Mameeta Ji!
After a slow start in the day, Rob came to my house and we called a couple of people, to see if we could interview them for Beth’s documentary.
The cell phones aren’t reliable and sometimes you cannot get through, but after much persistence, I was finally able to get a hold of Mameeta, who is Santosh’s wife. Both are lawyer’s in Nepal, and started LANCAU (Lawyers National Campaign Against Untouchability) Nepal, a non-governmental organization to eliminate untouchability. They offer legal assistance to the Dalit community.
Santosh wrote to Rob and advised us to meet his wife before she comes to the States to join him; she has a full scholarship to pursue her master’s in Law. Santosh is already in the states pursuing his master’s in Law. They started the organization because they are an inter-caste marriage, and have met many different challenges because of the archaic thinking attached to the caste system.
She is leaving this coming Monday for the States and was in the middle of shopping when I called her. So we met up in the mall, Bishal Bazaar, and she said after she was finished with her errands, she would take us to the LANCAU office to meet with the director. We realized she was really busy, and tried to tell her that we could visit the office on our own, we just wanted to meet her, but she insisted that she was finished with her errands and it was not an imposition to take us the LANCAU office. It is also near her house, as well.
She said she was really glad we called her because she hasn’t been to that office in long time, and didn’t have the time since she is moving to the States. She said it was a good that we were there with her, so that she would have to go to the office to say goodbye.
She looked refreshed– ready to be near her husband again, and excited to start this new chapter in her life. She will be living in San Francisco, which is my favorite city in the U.S., it’s a good place for her to start. I suppose anywhere would be fine, as long as the two of them are together. But I think that though it is challenging to be in a different country, it’s a progressive, beautiful place to be, for their kind of work and study. Plus there are a lot of Nepali’s there, and it’s a good mix of people and a very good vibe.
We met with the new Executive Director, R.B. Bajchard (sp?), and the Programs Officer, Sanju Katwal. They were intersted in meeting with us, and Mameeta Ji made insisted that they meet with us again. She said not to hesitate if we needed anything to come by or call the office anytime. We briefly told them, or Rob told them in Nepali, what the project is, what we needed assistance with and they were very responsive and eager to help. It’s good to have lawyer’s back you…it comes in handy!
So, I’m really glad we were able to meet Mameeta Ji before she left for SF. I’m sure that when we go to the states in the summer, we will meet up.
Thank you Santosh and Mameeta Ji! Please let us know if there if you need anything.
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