Dhamili in Chitwan. A village that no longer surrenders to “fate”
Do you have to accept poverty as fate or even God-given? Is 90 Percent Illiteracy Acceptable? Where we shake our heads as a matter of course, the people in Nepal unfortunately often still think differently [...]
The Chepang
In the small wooden house that is only covered with straw, the ragged sleeping mats lie on the floor. A “jaabi” hangs on the wall, a bag made of plant fibers. In it, wild fruits, berries, and edibles are gathered from the adjacent forest [...]
Nepal in profile
Nepal is located in South Asia between Tibet in the north and India in the south. It has an area of 147,516 square kilometers, around 40% the size of Germany. 39% of the 30 million population live below the poverty line of $3.20 per day per capita (World Bank, 2019) [...]
The life of the Tharu – the “people of the forest”
It is the first national park to be established in Nepal: Since 1973, Chitwan National Park has been the sanctuary of 68 different mammals - including the famous Bengal tiger [...]
A day in the life of the Alimaya
Alimaya is 11 years old and lives with her parents and two siblings (eight and 14 years old) in a remote village in the hills north of the well-known Chitwan National Park. Three other siblings are already out of the house and married [...]
Rainy season
The term monsoon is derived from the Arabic word 'mausam' for season, which is what it means in the language [...]
Mugu – Standstill in the snow
In Mugu, our project area in the high mountains of Nepal, everything changes from one moment to the next when it snows. the trails between the mountain villages ice up, become slippery and highly dangerous especially for those carrying heavy loads [...]
A look back and ahead. Loharbada in the Mugu Mountains.
When program director Dikendra Dhakal looks around Loharbada today, he can hardly believe it. "When we first arrived here 10 years ago, not only was the standard of living extremely low, but hygiene conditions were actually non-existent [...]
The Tamang
The hand drum "Damphu" heats up the rhythm. The dancers get faster, their movements wilder. The dance "Tamang Selo" pulls everyone under its spell. The Tamang, one of the largest Tibetan-Burmese speaking ethnic groups in Nepal, maintain their numerous traditions that they originally brought from Tibet [...]
Sheep farming in Mugu
Our project region Mugu consists of two regions named after the indigenous people: the upper Jadan and the lower Khasan. The Jad are Tibetan lamas, the people of the southern region of Khas who came from northwest India [...]
Keepers of balance – the shamans of Nepal
The full moon is over the mountains, the ceremony has already begun. A young woman in the village who is plagued by an inexplicable disease has visited the shaman in the community's "Than" temple. She begs advice on what to do about her unbearable abdominal pain [...].
