What do you think? Send us a textYou might know Nepal as home to the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, as the place where the Buddha was born, or as the location of many sites sacred to the world’s Hindus. This country is also a geopolitical hotspot, encircled by the world’s giants—China and India—eying one another warily over the Himalayan range. I’m Marty Logan. As a Canadian journalist who’s lived here going on 13 years, what astonishes me about Nepal is the ever rising number of people leaving the country to find work, or to study. About 70,000 a month are flying out for jobs overseas, mostly to Malaysia and Persian Gulf countries, South Korea and Japan. Do the math and that’s more than 800,000 a year, from a country of 29 million people. Of course most come back, after 2, 3 or more years abroad. Some of them stay home but many leave again as soon as they scope out a new opportunity. For decades huge numbers of the poorest Nepalis have been walking across the open border to India to work. The practice is so ingrained that these workers aren’t even counted—they could number 500,000 or a few million. 300 students a day are getting written permission to migrate so they can study abroad, at last count. Many don’t return after graduating. They settle in their new country and become non-resident Nepalis.What happens to these people who shift their lives abroad in order to improve the lives of those they leave behind? Many—but not all—workers send money home regularly, providing a steady income, something elusive in Nepal. Some even save. But what about family relationships when loved ones live apart year after year? Of husbands and wives, migrant parents and their children, migrant children and their aging parents left alone in Nepal? Although it’s changing fast, most Nepalis still live in multigenerational joint families rather than nuclear ones, where children are expected to care for their elders as once they were cared for.  What’s happening to this country, from which nearly every young person I meet wants to flee as fast as possible while, ironically, Nepal’s allure as a global tourism hotspot continues growing. In one way Nepal benefits massively—remittances from abroad now make up about a quarter of its gross domestic product. But villages are emptying and fewer farmers remain to grow the food the country needs. Of course, migration from poorer to wealthier countries is a global trend, so you can hear echoes in Nepal of other peoples’ journeys, but Nepalis’ experiences are unique to them. On this show we talk to the people leaving—and sometimes returning to—this country. If possible we check in with them after they’ve settled in their new homes, to learn if the reality matches their expectations. Occasionally we talk to officials or experts to better understand why so many Nepalis are on the move. We post new episodes every two weeks. Like, follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss the next one. Send us feedback and ideas. We'll respond to every message:LinkedInInstagramFacebookVoicemailMusic by audionautix.com.Thank you to Himal Media in Patan Dhoka for the use of their studio.

Hi everyone. Thank you for being here for this new episode of Nepal Now, the podcast where we highlight different ideas and ways of moving the country forward. I’m Marty Logan, a journalist and communicator from Canada who’s lived in Nepal for 11 years.Before we get into today’s chat, a follow-up from our recent episode about the satire-writing Ass of Nepali Times newspaper. You’ve probably heard about ChatGPT, the AI programme that has become essay-writing students’ new best friend. Well, Nepali Times recently asked ChatGPT to write various types of articles as a demonstration, including an example of Backside, the former column by The Ass. Unlike the straightforward news articles that the AI produced, it is not impressive, illustrating at least one limitation of the software — humour. Check it out at the link in the notes to this episode . Also, a reminder that you’re now able to support Nepal Now financially — if you wish. Go to our website, nepalnow.buzzsprout.com, then to the black box titled Nepal Now+, where you can click to support the show. I’ve also included the link in the episode notes. If you have any questions or suggestions — about this support, an idea for an episode, or anything at all — you can write to me at [email protected]. Thank you.Today we’re speaking with Bala Rai, about the programme One School, One Nurse. I thought it started in 2022 but it was actually 4 years earlier, yet to date it’s reached just 1,100 of the tens of thousands of government schools. Still, providing health support and advice to school students — on things like nutrition, menstrual hygiene and mental health — seems like a great use of limited resources. Bala, who is Chief of the Nursing Section, in the Nursing and Social Security Division of the Department of Health, says that expansion will depend on provincial and local governments also footing some of the bills. I also hope that the three levels of government find ways to adequately compensate the nurses — who are contract, not permanent, employees — so they don’t leave the country for overseas opportunities. Finally, thank you to Anita Shrestha, who wrote about the One School, One Nurse programme for Himal magazine and suggested I contact Bela Rai for this episode. I’ve linked also to Anita’s article (translated) in the notes.ResourcesChat GPT’s version of BacksideAnita Shrestha’s article translated in Nepali TimesSupport Nepal NowNepal Now social linksFacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInThanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration.Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: ApoxodeStay in touch on:Instagram Twitter LinkedIn