In February 2015, I blogged about the many changes in Nepal. How Nepal is a country on the move striving to catch up with the 21st century. I have been a bystander watching arduous change for the past 20 years. During my last visit I saw new car dealerships scattered throughout Kathmandu for the first time. New businesses, especially grocery stores and shopping malls, could be seen at every turn, and 10 – 12 story apartment buildings were springing up like tall sunflowers. Many people walking down the streets were carrying ‘I’ phones or smartphones, and most everyone in the city had a cellphone of some type. All that progress also gave people the opportunity to incur debt. Financing is available and bank loans are possible, not just for the ‘rich’ but for those considered ‘middle’ class. Previously, every purchase, large or small, required cash.
So much improvement and yet electricity is down half the time due to ‘load shedding’. It is not uncommon for St. Devi’s to be without power for a couple of days at a time. Obviously that means no lights and computers, but it also means phones cannot be charged and water cannot be pumped to the upper floors so toilets don’t flush. For me these things are a temporary annoyance, but for those living here, it’s just a fact of life.
The achievement of modernization and cleaning up the streets has been huge and then, a major earthquake struck in April! Much of what was attained was wiped out in a few tremulous moments. How much of a setback will the devastation cause this small, struggling country? Loss of livelihood, a means of earning an income, is extensive. By far the majority live paycheck to paycheck with no ‘nest egg’ for an emergency. People who have lost everything have no insurance to help them get started again. Numerous survivors will be at a subsistence level, and who knows for how long? For villagers living in the high mountain regions where there was no damage, life will continue as usual. Unfortunately, in the Kathmandu valley and villages near the epicenter of the earthquake, rebuilding will be a gradual process. Right after the earthquake a friend from Philadelphia who spends a month in Nepal every year told me that he thinks Nepal is forever changed.
My prayer is that God will bring something good from this desolation. “To all who mourn…He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory.” Isaiah 61:3 NLT
The pictures show the power lines in the heart of Kathmandu before the quake. The mountain village in the village was located north, near the China border. This area was decimated by the earthquake.
