CECI/Uniterra orientation

Another chock-full day, but this time we stayed mainly in one place – the CECI/Uniterra headquarters where I am staying. Rajendra took us around and introduced us to the people who make up the administration of CECI and Uniterra in Nepal. Kathleen McLaughlin, the Asia Regional Director was away but most of the rest of the staff were around.

Hari Bastala spent quite some time filling Bernie and I in on the impressive and tenacious history of CECI in Nepal. The program in its various forms has been in effect for twenty years, starting out as a single project instigated by a lone Canadian working with farmers in the western region of Nepal. From there it grew into a series of projects instigated by various groups who partnered with CECI to provide volunteers to help them carry out the projects. Despite the emergence of the Maoist rebels in the countryside and the ensuing threat to volunteers, CECI was one of the few NGO’s who were able to continue their work. This was most likely because they had the support of the local people. The Maoist rebels could not afford to jeopardize their own support by threatening the work of CECI. Personally I believe that CECI has taken the correct approach when working with its partners – ie the projects are instigated by the partners and CECI then helps to plan and implement the various phases.

We headed out to Mike’s restaurant for lunch where we met up with Carly, Kyle and Anne Burnside. Anne is the Uniterra volunteer that has just finished a year and a half working with CMF – the organization where I will be working. Nikunja Nepal, Uniterra’s senior program officer, came along as well. Mike’s was the brainchild of a former Peace Corps and specializes in good Mexican food.

After lunch Nikunja spent some time describing the new phase that Uniterra has just entered. They have organized the projects in which they are involved into three main categories – Agriculture and Rural Development, Non-timber forest products and Dairy. Bernie’s project falls under the Non-timber forest products category and mine (micro-finance) falls under the Agriculture and Rural Development category. Nikunja spent some time describing some of the projects Uniterra has been involved in and how they fall into the three main categories. Then she delved into some of the background of the caste system and how it may affect our relationships in our work. There is a definite move towards breaking down the barriers of the caste system, but it will be years before it totally disappears, although Rajendra feels it will be sooner than we think.

Again, it was a very full day. Keeping this blog is staving off some of the overwhelming feelings of information overload. By writing down some of the topics we covered I am giving my thoughts some type of order. Hopefully I’ve got my facts straight.

I finally got some money converted so headed off to the supermarket to see what I could pick up. It reminded me of shopping at the department store in Nairobi – lots of goods packed tightly on narrow shelves. I want to make that rice and beans dish that my girls seem to like. Hopefully Kyle, Carly and Inka will like it as well.