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Once Ford Motor’s Dream Project Earns Livelihood in Nepal Hemp and Allo fibers: Source of Income for Rural Indigenous Nepalese Women Rukum/Kathmandu, November 1, 2008- Hemp is often confused with another plant of the same genus, Marijuana which is illegal in some parts of the world. Whether they are walking, gossiping or cattle-rearing, women of these rural districts Rukum and Rolpa never forget to carry two things along with them: taku (traditional tool used to make threads) and Dhaka (fibers/threads). "As long as I can remember, my great-grandma, grandma and mother were always with taku and dhaka so when I was about 5 years old I had already learned how to use it. Now, it is an undying habit; I can't go anywhere without carrying it," said Hastakala Budha Magar, a 52 year old local woman from Morabang VDC, Rukum. The habit she describes is not a recently adopted practice but has been passed on from generation to generation. When there were no products from multi-national clothing companies in those virgin lands, those ladies used to make clothes using natural fibers of hemp and allo for themselves and their families. Now, the indigenous traditional clothing made from the hemp and allo (locally known as puwa) fibers are rarely used by these same indigenous nationalities. However, their habit of making thread and cloth by using 'taan' (traditionally used tool for making cloth) have surprisingly increased compared to the decrease in consumption by the indigenous groups. The reason behind this is the increased demand for thread and clothing made from hemp and allo fibers by Nepali handicrafts dealers, manufacturers and exporters in national and international market. "I pay for my daughter's school fee, her clothes and school materials along with buying household things now and then from the money earned from selling hemp and allo thread," said Gaumati Kami of Jhumlabang -8. Now, she says, she does not have to ask money from her husband for little household things. “I feel good for being able to take care of certain things in the home myself,” she adds with smile. Sher Bahadur Shrestha, the hemp and allo thread retailer from Rukum says people usually exchange thread for goods in villages. “They exchange for clothes, shoes/slippers, salt, sugar, or school materials according to their need,” he stated. Shrestha collects materials from villagers and sells to other retailers from Dang and Kathmandu. But due to lack of market management he sometimes has to go off to Dang himself to sell before the quality of the goods deteriorates. “It needs very good care, and that is hard to give in villages with rats and a moist environment everywhere,” Shrestha adds. All raw materials and the workforce needed to turn out good products are available here, but as the villages are very rural and far from factories of Kathmandu, Shrestha feels local communities are not able to benefit enough from their raw materials. “If we had the factories here, it would be profitable to the local community,” he states. These are under-developed villages without transportation system, without electricity and without communications. As a result many young men and women have gone to work in foreign lands to raise their family’s financial status. Shrestha says, “If manufacturing factories could be in local areas and our local people would not have to migrate abroad for employment, it would not only help local development, but would in fact boost the country’s utilization of all resources.” Manufacturer/exporter of KD Hemp House, Kathmandu, Karam Prasad Budha Magar, originally from Rolpa, has been in this job for nearly 6 years since moving to Kathmandu during the Maoist insurgency. “In the beginning I felt hopeless trying to survive in the capital. I didn’t know what to do for living but then I somehow stumbled into this business to sustain myself. I grew up wearing clothes made from hemp and allo by my mother, so it was familiar and gave me confidence that I could do it,” said Budha Magar. Hemp and allo fibers are used to make anything that can be made from cotton, says Magar. By mixing hemp and allo with cotton fibers or even with pure hemp fiber, his company is manufacturing an abundant variety of clothing such as caps, shirts, pants, slippers, bags, belts, necklaces, shoes, wallets, mufflers, and so on. Now, Magar is exporting these clothes to Japan, Switzerland, U.S.A., Germany, Korea and many other international markets. To supply his factory with sufficient raw materials, he uses sources not just in Rukum, Rolpa, but also from Bajang, Darchula and Bajura districts. Nearly 300 people are working for him at the moment. He says he is thinking of opening a branch of his manufacturing operation in Rukum, Rolpa as soon as the environment becomes favourable. “Right