Mother and daughter
Betrawati, May 23rd, 2005
Ramkumari on the front porch of her house.
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Ramkumari’s daughter Santoshi.
Hari sits on the roof of the porch
Betrawati, 2005
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Bibishah, Reshnah and Binitah
Betrawati, May 25th, 2005
These three were neighbors of my old host family. This was the first time I got to see them when they weren’t babies or stranger-shy toddlers.
When I took this photo in 2005, many of the children I knew when I volunteered had since moved to Kathmandu. Some of the others who remained in Betrawati, tiny when I first met them but now much much taller, still ask to be picked up and swung around when they saw me.
In 2005, Kathmandu provided both the possibility of better schools, and at least the idea of a more arm’s-length relationship with violence from the Maoist rebels.
When I was first in Betrawati in 2000, there were a handful of uneasy but resigned young police who took turns keeping watch with heirloom rifles.
My second visit in 2002 saw the police gone. A wall of their stone-walled station all but removed by a Maoist socket-bomb.
In 2005, the structure sat abandoned, and a family was using it to store dry grass for their buffalo.
The Maoist civil war ended with a peace accord signed in November of 2006. I was so relieved to hear it.
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(the image above is from a rather smallish scan of the photo. I had to enlarge the image a little, which is why it may look a little blurry/pixelly)
My shadow, Ramesh
Dadagaun, Kathmandu 2005
The afternoon sun was low, casting a warm glow. Looking around at the colors it lent the surroundings, I thought I'd take a self-portrait of sorts with my shadow thrown on a wall. While I was fiddling with the focus, Ramesh had followed me down, and walked up in his plaid cholo.
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(Ramesh’s image above is from a rather smallish scan of the photo. I had to enlarge the image a little, which is why it may look a little blurry/pixelly)
Another photo of Ramesh, on a warmer day.
Sukiyah widening the road
Along the road to Dadagaun, Kathmandu 2005
Outside of a tea shop, a group of five men work with tools of wood and flanged metal; widening this dirt road that branches away from the city. Digging and moving tons of dirt, hacking away at a buried tree stump. The sun presses down, but the road's thin enough that the plants along the side provide for a bit of shade.
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(Sukiyah’s image above was scanned from a 4x6" that I had had printed with a white border. As such, it's not quite a full-frame image; the image is a little tall for it's width, but I was hesitant to crop it any more)