VILLAGE LIFE IN PICTURES

VILLAGE LIFE IN PICTURES

The illustrations on this page provide a brief graphic
description of the villagers' way of life within the southern Mahabharat region of Kabhre
Palanchok district. The photographs on the page Beneficiaries of NSP Aid illustrate some
typical southern Mahabharat village homes. The illustrations on this page shall focus on
the villagers' activities and the way they live.

Spreading the manure is women's job. They are very skillful
in the way they toss the manure onto the field while carrying the basket. The manure is a
mixture of animal dung and dry leaves collected in the jungle. Chemical fertilizer,
although available in Nepal, is totally out of the reach of the region's very poor
population. The next picture illustrates plowing and seeding corn. Both the plow and the
harness are home made by the villagers. This applies to all agricultural implements needed
to cultivate their fields.

Once the crops start to grow, keeping the weeds from the
fields becomes a daily task. The work in the fields goes on rain or shine. As a protection
when working in rainy weather, the villagers wear a home made umbrella made from bamboo
and several layers of dry leaves.

In the picture on the left, the green fields are millet,
the yellow fields are mustard. Mustard is grown as a source of cooking oil. Another daily
chore, usually taken care of by the children, is grazing the goats.

Only goats are taken grazing. Large cattle
such as cows, oxen and water buffaloes are kept within the household compound because they
are not as agile as goats and could slip and fall while grazing the steep hillsides. Every
day early in the morning, one or more members of the family must cut the fodder for the
family cattle. This task may require a long trip into the far off jungle. Dry leaves for
the manure compost must also be collected in the distant jungle.

Harvesting millet, this is a very time
consuming task by having to cut the seed clusters stem by stem. When the harvest time
approaches, as well as during the harvest time, family members must to keep a round the
clock watch to keep the predators such monkeys from prowling the fields and feeding on the
villagers' crops. The picture on the right illustrates a permanent field observation post.

After the crops have been harvested comes the
task of threshing the grain clusters. There are no mechanical devices available for this
purpose in rural Nepal. It is all accomplished with the help of animals or large poles.
This form of grain threshing is not unique just to southern Mahabharat but is in common
practice throughout all rural regions of the country.

Once the grain reaches the people's homes, the
next step is grinding it into flour. On the left is a water propelled corn flour mill.
These mills are usually constructed by the villagers in the valleys and are propelled by
water diverted from a nearby stream or river. Even the mouth of the bamboo basket that
discharges the grain is ingeniously designed to discharge one grain at a time into the
hole of the upper grinding stone. On the right is a foot operated home-made grinding tool
that grinds grain into flour by pounding it with the heavy wooden pole. In the
illustration, the woman is grinding millet.

Above are two views of the interior of a
village home's kitchen, which also serves as a living and dining room. The main family
rooms lack furniture, the family members just squat on bamboo pads on the mud floor. The
meals are also eaten without any utensils in plates also placed on the mud floor. In the
picture on the left, the housewife is cooking the family meal of corn paste. Near the wall
are empty corn cobs that substitute for firewood. The goats and chickens are also kept
near the entrance inside the house for the night. The reason for this is that animal
predators, such as jackals and mountain lions may be prowling the hills for prey during
the night.

When the villagers are not busy with
agricultural work, they engage in other activities that may be related to household
needs as the baby basket on the right, or as income generating activity. The main income
generating activities are bamboo basket weaving and broom making, both from raw materials
that grow in the Mahabharat jungles. However, the earnings from such activities are very
modest. For instance, it takes a man about two days to make one sturdy basket. When he
takes the baskets to sell them in the market, he will probably be paid no more than about
two dollars a piece.

The villagers also make headbands and ropes
needed for carrying loads from the very strong cactus fibre. They also make their
own fishing nets.

The tools needed in agricultural work - hoes,
sickles, the metal parts of plows, khukuri knives - are all made by village blacksmiths.
The village blacksmiths also make certain unique tools used by village tradesmen. The
picture on the right shows a village nursery. The main purpose of nurseries is
reforestation. The sad testimonial to the government's past neglect of the region is that
there are virtually no fruit trees within the southern Mahabharat. By contrast, all other
regions of the district located to the north of southern Mahabharat abound with citrus,
mango and banana trees that generate considerable economic benefits to the people in
those parts of the district from the sale of fruit.

Both men and women fish in their spare time.
Every person that goes fishing wears a small bamboo basket to store the catch. The men
fish with large nets and in deep waters. The women fish in shallow streams with small nets
attached to bamboo bows. Everything they catch, even tadpoles is taken home to enhance
their simple diet.

There are no shops within the southern
Mahabharat. If the villagers need to obtain some personal or household necessity, they
must make the long trip on foot to the nearest urban centre. Occasionally, a traveling
tailor makes a tour of the villages to sow or mend clothing. On the right is a blind man
walking the steep mountain trails alone unassisted. He has to rely on the compassion of
fellow villagers for the donation of food. In Nepal, there is no such thing as welfare
support payments to the poor by the local government. The poor and those unable to work
must take care of themselves or rely on the generosity of equally poor relatives or fellow
villagers.

