Nepal – 2001 – Home life

Reminds me of working with my dear departed father. Learned many lessons from a firm hand.

The home life out in the country is very different from ours here in America, of course.

When would you ever let your eight year old take the rope of a two ton bull and walk him into the fields. That’s exactly what we saw daily, there. The children are given responsibilities at a young age and deal with them with out having a nervous breakdown. They help with everything. What a concept.

Do you ever wonder why our children today are so miserable and confused? They have no idea of their importance to the family and have no role in it that they can see. Not so here in Nepal.

I think every couple should go to a country like Nepal to see how the children are raised and cared for before they have children of their own. The children are given responsibilities when they are quite young and are taught to deal with them. What a concept. Maybe you could talk to your grandparents if they are still around and learn a little about their lives as children. It would be interesting and perhaps educational.

A lot of the houses in the country are up on low stilts. The bulls and other animals live under the house out of the weather, and their body heat warms the house. What a clever idea. The stairway into the house is a notched post, lying at an angle. Looks dangerous. No, that’s just the way they get into their house.

Most families seem to use metal plates and cups. They are cleaned with the sand at the edge of the river and then rinsed in the water. It seems a  sensible way to do things when you live three days walk from the market and cash is seasonally available at best. The farmers live is never an easy one, even in America.

I’m sure that there are problems in these households just like at home, but I see some different and better ways of doing things here so far.

It is important to keep an open mind when traveling. I always look for how cultures do things better than mine. You can always find fault, just listen to our news programs. It’s much more difficult to find solutions.

Perhaps living out in the country looking up at giant, snow covered, mountains in a quiet and relatively safe environment and knowing your place in it and your family is a good start.