Nepal, June 24 -- The remittance economy in Nepal is both a wonder and a curse. The money that enters the country in the form of remittances is equal to more than one-third of GDP, which is among the highest percentages in the world. It has certainly changed people's lives by bringing them out of poverty, replacing houses made of mud and thatched roofs with concrete ones, paying for the private education of children from families who couldn't afford it before and connecting rural areas with paved roads. But along with all those benefits comes an even darker reality.

The remittance paradox is what you call it: An economic framework that saves families from a monetary crisis but empties them out socially. Money comes in, but belongingness ...