Third World Peace

Allow me to share the random things I saw the other day as I was walking to the landless people community. First, four men dressed only in their underwear carrying a bier with a dead body on top. The body was covered with a light sheet. White is the color of morning, hence the underwear. They were just walking down the street along with the pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles, buses, goat herders and cows. After I walked down the steep hill of trash to get to the community, (I usually cross the river stepping on a makeshift bridge of sandbags, but the river is too high, and I don't want my feet to touch that water) I saw a squealing pig being dragged into its pen. Just as I looked, I saw a man raise a machete and... I've seen a pig slaughter or two in my time, so it wasn't too disturbing. I am instead disturbed by the large number of naked children I see daily. Last sight to complete the image - a 2 or 3 year old boy defecating in the piles of trash while his mother and the cows look on. They have no other toilet facility, so a trash pile seems a more reasonable solution than the river they bathe in... but still.

Yesterday was a bus strike in Kathmandu. Today is a teacher's strike. We left for church early because Rick and I were speaking... it usually takes 25 minutes. An hour later we arrived barely in time. All the roads were blocked, and apparently it is trendy to through rocks at cars and buses during strikes. Our amazing cab driver took us on all these back roads... road is not really the best term. Dirt paths, fields, sidewalks, cobblestone paths in front of temples... A couple times we were going up and down hills that were so steep, I was ready to get out and push the car. Our ride back was even crazier. Today is completely normal again. By normal, I mean no strike.

Today I am start filming for the documentary. The crew should arrive any minute, and then we are off to get footage of all our projects - past, present and planned. I am selecting the shots, and we are hiring someone else to edit it. Tej wants me to narrate it as well... I'll see how it goes. This morning we had no water, so I did not shower. The only day that I will be on film... and I couldn't even wash my face. For the past two weeks there has been a petrol shortage, so I'm totally accustomed to cold showers. These past couple of days, the third world differences have been more present than before.