Hey folks! My name is Rajpreet and I will be living in Kathmandu, Nepal for 10 months starting in June 2019. My role will be a Project Coordination and Documentation Intern for Prerana, a CECI partner, which is social development organization that advocates for the rights and justice of poor and marginalized groups for over 20 years.
Prerana uses an integrated community development approach to support health and disability through operating various rehabilitation centres, promoting intersectional gender and women’s empowerment by being the national secretariat for the Women's Human Rights Network, and operating agricultural cooperatives in marginalized areas of Nepal. At Prerana, one of my tasks will be collaborating in grant and proposal writing for reducing sexual and gender based violence and early unions/child marriage. As well as supporting rural women policy making and capacity building for women community mobilizers, such as mental health education. I will be supporting participatory development research, community / gender based assessments, disseminating best practices, producing an documentation system and an outreach strategy for the organization. I am thrilled to be part of Prerana's team and work towards a self reliant community that empowers strong livelihoods for the poor, women, marginalized caste groups and people with disabilities.
The research that I hope to conduct, as I acknowledge research changes and shifts, is through a feminist geography framework to reimagine public space in Kathmandu. Often, the imagined geography around Asian cities is 'a lot of public but no space' – how can we rebuild, reimagine and rethink Kathmandu to be inclusive, accessible, gender/caste responsive and sustainable. I wish to explore the intricacies of the history of Kathmandu's urban planning through archives and social mapping as I ask - who is allowed and bound to what space, what are the process of placemaking present for subaltern (post imperialist) and what are the politics of indigenization and decolonization in this city?
I hope to explore the perplexing details of Kathmandu, the city of feast and festivals and escape to the mountainous landscape, when possible. Thank you to Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Scholarship for making this happen. Updates at instagram: @paywomen