When in Scandinavia…
I decided on a career in 1996, two years after graduating from college, while working at Red Cross Nordic UWC in Norway,
Twisted Benevolence: Development Aid in Mustang in the Nineties
The first experience Mustang had with development aid was in the nineties, some of which I saw first hand. And they failed miserably! Part of the reason was the condescension with which Kathmandu has always treated Mustang.
The Ugly Face of Tourism in Mustang in The Nineties
The influx of tourists to Mustang bring little benefits to the local people. On the contrary, the visitors not only have little regard for the ways and values of the locals but also question and threaten the most important aspect, and therefore, the very basis of their way of life: their religion (their spirituality).
“The local people should improve the quality of their lives.” […] “But let them not wear ties”
Our political leaders and the Kathmandu elite have always been arrogant, self-righteous and patronizing when it came to the way they treat marginalized Nepalese.
Here's an example of that going all the way back to the early nineties when they opened and served up Mustang district as consumer products to trekkers and travellers.
Is it any wonder they are treating the people in the southern plains as they are now?!