Tag: building

The view from here: the bright side of Nepal

Bayalpata_Hospital_community_health_worker_patient_(c)_Marty_LoganLiving in Kathmandu it’s way too easy to be critical of this country, which often means critical of the government and the ‘establishment’. Red tape, corruption, injustice and neglect are just some of the terms that can easily be used to describe those who wield power in this place.

Of course, this is just part of the picture: because those are exactly the issues that the media focuses on (writes the former and still sometimes journalist) they tend to be emphasised. But I know that there are positive things happening here, from the macro view of issues like declining maternal mortality and improving child health, to the growth of micro-enterprises in Kathmandu run by young Nepalis who have chosen to return home from studying overseas.

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Nepali migrants are building Kathmandu

Thousands of Nepalis migrate for work every day. Many go abroad but others head to the capital Kathmandu to build its infrastructure.

Rocking_baby_SMConstruction is happening everywhere in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. Within a square kilometre of where I live there must be dozens of projects going up, mostly houses but also hotels, and other projects.

The work, such as mixing cement and hammering nails, is almost all done by hand, and the workers are not equipped with special clothing or safety gear. Passing many sites it’s obvious that the workforce lives on-site, sometimes in tents but, as I discovered writing and filming this article, sometimes in the cement shells of the buildings themselves.

Most of the workers are from other parts of Nepal, and neighbouring India. In Hotel Kutumba, where I spent some time, there were groups of 4 or 5 from various districts. Read the full article on the Nepali Times website or watch the video below:

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