Not long ago, the MAIN advice I gave two youngster preparing to leave the country for studies abroad was along the lines of, “When your flight takes off from Kathmandu, leave your Nepali self in Kathmandu.”
Of course, I was speaking figuratively and I had a number of different reasons for doling out such as advice. For one, I personally have felt that, when I first started my life abroad as a student, I was held back in many — some subtle and other not so subtle — ways by mentality and attitudes ingrained in me by Nepali culture, education, society, and people, for example. (Of course, depending on the kind of personality one is, some or even a of that is unavoidable.) For another, during my years abroad, I also noticed how fellow Nepalis were being held back, many incredibly, for the same or similar reasons.
Luckily, in most places I lived, there were very few to no Nepalis. Where there were, noticing how they all lived in a little bubble of their own and, no different from how things are in Nepal, those who were most active most of the time were men. Worse, they were engaging in the same kind of sh*t that I left Nepal to “escape” from. So I avoided them.
I wasn’t really interested in and was NEVER involved in any Nepali organization or association during my almost two-decades-and-a-half years abroad. One of the most important reasons I didn’t was the value and importance I placed on my intellectual independence. something I acquired spending almost all of my adult life in social and professional worlds filled with non-Nepalis with values similar to mine.
The biggest international organization of Nepalis outside the country is the Non-resident Nepali Association (NRNA). Since returning to Nepal, I have learned specific details about them and how they are essentially like just another Nepali organization in Nepal — in the caste and gender make up of the executives, their culture etc. — except abroad! It is mostly of, by, and for hill so-called high caste Hindu men, for example.
So, I wasn’t completely surprised when I came across — on my Facebook feed — a post by an acquaintance of mine withdrawing her candidacy for the Board of Directors position in the US NRNA for the reasons she did. A young, driven, highly successful, and well-travelled Nepali woman…NRNA is not an organization for her because it has no place for her. And she is a hill so-called high caste Hindu woman too!
Reproduced below verbatim (with the exception of paragraph breaks!) and with her permission are her Facebook posts declaring her candidacy (which was also accompanied by a short video, which I have omitted) followed by the withdrawal.
Jeny Declares Her Candidacy
Dear friends and family,
I am pleased to share that I am running for the Board of Director position within the NRNA for 2021-2023.
My experiences run the gamut of leading service projects for marginalized communities around the world. I learned how to work with and mobilize communities for social reform at The University of Texas at Austin and since have worked with the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda.
Through our Family Foundation (Hem Sarita Pathak foundation), we provide free education to more than 400 students, and we have been doing so since 2012. To support the families of our students, we have availed funds so they can run income generating businesses. We have more than 50 families who currently benefit from this project that I initiated in 2015, right after the Nepal Earthquake.
We have 4 students who are currently in college, 2 of whom will graduate as Engineers this year. Currently, through my business Maya’s Desi Boutique, we have a 10,000 USD scholarship opportunity for South Asian International students.
Serving the community is my PASSION. I am capable, experienced, and keen. I know that many of us are dubious of the NRNA, and sometimes rightfully so. NRNA currently lacks action-oriented leadership, youth involvement, and female leadership is almost non-existent. I expect you to join me in changing that. Afterall, if not us, who will? Representation matters and it is really upto us to help shape and improve NRNA to be what we need it to be.
Thank you so much. Please vote for me. I will be counting on you.
Jeny Withdraws Her Candidacy
Namaste everyone,
I regret to share that I will not be filing my candidacy for the Board of Director position with the NRNA.
About a month ago, I announced my interest to run with a lot of excitement and during the campaigning process I learned a lot more about myself, and the organization and the way it is run.
As the BOD, I wanted to focus on advocacy and integration, that is bringing the voice, interest and needs of our community into mainstream American politics. I wanted to organize with leaders across the country to advocate for our community members, and to put Nepal on the map, here in the US.
I also wanted to use my expertise from working with NGOs, INGOs, and the United Nations to bring federal and state funds, and resources to uplift our communities. Where I worked in the Somalia-Ethiopia border, the UNHCR projects were partly funded by the IKEA Foundation, and over the past 10 years, the foundation has provided over $100 million US dollars to UNHCR to implement livelihoods projects for Somali refugees and Ethiopian nationals.
During my years of working there, I learned how to write such large grants, implemented projects and wrote reports for the IKEA foundation. As BOD, I wanted to utilize my expertise in bringing resources for our community.
A few weeks into my candidacy announcement, I quickly felt that many of the people are in the organization because of their political interests in Nepal and their intent to win is to ONLY gain power. I also learned that the election isn’t merit based.
I learned about the current and past leaders’ commitment and involvement in voter fraud, identity theft, and voter suppression. I had heard the platform is messy, but didn’t realize just how messy it really is. I quickly realized that people who are running in the highest of positions will do ANYTHING to win. This isn’t acceptable for me.
I wanted to run for BOD not to win a title or for the position, but to ACTUALLY work for the community but as of now, I don’t feel comfortable in running because the elections are rigged, and I found myself lacking leaders I can look up to and work with.
Please don’t get me wrong, I did also meet genuine individuals along the way, but those are far and few in between and they probably will not make it too far, as the organization currently is simply not conducive for action oriented individuals. You can ask the current leaders if their children are involved in the organization and if they ever will be, and you’ll understand what I mean.
The NRNA platform is beautiful and powerful but the people who are in it are corrupted and seem to only promote their own interest.
I am not running but I WILL use my vote. I encourage everyone to do the same. I encourage everyone to become a member of the organization (please don’t just give your ids to anyone and everyone), and to use your voice to elect the right people. We need this organization and we need the right people to run it.
I thank those that supported and guided me during this messy month, and also apologize to anyone whom I may have hurt. My intent has always been pure. I have been working for the community since I was 16, and you’ll still find me around.
Thank you.
When will Nepalis men — living abroad and in Nepal — discover how much we are losing out by excluding females (and non-Khas-aryas) from our social, economic, and political structures? When will we realize and learn the value in diversity and how much we have been losing out as a society and a country by our extremely exclusionary attitudes and practices from in our day-to-day lives to in the highest and most important structures governing the people and the country? When will money and power stop being the only driving forces for people entrusted with the responsibilities of serving others, such as the citizens of the country? When?
References
There is Poor Representation…and Then There is Nepal. The blog include a breakdown of the 2015 executives of two international Nepali organizations ANA and NRNA by caste and an argument for inclusion and diversity.
Nepal: No Country for Women. The blog includes a breakdown of the 2015 executives of the above two organizations by gender. For an organization whose slogan reads “For Nepal, By Nepali,” going by their office bearers’ gender composition, NRNA doesn’t appear to be for and by half the population of the country they ostensibly represent.
NRNA hompage. Just what it says.
Current NRNA Executive Committee. Just what it says. Surprise surprise, all but ONE of the twelve top posts are held by men. Nine of of those top posts are held by Khas-aryas. Two of them are held by Newars. The Khas-aryas and Neways represent 35% of the population and are three of the four scoring the highest points in HDI.
NRNA Trust of Committees, Taskforce and Subcommittees. A majority are MEN and belong to the trio of BCN (Bahun-Chettri-Newar) social groups.
Kantipur (April 3, 2017). एनआरएन अस्ट्रेलियाले पहिलोपटक गर्यो स्पोर्टस अवार्ड. This is about a felicitation event for sports personalities organized by NRNA in Australia. Only minimal female appears to have been included.
