Open Discussion Forum
Back to History

Hello everyone,

At the iATN Fall convention I read a copy of a letter I
received from an iATN member located in NEPAL. Several
people contacted me for his address/contact information.

Here it is:


For those of you who missed it here is a copy of the
letter. In Plano I only read parts of this letter but I
will include the complete email here. Enjoy.

_____________________________________________

Dear Mr. Brent Black,

This is a question I have been wanting to ask you for a
very long time but somehow did not have the heart to.

My name is Irwin Bikram Chaudri and I have been an iATN
member for a little more than 2 years. Being from such a
remote part of the world,in the automotive context, I
really appreciate everything the network is doing for
technicians and would do anything I could too to support
such a cause. This is also a network where we technicians
feel at home.

Here in Kathmandu [the capital of Nepal], we technicians do
not have access to any technical information [vehicle
specific or otherwise]. The most sophisticated piece of
test equipment we use here in Nepal is a digital
multimeter. You can imagine where we stand.

The way we repair cars is very primitive compared to the
way it is done in the US and other developed countries.
Especially where diagnosis is concerned.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly because
technicians here do not get any sort of formal training.
Since most of the technicians fall into the low income
bracket they cannot afford to go for formal training even
if they have the desire to do so. Secondly there are no
proper technical training institutes here in Nepal so
anyone who wants to train has to go to India in order to do
so [India is our neighbouring country]. Most of the
technicians are not literate either. Being an automobile
technician is kind of looked down upon. It is not a very
good social status to be in especially because of the way
the common people think here.

When I accidentally ran into the iATN around 2 years ago, I
could not believe that such a network exsisted and that
there was a place where there were so many things
unimaginable to the common technician from this part of the
world. Sharing of thoughts, sharing of information, respect
for people in the profession, people open and willing to
listen to ideas, people willing to give other people time
and to listen to them; basically a very organised and
efficient network.

Over the last 2 years I have managed to learn a great deal
from the network and from many fellow members who have been
very kind, patient and given a lot of their time whenever
there has been a problem. I have always wanted to become a
sponsoring member of the network but have not been able to
because of certain reasons which I would like to bring
forth to you.

For us technicians from this part of the world it works out
extremely expensive to pay the US dollar amount for
becoming a sponsoring member. The labor hour earnings a
repair facility are so low that we can never think of
becoming sponsoring members. For example: A full engine
tune-up for a Toyota Corolla including valve [tappet]
adjustment, carbureter overhauling, ignition timing and RPM
adjustment works out to NRs. 225.00 [1US Dollar = NRs.
68.25]. Which means a full tune-up works out to US$ 3.30
out of which salaries, overheads and taxes all have to be
worked out.

Secondly even when we have to put up a post to the network,
it is extremely expensive for us cause we have to pay NRs.
4.00 per minute to our Internet service provider and an
additional NRs 3.00 per every 3 minutes to the
telecommunications company. Eventually we have to bill the
client for all this for which he is not willing to pay.

There is no concept known as diagnostic time here in Nepal.
Which means that if a tune-up due to some driveability
problem takes two days worth of work, we still have to bill
the customer the fixed amount charged for a normal tune-up.

Importing test equipment from abroad does not work out
because we would never be able to break-even even if we
somehow managed to get the equipment.

There are a couple of members who are in the thought of
helping us with some used second hand equipment which is
outdated in the US. If that worked out, that too would be
big help.

Kathmandu is also one of the most polluted [air-pollution]
cities in the world. Technicians and repair facilities are
not aware of the long term impacts of air pollution.
Neither are they doing anything to change anything. Our
repair facility is the first facility which is doing things
to change the face of automotive air pollution here in
Kathmandu. We have over the years done one of the largest
number of emission related repairs in the country [in the
private sector]. It is people like us who have to start
making a change regarding issues like this.

Mr. Black, to solve tough driveability problems without
access to any technical information is like hunting in the
dark without a light. If the iATN would open their doors to
us in order to bring about change to the declining
environment of this once beautiful and clean city,
technicians and citizens would really appreciate it.

Our repair facility gives away part of its earnings to
support a cause. For children with respiratory disorders
due to automotive emissions. We have for the time being
been given access to a Horiba Two-Gas Analyzer by a
generous ageing technician who got it as a donation by some
Japanese people who had visited Nepal and seen the emission
situation here.

I always wanted to ask you but did not have the heart to
whether sponsoring membership charges could be waived in my
case. It would be big help from the iATN to all the
innocent citizens of Kathmandu, Nepal who suffer because of
automotive emissions. Even if we start fixing a couple of
hundred vehicles in order to make them run clean, we will
be doing the comunity a whole lot of good and at least it
will be the beginnig of something positive.

The government here is basically not going to do much
regarding issues like this.

I am also attaching a copy of my resume so that you can go
through it, if that is going to be of any help.

Lastly, I am sorry for making this such a long email and
taking up so much of your time Mr. Black. I hope you will
at least look into this issue in depth. Hope to hear from
you soon.

Regards, Irwin