Producer/director Robert Lang and cinematographer Guy Clarkson accompany musician Bruce Cockburn as he returns to the spectacular Himalayan country of Nepal after twenty years away.

He finds a land where much has changed, with a Maoist government recently installed, women newly empowered, and fresh initiatives to deal with the grinding poverty of the majority of the Nepali people. But it’s also a land where, in some of the remotest areas, life is lived much in the way it has for centuries – salt caravans, subsistence farming on steep mountain terraces and off-the-grid villages connected by an ancient network of footpaths.

Return to Nepal is a revealing glimpse at a corner of the world we know little about, but whose people have much to offer us: spiritual wisdom, tactics for survival in a tough land, and shining examples of interdependence and determination.

That's it for our blogs from the field.  But... as soon as filmmaker Bob Lang has digitized some footage from the trip, we'll display some video from Nepal right here.

As of tomorrow, the team will head out of the Humla region towards Kathmandu.  They promise to upload pics, and maybe a video or two, as soon as they can find a better internet connection than their satphone.

Today, we have an audio blog from filmmaker Robert Lang, from a tiny village somewhere in the mountains of Nepal.   (Bob tells me Bruce has a bit of cold and is not in good voice.  He believes Bruce will be able to do another blog tomorrow.) 

We asked Bob to speak as loudly as possible, but he was loath to do so because it was evening in the village, and all the villagers were already asleep.  He didn't want to disturb them, especially, as he told us, because they had been so hospitable and welcoming.  So... this blog is a bit hard to hear, but no impossible.  We hope you enjoy it.

Part 1: Bob talks about life in the village (click PLAY ARROW to listen): 

Part 2: Bob talks about recent positive changes in village life: 

Part 3: Bob relates a story about the pressures Maoist insurgents exert on villagers: 

Today, we have a much clearer, much longer blog from Bruce Cockburn, via satphone, somewhere in the mountains of Nepal.  He talks about the feelings of the people he's met towards USC Canada (very positive) and some other really interesting stuff about... but wait a minute... I'll let him tell it.  Have a listen.

Today, Bruce, Bob and Susan are traveling in a remote, mountainous area of Nepal.  Bruce sent the following audio blog via satphone.  The audio is pretty bad (we'll try to do better tomorrow) but here is his message, followed by a transcript:

Bruce Cockburn: We visited with a farmer today, and when you see the film we end up with at the end of this, you'll see what a remarkable guy he really is.

He went to extreme lengths to establish himself as an organic farmer in this area. And that might sound strange because you might think... well... there's people living in these remote mountains that have always grown organically, but it isn't always that way because the corporate reach extends this far.

He is very careful to point out, and is grateful for the involvement of USC Canada in enabling him to carry out his plan.

It was an interesting encounter, and they demonstrated to us how they cleared their field of these enormous Volkswagon sized rocks, that surrounded everything else around him but he had this useable garden that he'd created out of... volcanic debris basically.  

image received via satphone:

a girl the team met along the way

text only message received via satphone:

Kathmandu
7 Nov, 07 - 20:00    
Surkhet, Nepal
We were fortunate to have dinner with Jane Goodall. She is one of the world's great motivators. Jane's stories of her life in the animal world were truly inspiring.!

text only message received via satphone:

Kathmandu Music
4 Nov, 07 - 20:42    
Great meeting with my muscian friend Arjun today. Arjun performed a concert for Robert. It was a resonating experience!

We invite you to listen to this interview with singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn about the forthcoming trip to Nepal and his visit 20 years ago.  

Interview recorded on October 23rd, 2007

We're going to Nepal really soon and you can come along via this web site.  Watch this video introduction to find out what we're doing in Nepal and why.

(We could have shown you this video at much higher quality but we wanted you to see our introduction at the size and quality of videos we will be sending from the field via satellite phone.)

We're hoping as many people as possible find out about this video Blog.  So... if you're a Bruce Cockburn fan, or a supporter of USC Canada, or interested in what's going on in Nepal then tell your friends about this site!

This is the link to our site:

http://kensingtontv.com/nepal

And... if you'd like to communicate with the content manager of this web site email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

(Information on the journey from the USC Canada web site) 

Twenty years after his first visit to USC Canada projects in Nepal, Canadian Singer/Songwriter Bruce Cockburn is going back.

Bruce made a similar journey in 1987, accompanied by USC’s current Executive Director (then program officer) Susan Walsh. Bruce and Susan will be back in Nepal from November 11-23.

A History of Conflict

While Nepal’s long and tragic civil conflict has finally subsided, the conflict clearly had a debilitating impact on development initiatives – not least in Humla, one of the most remote districts, located in the northwest corner of the country.

Despite the conflict, USC’s partners in Nepal managed to continue their work with the people of Humla, and it’s here that Bruce will be travelling – to see projects in a part of Nepal that was officially closed to foreigners the first time he visited.

“We’ll be encountering a slightly different version of (Nepal) than last time,” says Bruce, “but I think we can expect it to be pretty amazing.”

Community Development

Bruce’s journey will focus mainly on community – and on seeing the community food sovereignty work being carried out by our partners in Nepal. He will witness first-hand how people in Humla are meeting the challenges of climate change and externally driven agriculture, and making their own solutions work for the community despite the political conflict.

He says, “One of the things that characterizes people living in the difficult conditions that people in Nepal find themselves in – in all parts of the world where those conditions exist – is …a very well-developed sense of how dependent we humans are on each other. There’s a sense of community that is beyond anything that one encounters in the developed world. “

He adds, “I see this as what allows people to survive their difficult circumstances and to support each other physically and emotionally with the amount of hard work and pain that they live with. It will also be interesting to see what the impact of the war has been on that sense of community because that often has a part to play and that means it could go either way. I don’t know what to expect in that regard except that these communities are still there and USC is still working in those communities.”

Traveling with Bruce

As Bruce witnesses this, and interacts with key individuals in communities throughout communities in Humla, his journey will be captured on video by Robert Lang and Guy Clarkson of Kensington Communications. Journal entries and stories will be sent back to Canada live from Humla. Audio, video, and images will be posted by Kensington Communications.

So what’s on Bruce’s mind as he plans his journey? “I’m curious to see what, if anything, has really changed with the war in the 20 years… From my own personal point of view that’s the main motivator, and the chance to go back to a country that’s hands down the most beautiful place on Earth that I’ve seen.”