World Biodiversity Day and My Epiphany

Hello everyone, Happy World Biodiversity day!

I celebrated world biodiversity day planting a coconut tree in my home garden, joining the global green wave campaign.

I am looking forward to reading all the activities fellow Tunza members’ took.

Planting the tree, I thought about the Earthquake, about all those lives that were lost, many lives which could have been saved if only we were a developed nation, one with better disaster management strategy and better tools and methods.
It made me angry and I kept thinking what lies ahead of us.

 We as a nation are now covered in dust, now we need to wash our tears and jointly plant the seeds of Sustainable development and water it.

Earthquake has caused my country Nepal unfathomable loss. My brothers and sisters have lost lives, they have lost their homes. The situation in itself is hard to manage, forget about the development one would say.
The times are hard and we all must realize times are going to get harder and most of us have realized that and gallantly done what one could do.

But now critical time has come, a time that will decide what kind of road we will take in the decade to come. If things are run as before then famine, epidemics, crime will breed and swallow us and we will even degrade from our current category of “a third world nation”

 But on other hands this earthquake has rocked us from outside and from within, youths are motivated, people are united and if only the leadership can use this accumulated energy and can effectively draw a plan, a corruption less, uniting plan then we can successfully lift ourselves from hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy and other problems in a quick span.

Of course it is easier said than done but many countries have evolved out from conditions worse than ours so there’s no reason we can’t do it.

We have natural resources, with whom we haven’t been efficient.  We are rich in biodiversity. However the course shouldn’t clearly be to replace green forests by concrete forests. Sustainable development is a must and our target must be of “Smart Economic Growth” which seeks to reduce reliance on energy intensive and high polluting industries and rely more on localized technology, green energy and services.

Many foreign countries and INGOs have shown compassion and aided the victims of the Earthquake,
 for short term aid that works but if we are to really change our nation then our reliance on aids’ has to stop. Nothing is free and we can’t forever remain poor and expect donations. We already are in too much debt.  Instead of taking donations, we should be encouraging foreign investments and encourage Young entrepreneurs in agriculture, business, tourism etc

Immigration, Brain drain has been an issue for years now; the chief cause is lack of opportunity and appropriate opportunity. The real cause of this problem lies in our education system. Our curriculum of school, college and university is in no way preparing students to solve the problems our country currently faces and is expected to face in the decades to come. Without transforming education system we really can’t push for a leap.

It’s already been more than a decade that Nepal has become a Republic still development is slow paced and this quake is sure to add to our troubles. But two real problems that hinder us, probably most of developing nation, are Corruption and Incapable leadership.

 Corruption has infiltrated almost all sectors of Nepal in varied scale and without uprooting corruption all other talk will be meaningless.
If only we could get a law that made all bureaucrats, politicians, civil servants to sign an agreement which said if they were  ever charged and proved of corruption then they will have to face life imprisonment,
 and again for this to implement judiciary has to be strong and effective.

Secondly incapable leaders, most of the front line leaders are old and now just a shadow of their old rowdy past, time has outfoxed them and yet they don’t give in. they have got visionary, energetic youths as their advisors, If only it was other way around.

Well if I am thinking about it then youths like me also must be thinking about the future of our nation. That is a really good sign. Now I have to start changing myself, be responsible, be pragmatic, and contribute as much as I can.