LIFE IN MAHABHARAT VILLAGES

The lifestyle of southern Mahabharat villagers can be best described as subsistence within a very primitive living environment. People live in simple mud and stone two story dwellings. When a natural disaster struck the region in 1993, many village homes situated in exposed locations collapsed in the heavy rain driven by strong winds. All village homes in rural Nepal are constructed of mud and stone. The main floor of every home doubles as a living room and kitchen and is often also shared by the family goats and chickens during the night. The villagers' homes have no furniture; the family and guests sit on straw mats on the mud floor. Babies are born in the village homes without any medical attention or supervision. Although the government has in recent years established a number of health posts, they still cannot provide adequate health care due to the distances involved. The mortality rate among newborn babies is very high. There are also many instances of mothers bleeding to death after giving birth, again due to the unavailability of medical help.
The food is cooked on an open fire inside the ground level living quarters. Since the houses have no chimneys and the majority of the main floor living quarters may have only a small window, the entire room is filled with smoke when the housewife cooks the morning or evening meal. The food is also simple in the extreme. It can be either corn or millet paste cooked in water and served with a spicy gravy or cooked nettles that the villagers pick along the hillsides. Vegetables are very rare within the region, the yellow Mahabharat soil is not well suited for vegetable growing. The food is served in brass or aluminum plates and eaten by the family on the mud floor. The villagers eat the same kind of food twice a day, every day. The upper level of the village homes serves as a bedroom but without beds. The villagers sleep in a dormitory style on the upper level's mud floor.
The villagers' daily activities focus entirely on household and agricultural chores. The daily chores include cultivating fields, cutting fodder for the family cattle and collecting firewood. The latter two activities usually involve long trips into a far off jungle. The region's entire population subsists on the produce of their own land. The main crops are corn and millet. Rice cultivation within the region is very rare. Virtually all villages are situated in the upper reaches of the hills. The topography of southern Mahabharat is all rugged mountain terrain with very steep hills and narrow valleys.
Everything needed by the villagers in the pursuit of their daily chores, such as agricultural tools and bamboo baskets are also produced by villagers within the villages. The majority of villagers are skilled bamboo basket weavers. Bamboo basket weaving and broom making are the two main income generating activities of the Mahabharat people. However, the earnings from such activities are very modest and barely sufficient for the purchase of other essential family needs.
The population within the region lives in relative isolation from civilization and urban centres. Depending on the location of a village within the region, it may take at least two days of travel on foot to reach the nearest urban centre of the district. Only the police check posts located in certain parts of the region are able to maintain wireless communication with the district headquarters. There is no electricity in any of the Mahabharat villages. Some villagers may own a cheap transistor radio that allows them to tune in to Nepal's only radio station to learn what is happening in the world at large. The level of literacy among the region's population is so low that they would not be able to read a newspaper even if it were available. Thus listening to a transistor radio is the only way to learn what is happening in their country outside of their home region. However, there are not many villagers who possess radios. Therefore, the region's population is very poorly informed both in domestic and world affairs.
Although it is gratifying to know that the majority of the region's children are now able to attend school, their level of literacy on reaching adulthood will also be quite limited. This is due to the fact that the majority of southern Mahabharat schools provide only education up to grade five. Another factor affecting the literacy level of school children is the poor quality of education in remote regions of Nepal. After graduating from grade five, the children will just barely be able to read and write. However, since about one half of the region's population are Tibeto-Burman speaking Tamangs, by attending school, the Tamang children will at least acquire the basics of the national language.
Access to education within the region beyond the five elementary grades is also very limited. Until relatively recently, there was only one secondary school located in the Taldunga village in the western part of the region. Taldunga is the centre of the region's Brahmins, thus it stands to reason that by the virtue of their high status within a Hindu state, that this village is being considered by the government establishment as the focal point of the region. In addition to the secondary school, Taldunga village also received the first health post, a police station and a bank within the region. The Taldunga valley also has the best agricultural land within the entire region.
Access to education beyond the elementary grades also presents a problem for children of very poor families who account for more than 95% of the region's population. The reason is that education beyond grade five is not free in Nepal. The parents of children who attend grades six and seven must contribute 25% toward the cost of operation of a lower secondary school. Parents of children who attend a secondary school (grades 8 - 11) must contribute 50% toward the school's operating budget. During our fourteen year presence within the southern Mahabharat, very few children from the villages that benefited from our projects went on to attend higher grades.
By contrast, we continue to be flooded with requests from young adults to join our training program for gainful employment. Due to the poor quality of education in remote parts of the country, it usually takes a child more than five years to pass grade five exams. By the time they pass grade five, they are already in their teens and the parents begin to arrange their marriages. It is not unusual for fifteen or sixteen year olds to marry. One reason for the teenage marriages is that pre-marital sex is considered a serious social offence. And although virtually all marriages are arranged by parents, they do last. We have had a few instances when some of our apprentices fell in love with a girl in a village where they were working, however, marriages of love are very rare. It is usually the boy's father's task to look for a bride for his son.
The marriages in Tamang communities are also made more complex because they can only take place between partners belonging to eligible clans. The Tamang community is subdivided into twenty five clans. A boy can marry a girl from any clan except his own or one considered as his brother clan. The marriages of Tamang boys and girls must also be in a descending order. The eldest son or daughter in the family must first get married before the next in line younger son or daughter can marry. Marriages between members of the same clan are never allowed. The Tamangs believe that all members of one clan are descendents from the same ancestor. In the case of brother clans, the common ancestors were brothers. However, all clans are considered to be equal in social and ritual status. A widow can marry her late husband's younger brother but not the elder brother. In accordance with local social customs, married couples never show affection for each other in public only in private.
The villagers do not engage in any recreational activities. By being engaged in hard manual labor all day provides them with lots of physical exercise. Although the villagers exhibit low resistance to disease, this is usually attributed to malnutrition. Heart disease is virtually unknown in rural Nepal. However, many villagers, especially women, acquire the bad habit of smoking home grown tobacco that often leads to lung cancer. Smoking may also account for the relatively high mortality rate among the region's adult population. When the villagers are not engaged agricultural work or other household related work, they frequently go down to the streams and rivers in the valleys to fish.