Jobs you mightn’t apply for!

Life here has begun to be lived out in the routine and mundane – which is a healthy sign that we are all feeling very settled in this diverse and dynamic place.  Everything that first caught our eye (and became the subject of a blog) has largely become unremarkable, except for the odd thing that still raises an eyebrow!

Life and work in Nepal is still largely manual in nature. This week we have a few photographs of jobs you might not want to apply for!

Having done a fair share of painting in my life, these young ladies painting the outside of their village house grabbed my attention.  It is interesting that in Nepali, this painting process is described as, “ghar chyapnu” which when translated accurately sums up what is going on – to splash the house!

When it comes to the time to paint our own house, Valerie and I were discussing which one of us would get the job of splasher and who would be the pot holder. No prizes for guessing who will end up with the pot – I’d better get practicing!

Every day I join the frantic throng of vehicles making their way across the Bagmatic bridge, as I cycle on my mountain bike to UMN.  I find myself competing for space with Maruti cars, Tata trucks, myriads of motorcycles and chauffeur driven 4X4s.  I am keenly aware of my own vulnerability, but I certainly raise an eyebrow at the two ladies who daily have the job of cleaning the road, by hand, during peak rush hour.  They are faithfully there every morning, bent over and focused, earning a little money to feed the hungry mouths at home.  With basic labour laws, no minimum wage or health and safety, would you fancy applying for this job?

So much of the work here is manual labour.  There are an endless list of jobs that involve hard, physical labour. Our western culture has moved so far away from these days that the thought of taking them on would not appeal.  Every day we pass the ladies and men carrying huge amounts of cement and sand to the building sites. The road widening scheme continues as men dig up the road using pick axes.  Huge weights are carried in dokhos up and down the hills. Farming is another area of back breaking, labour intensive work.

So as Monday morning blues approach, hopefully this will make us all appreciate the good aspects of the work we go to.