Province News

Fr. Gene Watrin, SJ, interviewed in Kathmandu Post
Monday, September 30, 2002

Gene Watrin, SJ, spoke to a group of Jesuit family and friends at a recent mission luncheon in Cincinnati
Jesuit Educator says his students are ‘Christians at Heart’
Interview: American Missioner in Nepal
Originally printed in Kathmandu Post

Kathmandu (UCAN) – An American missioner who pioneered educational programs and social work in Nepal says his Hindu students are “Christians at heart.”
Jesuit father Eugene Watrin, 81, who has spent more that 50 years working for educational development in Nepal, founded the Jesuit-run St. Xavier’s College, the only Catholic College in the country. He has also served as moderator of the Godavari Alumni Association (GAA) since 1969.
The oldest American Jesuit in Nepal spoke to UCA News about his work. He also shared his views on the present Maoist insurgency and his closeness with the royal family.

UCA NEWS: How do you feel about living in a Hindu country all these years?
FATHER EUGENE WATRIN: In all these years I have never faced any opposition in living my life as a Christian in Nepal.
I look at my students, like those who have opened daily food programs for poor children and even orthopedic hospitals, as “Christians at heart.” Every religion has programs aimed at poor people. We see them being supported or fed near temples, mosques and stupas daily.
As for false allegations that the Church has converted some people by giving them money, it is clear that even if there were such converts, they would not stay on as Christians for long. It is important to make good people rather than to make bad Christians. I hope all understand that this is forbidden even in our Church canon law — to baptize the insincere.

What has been your main work during the more than 60 years of Jesuit life?
To provide good education. If someone receives a good education, there is no way it can be taken away from that person. After that, getting jobs is of secondary importance. Even if somebody only receives good education up to the primary level, that person may be able to educate himself or herself from that point on.

What does the Godavari Alumni Association do?
We have a mobile clinic that distributes medicines to hundreds of poor villagers daily. The association also conducts adult literacy and income generation programs. The village women we work with have formed cooperatives and have opened shops in four areas to sell what they make through acquired weaving and knitting skills. We also have micro-credit schemes.
Our volunteers go to [Kathmandu’s] Kanti children’s hospital [the only children’s hospital in Nepal] 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have a small hostel with a kitchen there for parents who come from far away. We also have volunteers at the Nepal maternity hospital [the biggest such hospital in Nepal] to help women, like unmarried carpet factory workers, who are afraid to go home.
We also help sponsor 227 village children in 10 different village schools. The school we started in Baniyatar [northern Kathmandu] now has over 400 children. The children of the new Catholic Tamang [tribals] study there. We also run tutorial classes for older students. We incorporate the St. Xavier’s campus alumni in all GAA’s social work and do our own fund-raising.

What about the Maoist movement?
Most of the Maoists come from poor uneducated families, who may not even have enough to eat. This year, some 100,000 students who sat for their school leaving exams in April are going to fail. Many like them come to towns from their villages and see fancy cars, big houses and dance-restaurants. They realize that corruption is fueling this, and that they are never going to get “there” in the existing system.
The Maoists must also be paying the youth to join their movement. So the youth feel important as they are asked to fight and bring about equality among the many poor and the minority rich. So it may take some time for Maoists to realize that only peaceful dialogue with the government is going to work. I hope they realize soon that going on a rampage and destroying bridges or killing people is not going to solve anything.

The list of your former students reads like a who’s who in Nepal.
Yes, I recall them as small boys — Prajwalla Rana, the current commander in chief of the Nepal Army, the Dixit brothers [Kanak Mani and Kunda] who run Himal Publications, Chiran Thapa, who was a close advisor to the late King Birendra and still works prominently at the royal palace, the first and current chief editor of the national daily, Rising Nepal, Samrat Upadhyay who is now popular in the United States with his international bestseller Arresting God in Kathmandu.
Most of our graduates are professionals like engineers and doctors — maybe that is why we have not produced politicians. Our graduates are working all over the world. We can say that there are as many of our graduates in the United States as there are in Nepal. But those who have come back from the United States are serving Nepal well, for example, by building big hospitals for the handicapped.

Are you close to the royal family?
The late Queen Aishwarya [Devi Shah] inaugurated the Godavari Alumni Association building hall in 1983 and King Birendra inaugurated the St. Xavier’s campus building in 1993. When Birendra was crown prince he used to come visit his relatives studying in Gadavari and also attended functions there. Birendra’s father, King Mahendra and now the Queen mother Ratna made an unannounced visit to Godavari with children in 1958 when I was principal. Later, as king, Birendra too made unannounced visits, in addition to presiding over functions.
Many of our graduates are working and have worked with the royal family. One of our graduates who helped acquire this land upon which we built this alumni building was Birendra’s cousin. Many members of the royal family were educated in Catholic schools in India and Nepal. When the present King Gyanendra was studying in our Jesuit school in Darjeeling, Monsignor Anthony Sharma, apostolic prefect of Nepal, was both his principal and rector.
The shootout at the palace that killed Birendra, his wife and children last June came as a total shock. That date will always be a sad day in Nepal. Hopefully the unique second coronation of King Gyanendra to be held later this year will be joyful.