What I am doing:

I am currently working with an organization called Peace Brigades International in Nepal. This organization does international human rights accompaniment work. I am assigned to shadow threatened human rights workers to act as a witness and deterrent to political violence. I represent both the implied and actual attention of the international community. Thus, my presence along with a great deal of diplomacy work with all levels of government and military functions to prevent violence directed at these people. If further threats or a confrontation does occur concerning the person I am accompanying, or myself, an Emergency Response Network is activated that puts heavy pressure on the perpetrators. This network extends from simple actions from people like yourself to high level diplomatic sanctions, pressure from UN officials, Pressure from other countries' governments, etc... This, along with other nonviolent forms of action work to protect these people's lives and allow them to do their very important work.





Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Freetime

I have a bit of time here in Nepal before my contract with PBI officialy begins. I am spending that time readjusting to life in Nepal. I am currantly staying with my Nepali homestay family from my study abroad here two years ago. It feels like coming home in some ways. I spend alot of my days with my homestay brother who is my age and many evenings playing on the floor with my 4 year old nephue. Who has lost none of his cuteness since I last saw him when he was two. Very wild and laughing all the time. I am most likely not a good influence. =) My Nepali has come back to about 85 persent of what it was and I think by the time I begin my language course on April 4th I will be back to where I was,or better. I have been hiking in the mountains arround Kathmandu, visiting temples and monistaries, and visiting old friends here. In fact I am off to meet the director of my old study abroad program for some tea when I finish this post. I had a meeting with PBI yesterday and met the Kathmandu team, my language teacher and got alot of pre-deployment material. So now I have some homework to keep me busy. I am enjoying my freetime but am itching to begin this work that I have been preparing to do for so long. Farewell for now. Much love to you all.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Photos from Training in Spain





My schedule

Tomarrow I am leaving my good friends here in London where I have been visiting for the past week or so. I am flying to Kathmandu. I will begin my language training for PBI April 4th so I have some time to cetch up with my old homestay family, teachers, friends, contacts, etc.... before my course starts. This will also let me get my feet wet on my own and help me rekindle my Nepali language skills. Then the language training will commense along with a new homestay to help with learning more Nepali. Then I will officialy join the team in Bardiya (a rural district in Midd-West Nepal) on June 1st. My contract will be for one year from that point ie: until May 31, 2011.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Hot Chocolate

So Ive been zipping arround London with Trev and Anna for a few days now stopping at pubs, visiting parlement, shopping in open air markets, people watching and lots more. On one of these adventures we stopped in this little cafe for lunch and this wonderfuly sweet Italian woman talked me into trying her special hot chocolate. She said that I couldnt possibly not enjoy it and if I did i would not have to pay. So I tried it and it tasted somewhere between liquid chocolate, chocolate pudding and heaven desolving in my mouth. When i exclaimed my enjoyment through a shamble of words and "mmmmm" sounds she said that when little kids get her hot chocolate and cant finish it all she puts it into a to-go cup and they eat it later chilled like pudding. I took her up on her offer and went to get the rest of my mug put into a to-go cup. The other shop workers put it into the new cup and then topped it off completly with more chocolate. "to make me happy" the guy said. And it worked. Although it took me three days to consume all that sugar.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Training is over

The training ended yesterday and we have all left to go our seporate ways. At the conclusion of the training PBI-Nepal welcomed me to the team, which means I did not botch the training. So thats good. =) So now I will spend a while in Europe until my deployment on March. 20th. I will be visiting some friends and traveling a bit. I will also arive in Nepal a bit early to cetch up with my friends there and my old homestay family. I will have an intensive language course in a village outside of Kathmandu for two months or so begining March 20. I will be living with a family in a village for this time and I am quite eager. Well that is the update for now and I will be writing again before to long. And probebly from Nepal!