Give2Asia Giving Forum

Dr. Pratapaditya Pal - renowned Nepalese, Indian and Tibetan art scholar

On August 13, 2009, Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, a renowned Asian art scholar, spoke about his academic journey, introduction to various Asian arts, and his passage to the United States. His semi-formal talk at Give2Asia encompassed humor, affection for his family, stories of Cambridge, cricket, his time traveling to the United States, and high remarks of John D. Rockefeller III, The Asia Foundation and the Asia Society.

During the presentation, Dr. Pal showed slides of valuable art pieces from Tibet, India and Himalayas that have been bought and sold at cheap prices. He pointed out that Philadelphia Museum has not done a single exhibition of Dr. Stella Kramrisch's collection of Nepalese and Indian art. He displayed his frustration at lack exhibition of South Asian art in museums across the world and lack of appreciation of artwork in Asian countries.

Dr. Pal was born in Bangladesh, grew up in Calcutta, India and lived in the United States since 1967. He completed his doctorate in Fine Arts and History from the University of Calcutta with a special focus on Nepal. In 1962, he received the Commonwealth Scholarship of Cambridge to do his second Ph.D. on Nepalese art.

Development at Altitude: Women’s Empowerment in Nepal

By Charles Ostertag, Give2Asia

Fluttering and curling between the winds of China and India, the flag of Nepal flies as the only non-rectangular national flag on earth. The amalgam of two pennants from the previous ruling Rana dynasty, the flag's jutting edges and celestial figures aptly mirror a weather-pleated, atmospheric land rising from the monsoon-prone southern plains to the rearing walls of stone in the north. Since its inception in 1962, however, the Nepalese flag has bared witness to profound social change: the June 2001 tragedy within the royal palace left Nepal without a king or queen; a decade-long civil war resulting in over 14,000 casualties; and last year the newly elected Constituent Assembly voted to end the 240-year-old monarchy. Even though this flag now stands for a recently formed nation (Nepal was officially declared a democratic federal republic in May 2008 and the first president was elected in July 2008), it has not been without cost. Today, Nepal depends heavily on foreign aid, possesses the second-highest unemployment rate in Asia at 42% after Timor-L’Este (from 2004 estimates), and remains one of the poorest, least developed countries in the world.

With one third of Give2Asia grants in Nepal being made in the area of women’s empowerment, we have chosen to highlight three of the many excellent organizations we work with—Empowering Women of Nepal(EWN), Himalayan Healers and The Asia Foundation —all focusing on improving the quality of life, social status and opportunities for women. The missions of EWN, Himalayan Healers and The Asia Foundation are imperative. According to 2001 estimates, only 34.9% of Nepalese women can read and write, while statistics from the Asian Development Bank point to poverty and lack of job opportunities as the driving factors causing women to resort to commercial sex work.

Nepalese & Indian Communities in Crisis as Kosi River Changes Course

On August 18, the eastern embankment of the Kosi River in Nepal breached. The result has been human tragedy across two countries, Nepal and India, where the flood waters have displaced 2.5 million people.

Unlike other floods in recent years, this flood will have a broader impact because the Kosi River appears to have permanently changed course, now flowing into a once dry river bed that has not held water since the 1800s. Due to this change, immediate relief for this disaster will need to be followed up with permanent resettlement for towns that find themselves in the path of the river's waters.

Transformational Social Entrepreneurs

By Betsy Merzenich, Give2Asia

Across the globe, social entrepreneurship is on the rise. In Asia and elsewhere, entrepreneurial individuals are directing their efforts at complex social issues, finding new solutions to meet difficult problems. These social entrepreneurs are characterized by an ability to identify new opportunities and a willingness to bear the inherent risks. Just as entrepreneurs transform business, social entrepreneurs have the potential to revolutionize society by seizing opportunities, inventing new approaches, improving systems, and transforming the status quo. Given the exciting and promising nature of the work of social entrepreneurs, we are interested in bringing visibility to their efforts, and have done so a number of times on this blog. This week we are profiling a collection of social entrepreneurs whose successful innovations are positively impacting millions of people throughout Asia.

Social Entrepreneurs Make Change Happen

By Betsy Merzenich, Give2Asia

In the course of our work at Give2Asia, we come across dynamic leaders of organizations working for social change. We've had the opportunity to introduce these individuals to donors and to partners such as the Skoll Foundation, which help to further their work and expand their impact by bringing their innovation into other communities. Here are stories of some of these leaders, and we'll be sharing more again soon.

Like many young tourists from Europe, Sebastien Marot arrived in Cambodia in the early 1990s with a backpack and a dream of continuing on to find work in Tokyo, Japan. What he found when he arrived in Phnom Penh altered the direction of his life, and his subsequent work as a social entrepreneur has improved life for hundreds of thousands of children and family members.