Nepal

Population: 30,485,798

Capital: Kathmandu

Language: Nepali

Currency: Nepalese Rupee Exchange rate: 74.5 NR = 1 US dollar

Climate: Ranges from tropical to arctic depending on the altitude.

Famous people: Siddhartha Gautama better known as Buddha was born in Nepal some time between 624 and 563 BC.

Religion: 80.62% Hindu, 10.74% Buddhist, 4.20% Muslim, 3.60% Kirant (an indigenous religion), 0.45% Christian and 0.4% are classified as other groups such as Bon religion.  It is said that because of the religious tolerance found in Nepal, many people practice both Hindu and Buddhist combined.

Sports: Traditional sports that are still performed during festivals are horse back riding, horse polo, bull race, sheep fighting and archery.  In modern day Nepal soccer and cricket are the most popular sports.

Flag:

Facts:
* Income capita is $427, Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world
* Agriculture is the main source of income.
* Home to half of the worlds largest mountain: Mt Everest or Sagarmatha as it is called in Nepali.  Mt Everest boarders Nepal and Tibet.
* They do not shake hands, but rather put both palms together and bow their heads saying: Namaste
* Home to the Bengal tiger and one-horned rhinoceros.
* The flag is the only non-quadrilateral flag in the world.  The two triangles symbolize the Himalaya Mountains and represent the two major religions: Hinduism and Buddhism.

Culture: Because Nepal is a very mountainous country, people live differently according to the altitude.  Sherpa's are a culture group that does not suffer altitude sickness due to being raised in the mountains. They often serve as guides to mountain treks.  You should always remove your shoes when visiting a Nepalese home.  Fires are considered sacred in Nepal, so it is rude to throw things into one.  Women and men do not wear revealing clothes or take their shirts off, nudity is not acceptable under any circumstances.  They also do not show public affection, shout or make body contact.

Activity

Mario has some co-workers from Nepal and he approached them one day to see if we could talk to them about their country and ask a few questions.  Yogesh, one of his co-workers actually invited him to a religious meeting at someone's house.  We felt it would be the perfect experience for our family.

We arrived a little late to the ceremony and we could hear them singing from outside the building.  Yogesh took us up to the apartment and when we entered the first thing I noticed was the pile of shoes by the door.  I assumed that meant I should take my shoes off, but I was wearing boots that were not easy to get on and off and had my hands full with a kid.  I noticed that Mario did not remove his shoes either and our friend did not say anything to us about it.  So I kept them on.  I did feel self-conscious about it though.

The room was very crowded and hot.  There were lots of people sitting on the floor, a few had instruments.  There was some sort of piano/box type instrument, bongos, and a plastic wand with cymbals on it that sounded like jingle bells.  The people made room for us on the small couch and we sat down with all our back packs, bags, and kids.  I honestly felt very out of place, but I got my camera out and started taking pictures and film.

the piano and drums

everyone was clapping along to the songs.

different people played the instruments.

The music was all in Nepali and I did not understand what was being said, but Yogesh explained that in the Hindu culture there are several God's and each song that was being sung was to one of those God's, they would go through each God then say a prayer at the very end.  The kids just sat and watched for a while, but they did start to get restless.  There is nothing more embarrassing to me then being invited somewhere sacred and having my children act up.   At one point Shia started to crawl on the floor and as he headed straight towards the piano instrument I started to go after him.  Mario put a hand on my arm and told me to wait.  Shia did approach the instrument but just stared at it.  When he reached to touch it someone gently took his hand and kept it away.  Shia soon lost interest and he wondered over to the bongos.  The song ended about then and the boy that was playing the bongos put Shia in his lap and let him pound on them a bit.  Shia loves to hit things so it was perfect for him.

playing the drums

being passed around to different people

No one seemed to mind that he was crawling around and they would stop him from touching the more delicate instruments.  I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized I was more bothered by my kids acting up then anyone else in the room, it was normal and they didn't expect perfection from me or them.

There was a cute moment when Kaya started to cry and the lady next to me took her from me.  Kaya is pretty good about going to people she doesn't know and she seemed fine with this lady, except for the fact that she kept staring at her head where her red dot called a tilaka was on her forehead.  The look on Kaya's face was one of confusion and fascination   She did not try to touch it thank goodness, since touching the head is not allowed in the Hindu culture because the head is the most sacred part of the body, but she stared at it a lot.  We later learned the tilaka is known as the third eye, the eye that sees God and allows God to see you.

