Stichting Veldwerk at Nepal

Secretariaat: Stichting Veldwerk Postbus 163 1850 AD Heiloo The Netherlands

Tel:+31 (0)72-5339585 veldwerk@gmail.com IBAN nr. NL51ABNA0543703266 Attn. Stichting Veldwerk, p/a Egmond binnen Bank: ABN-Amro 543703266

New children in our Children's home Hamro Gaun

Lately, the children's home has experienced some shifting in the children that were living there. Two of the oldest boys, Dinanath and Sundar are in their final school year, class 10. This means they are going to graduate (hopefully) in April, comparable to the secondary school exams in Europe. This also means that they are moving out, so that they can continue their study elsewhere. In the mean time, they have to start working on the side, starting to support themselves, like any other teenager. This is the reason that we placed the boys already some time ago in a “Midway-house” in the centre of Kathmandu, close to their school.
During the weekends, they still stay at the children's home, but the rest of the week they have their own place. By doing this, the boys learn what it is to live independent, managing their household. On top of that, the learn how to plan and make appointments, and how to deal with a limited budget. In our opinion, this moving out process is a good in between phase for the boys to prepare for their 'grown up' life. This does not mean that all strings will be cut after they finish their education, the door will always remain open for them, like it would be in any normal family where the children are moving out. They will always be welcome to visit the Hamro Gaun home, or to ask for advice or support, in case of difficulties.

Two of the other Boys, Manoj and Lal, were not in their element in the normal education system and decided to quit school last year. After sitting down with them and looking at their possibilities, it was decided that they could apply for the Jyoti vocational training programme in Pokhara. This project started 6 years ago, partly financed by SVN. Here, students with an irregular background can graduate in three years and receive a professional certificate. Manoj is going to specialise himself in computers and Lal wants to become an electrician. The boys left on the 25th of July and are now living in the boys' hostel, which is attached to the project. And here we are again; the circle is complete with the two projects connecting.

In the mean time, one of our boys, Madan Adhikari, passed away unexpected and too early, see his story on the website.see his story on the website. All of these events left open places in the children's home. Our implementing partner BKN, has been visiting children on the waiting list and selected the most urgent cases, here are their stories:


Amrita Rokaya
Amrita Rokaya is a 10 year old orphan. She was born in the west of Nepal, the Karnali zone, close to the Bardya national park. This beautiful area was flooded on several places during the Monsoon season this year, claiming quite some casualties.


Both the parents and grandparents of Amrita died, a cousin is all she has remaining as family. Because this man was not able to take care of her, Amrita could not go to school. When the cousin heard of our children's home, he came to meet us. After having looked at their situation, we decided to submit the girl in Hamro Gaun.
Amrita had seen nothing else than the rural village where she was from. Coming to the big city was a scary experience for her because of this. However, since the home is positioned in a peaceful green area, outside Kathmandu, it did not take long for her to settle in. The other children did everything they could to welcome her as a new member of the family, and she seems to be getting used quickly to the life in the children's home.

Now, Amrita is admitted on our new day care centre, where she is getting an intensified lesson package, since she is about ten years behind on the level of children of her same age. We aim to bring her back to the level she would have had if she had been to school from an earlier age in about two years. After this, she can join the other children in the regular school in the village, nearby the children's home. Considering the dark past she had, it seems that her future has brightened up.

Dundup Sherpa
Dhundup Sherpa is, as his last names reveals, coming from the area around the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. 4 years ago, Dhundup's father past away, after which his mother remarried. When his mother moved in with her new husband, she left the boy with his aunt. After one year, his aunt could not afford anymore to put to boy to school, and contacted us. We decided to take him in and agreed he was going to visit the aunt on the holidays, so the contact would not be broken off.
At the moment, Dhundup is going to school together with the other children of the children's home. He is a cheerful boy, who walks around with a broad smile on his face and told us that he wants to change his name into Passang.
So, we would like to welcome Passang in Hamro Gaun, hoping that this restart will be a happy period of his life.

Karuna Karki
Karuna is the youngest of the new children, she is only two years old. In fact, we don't know that much about her background, all we heard is that her mother is from one of the remote areas (Okhuldunga) and is now working somewhere in Kathmandu as a maid.
At a certain moment, the mother told her boss she had to go back to her village for a week because of family business. The week became little over a year, and the house owner in despair asked the Social Welfare Council to help her. They contacted us, and this is how the little girls got a new home in Sankhu. At the moment, she is attending the day care centre program, it turns out she is very bright for the two year old she is. We hope to found out one day whatever happened to the mother and if there is a possibility for her to she her daughter again. But until then, she slowly gets used to live in Hamro Gaun.

Dipendra Dangal
Dipendra is a bright little fellow, just five years old. He was born in Kathmandu and his father died when he was only two years young. His mother was without income and retarded. She was in no condition to support her child and was looking for a place for the boy to stay. At the moment, little Dipendra is attending the day care centre program, together with the other children and we are trying to see if we can support the mother in a sustainable way.

So 4 new children admitted in a safe place. But many more, still roaming the streets of Kathmandu, and other cities of Nepal. For homeless children, little beggars, glue sniffers, and under aged prostitutes, immediate and permanent shelter is the first priority!
In the end of July, it was published that in the first 6 months of 2007, more than 1600 children had been reported as missing, only half of them was traced with the help of organizations and the police. The majority of the children that remains missing is in the age between 11 and 13. They are most likely to end up in Indian brothels. Cities like Bombay and New Dehli are known to contain a lot of illegal whorehouses where Nepalese children are forced to perform these inhumane activities.

Although we want to create a situation in the children's homes that is as close as you can get to a normal family, we do consider them a temporary solution to the problem. This is why we always first check whether there is another type of support possible that will enable the child to stay at home, for example by attending our day-care centres.
When a child does enter the house we try to make sure it gets not detached with the community it comes from, by arranging regular contact between the child and the remaining parents or guardian. Also, we are developing the concept of social housing. Here, we will support single women to take in 4 to five marginalized children. This type of social housing makes the child grow up in an environment that is more family like, and less institute like than a children's home. On top of that, it enables us to support marginalized women at the same time.

Also, research has shown that at least 32.000 children in Nepal are performing heavy child labour on a daily base, crushing stones along the riversides. Besides the extreme and dangerous working conditions, these children are not able to receive any kind of education. This leaves them with not much choice than to keep doing this for the rest of their lives and probably making their children perform the same type of work.

Together with the Nepalese Ngo Concern-Nepal, SVN has started a pilot project, enabling 300 of these children to attend regular education. These children will be admitted to formal education, and where this is not possible, will receive on-the-spot education. This project is financed by the Mahamaata foundation, the Baalak foundation, and Impulsis.

With all of these developments, we keep trying to create a positive change in the lives of marginalized women and children in Nepal. In order to continue trying this, we still are in need of your support.

Namaste, with respect,
Actions speak louder than words!

René Veldt,
Stichting Veldwerk & Cross Borders Nepal.

Attn. Stichting Veldwerk,
p/a Egmond Binnen
Bank: ABN-Amro 543703266
IBAN nr. NL51ABNA0543703266
BIC code abnanl2a