now there is a lack of transportation, electricity and communication, all of which are most fundamental for this business, so, though I want to establish the factory there, it is impossible at present,” he added. What is Hemp? Hemp is often confused with another plant of the same genus, Marijuana which is illegal in some parts of the world. Although very similar, Marijuana is actually NOT the same plant as hemp. Industrial hemp contains less than 1% of THC the psychoactive component of marijuana. Today, by understanding this imperative confusion between them, more than 32 countries including Canada, England, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Hungary and many other developed European countries are legally growing hemp by the thousands of acres as it is one of the most promising sources of fibre, paper, fuel and natural oil. Ford Motor Made of Hemp? In 1941, the Ford motor company produced an experimental automobile with a plastic body composed of 70% cellulose fibers from hemp. The car body could absorb blows 10 times as great as steel without denting. The car was designed to run on hemp fuel. Because of the ban on hemp the car was never mass produced. It is believed that if present rates of use continue, in 200 years we will completely exhaust all of our oil reserves. We are already experiencing the shortage so it is imperative that an alternative to fossil fuels is implemented. Even though hemp is illegal now, its benefits are so numerous that it is just a matter of time before it becomes a thriving industry. What the world needs is a renewable source of fuels and fibers that will meet the growing needs of the future. Hemp can be taken as the best option; it has the potential to make better clothes, better fuel, and better paper. Hemp use dates back to the Stone Age, with fibres found in human settlements over 10,000 years old, where they were used for clothes, shoes, ropes and an early form of paper. History has it that from 1000 BC to 1883 AD hemp was considered the world largest agricultural crop; from the early 1600's to 1859 hempseed oil was the most used lamp oil in the world. Hemp can be made into fuel, paper, and clothing, which could drastically change the oil, logging, and cotton industries. If new Nepal law also recognizes the mythical confusion between hemp and marijuana as other countries have, and legalizes the industrial hemp growth in the country, not only many indigenous communities will benefit from it but the country will have something to sell to the world. It is a product that can be almost grown everywhere in Nepal with less fertilizer and in less time. Even today, if managed properly, this is proving to be a good source of income at the local level. It will not only give employment to the villagers but as there is maximum female involvement, it will also be a route to greater empowerment of women. -Smita Magar --------------------------------- Rukum and Rolpa Under Acute Food Shortage! Where People's war began but now a need of a war against poverty Kathmandu, October 8, 2008- Everyday, Ram Bahadur Budha Magar looks at his field of dying maize plants and with a sigh, wonders how they are going to survive this year. “If the government will not take any immediate steps for sorting out the acute food shortage in our area then we will die of hunger; it is for sure,” says Magar, a farmer from Jhumlabang village of Rukum. This year, Rukum and Rolpa districts of Mid-Western Region are reeling under acute food shortage. Due to the drought in the last winter season, the wheat and barley production hugely suffered. This caused many families and youths from these areas to leave for India to make a living. In these districts nearly 95% of the population depend on agriculture and substantial farming. Geographically complex areas, infertile land and total dependence on rain-water for two season farming is only enough to feed them for 6 to 8 months of every year. “In winter our wheat and barley production suffered from drought. Now, due to heavy rainfall and harmful insects, our maize plants are also dying and we can do nothing about it,” says Magar. Rishi Roka Magar, president of Nepal Magar Association, Rolpa confirms the mass exodus of people for Kathmandu valley to work in brick factories and some to India as a wage labourer for their survival from famine. “Some people have even sold their utensils to buy food from the district office of Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) but it is still not enough,” informs Roka Magar. He urged the government to distribute enough food grains that are healthy but also cheaper to starvation-hit people for an immediate solution of food shortage. However, for long-term solution, he emphasizes that the government needs to introduce modern technology for better agricultural production. Shyam Regmi, the