Diana Bagnoli

ForEverest – The climate crisis in Nepal through children’s eyes

Mount Everest, the “roof of the world”, is universally the symbol of an unreachable, unassailable and immutable nature. Yet the so-called Third Pole of the Earth, the Himalayan plateau, is today one of the frontlines that are being exposed to the effects of climate change the most. This area has been warming up faster than the rest of the planet. If we continue with current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, two thirds of the Himalayan glaciers will be lost by 2100. That will bring catastrophic consequences: the water stored in the perennial ice of the Himalayas feeds ten of the most important river systems, including the Ganges, the Mekong and the Indus, on which depend 1.9 billion people directly or indirectly. In Nepal, Mount Everest's home country, the effects of global warming are already a reality, despite the country's contribution to global emissions being almost irrelevant. Extreme weather events and landslides intensify, monsoons become irregular, watercourses are subject to shoals and floods that affect both agriculture and hydropower production. All this in an area that has already suffered natural disasters, such as the earthquake of 2015. Being ready for these changes is especially important for the younger generation. The environmental crisis, its impacts in daily life and the solutions adopted to overcome them are recounted here mainly through the eyes of the younger generation exactly for this reason. Children and teenagers met on a journey that traveled through Nepal from south to north, from the Ganges plain to the peaks of the Langtang via the Kathmandu valley. With special attention to the theme of education on the matter: because it is from there that the awareness and, consequently, the action begin.

Mount Everest, the “roof of the world”, is universally the symbol of an unreachable, unassailable and immutable nature. Yet the so-called Third Pole of the Earth, the Himalayan plateau, is today one of the frontlines that are being exposed to the effects of climate change the most. This area has been warming up faster than the rest of the planet. If we continue with current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, two thirds of the Himalayan glaciers will be lost by 2100. That will bring catastrophic consequences: the water stored in the perennial ice of the Himalayas feeds ten of the most important river systems, including the Ganges, the Mekong and the Indus, on which depend 1.9 billion people directly or indirectly. In Nepal, Mount Everest’s home country, the effects of global warming are already a reality, despite the country’s contribution to global emissions being almost irrelevant. Extreme weather events and landslides intensify, monsoons become irregular, watercourses are subject to shoals and floods that affect both agriculture and hydropower production. All this in an area that has already suffered natural disasters, such as the earthquake of 2015. Being ready for these changes is especially important for the younger generation. The environmental crisis, its impacts in daily life and the solutions adopted to overcome them are recounted here mainly through the eyes of the younger generation exactly for this reason. Children and teenagers met on a journey that traveled through Nepal from south to north, from the Ganges plain to the peaks of the Langtang via the Kathmandu valley. With special attention to the theme of education on the matter: because it is from there that the awareness and, consequently, the action begin.

Nepal. Drawing by Biinisha Maharjan, 15 years old, a student at the Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur.
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur. A girl posing during the Chhath Puja
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur During the Chhath Puja celebrations, some women bathe in the Ganga Sagar, the most important of the 200 sacred ponds in the city. Chhath Puja is one of the main festivities of the Hindu calendar and is celebrated immediately after Diwali week, the most heartfelt of the many Nepalese festivals. Janakpur, the ancient city-state of Mithila in eastern Terai, is the place of choice for taking part in this cult. During the four intense days of celebrations the city is filled with pilgrims, mostly from India. The festival is dedicated to Lord Surya, the Sun God. While many of the Hindu rituals are related to the natural elements, the connection is particularly true and deep for Chhath Puja. The food offerings and sacred ablutions, of which the women are the main protagonists, are a symbol of gratitude to the Sun for making life, the cycle of the seasons and thus agriculture, harvest and sustenance for the family possible.
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur A woman brings food offerings into the waters of a sacred pond during the celebration of Chhath Puja. Women are the real protagonists of this important Hindu festivity dedicated to the Sun God and the harvest. It is them, in fact, who are responsible for the nourishment of the family and, in the agricultural communities, the ones who take charge of most of the work in the fields. Usually a woman (or sometimes, rarely, a man) per family is chosen who every year "sacrifices" herself by immersing herself at intervals, and for at least one full hour, in the cold waters of the sacred lakes or rivers. It's both a sign of gratitude and a request for future blessing. ? To prepare for this important task, women fast for two days. Then they dress up with clothes and jewelry bought for the occasion: new and pure, just as the body and spirit must be during the ritual.
