Nepal, in the Mountain's Shadow

Nepal, in the Mountain's Shadow

2009, Society  -   10 Comments
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Ratings: 8.38/10 from 63 users.

Nepal is home to the Himalayan Mountains. For thousands of years people have traveled to the Himalayas seeking spiritual enlightenment, proclaiming man could be freed of all sin by merely gazing upon their peaks. This tradition is continued today by pilgrims who journey to Nepal across the globe to glimpse upon its natural beauty and explore its ancient history. But there's another side to Nepal. A side few travelers ever witness. Poverty-stricken slums and villages have become a common sight across the landscape.

The main role of the government of any country is to address the problems of the people and to find better solutions, but that's not happening in Nepal. The poor become poorer and poorer, and the rich become richer and richer, and there's a big gap... while the government isn't providing even the basic infrastructure to these poor people. Without further education most Nepalese are condemned to a life of manual labor earning an average income of $300 per year.

For decades Nepal's leaders have struggled to provide for their people. The situation escalated in the mid 1990s when civil war broke out across the country. And what started as a movement toward democracy ended in catastrophe. Over 12,000 people were killed in the conflict.

Many years later Visma Raj Paudel opened the first of the many projects to come... a children's orphanage. Refusing to give up on his dreams Visma began seeking alternative means to help the people and children of Nepal. Today the orphanage is home to more than 70 children. It's no wonder that when Visma first began selecting children for the orphanage one of the first places he went back to was his childhood village.

To date the orphanage has received over 1,000 applications from communities open to provide children with a better life. Unable to adopt them all Visma started the scholarship program. He's supporting only 200 children under his different projects, but it's very true that are so many children on the road and in the villages who are abandoned, not going to school, and forced to work as child servants.

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ramdutt
ramdutt
3 years ago

so sad these children can't be like western children, lost into their smartphones, knowing nothing of their national history, playing video games, fashion victims, future ignorant voters unemployed. Hurry, make nepalese children like us, more consumers needed for the hungry capitalist vampire.

Asal pandit
Asal pandit
5 years ago

Nepal is underdeveloped country but it is reach in natural cultural and other historical identity .

Manish pokhrel
Manish pokhrel
5 years ago

Yes,nepal is the country under proverty under development and mostly depended upon remittance but in near future if the government shows his love towards the country then of course, it will develop really fast cause the there lots of things that can be used for development.
#LOVENEPAL?

bluetortilla
bluetortilla
9 years ago

Nice going and keep up the great work!

Amanda P.
Amanda P.
9 years ago

This propaganda fundamentally misunderstands the role of government, but the footage was neat!

bringmeredwine
bringmeredwine
9 years ago

This little doc really moved me!
The first images of starving children almost made me stop watching, but I'm glad I didn't.
People like Visma give me hope for this heartless world. It's a comfort to know there's still wonderful people like him, out there somewhere.
This doc had it's moments.
When Parvati spoke about life with her violent husband, I just wanted a minute alone with him, to swing a baseball bat, and knock out his d#%n teeth!
Parvati looked so old and so worn out. When she was was beaming with pride, at her son Sujan going to school, my eyes welled right up!
Then they filled with tears of rage when Sanju described all of the awful things her slave-owner had said and done to her.
There is no justice for these people at all!
I'm so lucky to have been born in Canada! (despite the winters).
This was an emotional experience for me, but this story still left me with hope that Visma and his team will continue to help as many Nepalese children, as they possibly can.

sonibvc
sonibvc
9 years ago

Werent they supposed to be budhists there and and live on nothing but bread and water seeking nirvana?

Ah, religion and BS....at the end of the day we all want to live well and have money for more than just water and bread :)

~Oliver B Koslik Esq
~Oliver B Koslik Esq
9 years ago

One of my most vivid memories of extreme poverty comes from Nepal.

In Kathmandu, I arrived via 4x4 I took through the Himalayas. We all piled out at the final stop. And I was immediately confronted by a mother begging for money for milk for her baby.

She was totally legit, and not only her, but her baby were displaying signs of obvious malnourishment. I decided that 20$ CDN was nothing to my budget, and decided to oblige her requests.

Although none of the ATM's in the area would accept my bank card.
I tried explaining to her that even I had no cash at the time, though due to the language barrier, I don't think she believed me... The look one her face was... hungry

Until someone actually experiences the level of poverty explained in this Doc, I see it passing over their heads quite briskly. Though its the communication era that will open and enlighten the heroism in operations that Mr.Visma Raj Paudel conducts.

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