Leading on the Frontline

2Trust

How an encounter with a rebel unit in Nepal forced me to let go and trust

Three months after I arrived in Nepal, I set out with Karma to find a village in the east of the country, four hours north of a hill station named Hille. I had been tasked by one of the local NGOs with conducting a basic needs assessment as well as looking out for signs of human trafficking. The confusion of the civil war had led to an increase in the number of girls being drugged and kidnapped, and the NGO wanted to know the scale of the problem. Most girls, I had been told, were taken to Mumbai and forced to work in brothels. Some were as young as 12.

Karma had suggested it would be safer if we travelled in a group, but I thought he was being overcautious. Later I wished I had listened to him.

We had to pass through numerous checkpoints. Maoist rebels usually armed their pillion riders as they could more easily wield a gun with both arms free. As a result, at each checkpoint I had to dismount and join a queue for an arms inspection. As soon as the soldiers saw I was a foreigner they brought me to the front of the line, but it still slowed our progress.

On the road, Karma rode fast and confidently, honking his way past long lines of Tata trucks. Up front the cabs of the trucks were edged with fairy lights while at the back the all-seeing eye glared at us. As we overtook them the drivers would flick a switch and an array of trumpety horns on the roofs of their cabs would play a multitude of tunes. ...