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In Search of "Kasai" (somebody)

by | 30-09-2014 09:16 recommendations 0

?Kasaile yesto gare hunthyo!! Kasaile yo suru gare hunthyo!!?  (Someone should have done it!! Someone should initiate it!!? – Few common statements among Nepalese who always look at others to lead rather than leading themselves. Be it in a minor road accidents or a major political crisis in the country we always look for ?Kasai? who can bring a change but rarely be that ?kasai? .It is quite obvious that unless we have a problem we don?t look for a ?Kasai?.

Meanwhile, Global and local problem though may have arise from the same root, are different. Following the philosophy Power Shift Nepal which is the Nepalese Chapter of Global Power shift a youth led coordinated action against climate change, has been involving youth (by thoughts and not just age) to be that particular ?Kasai? to initiate actions against climate change. After successfully developing 100 ?kasai? for climate movement in Kathmandu, power shift Nepal team carried on their mission of finding and developing that ?Kasai? quality (Leadership) to Dolpa where it was supported and led by 8 local organizations.


Dolpa, the largest district of Nepal with merely 36700 population is both a dream and nightmare to many. Rich in natural resources but life hardened by same topography, Dolpa is never the same for two different persons. But for every Dolpali one thing is common-degrading and changing natural environment. The local authorities are doing their bit but youth need to pull up their socks if visible positive transformation is desired. 


With aim of finding "Kasai"Power Shift Nepal and the local organizations of Dolpa organized two day training and networking program on 29 and 30 August, 2014 bringing 30 youth from different parts of Dolpa to single platform. The platform served as a place for network building, problem-solution sharing, taking responsibilities and introducing self as ?kasai?.


Moreover Dolpa being the only district of the country to have LAPA program in 5 VDCs, the program started with the possible impacts of Climate Change in the region and its acquaintance among youth. Erratic rainfall, rise in temperature, lesser snowfall, and lesser retaining of snow, shifting of vegetation were the common impacts reported by the participants. Er. Angad Kumar Hamal, The District Technical Officer of District Technical Office Dolpa pointed out in the necessity of identifying the degree of vulnerability in the Eastern and Western part of Nepal due to changes in topography. While he also suggested in considering Dolpa as rain shadow area before interpreting less rainfall as impact of climate change. Moreover as the hot local issue he pinpointed fading of indigenous knowledge and forest degradation.


Meanwhile, the youth listed waste management, poluution of Bheri River, Land degradation, deforestation, drying up of water source as major local environmental problems and suggested in TAKING COORDINATED ACTIONS to overcome the problems. Motivating the participant Rabindra Shahi, program Coordinator from DESERT, Dolpa told there is no option of everyone being ?Kasai? as there are numerous problems and each of them should handle the steering to drive Dolpa towards better environment.


The participants listed source conservation, forest protection, sanitation at school, waste management, and drainage management as prioritized programs for a year and each program is led by participants which is supported by the local organization and further aimed to seek help from the government authorities. The program finally discovered and introduced ?kasai? within each participant.

Sharing success of the program, power shifter and member of organizing team Yogendra Budha said, ?As a power shifter I am glad that we could bring power shift program from Kathmandu to Dolpa. But I am more delighted that this is most probably the first program where participants are satisfied and enthusiastic despite they did not get any remuneration from the organizers in Dolpa. I take it as their commitment for POWER SHIFT and a step towards being ?Kasai?.?

 
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5 Comments

  • says :
    Thank you for sharing, Pratap!
    Posted 30-11-2014 13:22

  • Rohan Kapur says :
    Power shift Nepal team is doing commendable job, Pratap, congrats for this.
    Forest degradation is widely responsible for many calamities thus it is very important to check & control this.
    I liked the beginning of your report. It is attention grabbing & the reader is glued to the post right till the end.
    Posted 30-09-2014 21:03

  • says :
    I think this is the great work to initiate such programmes in the Dolpa community. Such programmes is being concentrated on developed cities like Kathmandu,Chitwan, Dharan,etc. But starting these programmes in Dolpa is really a great work.I would like to congratulate POWER SHIFT NEPAL for this & wish all the best for the upcoming programmes in the near future. Also, if I get an opportunity to work with POWER SHIFT NEPAL, it will be a euphoric moment for me.
    Posted 30-09-2014 19:33

  • Arushi Madan says :
    Your report rightly pointed out an issue . Yes ,we do face people (lazy /laid back /why should I kinda people) who wait for others to take initiative. This is certainly not right . On one hand , I truly believe in ¡°We need to be the change we wish to see in the world¡± . On other hand I also believe that one person, alone, can??t change much /on larger scale . There comes the importance of such joint awareness events like the one you conducted(Power shifter and local organization of Dolpa), with great numbers of people working together to bring a change. We must start setting examples for others to follow , start setting path for others to follow , conduct such events to have collaborative actions to achieve a bigger positive change.
    Thanks , Pratap , for an inspirational report.
    Posted 30-09-2014 15:06

  • says :
    Thanks Pratap. You highlighted some of the challenges and environmental issues we also face in my country Zimbabwe. As youth we need to initiate the change we wish to see. We need to be the 'kasai' that would make a difference.
    Posted 30-09-2014 13:53

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