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

Nikesh Gautam is going to school now.

A good example, of how relative small means can bring about big changes!

Already a year ago, I was approached by a girl, who told me that her neighbour recently had given birth to a baby girl. The women was extremely poor and was living in a little shed with three others. The women was in need for aftercare and the girl had taken the task upon her to provide this. Her question was however, i fit was possible for me to provide education to the oldest child of 7.

I went along with the girl that day to visit this women and found her in heartbraking conditions. The baby was four days old and the mother had managed the delivery without any form of profesional help, only her husband had been present.
Their 'house' is about as wide as two average front doors (160 cm), 1 meter long and two meters high. This is the place, in which the mother recently gave birth, and where the four of them living, sleeping and even cooking now. Obvious, there is no toilet or running water in the house.

Stepping in to this sorrow, it was hard for me to hold back my tears (moreover, since the last thing they need is to be pitied by me). Mother was having her hands full with taking care of the kids, father was without a job, and the oldest boy would love to go to school but there was no money for this.
A week earlier, I had contact with a girl from Finland, Aija, who told me that she would love to finance some sort of support but she didn't know who to trust and was affraid her hard earned money would be spend in wrong ways, whih sadly happens quite often in Nepal. Unfortunately, there are enough people walking around here that know exactely how to dish up a sad story (like this one), in order to make people pull out their wallet.

I took Aija along to visit this family, after having spend a little while inside she had to put on her sunglasses and take a walk. When she came back she was still shaken, asking how this was possible and what we could do about it.
She's right, how is this possible? Situations like this should not be allowed to exist! But unfortunately they do in Nepal, and in large numbers too. Actions speak louder than words, and this called for action. I went out and found a school for the boy, where he could start early, stay over for tiffin, and stayed after school for tution, accordingly to Aija's wish that the boy would receive good food and education.
The boy, Nikesh Gautam, was allowed to come into the school at six every morning, however, he was so keen on the whole thing that he even showed up in his new uniform an hour early everyday!

Concerning the mother, it were the medical issues that seemed most urgent. So we got her into a cab, and drove down to the free clinic that is run by the Woman Foundation. Here, she received the nessecary after care for a woman that just gave birth and the baby got a medical check up. Both are in good health at the moment.

Three down, one to go.
The father was not only without a job but also without hope, what to do in Kathmando?
We sat down with him and discussed his situation, after a while he came with a possible sollution by suggesting to start a mobile shop. This means a bamboo basket with a large variety of snacks, sigarets, dried Yak cheese, hair ornaments, soap, and other little gadgets. This basket is easy to transport on your back to the place where people are gathering, usually around busstops. That sounded like a plan, we provided him the money and he went out and gathered everything he needed to start his bisuness. From that time he was already early in the morning to be found around the local bus station, near to their little shed in Chabahil.

I went by to see how he was doing after a while, and he told me that the sales were ok, only often people would ask him if he could make tea and he had to tell them no because didn't have the right equipment, nor the money to buy this. This sounded like a good reason to give the man a little extra money, of which he bought portable petrol stove, 20 teacups, a pan and a larger bamboo rack.

A little later, I took Aija along to do a follow up. His had been starting to come along, and both of them were selling tea and boiled eggs by the road, next to the original business of snacks, gadgets and sigarets (which you sell per piece in Nepal, lighting service included).

The school and extra tution paid of for Nikesh, he is top of his class at the moment and conquered the hearts of the teachers with his enthousiasm. The baby is growing like cabbage, and the parents made a little profit, which enabled them to move to a different place that is six times as big as their old shed, with two divided spaces, a shared toilet and water pump.

This family is far from being rich, but their son is getting a descent education, which increases the chance that he can take care of them when they are old, their domestic situation improved significantly, they're in good health and have a way to provide themselve an income. Last but not least, they're happy with their family!

For us this is proving that small scale personal support can lead to big results for a child and his family. What more can you ask for!

In this case of Nikesh and his family, we like to give special thanks to Aija, who made it all financially possible.

For more information about education and study support for the children of Nepal check the topic scollarships on our webside.

With warm regards from Kathmandu,
René Veldt, SV the Netherlands, actions speak louder than words!