In the Facebook post I made last month (image above), I stated how Nepal is a failed state. The main reason is that rule of law does not rule the country.
Apart from that, we are plagued with numerous political, economic and social problems — problems that have gotten worse in the last 25 years, when we have had a democratic form of governance. Even after six years, we still don’t have a Constitution, the mainstay of the economy is foreign remittance etc. etc. etc.
Of course, there are many other countries I worked, lived and traveled in that are also struggling in several fronts. But that could be a number of different blog posts!
However, I believe in humanity.
Long ago, as a student at Grinnell College, I used to have all kinds of long and endless philosophical discussions about human beings, life and human conditions with my buddies. I remember one of the unending discussions I had with my buddy Rich and others was about humanity!
While Rich was of the opinion then that humans aren’t innately good, I argued that humans are innately good, that humans want desperately to do — and be — good. (Ok, we could have an endless discussion on what “good” means but not on this post! 🙂 )
Anyway, the point is that, in spite of what we keep seeing on television, what we keep reading in papers, what we keep seeing on the media etc., after about two decades, I still believe that! I still believe there is immense good and humanity out there.
Most of that might not make it into prime time TV or on the headlines of major newspapers around the world, but we cannot give up on it and stop nurturing it. Well, that’s what I believe anyway.
And whom best to nurture that in — and impress that upon — than the next generation of humanity?! To that end, I speak to students both in Nepal and abroad — notably Hong Kong most recently — about all that because they are our best hope for the future of our planet.
As failed a state as Nepal is, our children are our best hope for our country. Maybe they won’t rescue the country in my life time, but that’s hardly the point!
The video below is that of the presentation I gave at Thames International College in Kathmandu on January 19, 2015, only the second school after my first visit to Little Angels School way back in November.
I talked about dreams, humanity, compassion, international understanding, peace and making life meaningful to a small auditorium full of students doing their undergraduate studies in Social Work.
Enjoy!
