On 20 September 2015, Nepal finally passed a new constitution. This was a momentous event and its first as a federal democratic republic, having waited for eight years.
Unfortunately, people living in the Terai region (the south of Nepal near the India border) have been protesting against the constitution for the last two months. The government neglected their demands and proceeded with the constitution. The protests are getting worse. Nepal, a landlocked country, is solely dependent on India for everything – food, fuel for transport and cooking, raw materials for construction and medicine to name a few.
The protests – and maybe the political interest of our neighbouring country – has stopped the supplies coming in. The major earthquakes in April and May followed by the fuel crisis in the country makes the situation here tragic. We cycle past hundreds of vehicles lining up for fuel, and hundreds of empty cooking gas cylinders are lined up at the distribution centre. We are running on our last gas cylinder (which was meant for our shower and is now being used on the oven – cold showers are much preferable to no food!) and our motorbike is sitting in the front yard with no petrol. We also rely on tankers to deliver water to our house (no city supply where we are), and we praise God that yesterday after many phone calls we were able to get 7,000 litres delivered. This should last us three to four weeks, but if the situation goes on longer than that then the tankers won’t be able to deliver and we’ll be without. Imagine though, the lives of the poorer people. Our situation is actually much better when compared to theirs.
No words can express the situation we were in April and May. Two big earthquakes and constant aftershocks – we yearned for a normal life, fully aware that what we used to consider normal was no longer an option. End of May, as we thought our stress levels were coming down as the earthquake and aftershocks started to settle down, our landlord gave us three months notice to leave the house. Three months of continuous house hunting, three rejections, and two months of living out of boxes. We even had names for the houses we nearly rented.
In God’s time, the right time, we heard of the eventual house we would move into, checked it and decided to be nice to the owners of the pink house. It was a relief for them to hear we had found somewhere else. It all happened so quickly, we saw the house on September 3 and moved in on September 6. Moving is not the end though, it is the starting of unpacking, managing and most importantly a new beginning. We have been in the house for nearly a month now and things are working well.
But the problems never stop, not just in Nepal I guess. Nepal is suffering from a fuel and food crisis. The traffic is bad, not because the vehicles are running, but because the public vehicles (buses, tempos and taxi’s) are queuing up for fuel and people are walking everywhere. The number of private and public transport has decreased by 70% with an increment of the passengers needing them by 50%. Our motorbike is empty. We walked for two hours home from work on Monday evening. The next day we both cycled to work. While it takes 20 minutes for Phil to cycle to work, it takes 40 for me. Hence, I have been working from home since Thursday, hoping to recover from the pain and maybe to begin cycling back to work from Monday.
Life is not easy in a country like Nepal, especially after the earthquake, landslides and now the fuel crisis. We appreciate prayers, sweet messages, emails and cards from friends, church and family. Thank you very much. We do feel loved and cared for. We may not have been able to reply to you all or communicate with you as you might have liked, and we apologise for that.
Please keep Nepal and us in your prayers. We have been sharing news on our Facebook pages, so please feel free to check them for updates and prayers or send us an email.
UK Home Visit
In December, we will be in the UK from 10th December until 10th January 2016 for our home-leave assignment and to spend Christmas with family (Phil’s first in the UK for three years, and Pratiksha’s first-ever!). Below is the schedule as it looks right now. We look forward to seeing you some time along the way!
Thursday 10th December – Fly to the UK (arrive UK 10 pm)
Sunday 13th December – Newbury Baptist Church (am)
Sunday 19th December – St James Road Baptist Church, Watford (am)
Sunday 27th December – Broadstone Baptist Church (am & pm)
Sunday 10th January – Fly to Nepal (leave UK 8:30 pm)
Love and blessings,
Phil and Pratiksha