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Tech lessons for Indonesia from recovering Nepal

Technology has helped increase collaboration across disciplines and geographic boundaries. Three lessons from Nepal bear this out and also have relevance to Indonesia.

Curtis S. Chin (The Jakarta Post)

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Kathmandu

Tue, May 9, 2017 Published on May. 9, 2017 Published on 2017-05-09T09:15:18+07:00

A mother peddles textiles amid an economy badly hit by the quake. (The Jakarta Post/Ayomi Amindoni)

N

epal like Indonesia is no stranger to earthquakes and other natural disasters. Two years ago, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on April 25 and a major aftershock on May 12 took nearly 9,000 lives and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes here in Nepal.

While rich in culture and heritage, Nepal even before the earthquake was one of Asia’s poorest nations. More than 40 percent of Nepal’s 29 million population lives on less than US$2 a day, and 70 percent are employed in the agricultural sector, according to the World Bank.

Now two years after the 2015 earthquake, the results of reconstruction efforts have been decidedly mixed, with tens of thousands of homes, buildings and heritage sites still needing to be rebuilt. This, despite pledges of more than $4 billion in aid to help this nation landlocked between China and India.

Still, amidst any pessimism over persistent corruption and cynicism in a still-recovering Nepal, there is reason for hope. My latest visit to this nation underscores that even in the poorest of countries, hope can be found in the transformative power of technology.