On the occasion of the Norway-Nepal Association’s 40th anniversary, we will publish interviews with people who have a relationship with the association. Follow along and get to know the association better!
How did you get into the association and what is your connection with NNF?
I have been a member of Norge-Nepalforeningen (NNF) since 1992. The meetings have always been good occasions for Norwegians and Nepalis to meet and exchange information and experiences. For several years, the annual meeting with daal bhat was joyful. It is impressive that our small association has organized several significant events: the seminar (theme: aid that works) and dinner to celebrate NNF’s 25th Anniversary in 2009, the exhibition Royal Luxury and Tiger Hunting in 2013 with photos from the Chitrakar collection, and a seminar in 2014 on democracy in Nepal. Thanks to support from the NNF’s board and funding from the Norwegian Embassy in Nepal, I very much enjoyed writing the book Adventures in Nepal, with Olav Myrholt as co-author. We both were happy to collaborate with Nepalis who made it possible to publish the book in 2016.
Between 2006 and 2014 I was the editor of Hamro Patrika. This required a constant eye on events related to Nepal, and to look for contributors to the newsletter. I am grateful that these years kept me more than ever updated on conditions in Nepal, and that they also brought me in touch with persons with an interesting story to tell.
Do you have a favourite memory associated with Norge-Nepalforeningen (NNF) or a memory that touched you (had an impact)?
There are so many memories from trips to Nepal and meetings with Nepalis. My first physical experience happened in 1984; at our camp site at 3.200 meters (Pisang on the Annapurna Trail) I bended my head back to watch 5.000 meters up to the top of Annapurna peaks at more than 8.000 meters – how small human beings are in nature. Other wonderful experiences from mountains in Nepal followed later. You learn much about a country by reading books and articles, but you need people to understand. During treks I saw villagers working in the fields and fetching water from the village faucet, I saw women weaving or children playing. Everyday life so different from my own! Since 1999, I have been fortunate to spend time together with Nepalis, professionally and socially, many of whom have become good friends. The 2015 earthquake in Nepal shocked people also in Norway. One of the many events to commemorate the victims took place on May 10 that year before a concert in Nationaltheatret in Oslo. People had gathered in front of the theater, with balloons in their hands. After brief talks by Nepalis and Norwegians, the white balloons flew up in the air – in Nepal, white symbolizes grief (read more about this and other events in Hamro Patrika no. 2, 2015).
Another memorable event was when Kesha Kumari Damini, on May 15, 2014, received the Business for Peace Award in Oslo. Almost illiterate, there she was on the podium, together with Sir Richard Branson and other dignitaries, to receive the award for great leadership in mobilizing women in the Parbat district to become independent and to be able to start their own businesses (read more about Kesha Kumari Damini in Hamro Patrika no. 3, 2014: 7–9).
What would your vision be for NNF for the next 40 years?
Norge-Nepalforeningen must focus on opportunities for people to meet. Its website and Facebook are both excellent tools to get facts and information, but I am convinced that personal contact still is the best way to understand conditions in our two countries – and that this will be the case also in the future. Meetings, seminars, and particularly the regular get-together evenings at restaurants, are all good social occasions. Finally, but not least – may Hamro Patrika be published also in the next 40 years, with in depth articles about affairs in Nepal and about Norway-Nepal relationships.
Norge-Nepalforeningen 