Returning

re·turn/riˈtərn/

Verb:	Come or go back to.
Noun:	An act of coming or going back to something.
Synonyms:

verb.  restore - give back - come back - get back - revert noun.  recurrence - restitution Yep, that's what I've been doing!  Returning to the USA this summer, returning to friends and family, returning to raising funds for our work in Nepal, leaving and returning to Nepal, again and again throughout this year, from teaching around the world -- and now, returning to writing on this blog!

sorry for the year long (!) lapse, no excuses...  (well, actually, I have PLENTY of excuses, just none that I would want to bore you with)

Our family all together in Colorado -- same time, same place!  -- A miracle!

Having time to write again, I wondered if I could even continue to keep 

"Himal Days" as the name of this blog? Technically, I'm closer to the Rocky mountains... (btw, my Nepali friends call the Rockies, "foothills" not mountains) ... anyway, I'm not living in the Himalayas or anywhere near them for a YEAR!   but, I decided to keep the name... my heart is there, even if my body isn't.  And.. I've decided in my returning... to chronicle things about Nepal that I know about.  Things that matter to me.   So here goes: Returning blog - Post #1: Nepal declares 2013 as "Anti-trafficking Year" "Poverty spawns human trafficking: PM"  - so goes the title of an October 2nd article in My Republica.com  (my favorite Nepali newspaper online or in print)!  The article reported that Nepal's Prime Minister (PM) announced 2013 as the year against human trafficking.  "Trafficking is a result of the poor political economic situation of the country" , he went on to say.  Indeed.  I'm curious to see what "effective mechanism to fight human trafficking holistically" that he plans to establish.  Stay tuned for that!  But hey!  it's a start! Living and working in Nepal, we've identified and focused on three key factors that contribute to human trafficking.   I. Lack of Education (75% of women trafficked are illiterate - they can't read things like billboards to know where they are, or debt agreements, or bills, or human rights laws... II.  Lack of Economic Opportunity (synonym: poverty) - Nepal is the poorest nation in South Asia; living off what they grow in most of the rural areas.  Nepal's money comes mostly from:  1.  Aid from other nations; 2.  Tourism and 3.  Nepalis sending money home from abroad  -- All of these basically rely on foreigners. III.  Cultural worldview regarding women, children and caste - Although on the law books, there is no discrimination between gender and castes, in Nepal, lower caste people receive less resources and education and are preyed upon for exploitation.  Women and girl children are less valuable than a water buffalo, in some communities, and even little village boys are sold as "servants" to more affluent Nepalis in the cities.  I've met many of them. I'm adding another factor -- Political Corruption. Anuradha Koirala, founder of Maiti, Nepal (a rescue shelter and leading voice on this issue globally) asked, "How can a young girl of 14, obtain a machine readable passport giving her age as 24, without someone in a government office?"   Good question.  There are a number of ways that the corruption of government officials contributes to the sale of Nepal's most vulnerable people -- Everything from police arresting the girls, but not their owners, (adding to their debt and slavery) to border officials who 'turn the other way' when they see trafficking.  Bribes, political favors, even high end brothels used and owned by government officials are evidence of political corruption as a contributing factor of HT.   Not sure what to do about it yet.   I'll return here.