Usually when someone mentions a country going through an existential crisis it means another country is threatening to destroy the first one. “Peace-loving Nepal” doesn’t have this type of existential crisis but does have one in the Western philosophical sense. Like a hero from a Camus novel, a Nepali citizen has the terrifying freedom and responsibility of forming the direction Nepal will travel without the shackles, or stability, of the monarchy. Existentialists tell us that words are not enough and that living means making decisions and acting on them. The government of Nepal can make many promises and write beautiful, comprehensively inclusive laws but if they aren’t implemented, all that work becomes futile. I believe it is imperative for Nepali citizens to act locally for putting development work into action instead of waiting for the government or international organizations to do it for them.

Luckily we have met a few heroes who are doing just that. In Pokhara we met with the Three Sisters Trekking Company, which brought economic activity for women and Nepal’s push for tourism together into a profitable business. In Bara we met the secretary of the New Young Star Club who helped a community build a clean water source that all castes will have to use and maintain together. We had the pleasure of meeting a human rights activist in Rolpa who braved beatings and death threats to put his ideas of a better Nepal into action. If many more Nepali citizens can join these role models and take positive action for their country, Nepal can emerge from this conflict better than ever.