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur A boy arranges the family food offerings on the ghat of the sacred lake for the beginning of Chhath Puja. Women spend the first two days of Chhath Puja cooking and fasting. For the feast dedicated to the Sun God a number of fried cakes and traditional breads are prepared, which, combined with fruit and candles, will remain on display for another two days on the banks of artificial lakes or rivers. Fasting serves to purify oneself before bringing offerings and immersing in the sacred waters. However, no food prepared for the feast will go to waste. On the last day, after celebrating the rituals at the first light of dawn, all the offerings are taken home and eaten together with the family and guests. Food is a fundamental element of the ritual, which has a strong link with the agricultural world. Chhath Puja is also an opportunity to celebrate the end of the harvest and prepare for a new cycle. For many farmers it's thus customary, in the days following the festival, to set fire to the fields to eradicate sugar cane roots after harvesting them. But despite the fact that the cold weather usually arrives in early November in Terai, the 2019 Chhath Puja took place in temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius. The fires in the fields were therefore postponed: this tradition had to adapt to climate change as well.
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur. Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu Vedic festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, It's dedicated to the Sun and his wife Chhathi Maiya, in order to thank them for life on earth and the last harvest. Women are used to be the ones who sacrify themselves standing in the water for at least one hour in order to ask God to protect their families and to request the granting of certain wishes. The festival is to worship the sun God and the rituals are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water, standing in water for long periods of time, and offering biscuits, fruits and candles to the setting and rising sun. Environmentalists claim that Chhath is the most eco-friendly Hindu festival.
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur. Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu Vedic festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, It's dedicated to the Sun and his wife Chhathi Maiya, in order to thank them for life on earth and the last harvest. Women are used to be the ones who sacrify themselves standing in the water for at least one hour in order to ask God to protect their families and to request the granting of certain wishes. The festival is to worship the sun God and the rituals are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water, standing in water for long periods of time, and offering biscuits, fruits and candles to the setting and rising sun. Environmentalists claim that Chhath is the most eco-friendly Hindu festival.
Drawing by Harshita and Durga Sah, 12 and 10 years old, from Janakpur. With its seven great rivers that flow from the Himalayas into the Ganges, the district of Dhanusha, in eastern Terai, has always been an area subject to flooding and overflowing. However, the variations in the monsoon regime caused by climate change are making the seasonal cycles of the Ganges plain increasingly unpredictable. Violent rains arrive suddenly, rivers break their banks and overflow and the soil does not have time to absorb water, thus becoming increasingly friable and unproductive. To make matters worse, intense deforestation undertaken especially in the last twenty years has deprived Nepal of a quarter of its forests, especially the sub-tropical Terai forests, which kept the soil more stable and contributed to the hydrogeological balance of the region. The last flood, in mid-July 2019, caused dozens of victims in Terai, damage to roads and infrastructure, and destruction of crops that led to the starvation of dozens of villages. The Janakpur area, between July 11th and 12th, recorded the second highest rainfall in Nepal, with 245 mm of rain falling in just 24 hours.
Nepal, Terai, Janakpur. Harshita Sah, 12 years old. During the last big flooding in Janakpur that lasted one months she had to go to school taking off her shoes and walk with the water over the knees. The thing she was afraid the most was snakes and leeches that were in the water. The Terai is one of the region in Nepal most affected by flooding.
Pushkar Sah, 14 years old and his sister Durga Sah, 10 years old, at home after school. We meet Pushkar at dawn on the last day of Chhath Puja, in a village where he is with his family for the celebrations. We don't go unnoticed: we are the only westerners who wander around Janakpur and its surroundings on the days of the Hindu festival. Pushkar knows we're journalists, but he's the one asking the questions. He invites us to his home in the city, where we meet his sisters. He wants to know about the reportage, especially asking very specific information about climate change: acidification of the oceans, melting of the cryosphere, danger of returning pathogens buried under the ice... He complains that his teachers are not sufficiently educated on the subject. He looks for information in the newspapers and follows BBC news. He's never heard of Greta Thunberg, but when he grows up he wants to be a scientist or an astronaut: “We need to find another planet to live on – he says – I don't think we can save the Earth.”
Drawing by Pushkar Sah, 14 years old, from Janakpur “I'm interested in everything that has to do with climate change. I look for information in newspapers, on the radio, on TV, because what I find in school books is not enough. And no, I don't try to talk to adults about it anymore, because I don't think they understand. If they really understood, they would do something right away.” Pushkar doesn't have the artistic talent his two sisters have, which is why he was reluctant to give us a drawing. But then he changed his mind, he thought it was important. In his drawing he illustrates all the anthropogenic causes of climate change: industrialization and unsustainable development, fossil fuels, air traffic, deforestation, overpopulation.