branch officer of NFC, Rolpa says they are distributing food grains twice a week. “Nearly 300 people from several villages come to get food grains each time. But, due to lack of petroleum products for vehicles and disturbances in the roads it is difficult to distribute adequate food grains to people,” he said. He informed that they are selling ‘Aruwa Moto’ rice Rs. 23 per Kg while ‘Japani rice’ costs Rs. 25 per kg. In Rukum, the godown has been closed for months. The officer of NFC could not be reached even after several attempts for the comment. The local of Jumli Khalanga, Dilip Budha Magar said the food crisis emerged after the Rukum office of NFC failed to distribute food grains to locals. It locked its godown a month ago as it ran out of stock of rice. “It is said that the transportation of food grains via road was delayed due to the shortage of petroleum products. Later, landslides hampered transportation. Therefore, they said they had to close the godown,” said Budha Magar. Now CPN-Maoists are heading the government so Rishi Roka Magar hopes that they will act quickly on these problems in line with their promises to the public for a Green Revolution through land reform and introduction of scientific systems in agriculture. - Smita Magar in Kathmandu. She travelled to Rukum and Rolpa in earlier month. Rukum is Smita's home district. Published: UsNepalOnline.Com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dark side story of the Birth Place of Light of Asia...Lumbini’s Development Myth: An Outlook 30 Years after the Master Plan was Designed Kathmandu/Lumbini, July 13, 2008- Now, the festive look of Lumbini is gone: gone are those celebratory moods of the Birthday Anniversary of Light of Asia, Gautam Buddha, and gone too are those colourful electric lights and diyos. What remains is the harsh reality of Lumbini’s incomplete Master plan. The Master Plan for Lumbini was designed by renowned Japanese Architect-Planner Prof. Kenzo Tange in 1978. He had initiated the plan from 1970. In his Master plan, Prof. Kenzo Tange divided the entire project area into three main construction-conservation zones running from north to south, and named them as The New Lumbini Village, The Monastic Enclave, and the Sacred Garden Complex. In 1985, the Lumbini Development Trust Act came into existence and Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) was formed accordingly. The LDT is responsible for the implementation of the Master Plan and for the overall development of Lumbini. The target for the completion of the Master Plan was 1995 but, authorities say; only 30% of the Master Plan was completed by 2007. They are already lagging 9 years behind their targeted year of completion. Just like previous years, this year we again heard promises from everyone – from Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, from Maoist maestro Prachanda and Subash Nembang to Upendra Yadav: promises of making Lumbini a great micro-tourism spot with its development and pushing for the completion of its master plan. “It is the historic place for world peace; we have not been able to do justice to this great place but from now on we will do what can be done to make this a place to grab the world’s attention,” said then Speaker of the Interim Government Subash Chandra Nembang while he was in Lumbini on the occasion of 2552nd birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha and Lumbini day in May. Not only him but all the top political leaders have given sweet talk on their joint commitment for sustainable economic development at Lumbini. But no matter how many people in power express their commitment to completing the Master Plan of Lumbini during their time period, they only limit their commitment in their speech. “If the Master Plan is completed soon, Lumbini will be beautiful and managed in such a way that many tourists will come to visit, but development is moving at the pace of a tortoise” complains the Hindu priest of Lumbini, 78 years old Ganga Prasad Pandey. “The 10 year target for completion of the Master Plan was banking on getting international donors for the project but due to political instability donors were not convinced so we could not complete the plan in time,” states Shrestha. He added that there is the need for more than 11 billion rupees budget to complete the project. At the present time, development is taking place only in the Monastic Zone where different Buddhist countries and organizations construct their own monasteries. LDT has made land plots of a defined size where they may construct monasteries introducing their vernacular architectural style or following a traditional religious pattern. In this zone, monasteries have either been completed or are nearing completion. They represent China, Vietnam, Mahabodhi Society, India, Myanmar, Manang