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

particular ward, Books and other mete ria!^ designed for use at village
1 eve 1 were emp 1 oyed. There was an energetic young Bantawa Rai
supervisor (male) who oversaw the programme and was widely regarded as a
potentially excellent 'match' for Kamala, The BNMT staff worked in
close collaboration with the Village Bealth Worker who ended up moving,
with his wife and daughter, into the lodgings of the SNMT staff woman
responsible for the wards in our area once the project had ended. BNMT
had previously been involved in a training and supervision programme for
Village Hea!th Workers in Sankhuwasabha (Justice 1986: 108-9).
I was particularly impressed by the c!ose relationships the BNMT
staff had built up with the local community in the short time they had
been there, particularly the two female organizers who, it seemed to me,
were something of an anomaly as educated, single women without relatives
in the community and who stood out with their Punjabi-style clothing and
short hairstyles. They always had to be friendly and extrovert, always
on show. They carried this off with great aplomb.
The warmth and enthusiasm the project had generated was obvious at
the end-of-project event organized outside the panctivat office in
October 1989 when certificates were distributed to all participants and
helpers involved in the programme. The event began with everyone
standing to sing the national anthem, after which everyone went to put
flowers, gar!ands and powder on framed photos of the King and Queen
which were set on chairs in front of the speakers' table, The pradhdn
p8-c began the gar!anding, followed by the BNMT staff, ward adhvakshas,
the teachers and then the genera! public. It seemed as if the pictures
would disappear under the weight of flowers and powder put on them (and
this again only six months before the dramatic events which took p!ac:e