Nepal, Dhanushadham Protected Forest. "everything was flooded and nothing was left", says Radha Kumari, the 9 years old boy. This entire family has been starving during the last flooding of July 2019, as the water was everywhere, covered the little hoven and took away the food and fire wood. They have been eating dry rise for one month.Dhanushadham Protected Forest, Terai, Nepal.
Nepal, Dhanushadham Protected Forest A family poses in front of their house built of clay and straw. “It was all flooded and there was nothing left to eat.” The family of little Radha Kumari, 9 years old, lives in a clay house in the protected area of Dhanushandham Forest. During the flood of July 2019, the whole area was flooded. The families didn't even have a chance to cook rice: the traditional clay ovens are built outside the houses, on land, and were therefore completely covered by water. The displaced villagers were housed for a month in the community centre run by the local NGO Mithila Wildlife Trust. Founded and run by young people from Janakpur, the association protects the forest by working closely with local communities: village leaders, the elderly, women, young people and students. “We talk to them to convince them of the importance of conserving the forest and planting trees,” explain Dev Mandal and Chandan Thakur. The NGO is also committed to organizing environmental education courses and supporting the poorest families, such as Radha's, who do not have the means to send their children to school. “We activate microcredit projects and, as a first condition for obtaining funding, we make it compulsory to send children to school, instead of sending them to the forest to hunt animals.”
Drawing by Susnita Badu, 16 years old, student at Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur “This is the Earth. On one side I drew our world destroyed by pollution, on the other a happy environment, in balance with the rhythms of Nature.” So Susnita Badu, 16 years old, represents the global environmental crisis. She is the same age and wears the same braided hair as Greta Thunberg, but has never heard of her. She is however no less aware of the urgency of a change of direction. At the Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtpur, just outside Kathmandu, environment is a subject that is studied in books, but not only there. “The children – explains the principal Jagat Bahadur Maharjan – learn about the natural rhythms of the seasons by growing flowers and vegetables in the school's organic garden. Periodically, cleaning and garbage collection activities are organized. And on the occasion of the various religious festivities related to Nature and agriculture, teachers take advantage of this to explain the importance of preserving ecosystems.”
Neepal, Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley. A schoolgirl plays in the yard wearing a mask to protect herself from dust. Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is one of the most polluted cities in Asia and in 2018 earned the Global Environmental Performance Index black jersey for its poor air quality. To give a measure of the problem, according to the World Health Organization, the safe level for PM2.5 exposure is set at 25 µg/m3 for a single day, and for PM10, 50 µg/m3 for a single day. The average recorded in central Kathmandu during the winter months exceeds 100 µg/m3 per day for PM2.5 and 200 µg/m3 per day for PM10. These levels are very dangerous for health and can cause chronic respiratory diseases, especially in the most sensitive categories such as children.
Rarahil school in Kirtipur, suburb area of Kathmandu
Rarahil school in Kirtipur, suburb area of Kathmandu
Drawing by Janak Bista, 12 years old, student at Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur “This is the Kathmandu valley, that is more and more polluted every day,” says Janak. “But it's not just a problem in Kathmandu: the whole Earth is polluted and global warming is only increasing.” Environmental education is officially part of the school curriculum of the Nepalese public school. Children learn what it means to conserve ecosystems and natural resources, how to defend themselves in the event of natural disasters, and in recent years climate change has also entered the school curriculum.? On the occasion of our visit to the Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur – the institute founded by the climber Fausto De Stefani and helped after the earthquake with a fundraising event by the NGO Docenti Senza Frontiere (Teachers Without Borders) – the students competed to give us their drawings on the themes of the environment and global warming.
Nepal, Bhaktapur Brick and Tile Industry, Kathmandu Valley, December 2019 A young worker in front of the “oven” of the factory, from which he brings out 2600 baked bricks every day. Around Kathmandu there are dozens and dozens of brick kilns, and their chimneys release into the atmosphere particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, which are harmful to health. In addition of course to large quantities of CO2, since they are mainly coal-fueled. According to an estimate by the Department of the Environment, there are 125 plants throughout the valley (but there are many more that are not registered). Of these, more than 90% still use obsolete and highly polluting technologies, despite the government updating the standards in 2018 and requiring the installation of emission control devices. Before the 2015 earthquake, many licenses in the Kathmandu Valley had to be withdrawn, but the reconstruction emergency caused the stricter measures to be suspended. ? Today, with a booming brick industry, Nepal will have to deal with the environmental impact of the sector with greater urgency. Among the initiatives to promote a "clean" industry we find the one promoted by ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which is committed to spreading a more sustainable brick baking technique that reduces harmful emissions and the amount of coal needed.
