Ads in the Kathmandu Airport featured the money transfer service "Himal Remit," with an older man on a tractor waving his hand in glee. The check has arrived! The check from my son or daughter who can no longer live here because there are no jobs.
One issue I heard from all quarters in Nepal (from bank execs to taxi drivers) was the brain drain. It's difficult to find a family that has not been affected. Two interviews in a row ended with stories of children in college in Iowa or Massachusetts. Will they return?
As the world shrinks and problems grow, populations are on the move. One-quarter of Nepalis live outside Nepal. I'd like to think this country will remain its lovely, spiritual self. But what is a nation but its people? This is a question every world citizen should ask.