As the PC program was suspended on September 13, 2004 in the aftermath of the Maoist's attack at the American Center in Gyaneshwor, Kathmandu, most of the 84 PC volunteers working in different parts of the country were evacuated. Love of some of the evacuated PCVs to Nepal is so intense that they are raising funds in the United States to complete the projects they had begun before their evacuation. Evacuated volunteers Amy Clark and Gregory Clark, both now working at the PC Headquarters, said they have already collected $8,000 from the Rotary Club. They want to hand over the money to complete a library in Chhorpatan Higher Secondary School and Kanya Secondary School in Pokhara. "We want to visit Nepal to hand over the money ourselves and say good bye on a good note. But we have not been able to do so because of lack of funds for our travel. However, we are hopeful that we will be able to raise funds for our travel as well. We are planning to go to Nepal sometime next summer," the cheerful-looking and optimistic Clarks said mixing English with Nepali.
PCVs return to Nepal on their own after 2004 evacuation
Peace Corps veterans recall Nepal
BY KIRAN CHAPAGAIN
WASHINGTON, Jan 10 - On a recent afternoon, a picture of Mt Machhapuchhre stares out from a computer screen in a room of Peace Corps (PC) Headquarters. A Nepali flag is on the table. Some pictures from Nepal hang on the walls of the room.
This is the room of former Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) Darren D Defendeifer.The setting of the room helps him keep his memory of his stay in Nepal fresh. As a PCV, he was in Nepal for two years before he was evacuated in September 2004 amidst the deteriorating political and security situation in Nepal.
He still recalls the majestic Annapurna range and the close bonds he developed with his host Thapa family in Bhairahawa and Gurung family in Pokhara.
At the same time, the bitter moment of his evacuation from Nepal is still fresh in his memory. He said that he could not even say goodbye formally to his host families, his colleagues at the Women Development Project in Pokhara and his many Nepali friends.
He recalls, "I was in Kathmandu working on a secondary project when the decision was made by Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington DC to evacuate the program. It was no surprise that we had to leave as the political situation was getting worse and we knew that it was just a matter of time."
Then he was unable to return to Pokhara. "I was sad to leave Nepal without bidding a formal goodbye to my host family, Ramkala didi, Subash bhai, Sarita bahini, mero hajurama. It was painful to leave them without saying a formal good bye. I still have to go to Nepal to make up for that."
As the PC program was suspended on September 13, 2004 in the aftermath of the Maoist's attack at the American Center in Gyaneshwor, Kathmandu, most of the 84 PC volunteers working in different parts of the country were evacuated.
The six PC volunteers who were evacuate Katmandu then said in Washington DC recently that they were given an evacuation call by their office in Kathmandu to congregate in different designated places as soon as possible following the attack, and they could not say goodbye formally to their host families, friends and Nepali colleagues in a real sense.
According to James Zalansky, country officer at The Asia Desk at PC Headquarters, the volunteers at the time of evacuation were working in the field of health education, nursing, information technology, business development, teaching English as a foreign language and environmental conservation. The PC program in Nepal is one of its oldest as it began a year after then US President John F. Kennedy established it in 1961.
The evacuated volunteers said that they had to leave all their work and projects unfinished. Some were in the planning phase. PC volunteer Andrew Huston was planning to build a library at Shree Ratna Rajya Secondary School at Ramkot, Bhaktapur. Shana Groseclose was developing a rural health initiative program with Nepal Red Cross Society in Chitwan. Ashish Basuray was working for a training for science teachers in Langtang. He had to leave HIV/AIDs education training uncompleted. Like these volunteers, other evacuated volunteers had to leave Nepal with their work incomplete.
When asked about the status of the programs the evacuated volunteers had begun, Zalansky said in an email message, "All Peace Corps Staff were evacuated with the volunteers, therefore, we have no way of monitoring the programs that were in progress. ..... Since many of the programs were designed to enable members of the community in which volunteers served, we are hopeful that many of these programs were sustained even after our departure. "
Some volunteers like Defendeifer and Basurey are still in contact with the community where they began their programs and updating themselves with the status of the programs they initiated before the evacuation.
Love of some of the evacuated PCVs to Nepal is so intense that they are raising funds in the United States to complete the projects they had begun before their evacuation. Evacuated volunteers Amy Clark and Gregory Clark, both now working at the PC Headquarters, said they have already collected $8,000 from the Rotary Club. They want to hand over the money to complete a library in Chhorpatan Higher Secondary School and Kanya Secondary School in Pokhara. "We want to visit Nepal to hand over the money ourselves and say good bye on a good note. But we have not been able to do so because of lack of funds for our travel. However, we are hopeful that we will be able to raise funds for our travel as well. We are planning to go to Nepal sometime next summer," the cheerful-looking and optimistic Clarks said mixing English with Nepali.
The evacuated volunteers wished that peace be restored in Nepal and Peace Corps resumes its program. However, Peace Corps said it has no assessment of resuming its program in Nepal.
"Peace Corps would require an invitation from the Government of Nepal prior to making an assessment as to whether or not resuming the program would be feasible. .... We have not had an official assessment and, until one is made, the likelihood of resuming the program cannot be guessed," official Zalansky said.
Amidst uncertainty of their return, they still cherish the people and communities where they worked, and also the Daal Bhaat. "People to me were as dearer as the mountains," commented Gregory Clark. Shana Groseclose sums up Nepali people's friendliness as, "Sabai janale aunos swagat chha khanos khanos bhanne".
Posted on: 2007-01-09 21:37:52 (Server Time)