Nepal, Bhaktapur Brick and Tile Industry, Kathmandu Valley, December 2019Around Kathmandu there are dozens and dozens of brick kilns, and their chimneys release into the atmosphere particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, which are harmful to health. In addition of course to large quantities of CO2, since they are mainly coal-fueled. According to an estimate by the Department of the Environment, there are 125 plants throughout the valley (but there are many more that are not registered). Of these, more than 90% still use obsolete and highly polluting technologies, despite the government updating the standards in 2018 and requiring the installation of emission control devices. Before the 2015 earthquake, many licenses in the Kathmandu Valley had to be withdrawn, but the reconstruction emergency caused the stricter measures to be suspended. ? Today, with a booming brick industry, Nepal will have to deal with the environmental impact of the sector with greater urgency. Among the initiatives to promote a "clean" industry we find the one promoted by ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which is committed to spreading a more sustainable brick baking technique that reduces harmful emissions and the amount of coal needed.
Nepal, Bhaktapur Brick and Tile Industry, Kathmandu Valley, December 2019 A worker in the factory. Around Kathmandu there are dozens and dozens of brick kilns, and their chimneys release into the atmosphere particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, which are harmful to health. In addition of course to large quantities of CO2, since they are mainly coal-fueled. According to an estimate by the Department of the Environment, there are 125 plants throughout the valley (but there are many more that are not registered). Of these, more than 90% still use obsolete and highly polluting technologies, despite the government updating the standards in 2018 and requiring the installation of emission control devices. Before the 2015 earthquake, many licenses in the Kathmandu Valley had to be withdrawn, but the reconstruction emergency caused the stricter measures to be suspended. ? Today, with a booming brick industry, Nepal will have to deal with the environmental impact of the sector with greater urgency. Among the initiatives to promote a "clean" industry we find the one promoted by ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which is committed to spreading a more sustainable brick baking technique that reduces harmful emissions and the amount of coal needed.
Nepal, Bhaktapur Brick and Tile Industry, Kathmandu Valley, December 2019Around Kathmandu there are dozens and dozens of brick kilns, and their chimneys release into the atmosphere particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, which are harmful to health. In addition of course to large quantities of CO2, since they are mainly coal-fueled. According to an estimate by the Department of the Environment, there are 125 plants throughout the valley (but there are many more that are not registered). Of these, more than 90% still use obsolete and highly polluting technologies, despite the government updating the standards in 2018 and requiring the installation of emission control devices. Before the 2015 earthquake, many licenses in the Kathmandu Valley had to be withdrawn, but the reconstruction emergency caused the stricter measures to be suspended. ? Today, with a booming brick industry, Nepal will have to deal with the environmental impact of the sector with greater urgency. Among the initiatives to promote a "clean" industry we find the one promoted by ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which is committed to spreading a more sustainable brick baking technique that reduces harmful emissions and the amount of coal needed.
Drawing by Bidhantha Pamagar, 11 years old, student at the Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur Air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley is a deadly mix of exhaust gasses from cars and mopeds, dust from unpaved roads and construction sites, waste burned in the open air and processing fumes from factories, especially all the coal-fueled brick kilns surrounding the capital. According to Nepal's Department of Transport, the Kathmandu Valley alone accounts for 50% of all motorized transport in the country. And the number of vehicles is growing at a rate of 14% per year, much faster than the city's population. According to a 2017 report drawn up for the region's Air Quality Management Action Plan, the transport sector contributes 30% to the concentration of PM10, but what is even worse is the construction sector (construction sites and brick factories) which emits 53% of it.
Kathmandu, capitale del #Nepal, è fra le città più inquinate dell'Asia e nel 2018 ha guadagnato la maglia nera del Global Environmental Performance Index per la pessima qualità della sua #aria. Il problema maggiore è il #traffico incontrollato. Il numero di veicoli cresce a un tasso del 14% all'anno, tre volte più velocemente della popolazione della città.
Nepal. One evening at Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, December 2019. Pashupatinath is the most revered Hindu pilgrimage site in Nepal and one of the most important temples dedicated to Shiva in the whole Hindu world. On the ghat (steps) that descend to the shore of the sacred Bagmati river the rituals of cremation of the dead are performed. Dying and being cremated here, for the Hindu believers, represents the highest of spiritual fulfillments: it means having the guarantee of being freed from the cycle of rebirth. The waters of the Bagmati river before Pashupatinath also have the power to purify. The tradition of Nepalese Hinduism prescribes to immerse the body of the deceased three times before burning it. The relatives themselves, after the ritual, usually bathe in the river, although the water pollution levels would advise them to stay away from it. There are currently no studies on the amount of smoke and harmful gases released from Pashupatinath open-air cremations. Concern about pollution clashes with religion in this case and the topic is down a slippery slope. In India, however, environmental organizations are beginning to make themselves heard on the subject, calling for solutions to reduce the consumption of wood used for funeral pyres, the fumes released into the atmosphere and the ashes that accumulate in watercourses.
