Stuck in Biratnagar

My computer is beyond repair.. they returned it to me today. There is a transportation strike that started today which means I may be stranded here.

I went to buy a plane ticket and found out that foreigners have to pay 4 times the amount as native Nepalese. I guess I'll have to wait it out a couple more days before I buy the ridiculous plane tickets...I'm going to have to purchase a computer when I get to Hong Kong as well.

Bikash and I spent the day translating..nearing the end now. As of now I should be finishing editing my multimedia which is just going to have to wait until I get a computer. For now...I'll just sit and take some more photos.

I found out that the Solar Eclipse will be tomorrow from 5:45 - 7:45 (for 3 minutes). It's a full solar eclipse in Biratnagar and the last one for 77 years. It's the longest one in like 130 years or something along those lines. I did have a job working in a planetarium at one point in my life...and I still have my solar eclipse glasses that I've been saving for this day... god I'm cool.

I read that I can take photos of the eclipse when it's full so I guess I'll give that a shot... really A SHOT is all I'll get since it's going to be really dark, it's going to have to be a long exposure. I also can't let it go over the 3 minute mark... don't really want my computer and my camera breaking.

update - Biratnagar

I followed around a rickshaw driver who used to work at the Jute Mill. I pretty much have everything I need but my computer is still in the shop...not functioning. Looks like I'll be in this ridiculous heat another day. I realized how out of sleep I really am today. Because of mosquitoes and the temperature I haven't been sleeping very well at night so I took a nap in the afternoon. The load shedding turned my fan off and I awoke in a sauna. The sun was down by then so it was pitch dark and it took me a while remember where I was... I guess I was fast asleep and having some intense dreams.

So anyway as I wait for my computer I'll finish up anything else I need to do and just take a day to buy some knock-off t-shirts/sunglasses etc...

The main interviews for my project will be: one of the paid staff who's worked there for 20 years, a laborer who is now forced to drive a rickshaw, the former chairman, and possibly squeeze in a quote from Girijia Prasad Koirala at the end. I think I have all the shots I need but can't say for sure since I can't work on the video until I get a working computer!

I also discovered this morning that there's a photo of me in The Kathmandu Post (July 20th) in the background with all the other journalists in the city (including the BBC).

It'll be good to get to Kathmandu where I can use faster Internet and much cooler temperatures. I just pray my computer will get fixed so I can do some actual work.

PDF map about bandhs

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/luFullMap/D465E17D91760222C12572570038F68D/$File/ocha_SEC_npl061219.pdf?OpenElement

Day 13ish

Alright the story has taken a mind of its own based on the protests. The riots happen suddenly and without warning so there was no way I could have anticipated. Yesterday I was in the right place at the right time though. After running with them and watching them destroy any business window that didn't comply to closing...someone finally grabbed my camera from me and tore off the flash. I got a police report and mailed the claim to my insurance company today. Do you think they cover riot damage?

As of now as the story goes: The Biratnagar Jute Mills is the largest mill (well was..) and is where the first strike in Nepal took place. Because of strikes across the country, load shedding, and political instability the mill went under for good this year. Bad management and corruption meant that the workers haven't gotten paid in over a year...their answer? STRIKE! It's really the only thing they can do. Finally after one year of weekly strikes they were compensated but the factory remains closed. What did it mean to strike in Nepal during the beginning of the democracy at the Biratnagar Jute Mills. What does it mean now? What are strikes doing to the economy? Is this the only way that the government will listen to them? For now, the Nepalese will continue to strike.

Rickshaw Driver

Interview today: a rickshaw driver that used to work at the Biratnagar Jute mills. After it closed he had to get a job driving a rickshaw to provide for his family. Working the rickshaw he makes about 150 Rs/day = 2 usd. He lives with around 12 family members...most of them women.

Today the factory members will get some of their salary that the comany owes them. If they are not paid in full then something will happen most likely.

