Namaste from Kathmandu
While this is my first blog post, I arrived in Kathmandu several weeks ago. Having just completed the most intellectually challenging year of my life, I quickly embarked on what was certainly the most physically challenging: over the course of twelve days my brother and I trekked to Everest Base Camp. During the two weeks we spent trekking we saw some of the most amazing natural wonders of the world, including the Himalayas, Lhotse, and, of course, Everest itself. We met extraordinary people who were traveling the world or daring to summit the world’s highest peak. It was altogether an exhausting but incredibly inspiring two weeks.
Our journey ended in Lukla airport where we were stuck with no flights for four days. Finally, not wanting to miss my first day of work, nor my brother’s international flight, we had to take a helicopter back to Kathmandu. While four days waiting around Lukla were not the highlight of the trip, I believe we’ll think fondly of our time in Lukla as a reminder of the region's unpredictable nature and our willingness to venture to a country with so much more variability than we are accustomed.
Yesterday was my first day working with Winrock International’s USAID-supported Hamro Samman: Partnerships to Combat Human Trafficking. I began my first day meeting the staff in the office, followed by a meeting in which I was able to be caught up with the project and the role of each member on the team. More specifically, I learned a bit more about some of the projects I may be working on, to include shelter assessments in the districts Hamro Samman supports and research on trafficking-in-persons within those districts to better ascertain if the areas are hubs or suppliers of trafficked persons.
I also learned a legislative director is being brought on board to look at legislative gaps between Nepali law and international standards. This is something I would love to get involved with and I look forward to meeting whomever Hamro Samman hires and offering any assistance. Before they arrive I am doing my best to learn more about Nepal’s Constitution, governance, legal systems, ministries, and laws regarding trafficking-in-persons and labor migration. I have also spent most of yesterday and today reading up on the project’s objectives and researching trafficking-in-persons in Nepal and cross-border trafficking from Nepal to India. When we think of human trafficking we often think of sex trafficking, which is very problematic, however, Nepal has a large population affected by labor trafficking. To address these issues, Hamro Samman must work in conjunction with many different government agencies, civil service organizations, and even the private sector, in order to support and strengthen Nepal’s current infrastructure to counter trafficking-in-persons prior to the end of the project in 2022.
By joining Hamro Samman in its first year, I’ve already come to learn about some of the operational challenges in forming a program. Hamro Samman had to become operational in such a short period of time, retaining staff, office space, contracts with local vendors for supplies and services, etc. While I was familiar with these processes in the U.S., it is incredible to see how quickly Hamro Samman has gotten up and running. I look forward to spending the rest of the week learning more about how much Hamro Samman has achieved on the programming side and how I can contribute to the work it has yet to do.