300 Rupees richer

I was in Palpa last week without my computer, so I didn't post anything. This week is pretty busy, so hopefully I can write about Palpa later. Here's a teaser.

While we were in Palpa, we had a program wide photo contest. The theme was, "Learning in Palpa." I submitted 3 photos (below) and somehow one snatched 2nd place. I think this was lucky because the other kids with good cameras weren't on their A-games and forgot to submit photos by the deadline, ke garne (what to do)? I won 300 rupees (~$3.00 or 3 plates of buff momos).

2nd place winner: Learning the Loom. A woman shows us how she weaves dakka cloth at the factory in Tansen.

Community forestry area: standing among immature sel/sal trees (don't know the exact name).

Hannah in the Jeep: We played lots of card games in the back of jeeps because there was lots of jeep time.

 Also, grandpa requested a little run down of my group:

• Mithu is from Hawaii and is studying International Studies at Point Loma Nazarene University. She's really passionate about anti-human trafficking, so her research is geared towards those types of NGOs.

• Ajita is a Geology major at Whitman college. She wants to research the apple economy in Mustang.

• Lina is another Geology major and goes to Carleton with me. She's looking into women's empowerment through participation in hydropower or rural electrification.

• Manju is an Anthropology major at Tufts. She's researching social impacts of football in Nepal.

• Rekha is a Health Studies (public health??) major at Tufts. She's researching how road conditions affect health care access in rural villages.

• Archana goes to Pitt and is studying Urban Studies. Her research topic keeps changing, so I don't know what she's thinking now.

• Isha is a Peace Studies major at Gaucher College. Emily is the biggest knitting nerd and proud of it. Any time we see or hear of knitting, she gets so excited. She's researching something about women's empowerment.

• Luna is Danish and studies Anthropology at Copenhagen University. She's the only non-American on our trip. She's going to research Muslim schools and why parents send their kids to these schools.

• Me (Durga). I'm studying Chemistry and trying to research adoption in Nepal.

• Adarsha is an Anthropology major at Brandeis. He's into climate change, but I think his research topic just shifted, so I don't know what he's up to. It's hard to keep up with all these people.

• Jiwan is majoring in Philosophy and English at Wooster College. He's researching something about hydropower.

• Nabin is a Political Science major at Wesleyan University. Currently, he's thinking about researching how Dalits and other underrepresented groups are being portrayed in journalism.

• Hema is a Math major at Davidson college. She's researching the elderly community. I can't quite remember what her specific questions are, but she's already done this research all over Europe this summer, so she's set.

• Himani is a Geography major at Middlebury. She's looking into the Sherpa culture, especially how women are involved in the trekking industry.

• Bishwa is a frat bro from the University of Washington. And he's a Journalism major. I have no idea what his research topic is.

• Ishwar is an International relations/politics (?) major at George Washington University. He's researching about Thakali chieftains and how their power has changed.

• Manisha is a Political Science major at Wooster College. She's looking at the population of people who convert out of Hinduism to avoid being part of the caste system. Most of these people are Dalits (untouchables).

• Manu is an Economics major at Georgetown  University. She's researching something about the out-migration of people from the villages.

So many people, mostly girls! Most of these research ideas are still being refined, or even completely changed on a daily basis.