During the Dashain and Tihar holidays in Nepal, our fellows were all involved in service projects in their own villages and communities. Their projects ranged from collecting funds and materials to distribute blankets to needy community members in preparation for the harsh winter to cleaning the community water sources. Precisely because our fellows come from disadvantaged and marginalized communities, they have a deep sense of giving for others, as evidenced by their projects below. We see these as small but important steps towards supporting our fellows become conscious, public-minded citizens.
Asmita Kumari Mandal: Blanket Distribution
Asmita comes from Bagchaura, Janakpur in the Terai region, which is heavily affected by the cold wave during the winter. It becomes one of the leading causes of death, and the most vulnerable and poor people are the prime victims. Asmita and her friends from school decided to stand against this fate. She helped raise funds to buy over 100 warm blankets. 100 old needy women from her community were handed the blankets in November, right before she came back to Kathmandu to resume her college.
Amir Khokhali – Project: Cleaning Drinking water spring
Amir, from Nawalpur Tallo Bazaar, Sindhupalchok, lives in a community with about 12 houses making a population of just about 100 people. All people in his community relied on a nearby natural spring for clean drinking water. Sometime back a reservoir was built to collect the clean drinking water but recently it was very dirty and the presence of earthworms became a red flag against the safety of the people. Amir and his small team of four decided to clean the source and the reservoir. It took them around 3 hours, a lot of enthusiasm, team work and motivation from each other to clean it. Now, the clean water serves all houses in his community.
Manisha Thapa Magar: Protecting Water Resources
Around 6 km south from Kathmandu lies a village, Lamatar, birthplace of our fellow Manisha. This village is rapidly being converted into a city. Construction work is one of the leading reasons why the clean streams of fresh water is being polluted every day. With the support from her Youth Club, Manisha was able to run a community work project to build protection around the water streams used for irrigation. It was all possible due to division of work, mutual understanding and team work, according to Manisha, which helped them to clean the stream and raise awareness within the community.
Sharmila Tamang: Self Management Week.
Sharmila was at home doing her assignments when she saw her younger brother in grade 8 was not taking care of his books and stationery. He used to throw it anywhere in the room and even the uniforms were not being card for. To her surprise, other 6 -7 young boys and girls from her community did the same. She was worried of their behavior. Having had an experience of working as an instructor in an After School program, Sharmila immediately arranged a week long project to bring awareness and facilitate change in them. She managed to do home visit, talk to their parents and convince them about the importance of self- management, care, and discipline. By the end of the week, all 6-7 young ones improved their presence.
Sagar Shrestha: Community Cleanliness
In Nayagaun, Sangachowk, Sindhupalchowk, when everyone was busy celebrating various festivals, Sagar and his friends noticed that the neighborhood was slowly getting wrapped in garbage and waste. This seemed to be an aching problem for them and the decided to clean their community. They came up with a team from their child club, inspired community members, and within a day they were able to clean the whole community. Later on reflection, he said that not only humans but also animals like street dogs benefited, as they will not be chewing on plastics and rubbish anymore.
Suraj Parajuli: A communal Festive Program
Suraj and his team organized a day long community entertainment program especially targeted to old people and small kids. It became a magnificent day as the event included cultural program, drama, dance off, quiz and other entertaining acts. The presence of the locally elected representatives made the day even bigger. It was a formal day long program, where more than 200 people came and, with the help of community members, the program was a big success.