The Called One

Dr Nirmala KC lives for the people of Nepal. For more than 30 years, the NGO researcher and activist has been committed to fostering dialogue and gender justice in Nepal. The caste system continues to shape the Himalayan country, with women still facing a lack of equal opportunities. With theatre plays, Nirmala KC and the NGO Pro Public have made it their task to build bridges between once hostile castes.

Sometimes it seems as though nothing in the world can stop Nirmala KC. She is appalled that women in Nepal are still being denied work, that the caste mentality persists to this day. Occasionally she shifts to speaking about research, talks about social entrepreneurship, good governance and anti-corruption actions. After all, Nirmala KC earned her PhD doing research on NGOs. She feels at home in both worlds, however, moving between research and practice. Together with Pro Public, she works with people living in Mahalaxmi on the outskirts of the country’s capital Kathmandu; she travels the country; she listens.

@Ganga Sagar Rai

Pro Public was founded in 1991 and promotes civil rights in Nepal. In its early days, the NGO organised environmental protests against mining. Pro Public remains committed to climate action to this day, but the organisation also trains ex-soldiers as peacemakers and pushes for gender equality. Currently, 60% of its board members are female, including the chairperson.

Theatre for peace

 

Backed by the zivik Funding Programme, Pro Public has been organising theatre plays since 2015. These plays invite people from different groups to share their experiences, and thus provide a forum for exchange. Given the ongoing divide between ethnic groups, the lowlands and the highlands, as well as former castes, Pro Public plans to build a dialogue and mediation centre to promote understanding and reconciliation.

@Ganga Sagar Rai

‘We want to bring people of all backgrounds together,’ says Nirmala KC. Pro Public draws its impetus from the Nepalese Chautari tradition, according to which storytellers are given a bouquet of flowers while listeners receive a wreath of gold. In this way, stories travel to heaven and return to earth again. Whoever continues to tell these stories, is said to spread wisdom.

Wisdom is a fundamental element in Pro Public’s plays. They are playback theatres, in which the storyteller takes special care to include marginalised groups from former castes, inviting them to share their stories with the rest of the crowd. This helps all come to terms with the grievances inflicted by ten years of civil war. Without dialogue and exchange it will be impossible to mend the divide in Nepalese society. In this way, theatre creates a safe space for suppressed voices.

 

‘The caste system continues to shape Nepal even today,’ says Nirmala KC. Formally every citizen has the same rights; The country has been a republic since 2008. However, its path has been marked by bloodshed. From 1996 to 2006, Maoists fought the monarchy in a civil war, at times cutting off supplies to the capital, Kathmandu. The conflict claimed more than 13,000 lives before King Gyanendra resigned in 2006 and transferred power back to people, marking the end of the monarchy.

@Ganga Sagar Rai

Nepal’s civil law is supposed to guarantee equal rights since 1963, but the reality is different. Nirmala KC describes how lower castes like the Kami and Damai are held back by their low self-esteem. She once invited a female cook from the shoemaker caste to dinner. ‘She hardly dared and was very hesitant,’ recalls Nirmala KC, but in the end they got along swimmingly. The cook had done nothing wrong, Nirmala KC explains. It is just that her behaviour continues to be shaped by caste consciousness, which can also be defined as class consciousness.

In her childhood, next-door children were not allowed to visit school

 

This is just one of many problems that motivate Nirmala KC. As an 11-year-old, she refused to accept that most of the children in her neighbourhood were not allowed to go to school like her. They belonged to low castes. So she and others started to collect transcripts and books and shared them out to the children. ‘That’s when a small library started to come together,’ says Nirmala KC. Today, 42.6% of the adult population remain illiterate.

@Ganga Sagar Rai

Her hobby grew into a profession. Nirmala KC went to study in India at 17, enrolled in a programme that took her to the US, and went on to study in Norway. In 2012, she completed her PhD on NGOs and accountability. She lives with her family in Kathmandu, devoting her life to the people of Nepal. Every weekend, friends and acquaintances invite her to dinner, she is a tireless traveller. It is a life, though, that has also come at a cost. She is married mainly to her profession, and she has no children, which is rare in Nepal.

Many turn up their noses when a woman my age is unmarried

The country remains dominated by traditional role models. ‘Many turn up their noses when a woman my age is unmarried,’ says Nirmala KC. Her case represents an exception, as she is able to earn an income for herself. Most women fare differently. Forced marriages still occur, and many women are dependent on their husbands – another reason why Pro Public helps women to launch their own small businesses so they can set up a local shop selling vegetables or handmade clothing.

 

@Ganga Sagar Rai

‘We have 51% women in Nepal, but only one in ten is active in the media or public office, for example. That must change,’ says Nirmala KC. Women still dominate the low-wage sector. Traditional people in Nepal consider women unworthy of generating their own income, which is why only their sons are given access to higher education.

This injustice is also addressed in Pro Public’s plays – to encourage many more courageous women to follow in the footsteps of Nirmala KC. A better example would be hard to find.

About the author

Nathanael Häfner is a financial editor at Zeit Online. He studied social sciences at the Cologne School of Journalism and has worked as a freelance journalist for Süddeutsche Zeitung, taz and Spiegel Online.

 

More about Pro Public

 

About the zivik Funding Programme

The zivik Funding Programme supports civil society actors worldwide in preventing crises, transforming conflicts, and creating as well as stabilising peaceful social and political systems. With their commitment, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) complement state actors by providing significant perspectives and activities. The zivik Funding  Programme is providing funding for international, national or local NGO projects, which are dealing with civil conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts.

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