Drawing by Ankit Maharjan, 11 years old, student at Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur Not just air pollution. In the Kathmandu valley, water is also a problem, especially in the great sacred river that flows through the capital. The Bagmati river is contaminated by industrial drains, sewage, domestic garbage and, last but not least, the remains of the various rituals that dot the calendar of Hindu festivities. Since 2013, the Nepal Public Health Foundation has organized a campaign to clean up the river. The Bagmati Clean-up Campaign gathers thousands of citizens every Saturday morning to collect garbage on the banks of the sacred river. It's not enough to solve the problem, but it's a good way to create awareness.
Nepal. In Kathmandu running water at home is a privilege. So people use to refill tanks every day, make the laundry and wash themself in public spaces.
Nepal. Kagati Village, Kathmandu Valley, November 2019 Girls play on a traditional bamboo swing called "ping". The small farming community of Kagati Gaun, in the Nuwakot district, is located in the hills a few kilometers away from Kathmandu. Just a fifteen minutes' drive from the Sisdole landfill. In summer, with the heat and humidity of the monsoon season, the foul exhalation of the waste collection site reaches here. ? A report published in January 2020 by the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology identified ten villages particularly vulnerable to the side effects of the landfill's proximity. Kagati is on the list, although there are communities in worse situations. The problem is not just the smell. Many farmers complain about the impact on agriculture and the death of livestock. Now the inhabitants of the area are waiting for the government to authorize the opening of a new landfill on another territory, and for Sisdole, which reached its maximum capacity as early as 2016, to be closed once and for all.
Nepal. Kagati Village, Kathmandu Valley, November 2019The small farming community of Kagati Gaun, in the Nuwakot district, is located in the hills a few kilometers away from Kathmandu. Just a fifteen minutes' drive from the Sisdole landfill. In summer, with the heat and humidity of the monsoon season, the foul exhalation of the waste collection site reaches here. ? A report published in January 2020 by the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology identified ten villages particularly vulnerable to the side effects of the landfill's proximity. Kagati is on the list, although there are communities in worse situations. The problem is not just the smell. Many farmers complain about the impact on agriculture and the death of livestock. Now the inhabitants of the area are waiting for the government to authorize the opening of a new landfill on another territory, and for Sisdole, which reached its maximum capacity as early as 2016, to be closed once and for all.
Drawing by Agina Saipal, 12 years old, student at the Rarahil Memorial School in Kirtipur Waste management is one of the biggest problems in Kathmandu, which alone produces around 500 tonnes of garbage every day. Attempts to separate collection and recycling are still few and mostly managed by NGOs or private individuals, without government support. The huge landfill in Sisdole, in the hills just a few kilometres from the city, is currently the only collection site in use and its capacity limit was exceeded years ago, making the site a real ecological bomb. Contributing to the city's recurring waste emergencies are also the bad habits of a part of the population, which often uses the Bagmati River as a landfill or burns the garbage in the open air, adding toxic fumes to the already unhealthy air of Kathmandu.
Nepal. Sisdole landfill, Kathmandu valley, November 2019 Kathmandu City Council began using the Sisdole site as a landfill site in 2005. At that time it was a ravine, a deep gorge in the hills a few kilometers from the capital, about 2000 meters above sea level in the district of Nuwakot. Today Sisdole is a new hill, entirely made of garbage. Arriving there by jeep, you can smell it from the road even before you see it in the distance. We get out of the car, covering our mouths with a scarf, to take some photos, but the guard tells us to put away lenses and mobile phones and follows us. The people who work here, men and women, don't wear masks: they are so used to the smell that we see them eating quietly, on a break, camped out like a picnic in the garbage, while the goats graze on plastic on rotten molehills. D e s p i t e h a v i n g reached its maximum capacity as early as 2016, Sisdole is currently the only landfill in use in the valley. Every day 150 trucks arrive from Kathmandu carrying around 800 tonnes of rubbish produced by the capital and the surrounding cities. During the monsoon season, however, the management becomes very problematic: the mountain roads leading to the landfill become rivers of mud and sometimes the waste cannot be transported for days, accumulating on the already flooded streets of the cities.
