This is a documentary photo series of 13 images that captures the subtle texture of life and the enormous diversity, all within the overall theme of "Children in Nepal". As you can see from the series, children live under a wide range of conditions in Nepal. The series is available as posters, a slideshow and as separate digital photos.

Young porter
Boy carrying goods in the hill region of Nepal. The lack of propper road infrastructure makes it necessary for many families to carry everything they need from outside over large distances and it hampers further economic development.

Legal action
Nepalese school children block the road with burning tires. Sparked by a recent traffic accident in which one of their friends were injured by a bus, they decided to block the road for a day, demanding compensation from the bus driver. Nepal's judiciary system is plagued by corruption and inefficiency, so conflicts are often settled in a more direct manner.

Religion prevails
Young Buddhist monks awaiting the arrival of a High-lama (priest). Religion plays a big part in the lives of many Nepalese, old as well as young.

Growing up
Girl in mountain village. Growing up in Nepal’s mountainous region can be like growing up in a bygone era, without modern facilities like electricity and modern health care, cut off from the rest of the world. Economic disparity between developed and undeveloped regions is extremely high. One survey put poverty level in the capital Kathmandu at 3 %, while it is over 40% in the far eastern and western regions.

Better off in Kathmandu
9 year old Subic in his school uniform. As the oldest son, it is his duty to support and take care of his parents when they become old.

Learning to climb
3 girls playing in an unfinished school building in Nepal’s southern plains, the Terai. Each year during the monsoon, their land and villages are flooded and they have to take refuge on top of buildings and in tall trees. Hundreds of people die and hundreds of thousands of people are affected annually.

Note: This photo is not staged. I was together with a Swedish journalist in the village and when she started asking about the flooding, these girls just climbed up in the window!

Being ethnic
Portrait of a girl from the Tamang ethnic community standing in front of a political poster. Nepal is a multi-ethnic society with nearly a hundred different ethnic and language groups. Politics have been dominated by upper-caste Hindus, but with recent political changes there is now increased hope for a larger inclusion.

Education
Children from the Nepalese middle class attend school. Education has improved rapidly through the last few decades in Nepal. Coming from nearly zero literacy, today’s literacy rate is about 50%. A significant improvement, but still a lot to improve on.

Sisters
Older sister taking care of younger sister. Many children have to help out at home and in the fields and have no time to attend school. They are labouring in stead of learning.

Football
Early morning training in a Nepalese football club, backdroped by the Annapurna Himalayan mountain range. Football is a popular sport in Nepal, but it can sometimes be difficult to find a place large and flat enough to build a proper football field.

Living under a bridge
12 year old Raivi has been living on the streets for 3 years. He earns money as a rag-picker, going through other peoples garbage and selling whatever scraps of glass, metal and plastic he can find to recycling factories.

Passing the chariot
Boy passing the huge wheels of the Machhendranath chariot. Nepal has a wealth of annual festivals based on Hindu, Buddhist, Animistic and Shamanistic beliefs.

The Kumari
The Patan Kumari. Held to be a living Goddess, some girl children are taken away from their maternal homes and kept, pampered, inside temples throughout their childhood. Once they enter puberty, they loose their divinity and are sent back to live their life in the normal society.