I have some things to say to you that I consider important, and that I hope you will consider carefully. Please take a few minutes to consider what I am saying, because I think all of us can benefit from it.
As you know, I decided to come and give assistance to the injured in the andolan because of my affection for the Nepali people and my desire to lessen their suffering. After the restoration of loktantra I returned, full of hopes and dreams of doing something to make a real difference in Nepal. I left a secure, highly paid job in Dhaka because I wanted to be in Nepal.
It took 4 months to get a visa, and the letter of no objection to allow me to shift my things here was never issued, with the result that two Nepali students I had generously helped and befriended in Dhaka stole all of my possessions. The Medical Council has played games, once taking my Rs 5000 and issuing a 3 day registration; I am still not registered. I finally joined Nobel Medical College after they promised to implement my nurse/paramedic program and to help me create a modern emergency service. Instead there were a lot of nasty political games, and due to the lack of VCs in the universities they have been unable to get affiliation.
Dr Lewis at BPKIHS recruited me specifically to start an emergency medicine residency program, but the general practitioners on the NMC oppose it and blocked it, engaging in a vicious personal attack that stunned everyone in the room. The care at BPK is so bad that I cannot bear the depression and stress of seeing so much unnecessary suffering and death, and the attitudes of the management will prevent any change from ever taking place. I had been willing to accept the very, very low salary on offer there to make a difference, but there is no possibility of that.
My role in the andolan has cut me off from my family and friends back home, who have been told that I am a supporter of terrorism. Until Bush is out of office I can't go back to the US. My finances are frozen. I'm in a very, very difficult situation.
It's easy to blame me for all of this, and I admit that I was naive. But I have learned, and it is obvious that the Nepali elites do not like westerners and are willing to tolerate us only on their terms and if they personally benefit financially in a large way. I've been hit up for bribes at every turn, despite the fact that I'm not making anything. This is also the experience of literally every western professional I know who has worked in Nepal. Also my Nepali friends expect a lot of financial help from me, not realizing that the well is dry. Many times a day people ask money from me, usually large amounts. I understand and sympathize with their need, but they need to see that I am actually in a similar situation.
Through extremely unpleasant personal experience and discussion with others, both Nepalis and bidesis, I have come to understand the nature of the elites in Nepal. We--none of us--will be able to change them. We are all their victims.
It's clear to me that the only thing I can do at this point is to do something small scale, independently and not requiring support or approval from the government or elites. I can try to make a difference for a number of individuals and try to offer insights that might help the nation heal itself. But I am not a magician and cannot change the society or its institutions.
I realize that many of you are as frustrated as I am. I hope that you have better success, but I have seen no evidence of it and hold out little hope. Instead I think it best to think how we can help each other accomplish some measure of success by going around the formidable and immobile social and bureaucratic obstacles, creatively solving problems.
The past 8 months has been stressful, frustrating and profoundly disappointing for me. I have tried, in my admittedly imperfect way, to do something worthwhile. I still hope to do so, but realize that a totally different strategy is needed because the same old elite with the same old ethics remains in charge and is likely to do so in the future.
I hope that these facts puts my situation in perspective for you and look forward to trying to help each other in creative, constructive ways.
