THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

Arabia (which left his impoverished wife and two young children with the
inevitable debts) also gave some pause for thought, Yet for those who
were successful, the potential rewards were great. In October 1989 our
village sister Kamala was repaid a pawned jewelry loan of 15,000 NRs
(about £300) which the father of the man working in Bahrain had taken
out three months earlier on the security of his son's return. She
earned 500 NRs (about £30) interest on this loan,
It was interesting that on arrival at the labour destination and
before, Tamaphok Yakha were evidently teaming up with members of other
ethnic groups from Tamaphok and around. One man wrote how he was
sharing a dormitory with some Chetri men from Te!lok, which had
obviously been a great comfort to him. A Yakha identity was obviously
largely an irrelevance in this work situation.
After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Nepalese government
cancelled all further labour migration to 'Arab' from August 31st 1990
until the political situation was resolved, but this only !ed to people
broadening their horizons still further, to take in Taiwan, Japan and
even the USA, However, we were told it was going to cost an individual
nearly £1,000 to go for six months to work in a factory in Japan, and
when our fieldwork ended we had yet to meet anyone who had taken up the
challenge,
7.4 Conclusion
This chapter has examined the border between familiar and less
familiar environments for Yakha men and women, with bazaars constituting
the boundary, if such a boundary can indeed be drawn. It has also
looked at what movement from the known to the unknown meant for the