A Short Hike Program from Bhedetar to Namje with Bikalpa Fellow Members

Bikalpa has been organizing regular hiking trips to nearby locations on a regular basis since 2016, which has now become an event for reconnection between Bikalpa fellow members and other professional youth. The event’s objective is also to bring together young people who have been part of our programs and create a space for learning with them. People from various age groups, professions, and ethnicities regularly participate in this event. This hiking also served as a reunion for people associated with Bikalpa in various capacities.

Bikalpa organized an excursion program with Bikalpa Fellow Members on a very short notice. The objective of the program was to introduce the fellows with our partner and guest of honour, Michael Reitz (Executive Vice President at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Michigan, USA) who was in Nepal to help Bikalpa with its strategic planning. The hiking from Bhedetar to Namje was scheduled for 15th October 2022.

Namje village is situated at an elevation of 1585 m inhabited by indigenous Magar people in Sangurigadhi Rural Municipality, Dhankuta District of Province 1. It is located about 62 km northeast of Biratnagar. Namje village is also promoting eco – tourism with historical and religious significance in Morang District. Bhedetar is also a popular hill-station located in the Koshi Highway.

The participants included students and young professionals and attendees of earlier events of Bikalpa including fellows from Bikalpa fellowship. 47 youths from various cities of Province 1 participated in the event, as the team departed for Bhedetar from Biratnagar early in the morning at 7:30 am. During the journey, a short stopover at Bhedetar for morning breakfast also allowed the participants to enjoy scenario of the nearby mountains and witness the majestic Himalayas peaks.

The hiking team began their journey witnessing the mesmerizing view of Bhedetar, Makalu Mountain range and having fun with other local tourists along their 7-kilometer hiking trail. Following the one-hour hike, the team reached their destination at Namje View Point Hotel, where an interaction program with Michael Rietz on “Values of Liberty” was conducted. Michael shared about the importance of liberty in every individual’s life, and how it was achieved through generations of struggle and understanding.

Comparing his experiences of leading a pro-liberty think tank in the US, he reminded think tank professionals and youths to always that the role of the government was to safeguard liberty of the citizens and not infringe upon them. He also talked about the importance of youths to engage in think tanks and ensure liberty at policy level.

He also admired Bikalpa’s work and how crucial mobilizing youths was for think tanks, especially youths since they are the ones capable of bringing socio-economic change. The participants asked questions about career prospects in think tank, and the challenges of promoting liberal values in a collectivist society like Nepal. To which Michael added that it was important for youths to be more vocal for change by advocating at policy level and since think tanks interaction with policy makers and politicians were limited, it was important for the youths to bridge that gap. He also believed that spreading the ideas of liberty in a society like Nepal requires smart messaging where values need to be subtly supplanted while addressing problems faced by common people on a daily basis.

Following this, a tea-party was organized in honor of the speaker as a symbolic gesture of the hiking team’s commitment to promoting liberty. The team spent 2 hours at Namje View point premise, networking with each other and a photo session ensued. The hiking team returned to Bhedetar crossing the hilly terrain and after a short snack at Bhedetar, headed back to Biratnagar at around 6 pm. The Hiking event served as an occasion for Bikalpa Fellow Members to assemble after the festival breaks and also allowed them to interact with other participants, thus creating more visibility of the fellowship and Bikalpa’s mobilization effort.

Vlog video and photo link of Hiking Program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j__Zt_7hsuo