Update on Sushil

I’ve been speaking with Sushil’s family every few days about his situation. So far, to my great surprise and relief, the news has been good.

Jail is not so bad, he says. They’ve given him two meals a day and his own bed, and the other prisoners seem nice. Compared to Nepali jails, and the trials he endured on his journey, it might seem like a hotel. He has received a few hundred dollars through the mail, which has allowed him to keep in contact with his family here.

His court date arrived, by which time his family had managed to find him a sponsor, a Nepali American acquaintance. A sponsor is requisite for Sushil to remain in the country. The judge set his bond at $15,000 (a pretty outrageous sum for bond, and even more so for a Nepali family).

Sushil’s family took out a large loan to raise the money. On February 8, he was released from the detention center in which he was being held.

Now, he’ll look for work. From his experience as a shopkeeper in the village, he knows how to deal with costumers, calculate the cost of goods, make change, and keep accounts. His parents propose that he might find an accounting job; I suggest becoming a cashier as a more pragmatic prospect. But maybe they are right to set their sights so high... it seems that I was wrong to limit their hopes for his release.