Personal Narrative
Picking Up the Pieces Back Home Foreign employment has helped some families, but many workers suffer exploitation abroad. Nagendra Das’ life was turned around back home after his disastrous experience in Qatar.
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Nagendra Das with his rikshaw. µ Devendra Dhungana
here was plenty of work in my village but not enough food. Farm workers there are paid in rice, usually five kilos per day, but that was not enough to feed my family. If we needed even a small sum of money we had to visit a local moneylender who charged a high interest rate. I had seen other men who went abroad to work come home with a new mobile set, TV, and cash.
helped me to acquire my passport and a visa.
My neighbor helped me to borrow Rs 90,000 from a local moneylender by mortgaging my house and land. The idea of flying abroad was both exciting and frightening, but my fears were lessened when a local agent travelled with me to Kathmandu and
My time in Qatar turned into a nightmare when the company I was working for, Super Servants LLC, stopped paying us after 9 months. The company was not doing well and started to sell its large equipment. We were given a choice: either to
No one in my generation went to school, so I cannot read or write. I did not have the slightest idea about the company I was going to work for, but the agent assured me that everything was okay. I worried because I knew that I would be homeless if I did not pay back the loan.
I returned home in the same clothes I wore when I left. I did not have even a dollar to buy a candy for my children and my wife who were waiting for my return.
Development Advocate Nepal | 45