Nepal. Sisdole landfill, Kathmandu valley, November 2019 Kathmandu City Council began using the Sisdole site as a landfill site in 2005. At that time it was a ravine, a deep gorge in the hills a few kilometers from the capital, about 2000 meters above sea level in the district of Nuwakot. Today Sisdole is a new hill, entirely made of garbage. Arriving there by jeep, you can smell it from the road even before you see it in the distance. We get out of the car, covering our mouths with a scarf, to take some photos, but the guard tells us to put away lenses and mobile phones and follows us. The people who work here, men and women, don't wear masks: they are so used to the smell that we see them eating quietly, on a break, camped out like a picnic in the garbage, while the goats graze on plastic on rotten molehills. D e s p i t e h a v i n g reached its maximum capacity as early as 2016, Sisdole is currently the only landfill in use in the valley. Every day 150 trucks arrive from Kathmandu carrying around 800 tonnes of rubbish produced by the capital and the surrounding cities. During the monsoon season, however, the management becomes very problematic: the mountain roads leading to the landfill become rivers of mud and sometimes the waste cannot be transported for days, accumulating on the already flooded streets of the cities.
Kathmandu, November 2019 Waste collection and sorting center Nepsemyak Sewa. It's early morning, but the workers at the Nepsemyak Sewa waste collection centre in Budhanilakantha municipality in Kathmandu have already almost finished their first shift. The first garbage trucks arrive with their loads when it's still dark, long before dawn, and deposit everything in an empty shed. Here, men and women with gloves and rubber boots start sorting the garbage manually: PET plastic bottles, glass, cans, paper. “We clean them up and stack them neatly in this other warehouse. Then we sell them to companies that recycle them and use them for their production,” explains Surendra Parajuli, young manager of the Budhanilakantha center. “We have 24 other collection and sorting centers like this one throughout the city.” Surendra is passionate about his work and speaks with envy of European collection and recycling systems. In Kathmandu, despite the many waste emergencies in recent years, separate collection is still a business entirely in the hands of private individuals or some goodwill association. “There are no laws or municipal regulations that make our work easier.” However, Nepsemyak Sewa is a growing society: today its catchment area extends to 40,000 households and the plan is to expand into other cities.
Nepal, Saramthali (2200 m), Rasuwa district, November 2019 The Shree Dupcheshwori School in Saramthali, mountain Rasuwa District, completely collapsed during the 2015 earthquake. “Luckily it was a Saturday and the children were not in class,” recounts Nabaraj Acharya, project manager of Asia onlus, the NGO that rebuilt the school. “We first set up a temporary building made of bamboo and local materials. The two brick school buildings were inaugurated at the end of 2018. Today the school has 235 students between the ages of 5 and 15.” The area, despite having been among the worst hit by the earthquake, has received aid for reconstruction with difficulty due to its inaccessibility, especially during the monsoon season. In addition, Rasuwa is one of the Nepalese districts with the lowest literacy rate (70th out of 75) and school dropouts only feed a great scourge of the country: child trafficking. For this reason the Italian NGO has decided to focus on this region, not only by rebuilding the schools, but also by bringing a new approach to education, more attentive to social inclusion and the environment.
Nepal, Saramthali (2200 m), Rasuwa district, November 2019 Biswas Pakhyen, 12 years old, sings the national anthem of Nepal together with all the students of the Shree Dupcheshwori School in Saramthali, before starting classes. Education is a very important value for Nepalese culture: "the book is a god", recounts a popular saying.? The country's educational system has in fact made giant strides since the 1950s. Previously there were only schools for the children of the elite and aristocracy and only 2% of the population could read. Today, according to the latest statistics of the World Bank, the literacy rate over the age of 15 has reached 67.9%, and if we look only at the younger generation between 15 and 24, the percentage rises to 92%. However, rural areas are still far from these goals: Rasuwa district, for example, ranks 70th out of 75 districts for literacy rates. In addition to the lack of facilities, there are practical difficulties in sending children to school, such as the long walking distance for those living in remote villages, which often remain isolated due to landslides and floods during the monsoon season.
Nepal, Drawing by Biswas Pakhyen, 12 years old, student at Shree Dupcheshwari School in Saramthali, Rasuwa District “Climate change and the accompanying increase in rainfall intensity and alteration of the hydrological cycle have reportedly increased the likelihood of landslides and flooding in Hindu Kush Himalayan countries such as Nepal”, state the researchers of ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development based in Kathmandu. T h e Rasuwa district is one of the areas that are particularly prone to landslides. “I represented the landslides affecting our region, – explains Biswas – If we protect the trees and don't cut them down, we can prevent mudslides and save the animals too.” One of Biswas' schoolmates, 14-year-old Rasmi Gombo, tells an episode that particularly frightened her: during a landslide a couple of years ago, a large tree, that had been cut down, fell on the village, killing a person.