Society, Mustang, Sri Lanka, Korea, Thailand, Tara Foundation (Germany), Geden International (Austria), Mongolia (proposed), Panditarama (Myanmar), Dhammawati Guruma's Vihara, the Vipassana Center. This zone is developing because LDT lends the interested countries or organizations a land plot on which to construct the stupas, monasteries. They are left alone to do their work on their own budget. But for other two zones LDT has to search for international donors and wait for the Nepal government’s budget for the Lumbini project is Rs. 7 million annually. “The government’s budget is not enough. If we only depend upon our government’s budget then it might take a century to complete the Master Plan so we are trying to convince international donors to make investments,” says Shrestha. However, with the ongoing peace process in the country, Shrestha disclosed that some international donors are showing interest in investment, so he is hopeful that they will be able to complete the Master Plan soon. Moreover, he said, because of the political change in the country many tourists are visiting Lumbini. In 2007, there were 71,053 international visitors, a positive sign compared to the total visitors of 49,595 and 39,792 in 2006 and 2005 respectively. It is hard to predict when the Master Plan will finish and Lumbini will be a centre of attraction in the world. Although the Maoist Insurgency has ended there is still ongoing battles between political parties in their own interests, and that is creating huge instability in the nation. -Smita Magar Kathmandu/Lumbini, July 13, 2008 Published: UsNepalOnline.Com ------------------------------------ With 1 surviving speaker, Dura going dodo way BY SMITA MAGAR KATHMANDU, Jan 9 - Soma Devi Dura is 82. Given the life expectancy of an average Nepali, she is nearing her last days. Soma Devi's death won't merely be the death of an individual. The only source of a language of Nepal's western hills will die with her. Researchers and university professors say the octogenarian lady is the only native speaker of the Dura language, which used to be spoken in parts of Lamjung and Tanahun districts in western Nepal. "My finding is that the only living person who can speak Dura is Soma Devi," says Kedar Bilash Nagila, a PhD scholar who is writing a thesis on the critically endangered Dura language. Nagila says Soma Devi is the only authentic source of information for the thesis which he is preparing as a sequel to his MA thesis. Professor Madhav Prasad Pokharel, a senior linguist at the Central Department of Linguistics at Tribhuvan University says, "In case anything happens to Soma Devi, the entire effort to preserve the endangered language will receive a jolt." Soma Devi lives in Handikhola of Dura Danda, Lamjung. Her husband, son and five daughters cannot speak Dura. Nagila said lack of transmission of the Dura language between generations is the major reason behind its becoming endangered, while the dominance of Nepali speakers in surrounding areas is another reason. Modnath Prashrit, a culture expert, said a language becomes endangered when the community to which it belongs decides that it is an impediment. "Children may discard their native tongue after realizing that other more-widely spoken languages are more useful," he explained. Kishore Dura, president of Dura Seva Samaj, added, "Government policy promoting only the Khas (Nepali) language also led to the endangering of indigenous languages like Dura". Dura Seva Samaj and researcher Nagila have been planning to bring Soma Devi to Kathmandu with the support of the National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities so that the language of which only 1,500 words and 250 sentences have been documented so far can be documented. "We are very corncerned about the threat faced by the Dura language,"said Lok Bahadur Thapa, member secretary of the Foundation. He said the Foundation is holding discussions with both the researcher and the Dura Seva Samaj to bring Soma Devi to Kathmandu. To add to the threat faced by Dura, Soma Devi is blind and deaf and would need special hearing equipment to facilitate documentation of the language. "We hope we will be able to overcome the problems soon," said Thapa. Kishore said there is a ray of hope for the language as it is now being taught to children of the Dura community with the help of the 1,500 words and 250 sentences that have been documented. Two books have already been prepared on the language. "We are trying to publish an edited version of the books," he said. Prof Yogendra Prasad Yadav, chief of the Central Department of Linguistics at TU, said, "The key to getting a language revitalized is getting a new generation of speakers." Published: The Kathmandu Post Posted on: 2008-01-09 20:54:35 (Server Time) |
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