January 29, 2015
Every time I travel to Nepal, I see changes. This is a country on the move; a country
trying to break into the 21st century and many of the citizens are working for
improvement. My last visit was 10 months ago. In that short period of time the
main roads around the city, from the airport, and into the main business districts,
have been widened. The potholes have been filled and the rubbish hauled away.
Nepal has been notorious for it’s piles of trash and waste filling the streets and
storm drains, and now, trash is the exception rather than the rule!
I haven’t seen any cows since my return. That may sound like a peculiar statement
but in the Hindu religion cows are sacred. The roads in Nepal have always had an
abundance of roaming or sleeping cows – animals with no fear of cars or awareness
that moving vehicles had to dodge them at every turn. I don’t know where the cows
are kept these days, but they no longer have the right‐of‐way on the city streets!
Besides trash and cows, there is another thing that is blatantly missing – street
children and beggars. Both of these disadvantaged people groups have previously
held center stage in the city and outlying areas around Kathmandu. They were
impossible to miss. Small groups of dirty, homeless children would be clustered on
street corners, outside of hotels and restaurants, and knocking on taxi windows
with the more assertive ones asking for a handout. Tattered beggars, mostly people
with physical deformities, were prevalent around town as well. Today there isn’t a
one to be found. I’ve been told the government has herded them away somewhere
so they won’t be seen. Tourists and nationals alike felt uncomfortable being
exposed to such ‘undesirables’. A first time tourist could visit Kathmandu and not
see or comprehend the real poverty, the real story of this country. Progress is good,
but I hope that as Christians we aren’t covering our eyes or hiding from the needs of
others.
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: you shall love your
neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30, 31