Report

I was very excited to spend the summer working as an intern with UNICEF at their Regional Office of South Asia (ROSA) in Kathmandu, Nepal. My reasons were two-fold. Firstly, this was my chance to work with a UN agency and identify how communication programs are planned and implemented in development. Secondly, I had the opportunity to spend 10 weeks in Nepal. This would be educational and broaden my understanding of South Asia.

Nepal borders India, my native country, yet it is culturally very different from India, or so I imagined thus the internship would give me a chance to learn a new culture. Perhaps the third reason I was looking forward to the summer in Kathmandu was because I love mountains. Nepal is the only country in the world with a unique blend of ancient culture and spirituality. One that is engulfed by menacing, yet breathtaking, mountains of the Himalayan range - including Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain.

However, soon after I arrived in Kathmandu, I realized that the political situation in Nepal was rather volatile due to the Maoist insurgent groups protesting against the nationís decade old democracy. Until 1990, Nepal was a monarchy. But, by 1991, Nepal was making its transition into a democracy. In the first general elections held in May 1991, the Nepali Congress managed to win the majority of the votes. But in Nepal, as in other recent democracies, a section of the population was unhappy with the newly formed democratic government. The main opposition party has demanded an end to democracy and, instead, wants a pro-communist government. In the past couple of years, in the Kathmandu valley region, the Maoist presence is increasing making it unsafe especially during days when there is a nationwide strike.

My first encounter with the political uncertainty in Nepal, was during my second weekend in Kathmandu. The main opposition party had announced a three-day nationwide strike termed "Chakka Jaam", which means nothing with wheels (with the exception of bicycles) is allowed on the roads. It was a strange experience as, the evening before the strike, people were getting ready to go home and stay indoors for the next few days, fearing riots. The first day of the strike was very tense but gradually, from the second day onward, people started walking on the streets, at least in their neighborhood. This was the first time that the strike had been called for three days in a row. Fortunately, the strike was peaceful and the city revved back to life soon afterwards. This was my initiation into the political situation of Nepal and its effect on the ordinary people.

The following week I was settling in and becoming familiar with the threat of HIV/AIDS among young people in Kathmandu. My assignment for the summer was to devise a methodology and help develop guidelines that would be effective in helping prevent the spread of HIV among young people in South Asia. Peer-to-peer communication interventions were identified as the most effective methodology because of the lack of communication between adults and young people about sexual health and threat of HIV due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

Just as I was becoming familiar with the office, my colleagues, and my new surroundings, and was about to conduct some fieldwork, the Nepalese royal family was massacred on the night of June 1, 2001. The nature of the killings was so bizarre and unexpected that it brought the whole of Nepal to a grinding halt over the next few weeks. It shook the rest of world as well. More importantly, the death of the revered king left most ordinary Nepalese baffled and shocked. People were desperate for answers and the motive behind the royal massacre. But there were no answers that would placate the public.

Not much violence occurred in the streets of Kathmandu, or elsewhere in Nepal, but the tension in the air, in the weeks following the killings, was palpable. Being a complete outsider to the country and its people, it took me sometime to understand the severity and the people's emotional reaction to the incident. Although the king no longer ruled the country, he was one of the most beloved kings in Nepal's long-running monarchy. Almost everybody in Nepal, men and women, old and the young, rich and the poor, mourned the royal killings and they were vocal about their feelings.

As one walked the streets of Kathmandu, almost every second man had shaven their heads, a sign of respect for the dead according to Hindu custom. The people had also built small shrines with pictures of the royal family, the king, the queen, the crown prince, the prince and the princess, all now dead. The shrines were adorned with garlands, and burning incense sticks at crossroads in most neighborhoods.

The national mourning, marked by half-mast flags, closed offices and shops, no entertainment programs on TV and radio, and no music in restaurants and taxis, made it very difficult to forget the horrific incident that occurred the evening of June 1, 2001 at the palace. Although the official version of the nature of events was made public a few weeks after the killings, many people in Nepal still wonder about the truth of the account. Most of them have resigned themselves, however, to the fact that they would never know what really happened the night their beloved king and his family were brutally massacred.

This very much marked the first four weeks of my stay in Kathmandu. I had the feeling that one could not do anything without the fear of either police harassment, or threat from the Maoists. But I did manage to conduct some focus groups with school children and I was able to learn about risky behavior within the HIV/AIDS context despite the country's problems.

Finally, I reworked my plans for the summer with UNICEF. I decided it would be best to learn as much as I could about the risk of HIV/AIDS infection among young people in South Asia and to identify the numerous programs and interventions to prevent HIV/AIDS among young people implemented in different parts of the world. My focus was to analyze the communication initiatives: mass media, interpersonal, local/folk media, and the curriculum-based programs that various NGOs and INGOs have developed. Their methods are aimed at increasing awareness, creating favorable attitudes toward prevention of HIV/AIDS, and instilling healthy behavior among young people to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Asia.

The outcome of my internship was in identifying the numerous areas in which communication plays a crucial role in achieving the objectives of a humanitarian agency working toward social change and larger public good. Communication, I realized, is being used at various levels; documentation for policy level meetings, media advocacy to garner political will, and program based communication aimed at individuals and communities. The area I was working in, mainly prevention of HIV/AIDS among young people, narrowed my focus. But within this focus, communication has a multi-faceted role and my interns hip helped me to understand the various activities a communication specialist needs to execute. I intend to continue working in this area during my doctoral studies and I would like to go back to Nepal and work for UNICEF, if given the opportunity.

To sum up, the internship with UNICEF as part of the Coca-Cola World Citizenship Program was an excellent combination of educational and cultural initiation.

Photo Gallery

Children working on a farm near Kathmandu.

One of numerous Indian goddesses carved in stone at a temple.

MEENA - a UNICEF communication initiative to promote the rights of the girl-child.

A temple in Panauti Village near Kathmandu.

Shiva Ling - a typical Hindu temple of God Shiva.

A woman cleans mustard seeds at the roadside.