30.11. around midday

I meet Utam. Utam comes along with his motorcycle and stops to offer me some help. A lift I don’t want, but, as I become more and more short on money I ask him to get me some roasted peanuts – and there was no stand like this earlier, too. But I have some order to make ‚Please do not use a plastic bag to get them‘ and I hand him a bag, used several times already. And he really does it and comes back after 20 min.

Utam workes since a bit then a year in Seattle and is for the first time back in Nepal for a holiday, seeing his family and girl friend. He got a special Visa for USA, there are 5-6.000 people from poor countries, who get the chance to work there. No special education needed for that. He makes sandwiches in a supermarket. As he speaks and understand English better than the most people here, he is the perfect one  to adress some questions .
‚Why are these dwells pumps arranged this high?‘ We are sitting in front of a shop and there is one of these pumps build on a upper cement block to reach by stairs – and I see some more of these today, too. He does not know and ask the shop keeper. ‚It’s because of high water, the near by river Rapti overflows sometimes in the monsun‘ Ah, that’s what I thought‘ but it’s still a bit crazy. So people have to get from there overflooded houses, swim to the construction, to pump water and get it how back to there drowned houses? Anyway….

I tell him from my experiences before ‚the forest‘ and on this side of it….. ‚What is the explanation?‘ … ‚People around Nepalgunj are not so well educated, I personally don’t like to go there, the city is so dirty‘.  I tell him about my mosquito experience and he clappes his hands to his forehaed. I continue ‚and I learned that there are a lot of tripe people, who proparbly lived in the forest before, which is gone now. These people lost there foundation in life, they have been forest people and now they have to cultivate farm land. When they lost they forest, they easily got depressed,  then because of that starting to drink alcohol, cigarettes and drugs….now I understand….‘

We come to animals and he explain’s, that they don’t produce butter here (which I miss). Later I contemplate while walking about this…. makes sence,  because lots of people don’t have a fridge and now is the ‚coolest‘ season at all, and still warm at daytime, and how to store butter in summer – no way….

I add: ‚people here have so many animals, buffalos and cows, goats and sheep’s, and they all have to be fed. If the people would agree to eat vegetarian or vegan, lots of farm field need not to be used, so some forest could come back….‘
‚There is only you in the world who thinks like you and I have the chance to meet you‘ Utam says….. ’no no there are so much more….‘

As he goes back to Seattle in 12 days I ask him if he could change my 45$. And he would love to do, but in the moment he is on the way to the bank (40 km) to also get some money. When he learns about my money situation and that I live from donations he is nearly desperate, that he can’t help me now, but he has only 35 Nepali Rupies (35 $cent) in his pocket and gives me all of it.