Development and Herbs

Right, I will now get into the nitty gritty. First, the number one topic of developing countries when it comes to the starting point of getting anywhere. You need good roads. Until 10 years ago, you could only get to my village, Pandeli, by ox and cart. The community pooled in some money to widen the tracks and cut new routes on the hillside. It seems to work well with motorcycles, 4wd vehicles and the rickety commuter buses (with really cool horn sounds) but the recent landslides has made some sections impassable during the rainy season. My "host dad", Yam, is secretary of the village community and is overly optimistic that with a good funds drive and donor assistance, the road can be maintained. He is aware that the recent landslides after the monsoon rains have been the worst in 50years. However I had to remind him that there is much more loose earth without any support from trees or structures so any new road developments would need extra planning and extra spending on reinforcements and adequate drainage (I hope not to bore all you non-engineers at this point). It is quite amazing to see the amount of devastation a landslide can do. Whole hillsides are scarred from peak to foot with rubble and the valleys are clogged with loose earth. The river sides have become gulleys (little gorges) in some spots and looking from Sarangkot viewpoint, acres of river fields in the valley look destined to be washed away if the monsoon comes again next year with equal force.

The Pandeli village shares a well. It has been gushing groundwater for centuries but was threatened by the landslides. Luckily, the source was not damaged but the point of collection (concealed rock pools) is now easily contaminated since people wade into the pools to collect water for drinking and also wash themselves and clothes there. Someone told me that an independent consultancy proposed creating an underground tank to collect the groundwater but it would mean sacrificing some community farms so their proposal was rejected by the village committee. Fixing the well is far more important than improving the road as it one abundant life or death source that if compromised would greatly inconvenience villagers who have no alternatives (some areas have piped water) and also mess up irrigation of the fields. For some reason, road projects are more seductive here and improvement of water sources is not well thought out as road projects are an immediate need but the long term needs for well improvement are overlooked by most.

There is a serious issue of continuity of education in this village. Most kids don't get past the secondary school leavers exams. I know of a case of a family that suffered doubly from loss of crop during the monsoon season and also with the dad suffering from cancer. 2 elder children had to stop their college studies and dedicate their time and money to taking care of him and financing his chemotherapy. And as if that was enough, they are in the middle of a land dispute with some guy from the valley. One of the older girls has given up on any other career options and is going to work on becoming a commercial farmer. There is no such thing as a singular career aspiration. What is best when the time is right, and given the circumstances, goes. Some guys beyond college age have become the hustlers of the fields. One guy advertised to me services ranging from paragliding to pimping to herbs (the one that you can roll :-)). Its really weird how tourism can be good and bad for the country at the same time. The viewpoint attracts tourists past the village but the bigger returns of being a middle man tempts the unemployed youth to flog whatever junk the tourists are willing to buy (there are some good curios though).

Speaking of herbs, the Sarangkot hill is the place to buy the illicit ganja. As one local chap told me, as he rolled his own, "no crimes, no police". There is not much crime here so there is no police post on the hill (there is only one army post at the viewpoint but that is strategic: to protect the communications mast and just mooch about). That means the ganja crop can flourish and be harvested without problems. It is obviously cheap because the dealer is the grower. I will show u some photos of a boucay of the skunky stuff I came across at a neighbours house. It is actually not approved of, smoking the stuff, but most who do do so at special occasions so the society is stable enough to not have addiction problems (as far as I know, though I met a few cloudy eyed characters).

ciao!
K.