I had planned on writing a post or two on trekking in Nepal. It would seem, though, that I've been suffering from a case of writer's block. I can't seem to find a way to do the topic justice. Instead, my photos--and the associated commentary--will have to suffice. Needless to say, these were wonderful experiences, and I highly recommend a trip to Nepal for anyone who is interested. I put photos from Nepal, Switzerland and Morocco up on my Picasa site.
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| Nepal 2010 |
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| France and Switzerland 2010 |
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| Morocco 2010 |
Also, I put together a panoramic composite image of the Himalaya near Mt Everest, and put it up on Photosynth.
There is one other topic in addition to my treks in Nepal that I had wanted write about: volunteering and development work. Of course, a big part of this trip was spent visiting a friend who is volunteering in Nepal for a couple years. Over the past few months--before, during and after my trip--it has been interesting for me to gain little insights here and there into various aspects of her work. And it's hard work, both for her, as a volunteer and a foreigner, and for the Nepalis that she is working with trying to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Makwanpur District. It's heartwrenching, frankly. Clearly, there is an emotional aspect to this topic of volunteering or development work, for me, at least, but I think too for Tiffany and her Nepali coworkers. But it is not and cannot only be about having a bleeding heart. There is funding and grants and paperwork and reports and conferences and trainings and on and on and on. It's serious work.
I wish I had something profound to say about volunteering and development work. Talking with Tiffany and her Nepali coworkers, and getting a glimpse of the work that they are doing certainly made the whole thing much more real for me. I suppose for now, I'll just leave it at that.
I will end this blog with a quote I heard the other day that I appreciated. From time to time, I listen to the radio show Speaking of Faith. There was a show a month ago or so on the art of peace, in which John Paul Lederach, a Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, talked about peacebuilding work he has done in Nepal and elsewhere. Towards the end of the interview, he quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes as saying, "I would not give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity." That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm striving for.
