Dear Nepal, Sincerely Hawaii

We stand here in Hawaii, our land of blue skies and seas, benevolent trade winds, and perfect paradises known to the world as the infamous retreat and vacation location. We stand here in our immaculate world, most of us never truly reaching for the edges that confine us to our postcard world. We hold this perfect paradise postcard of Hawaii in our hands; so blessed and eminent. We never want to send it, but rather keep gazing at the glossy waves washing up on the cardstock. But perhaps though the picture on the postcard is the world’s yearning fantasy, it is the words on the back of the postcard that truly matter.
What I mean by stating, “Hawaii is a postcard”, is that most of us here in Hawaii don’t realize what a “perfect” world we live in and how lucky we are to live here in the paradise of the islands. What I think we must come to realize is that however perfect our own world may be, it is crucial that we reach beyond our sandy shores, across the waters of our world, to venture in the minds and cultures of other places. These places, though different in so many ways, might be closer to home than one may perceive. Through the communications of this dialogue project, I was able to connect with not only a denizen of Nepal, but the country of Nepal as well.
When I first learned that I would be having a conversation with a person from Nepal, the first thought that popped in my mind was “I wonder if that’s in the Middle East…” To my surprise (mainly from my lack of geographical knowledge), I soon learned that Nepal was in Asia, and somewhat engulfed by the two neighboring powerhouse countries of China and India. This geographical inundation of Nepal could perhaps be the reason why not only me, but all my “astute Punahou friends and classmates” that I asked, did not know where Nepal was exactly.
Although being somewhat washed out by these two dominant countries, it also means Nepal is swimming in influences of cultures from both China and India. Thus making Nepal a land of multiple ethnicities, religions, and practices. This fact is what holds the connection between Hawaii and Nepal’s similarities. Growing up in Hawaii, everyone knows the proclaimed title that we are “the melting pot”, meaning that we are a land of diversity and many different types of people. This holds true to Nepal as well because of their diversity in ethnicity, culture, and religion due to the infusion of China meeting India amongst the native Nepal civilization. It is because of this infusion that Nepal possesses so many different types of people. The person I am communicating with specifically is named Suresh Tamang. Suresh is from Nepal, but is currently studying at UH as a doctoral student in Hawaii and is here with his wife and daughter.
One of the first things Suresh and I discussed was our ethnic backgrounds. Suresh’s surname “Tamang” derives from his Tibetan origin. Specifically he is a part of the Tibeto-Burmese subgroup hailing from the north, which is one of the many subgroups of Nepal. After the initial confusion of thinking that because my last name was Tsuchiya, therefore I must be of Thai decent, I explained to him that I am not only Japanese, but Okinawan, Korean, Irish, Cherokee Indian, and German as well. This produced the response that he thinks it is great that we contain a multitude of ethnicities, but “we are all human ultimately, and [he] thinks we have to respect all equally”. This statement of Suresh’s truly rings genuine in my heart as well, especially because we both come from such diverse and unique civilizations.
There are over 60 ethnic and indigenous groups in Nepal, which is similar to our melting pot of cultures in Hawaii. “Char Jat Chhatis Barna ko Fulbari” translates to “A patch motlayed with multicolored tints”. I think that when Suresh gave this proverb to me as a representation of Nepal, it was meant to showcase the fact that though Nepal is but a small “patch” of land, it obtains many “tints” or cultures of people. I found this also very similar not only to Nepal, but to Hawaii as well because our island chain is also very small and patch-like, yet contains a large amount of cultures.
Besides the fact that Nepal and Hawaii are similar in aspects, there are also some differences that make Nepal and Hawaii variant. In Hawaii, being that we are a part of the United States, a country that has overcome its predicaments in the issue of women’s rights. Nepal on the other hand is still in the process of adjusting to a more gender-equal world. After researching this topic, I found out that Nepal is one of the only countries to have a significantly shorter life expectancy of women, as a result of under privileges and poverty.
According to the United Nations Development Program, women in Nepal suffer from many disadvantages of the society because of gender-biased practices. Nepalese women have fewer resources than men, don’t control property rights and are limited healthcare and education. It is these injustices that make me realize how much I appreciate being a girl in America. I think that sometimes we take advantage of what previous figures in history have fought for, in order for us today to obtain justice. Once we, the fortunate, can accept this revelation of appreciation we can create pathways to those who are less blessed. We have so many opportunities here, and I think that if we were able to be thankful for these freedoms, then it would be easier for us to reach out of our perfect lives and try to abolish the injustices to women in countries like Nepal.
As Suresh said prior: “ultimately, we are all human”. So I believe that ultimately, a female here in Hawaii, is no different, not better nor worst, than a female living in Nepal. Yet why is it that the opportunities and obstacles granted to us are so different? I am so lucky that the biggest challenge I face on a day-to-day basis is my homework, and it saddens me to realize that a girl in Nepal would give anything for education, yet alone to be ridden the burdens of sex-trafficking and poverty of women. I am all for celebrating our differences and unique attributes, but this is the difference of culture that matters most to me.
All in all, Nepal and Hawaii are closely similar and yet also very distant. We are similar in that fact that we share the element of portraying many different cultures; but the cultures that we contain are very different. By learning to compare and contrast these differences and similarities, we are able to grasp and appreciate not only a new and exotic culture, but our own culture of home as well. So standing here in my postcard perfect world, I realize that even though the address I send my words to are so far away, the emotions felt are akin to those at home.