As of now my story is finally starting to take form:

1. Strikes: Nepal has only had minimal amount of days without strikes causing many problems but also as a reaction to the government instability. It's causing the economy to go down and
2. Biratnagar : main industrial area of Nepal but many of them are closing down including the first and largest Biratnagar Jute Mills.
3. A rickshaw driver who is personally effected by the closing.
4. Many people are starving and jobless because of the strikes which is a reaction of the political instability and corruption.
5. An interview with someone who participated in the FIRST strike in Nepal which was for the first factory in Nepal...the Biratnagar Jute Mills!
6. What needs to happen in order to change the situation.

--This outline is bound to change but for now this is what I'm working with.

Raghupati jute mills

New fixer: Bridges. Took me to a totally different mill that's connected with the Biratnagar Jute Mills. This one is called Raghupati jute mills and is located directly on the border of India and Nepal. Met a man who used to work there but is now going through difficult times..having a hard time sustaining himself. Tomorrow I'll wake up at around 4:00am and stay with him for a day...until he goes to sleep.

We tried to enter the mills today to see the working conditions. They asked for a bribe..2,000 rupees. We said no.

During this time I plan to document how he is living. Interview him about the jute mills and his opinions of the political situation in Nepal. This will tie into how the government's instability is indirectly hurting some of the people of nepal.

Interview Day

I met my fixer RP 99 this morning at 7:00am and we went to a "mud house" which is a temporary home. Apparently this person used to work at Biratnagar Jute Mills but is going to tough times with it being closed. During the interview I found out that the mill may be connected to another mill (another branch?) and he is actually still working. I based the entire story so far on the fact that this place made people jobless...may have to rethink the story depending on further research. It's ridiculously hot here...luckily I still have quite a few people helping me.

Info on the Mills from Wikipedia

In 1936 Nepal's first large scale industry, the Biratnagar Jute Mills, was set up in Biratnagar at cost of 160,000 Indian rupees[2], it is the largest jute mill in the country.[3] Today, the city has some of the largest industrial undertakings in the country. While taking a bus travel to Biratnagar from any other places, one can see a large number of industries on both sides of highway. Hundreds of small and medium sized industries operates freely including chemical, edible oil, steel, rice mill, liquor, soaps factories, among others, covering large portion of area that links Biratnagar with Itahari, a central transit point of eastern Nepal.
Lately, these medium and large sized factories are facing a hard time as a result of constant political upheaval in the country. Also it has been affected by "Madhesi movement", an uprising that the minority ethnic people in the Tarai have started against the regression and humiliation that they claim to have suffered for a long time, from the state, and " Pahades", people belonging to majority ethnic group.

Articles about closing:

http://www.peoplesreview.com.np/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=468:jute-mill-to-close-forever&catid=1:daily-update&Itemid=50

http://www.worldjute.com/jute_napal/news.html

A different strike in January:

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/jute-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=68111

http://www.labornepal.org/resources/news_clippings/displayone.asp?id=116

Biratnagar

First Interiew today with ___________. He was a supervisor at Biratnagar Jute Mills which is the first factory ever built in Nepal. This guy has been working there for 18 years but because of the political instability, financial crisis, load shedding, and lack of raw materials the factory was finally forced to shut down.

Many of the people live in quarters in the proximaty of the factory. There are approximately 1,100 workers just waiting to be paid (7 months overdue). For now they sit and wait, some of them are starving and some have started driving rickshaws.

For now I'll follow _______throughout the day tomorrow for the Strikes which happen a few times each week.

The BJM's strikes close the border to India some days and other days shut down parts of Biratnagar. It's going to be from 10:00am -2:00pm and it's going to be hot! I don't mean like "awesome" hot but i mean like "bright sun, ridiculous humidity hot". I plan on using a series of upward angles to get people's sillhouettes against the bright background and also record the sound.

I'm meetin ______ at his house to photograph him preparing for the Strike and then actually go and document the event. Wasn't sure how this project was going to pan out...i'm off to a good start, not wasting any time.

My plan is to follow someone, a laborer, who is facing hard times because of the shutdown.