In Nepal things rarely happen as you expect or hope. This is what Heather and I discussed as we stood at the new bus park in Butwal, waiting to meet our friends for dinner. We were mostly thinking of the unexpected information we had uncovered in a series of interviews that morning. It started at the Radio Jagaran office, where I had managed to sit down with Dinesh (see my previous blog about him on my work blog site) and ask him some questions about his parents. His father is a Village Health Worker and his mother has uterine prolapse but they are from an extremely poor untouchable caste family, making them an example of a case where even those who have knowledge about UP still don’t have the resources to seek medical care. During my ... read more

At first glance it seemed an unlikely location for a community information session. An hour by motorcycle from Butwal and then another ten minutes from the main highway over a bumpy dirt road, the building was of a simple wood construction. The bottom level was open on two sides: two water buffaloes rested in the back among stacks of hay; a goat was tied to one of the front beams. A basic set of wooden steps led to the top floor, which was a simple loft enclosed by three walls and a slanting roof. A man was busy laying out mats on the floorboards. He disappeared and came back a few minutes later bearing a TV and a tangle of electric cords. In the loft above the cattle shed he set up the TV and the ... read more

A new work blog (part I) is up about working with the Uterine Prolapse Alliance. Part II will follow in the next few days with a photos and a description of a community information session that I facilitated and observed yesterday in Nawalparasi district. http://advocacynet.org/blogs/index.php?blog=107... read more

Like many women, Barabati was working in the fields when she first knew that something was wrong. By her best guess she was around thirty years old at the time; just two years earlier she had given birth to her one and only child. It was April, the peak of the harvesting season, and Barabati had been cutting and tying bundles of grass. As she bent over to pick up a heavy load she felt a sudden pain in her lower abdomen. Barabati had never heard of uterine prolapse, but she immediately knew that something wasn’t right. Despite the pain that she endured as a result of her prolapsed uterus, Barabati told no one about her symptoms. Like too many women, Barabati was afraid that if she told even her husband about her personal health problems, ... read more

I think I've finally made Flickr happen, despite the painfully slow uploading issues. Most of the photos are the most recent batch that I developed from Butwal. Those of you who have heard me go on and on about how much I love Butwal may now understand why. Here are a few of my favorites to tempt you. Enjoy. ... read more

Sabitri Kohar Rupandahi District, Nepal Just a month or two after giving birth to her first child at the age of 19, Sabitri Kohar became pregnant with a second child. She describes the second delivery as being much like the first one: both were relatively uncomplicated labors played out on the packed dirt floor of her thatch house. At the end of both deliveries, the mid-wife attending her birth pushed and prodded Sabitri’s stomach in an effort to release the placenta. When describing her first two deliveries, Sabitra almost forgets to mention one crucial difference in her experiences. “That second time, I had not eaten for eight days before I gave birth. We had no food in the home, so I did not eat.” Although Sabitri does not consider her second birth to be remarkable in ... read more

After awaking at 4:30 am for a painful eight hour-bus ride (I should have known that I accidentally got on the local bus instead of the express bus when there was a goat a few rows behind me), I have finally arrived in Butwal. It is gorgeous and full of promise for productivity. I will be working with women from the Women's Show and the Health Show here at Radio Jagaran, a community radio station for the dalit (untouchable caste) community, to produce a feature about uterine prolapse. Check it out. http://advocacynet.org/blogs/index.php?blog=107 ... read more

(I apologize for the time space confusion--now we're back in Nepal) Signs everywhere say “Welcome to the New Nepal.” The Kathmandu Post runs daily headlines about the Constituent Assembly and negotiations for the new democratic state. Billboards on the side of the road advocate for the rights of dalits (untouchable castes) to participate in the formation of the new country. There are kinks, however, in the functioning of the newly self-aware civil and democratic society. Political parties vie to have their voices heard, and for the ten days prior to my arrival, the entire country was shut down by a bandha (strike). It started with students protesting oil prices and ended with multiple groups and parties protesting a variety of issues. By the time I arrived, nobody seemed to be able to properly explain just who ... read more