Nepal, Rasuwa district, November 2019 Nepal ranks fourth in the world in terms of vulnerability to the effects of climate change and eleventh in terms of earthquakes. The Nepalese government estimates that more than 80% of the population lives in areas at risk of some kind of natural disaster. M o v i n g up towards the Langtang National Park in the Rasuwa district, it's impressive to see the mountainsides furrowed by long longitudinal stripes. Landslides and mudslides have always been a major problem for the country's mountain areas, but their incidence has increased during the monsoon season precisely because of climate change. “The rains have become too violent and sudden,” explains Nabaraj Acharya of Asia onlus. “The soil cannot absorb the water and it landslides towards the valley.” Destroying houses, crops and sometimes killing people.
Nepal, Rasuwa district A girl caught by surprise by a landslide on her way to work in the fields. According to a report published in 2019 by ICIMOD, natural disasters and extreme weather events have different consequences for men and women and the latter suffer the worst effects. Data collected in recent decades in the Himalayan regions show that women and girls are more at risk of death from natural disasters than men. This is a consequence, researchers explain, of women's reduced access to timely information on risks and also to training on how to act during emergencies, as well as reduced mobility and limited decision-making power. The situation worsens when gender discrimination is coupled with poverty, especially in rural areas. During the 2015 earthquake, for example, more women than men died in all affected districts except Kathmandu.
Nepal, Rasuwa district Drawing by Bikesh Pakhren, 12 years old, student at the Shree Dupcheshwari School in Saramthali, Rasuwa District. "The theme of my drawing - explains Bikesh - is the preservation of trees. If we cut them down, we'll miss the water". In fact, the green cover of the ground helps the absorption of rainwater and preserves the aquifers. Forests also reduce the risk of hydrogeological instability: a fundamental function especially in an area as seismically active as the Himalayas and today subjected to increasingly intense meteorological events and violent rains. ? “Anthropic influences like unsustainable development and excessive resource extraction – ICIMOD researchers write – particularly deforestation and road building, have adversely influenced slope stability and aggravated the possibility of landslide.”
Nepal, Rasuwa district, Saramthali (2200 m). A woman portrayed in front of her house with her grandson behind her. According to a 2019 report by the World Bank, 28% of Nepal's GDP comes from the remittances of migrant workers abroad, who send home more than $8 billion every year. According to the World Bank data, about 28% of Nepal's workforce is currently abroad and between 350,000 and 400,000 people leave the country every year. The tendency to emigrate – predominantly male – is spreading particularly among the populations of the hilly areas, typically employed in agriculture. Once men from these areas left to seek work in Kathmandu, in the southern region of Terai and in India; today, especially young people, are increasingly emigrating to the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia or East Asia. Climate change is also helping to push farmers to look for sources of income elsewhere, as we read in a recent ICIMOD report. Due to frequent droughts and new pests that are now spreading, agriculture is becoming an increasingly tiring and unproductive activity. Men leave in search of greater earnings abroad, leaving behind the elderly and women, who find themselves alone in all the agricultural work and family management.
Nepal, Rasuwa district, Saramthali (2200 m). A man portrayed during the harvesting and threshing of rice. Nepal is a predominantly agricultural country. More than 70% of its population is employed in this sector, which represents about one third of the national GDP. The economy and livelihoods of the Nepalese are thus directly affected by the effects of climate change: changes in the monsoon regime, violent rains and hail, drought and floods can destroy entire crops and reduce families to starvation. Institutions like the Italian non-profit organization Asia onlus work to promote a more sustainable agriculture for this reason. For example, in Saramthali, in the Rasuwa district, alternative crops to rice are being promoted, such as coffee, potatoes and cardamom, which are more resilient to weather conditions and able to guarantee farmers economic income.
Nepal, Rasuwa district, Saramthali (2200 m). Children returning from work in the fields. At the Shree Dupcheshwari School in Saramthali, Rasuwa District, classes start at 10 am. The children are being loud around the village fountains, bathing and getting ready for school. Everyone wears their uniforms; the girls wear skirts over their trousers, because the air is still fresh in the mountains at that time of the morning. In reality, they've been awake since before dawn: they have gone to work in the fields together with their parents. And, as they do every day, they'll be back there in the afternoon after school, until there's still enough sunlight to transport the hay up to the terraced plantations, to look after the animals or for any other task. Children's work in the fields is a custom in Nepal's farming communities, it's part of tradition and education. However, it often gets in the way of school attendance, especially for girls. School dropouts, child labour or, worse, child trafficking are very serious problems in Nepal. According to a report for the years 2017/18, drawn up by the Nepalese government in collaboration with lLO (International Labour Organization), 286 thousand children are involved in work for pay, while 2.1 million (30%) carry out at least one activity aimed at the production of goods and 36% (mostly girls) are engaged daily in some service for home and family.
