The Springs of Namje
A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A Peace Corps volunteer’s inspirational story about the power of small change
In 2001, Peace Corps volunteer Rajeev Goyal was sent to Namje, a remote village in the eastern hills of Nepal. Brimming with idealism, he expected to find people living in conditions of misery and suffering; instead, he discovered a village full of happy, compassionate people. After organizing the villagers to build a water-pumping system in the midst of the dangerous Maoist war that had gripped the country, Goyal learned how complex rural development truly is. He also witnessed how the seemingly lowliest villager can hold profound power to influence not only his or her own village but also the highest rungs of government.
Years after this experience, Goyal applied the lessons he learned in Namje to his work on Capitol Hill. Approaching Congress as if it were a Nepalese caste system, Goyal led a grassroots campaign to double the size of the Peace Corps. His unique approach to advocacy included strategically positioning himself outside the men’s room of the capitol building waiting for lawmakers to walk out. As a result of his determined bird-dogging, Goyal managed to make allies of more than a hundred members of Congress and in the process, he ruffled the feathers of some of the most powerful figures in Washington. But due to his efforts, the Peace Corps was granted a $60-million increase in funding, the largest dollar-amount increase in the organizations history.
On this path to victory Goyal endured a number of missteps along the way, and, as he reveals, his idealism at times faded into fear, anger, and frustration. In this honest and inspirational account of his life as an activist, Goyal offers daring ideas for how the Peace Corps and other organizations can be even more relevant to our rapidly changing world. He urges environmentalists, educators, farmers, artists, and designers to come together and contribute their talents. Filled with history, international politics, personal anecdotes, and colorful characters, The Springs of Namje is a unique and inspiring book about the power of small change.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 2001, 52 days after a brutal mass murder decimated the Nepalese royal family, Goyal, an idealistic and deeply na ve Peace Corps volunteer, arrived in the violently divided Himalayan nation, hoping to better the lives of the people in the remote villages to which he was assigned. Grand if vague ambitions soon stumble over the realities of Nepal in the early 21st century, from the way its entrenched caste system affects all aspects of life to the escalating civil war between the out-of-touch monarchy and the rest of the country. Determined to see the Peace Corps become an even greater force for good, in 2008, Goyal ventures into darkest Washington with every bit of the idealism and energy he demonstrated in Nepal and similar, inexplicable na vet . In addition to relating his time in Nepal, this heartfelt account addresses his struggles with Washington's blinkered functionaries, doctrinaire reactionaries, and the frustrating Obama administration, though Goyal's apparent ignorance about the government of his own nation is baffling. However, despite setbacks and ambivalence about the changes he helped create in Nepal, Goyal remains a persuasive optimist about the effect a small group of highly motivated people can have on the world.