Eyes Wide Open, To The Dark-Side

Hi people,

I'm a new member on this blog and a friend of Nepal since a few years. Like many westerners, my first time in Nepal was for a volunteering project. This experience taught me about Nepal's clashing faces much more than any web or published advertisement  :)

Nepal is just amazing, we all know that! You can astonish your sight from the low land of Tarai, and its few jungle that still survive the mindless deforestation, to the majesty of Himalayas, as you pass through beautiful green and fertile valleys. Nepal is a small diamond, but like any other "3rd World Country" it is in danger. The environment is in danger: http://www.wwfnepal.org/our_solutions/conservation_nepal/tal/area/t...

And of course it is not a better scenario for the people at all! Thanks to my long term volonteering project in a orphanage in Kathmandu I learned a sad lesson: children can be a big business and behind charity names can lie greedy aims. I don't mean all the orphanage are bad, of course, but sadly many of them are involved with child trafficking, or simply using the children to get money. Tourist and web dazzled humanitarian’s compassion are at the center of this business:

http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/07/03/oped/options-for-adoption/33671... 

If you are wanting to volunteer, you should keep your eyes open and don't simply trust the nice story of a good guy who loves the children of his own country and opened an orphanage long ago!

-Does the owner of the orphanage feel uncomfortable if you ask about the past and the origin of the    children?

-Does he says he is busy in the city with meetings and stuff all day long in order to get money, but in the  end he just does nothing, not even when at home?

- Do you notice he spends your weekly volunteer fee to buy food or goods for the children, OR NOT???

If you feel like you've got more question about this issue, say it aloud!!! Volunteers have the chance to see what's going on in Kathmandu's orphanages and report if you meet anything strange or wrong. You can be a voice to the voiceless