Nepal, Rasuwa distric, Saramthali (2200 m). An old woman portrayed at home at the end of a work day in the fields. In mountain communities, women play a key role in preserving natural resources and taking care of the fields and livestock, and compared to men they bear on average a heavier workload. However, it's always men who take part in the decision-making process and who benefit most from the harvest of the land.? That is why, nowadays, almost all agricultural training and resilient land management projects pay particular attention to gender equality. The Asia onlus programs in the Rasuwa district encourage women, even the elderly ones, not only to take part in training courses, but to actively participate and express their needs in public community assemblies.
Nepal, Syabrubesi (2380 m), Langtang National Park, Rasuwa district . Girls bathing at one of the village fountains. Drinking water infrastructure is a long-standing problem in Nepal. Today, drinking water has become more accessible and almost 90% of Nepalese people have at least one municipal spring, well or fountain available to stock up on water for their daily needs. However, the disparity in access to drinking water between rich and poor classes is still evident. In villages in rural areas, for example, it's rare for houses to have their own tap and it's normal, in the morning and evening, to see people standing in line at the communal fountain to bathe or do their laundry.? Moreover, in Rasuwa district, after the earthquake of 2015, due to the hydro-geological upheaval of the area, many springs dried up. In addition, the change in the monsoon regime brought by climate change: if up until a few years ago it rained for a long time and with moderate showers so that the earth had time to absorb water and feed the groundwater, today violent and sudden rainfalls are not absorbed and cause erosion and impoverishment of the soil. Water shortages are beginning to occur and the water supply for irrigation is becoming a problem in many villages.
Nepal, Thulo Syabru (2260 m), Langtang National Park, Rasuwa district . Two little girls play at blowing in each other's faces just before they go to sleep, while they look after the landlady's daughter, only a few months old. On the right, Rumi Tamang, 12 years old, who is actually a full-time maid: a poor relative of the landlady, we're told, who in exchange for room and board and the possibility of attending school, works as a babysitter and helps out in the kitchen and cleaning.? It's common in Nepal for girls from poor families to be “lent” as maids to wealthier families, to guarantee them the sustenance that their parents cannot afford. I n t h e cities, especially in Kathmandu, the phenomenon takes the form of child labor: young girls, even very young ones (5 or 6 years old) are sent to work in rich homes for a wage, obviously abandoning any prospect of study.
Nepal, Langtang National Park, Rasuwa District. Shortly before reaching the village of Langtang, at 3460 m in the heart of the national park of the same name, you cross a large stone quarry. To unsuspecting tourists, it may seem like an imposing, rocky gorge covered with rocks. It's hard not to notice, however, one disturbing detail: as you turn your eyes towards the top of Langtang Lirung, on the left, one side of the mountain appears sharply cut. The river of rock on which we walk suddenly shows itself for what it really is: a cemetery. Below it is buried the old village of Langtang with the 243 people – inhabitants, guides and tourists – who were there on the morning of April 25th, 2015, the day of the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Nepal.That morning, at 11.56 am, a giant avalanche broke loose from Langtang Lirung: 40 million tons of rock and ice, including an entire frozen lake, poured into the small village, literally wiping it out of the world. “There was nothing and no one left,” says Skanda Gautam, photojournalist at The Himalayan Times, who flew in by helicopter the day after the tragedy. The names of the victims are now carved on a “Mani wall”, while the village was rebuilt by the survivors a hundred meters away from the ravine and resumed tourist activity.?
Langtang National Park, view from the top of Kyanjin Ri, November 2019 On the left, the Langtang Lirung peak (7227 m) and the Lirung glacier, on the right the Tsangbu Ri peak (6781 m) and the Kimjung glacier. According to data collected over the past 30 years, between 1979 and 2009, the Lirung and Kimjung glaciers retreated by 900 meters and 400 meters respectively, at an average rate of 40 meters per year. On the vertical axis, the “snout” (i.e. the end point) of the two glaciers retreated instead of 100 meters. In particular, the total extent of the Lirung glacier has already reduced by over 60%: a report published in 2017 warns that if the melting continues at this rate, the glacier could disappear within two decades.? In the last 30 years, 24% of the ice cover of the entire Langtang valley has already been lost.?