London to Freetown

Chaturman Rai lives in a small village on the outskirts of Kathmandu.  His three roomed shack lies next to his livestock, his livelihood, on the banks of a rubbish infested river.   He lives there with his wife, son and daughter.    Chaturman is originally from the eastern part of Nepal but it was impossible for him to eek out a living there.  He swapped village life for the banks of Kathmandu ten years ago.  Chaturman still has a lot of family in his village in the east but the five- six day journey is prohibitively expensive for him. 

Chaturman’s day begins at three am when he starts clearing out the livestock, the  pigs, that he owns.  He doesn’t have far to travel to work, the pig pens lay directly next to the three roomed cramped shack he resides in.  The work is hard, tiring and with little financial reward at the end but it is enough for him to survive on.

Chaturman’s life is a far cry from his previous life in the Birtish Army.  Charturman served in the british army for nine years and 192 days and then, like so many, he was made redundant.  Chaturman served in Malaya and Borneo.  He thought he had a job for life when he signed up and was devastated when he was told he was being made redundant.  He received a parting ex gratia payment of a few hundred pounds: enough to buy some livestock. 

Because Chaturman served in the British Army for less than ten years he receives no pension at all.  He has asked the charity the Gurkha Welfare Trust for a charitable pension of £26.03 a month, his living conditions are unarguably impoverished, but he was told he needs to be 65 for that assistance.   

Chaturman is one of many made redundant in the 60’s and 70s.  They gave their all, their peak working years to take part in and win campaigns for the British Government : they were too easily dispensed with when their services were no longer required.  Chaturman feels;  he, his service and contribution has been forgotten by the country he served.