Towards the end of the ceremony a man came with twin daughters.  The girls got passed around right away and I thought it was very cool that there not only were more children then just mine there, but twins as well!  I was shocked at how well behaved they were though, they just sat on everyone's lap and there wasn't one peep from either of them!

At the very end after the prayer was said Yogesh explained that they were giving thanks for us being there.  They were very happy that we came and that yogesh invited us.  They blessed us and our children.  I thought that was very special and made me feel even more welcomed.  They passed around plates of fruit and one boy helped to feed Kaya.  He was very patient and treated her very gently.

the food we ate

I honestly was very surprised when some people were wrapping themselves in blankets and drinking coffee. I had taken Shia's socks and sweater off because his face had turned bright red and I myself could feel sweat building on my forehead.  It just shows the different climates people get use to.

We stayed just a bit longer chatting with Yogesh and some of the people that spoke English.  We learned that while Yogesh's parents had an arranged marriage, they no longer practice that in their culture.  His wife was living in Nepal still, but he was working on bringing her to the United States.  He said they talk to each other everyday on the phone so it is not too hard to be away.  He also explained that in their culture they have to volunteer and do certain things for other people to work their way up in the society.  Right now he volunteer weekly helping elderly people grocery shop and get around and he also attended the religious ceremonies.

We learned that Yogesh lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for 16 years.  He was finally able to leave the camp and had about 8 different countries he could go to, he and his family were selected to go to the United States.  The United Nations paid for his plane ticket and 3 months rent so he could find a job to support his family.  When the 3 months were up he still had not found a job and the UN continued to pay for his rent, transportation and gave him food stamps until he found employment.  He is working to support his family, his community and to pay off his debt to the United Nations.  He is saving to bring his wife to the United States.

Religion plays a very large part in Yogesh's culture which is one reason he chose to marry someone from Nepal.  She understands his culture and religion and because he does not believe in divorce it makes things a little easier between them.

Because most of Yogesh's family is old he knows they will not be able to work or learn English easily.  To help support them and others in similar situations he with some friends started a non-profit organization.
http://www.thebcu.org/

We left that night feeling very honored to have taken part in this culture that we would have never known about had we not gone a little out of our comfort zone to experience something new.  We plan to continue to help and support Yogesh and his family and hope to return to another ceremony soon.

There are other people from Nepal that Mario works with, one person's story really stood out to us.  Mario shared the story with me so I could add it to our activities.

Ram is Nepalese but his family lived in Bhutan.  Several Nepalese families lived in Bhutan for generations and helped establish the country, but kept their Nepalese culture and language.  When Bhutan became an independent country they decided not to accept the religion, culture or language of the communities from Nepal and said they had to give up their culture or leave the country. His family was in danger of being killed because they would not give up either of these things.  One night his father escaped and told his wife to come join him.  His wife was not sure where her husband went, but with her four children she fled in the middle of the night to try and find him.  They walked over mountains, through rivers and all sorts of conditions, but made it safely to Nepal where her husband was waiting.

Upon arriving in Nepal their family soon discovered that Nepal had been inundated with these refugees and had no place for them.  His family was moved to a refugee camp where they had to stay until someone decided what to do with them.  For 20 years Ram lived there, he grew up there, went to school there and ended up teaching school there.  He said that once a year a large pile of clothes would arrive and each member of the family was able to reach in the pile and grab something out.  It didn't matter what it was, they had to except it, even if it was too small or too large.  Because Ram had a big family they all shared what they received and that was their only new clothes for the whole year.  They lived off of wheat and meat and little else.  Finally one day the United Nations came and helped to send them to the United States.  Now Ram is working to pay back the United Nations and also support his family.

It is hard to believe that in the 21st century there are still populations that live this way.  I have traveled the world, moved around and had the freedom to go anywhere I wanted, I cannot imagine living in a tiny area, not being able to leave, and not knowing if my situation would ever change.  It is experiences like these that encourage me to keep learning about these people and situations and how I can help.  By becoming educated about cultures it opens your eyes to what is happening in the world, and while it might be easier to shut it out, it will still happen.   Maybe by knowing and sharing these stories more people will become aware and help.