Stories
A closer look will CHANGE your perspective
Photo Credit: Jan Møller Hansen
Over 4 million Nepalese have left to work abroad.
More than 14% of total population.
However their life abroad and back home both present
BIG
challenges.
The upcoming slides peek into their lives.
12 men in a Room
In some labor camps in Musaffah industrial area of Abu Dhabi, up to 12 men live in a single room of around 100 sq. ft.
| A Day of a migrant Worker | Time |
|---|---|
| Wake up | 4 AM |
| Company Bus Arrives | 5 AM |
| Arrive at their factory | 7 AM |
| Work all day with an hour break for lunch | 7 AM-7 PM |
| Return to their labor camp | 8 PM |
16 Hours of a Migrant Worker
Cleaning floor
Watchman
Kinds of work:
After 8 PM, they take a shower. If there are no proper places to dry their wet clothes, their bed serves as a drying rack.
They buy a packed lunch and eat it outside their camp.
After the dinner, they sleep and the routine follows!
Not all those who work abroad, return back with money. Some return back in coffin.
More than 5000 workers have died abroad.
Photo Credit: AP News
Yet they leave the country because,
Nepal has a very high unemployment rate of 46% (CIA Factbook)
Meet Ratan
- Left to work in 2002
- 8 Years in Malaysia
- Returned in 2010
From his remittance earnings, he bought:
- A Motorcycle
- A tractor (Rs 500,000)
- Payment for his daughter's dowry
I am planning to go back again to earn more to pay back the debt.
Photo Credit: Puru Shah
Ratan and people like him go abroad
so that they can overcome the CYCLE of
POVERTY
Khairba is one of the villages in Southern Nepal which largely exports migrants to Gulf countries.
The upcoming slides provide a peek into the lives of the people in Khairba.
Note: Names have been changed to preserve identities.
This plastic bag is his backpack and has all his books, notebooks, and stationery items.
His schooling is possible due to his father's remittance.
Meet Pancha
Photo Credit: Puru Shah
He and his friends go to a private school together
Meet Ravi Krishna (left) and Krishna (right).
(Pancha's close friends)
Photo Credit: Pallavi
Pancha's brother.
Meet Jibcha, Pancha's father.
He returned from Saudi and now he has no work.
Have you made a cake?
Pancha's mother makes dung cakes (not edible). Dung Cakes are a primary source of cooking fuel for many families. It needs water, straw and dung (from buffalo).
Dung Cakes left for drying.
A lot of families have a buffalo
Pancha's buffalo
Or a goat.
Pancha's bullock cart.
This cart takes Pancha and his family to the city during festivals.
Pancha's grandmother returns home after a long day of work in the fields
Photo Credit: Preeti A Karna
Pancha
- uses firewood to cook food
- has 2 sets of clothes
- takes his buffalo for grazing in the fields
- goes to school in the morning
- helps his mom in households in the evening
- takes care of his brother
- has no Internet
- no access to newspaper
- has no consistent access to electricity
His father works abroad so that Pancha does not have to struggle.
There are many more families like Pancha's.
Meet Bahadur.
He has 2 granddaughters from his 2 sons. His sons work abroad in Kuwait and Qatar.
Bahadur's wife
Buys and sells fruits/vegetables for income.
Bahadur's daughter-in-law
Its women who perform household chores in this community.
Meet Mathiwali, Bahadur's daughter-in-law
Married at the age of 10
She collects cholocate and biscuit wrappers and makes baskets from them.
Photo Credit: Pallavi
Bahadur calls his sons ONCE a week.
Like most families, he misses both of his sons.
Because youths work abroad, it is mostly old people and children left behind.
Meet Mantiya.
She makes tasty Jhili and Kachadi. People come to her Dhaba to eat. It is her source of income.
Meet Sato
He tills the fields and sell the produce to earn a living.
Preparing flour
Photo Credit: Jan Møller Hansen
works in the field and cooks in her home
Photo Credit: Jan Møller Hansen
Winter Blues
Young men leave their homes to work as migrant workers in the Gulf region so that their children can have a brighter future. A child with only one layer in the middle of the winter. Taken on Christmas 2016.
Photo Credit: Puru Shah
Going to School
Photo Credit: Jan Møller Hansen
Young PEOPLE leave country for a brighter FUTURE of their family sacrificing:
Family
Community
Language
Culture
Their safety
etc.
Some achieve their DREAM and rest are TRAPPED in the cycle of
POVERTY
Wait, lets pose before you click!
Despite all troubles, it is often difficult to find a sad face in this community.
Photo Credit: Pallavi
Compiled by Deepak
Story: Puru Shah
Photo Credit: Seb Roberts
Copy of deck
By ghirni
