2018 Award Finalist: Prasiit Sthapit, Young Portfolio - Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA)

Art installation looking modified umbrellas on a farm in the evening. During summer, the heat is intense at daytime with temperatures going up to 30 degree Celsius or more. People use umbrellas as shades to work in the farms.

Last known address (of the place Pushpa worked in) that could be linked to Pushpa before his disappearance. Seksyen 15, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

Name: Pushpa Bahadur Thapa (Roshan)Address: Prakashpur, SunsariDestination country: MalaysiaAbroad for:11 yearsOut of contact for:8 yearsLast known information: Pushpa Bahadur had told his wife over the pone that he was going to be coming home and had asked her to receive him in Kathmandu in a month’s time. He, however, fell out of touch after that. It was later found that he had been working in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam, Selangor, an area generally deemed unsafe. According to friends who had searched for him, his employer had told them that his room was open and all of his belongings gone. Rumors abound about what happened to him—some say he was hit by a train, others even conjecture that he was murdered—but little proof exists as to the veracity of any of these claims.

Name: Sunita ShresthaAddress: Inaruwa, SunsariDestination country: Saudi ArabiaAbroad for:8 yearsOut of contact for:8 yearsLast known information: Sunita had rung home a month after she left and told her husband that she would be back in a year. She had travelled to Saudi Arabia illegally through India as women were not given employment permits at the time. Other women who had left with her have since returned home, but her whereabouts are entirely unknown.

Name: Shrawan Kumar ChaudharyAddress: Ekamba, Itahari, SunsariDesti¬¬nation Country: MalaysiaAbroad for:8 yearsOut of contact for:2 yearsLast known information: A friend from the same village who had comewho had come back to Nepal, informed the family that they had been jailed together inImmigration Detention Centre, Kuala Lumpur International Airport,Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia and he might still be there.

Name: Manoj MaharaAddress: Bharampura, MahottariDestination Country: Saudi ArabiaAbroad for: 7 yearsMissing for: 5 yearsLast known information: Manoj quit his job in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which made him illegal in the country and was jailed for a while. Upon release, he visited a friend in the city and he was out of contact ever since he left the place.

2018 Young Portfolio Award Finalist

Prasiit Sthapit, Change of Course / The Calls have now Stopped

Change of Course

Due to the river changing course, the border village of Susta, originally in Nepal, is now hemmed in on three sides by India and on the other by the mighty Narayani River. It has seen its share of turmoil for the past four decades; from border disputes to constant erosion.

After decades of isolation and years of struggle, a new bridge is finally coming. It’s a sign of changing times in Susta. It will no doubt help bridge Susta with mainland Nepal physically; it will also act as a metaphorical bridge between the hopes of the people and the state. Another good sign. I, however, am inclined to be a little more skeptical: hope can be powerful, even necessary, but if there’s anything Susta’s history has shown us, it’s that hope is best leavened by caution.

The Calls have now Stopped

Pushpa has been missing in Malaysia for the past 9 years. He left for Malaysia on December 12th, 2005, six months after his marriage to Goma. For three years, he called and assured her that he’d be back soon and suddenly one day, it stopped ringing. She has been trying his number since then, but it never goes through. His friends tell her that he is dead but she refuses to believe.
“I’m here because of hope. If he’s still alive he will come back. I haven’t even remarried. What else can I do? ”

Pushpa is among the 2.2 million Nepalis working abroad especially in Malaysia and the Middle East. Nepali Times estimates that three to four migrant workers return home in a coffin every day. While many more are never heard of again. According to the Pravasi Nepali Co-ordination Committee (PNCC), an organization of returnee migrant workers dedicated to protecting and promoting migrant workers’ rights, 122 missing cases were filed with them from 2013–2016. However, PNCC reiterates that most of the cases never even reach them.

The Calls have now Stopped is a story about the people who go missing and the families left behind in limbo.

Biography

Prasiit Sthapit [b. 1988] is a visual storyteller based in Kathmandu. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Magnum Emergency Fund Grant and was selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. He is currently associated Fuzz Factory Productions, a multimedia collective based in Kathmandu, photo.circle, a platform for photography in Nepal and Photo Kathmandu, international photo festival in Kathmandu.

Website: www.prasiitsthapit.com.np

Finalist Gallery with Captions