
and attitudes towards food, environment and sustainable living in existing
village institutions, structures, the church and different faith groups…
Mai
Ki says one of the biggest obstacles she faces is men's attitudes: “At first time men afraid that I will teach women liberation [by] which they mean
women will over rule the men in the family and some husbands do not want to
send their wives but later it is no more problem.
Let us look at a possible way of
transformation. Transformation starts from our positive attitude in midst of
difficult and challenging circumstances. The root of the development is
to train the people so that they would be able to free the potential, resources
and capabilities of each other.
(Note: Thank you David for your corrections and comments! I appreciate it much)
[1] Women from the Mid and Far West, http://un.org.np/oneun/undaf/women_mid_far (accessed on 31st December, 2013)
[3] Kraft, Charles H, “What kind of encounters do we need
in our Christian witness?” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 27:3 (July
1991), 24.
[4] http://davidwestlake.org/2013/10/16/creative-ways-of-tackling-poverty/ (accessed on 31st
December, 2013)
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