Ex-horse trader Mingmar Gurung migrates to Kathmandu
Long-time horse trader Mingmar Gurung from Charkha, Upper Dolpo has suffered intense losses, which only accelerated at the time of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Five of his horses have died over the years, leaving him in deep debts. He has migrated to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and is going through his rounds of daily minimum wage, while taking on backbreaking labour work. From working as a construction labourer in the heat and dust of Kathmandu, to working as a dish-washer in the monasteries of Boudhanath, Kathmandu, he is struggling not just to make ends meet, but to pay off his debts that have gathered interest over the years.
Help donate to buy him a pair of shoes when he returns back to Dolpo. Without a pair of good trekking shoes, his feet have worn out and he is facing threats of amputation if he continues travelling and working with a pair of worn out shoes in Dolpo/Kathmandu.
Young herder enrolled into a Buddhist nunnery in Kathmandu
Meet Tsering Lhadol, a nine-year-old yak herder from the upper reaches of Barong in Dolpo. From the age of six, she has been left alone at yak tents to manage the livestock grazing out on pastures.
Barely six years old, she was entrusted by her family to watch over a hundred goats and about forty yaks, alone, by the highest passes of Upper Dolpo.
Brazen, witty and terribly cute, this little daredevil is a bit of a 'gang leader' in the youngest yak herding circles of Dolpo. However, she wasn't destined to become a yak and horse nomad forever. Lhadol has been sent to a nunnery in Kathmandu, where she is now receiving subsidised education, meals and housing. Her parents are struggling to make ends meet - living on subsistence on yak and goat produce is barely enough now to live a decent life in Dolpo. The harsh Covid-19 lockdowns have spelled a complete end to trading in Dolpo. Moreover, she is just one among many children, now being migrated to the city, and ordained as a young monk/nun.
Most parents in Dolpo want their kids to learn Nepali, and to get educated, hence many younger children are now being moved to Kathmandu, and will remain disconnected from traditional life of Dolpo - as they now grow older in the city.
Support her by buying new winter clothing in Kathmandu, where the temperatures drop to almost a zero degrees in the biting cold of January.