Call for the 3rd International Road-Building Brigade to Nepal
For the last ten years, a People’s War has been raging in Nepal. Over 80% of the country has now been liberated by the Nepalese masses.
In Rolpa district, one exciting project that the people are undertaking is the Martyrs Road – the first road suitable for motorised transport ever to be built in that part of Nepal. Under the slogan “Our Effort, Our Development” the people, along with Maoist local leaders, party cadres and liberation army soldiers, have picked up the spades and pickaxes themselves in order to break off the chains of feudal and imperialist oppression through self-reliance, without waiting for the crumbs from the table of the monarchy or capitalists. Indeed, this is a Road to the Future.
This area of Nepal, like many others, is hideously underdeveloped. Distances between villages are not measured in kilometres but in the number of hours or days it would take to walk between them. Travel was done solely on foot along precarious steep mountain paths. The result was extreme economic backwardness and appalling difficulties of accessing health and education. Globalisation and the free market have done nothing for the development of this region, and neither has the western-backed royal government in Kathmandu. However, after a few years of the liberating policies of the CPN(M) Rolpa has seen a transformation, which it is important to witness firsthand.
In 2005, the Magarat Autonomous People’s Republican Government issued a call for international volunteers to work on the road, in solidarity with the people of Nepal and to see the changes themselves firsthand. In November 2005 the First Road-Building Brigade spent two weeks working on the road. In April 2006 the Second Road-Building Brigade was caught up in the amazing experience of the People’s Movement in urban areas of Nepal before travelling to reach the Magarat area and spending time on the road.
The Third Road-Building Brigade will travel in the first week of November 2006, spending 3 weeks in Nepal. If anyone is interested in joining this or any future brigade, or are simply interested in finding out more information, please email:
 aroadtothefuture@yahoo.com
You do not need to give out any personal details such as name and contact address in the email, but please answer the following questions so your suitability for the brigade can be assessed.
1. Can you briefly describe yourself? Your age, occupation and whether you belong to any political organisation?
2. Have you had much experience of travelling, especially in third world countries?
3. What do you hope to achieve from joining the International Brigade?
4. Would you be willing to publicise the brigades when you return to your country, by whichever way you could, by writing an article, holding a photography exhibition etc? 5. What do you think of the current political situation in Nepal?