| Sajha.com Archives | |
| Username | Post |
| shirish | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 09:45 AM
An idea(?) popped out in my head last night that would basically involve the younger generation of Nepalese (especially the Nepali teenagers or younger). Why? ·to introduce the younger Nepalese, the needs of the country of their origination and to design a viable and feasible program to help the young Nepalese in Nepal. ·to coalesce and develop a sense of need to do something for Nepalese children regardless of the magnitude. .Possibly develop skills to work for an organization at the very young age (may be something to write in their resume) How? 1. Get the young Nepalese (who are growing up or grown up) in the US to form a group and let it be their project. 2. Design a program by choosing a school or even orphanages in Nepal and help the children there by buying them books, copies, pencils etc or even pay for their tuitions (they dont cost much). Recycling ten sodas can can fetch 70 Rupees. 3. Collection of fund can be done in various ways: for example: collect the soda cans and beer bottles, bake sales, print T-shirts, crafts sale or even print postcards, birthday cards etc and collect the pennies. (these are just my initial thoughts) Organizations like GBNC can take initial initiative to catalyze and to inform the parents of young Nepalese and spread the words to form a group and help them organize. I do not mind volunteering for the set up and continue supervising (if the program takes some shape). What do you think? give me feed backs and some valuable and viable suggestions. |
| Casey00 | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 10:06 AM
Great idea Shirish!! I mean even a dollar from a person or anything like that can really help lot of kids in Nepal..I am totally up for it.. Everybody should contribute to some sort..and to all those big talkers in SAJHA...its time to show what u got.. |
| shirish | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 10:30 AM
Thanks casey00 for your kind words. Instead of relying to the politicians and thier policies, I wish I could be instumental in helping out the kids (like the one on the picture). Help me! |
| maaya | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 11:04 AM
Shirish, I have come across a website of an NGO started out by Nepali students in Boston (MIT?) for raising funds for children's education in Nepal. I cannot remember what it was called. Does anyone know??? This is definitely a great idea. I do think about doing something for those little kids like that of the picture in Sajha.com, or the numerous ones I will see in the streets of Ktm when I go there this summer. There are already few organizations out there like CWIN and Maiti Nepal that do help out the kids. THere are many more but I am hesitant about them regarding where the money goes. I know some people who have freely taken the aid money to their own bank accounts and built houses after that while the children quit school and start working in somebody's houses. The Sajha members in Nepal can be the ones who can look after where and how funds are spent in Nepal while the members in US and other places can start collecting some money. T-shirt idea is great. Maaya |
| Aryan | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 11:41 AM
Shirish, why don't you start working on forming and organization and start communicating to Nepalese association around US. Let me know if I could be the part of it for the cause of our unfortunate Nepalese Children. |
| Pinky | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 11:43 AM
Yes, my heart goes out to these kids. I am ready to give $100 and volunteer my time to sell T-shirt/cookies to my coworkers and neighbours, lets do something about it. Its so painful to look at these pictures. Remember sombody posted the picture with little boy infront of fire of burning tire with dog beside him. Its so heart wrenching. |
| oys_chill | Posted
on 19-Apr-04 01:56 PM
Sirish dai, great ideas. Count me in! However I have some queries. 1. Is this going to be our personal effort or are we contributing to some agency already committed in street children. There are myriads of them. 2. While everyone can and would like to contribute, I have found from my seniors that its not the money , but having to send money somewhere becomes a hassle. 3. Who is going to make sure this money we collect is going to be implemented for a noble cause? They are just my personal experiences with fund raising scenarios. I did work for sometime with a Leo club near my hometown, and indeed what we realized was even with 10/15 Rupees we contributed from our pockets made ample difference. And I agree with you completely. Instead of blaming and arguing about what needs to be done and who needs to go in, its much more reasonable to get involved in projects like this. I hope the idea doesn't fizzle out like it has done in the past. |
| armando | Posted
on 20-Apr-04 09:34 AM
There is already one such organization - Educate the Children (ETC) in Ithaca, NY. ETC began in 1990 as a child sponsorship program for the placement of street children, orphans and other homeless or very poor children in boarding schools in Kathmandu. It was soon recognized that the organization could be much more effective by using its limited funds to work with communities, rather than only individuals. Although ETC has grown considerably since its days it is still a small, close-knit organization. Today there are three staff members based in the U.S. and twenty based in Nepal. The Nepal office is Nepali-run and staffed entirely by Nepalis. A 1998 external evaluation by New Era, a highly respected Nepali organization, called ETC "one of the most effective international non-governmental organizations in Nepal," and found that "ETC has earned tremendous trust and confidence of the people in the project area. They know that ETC does not promise big 'developments' but works in partnership with them in small things which help improve their lives and which they themselves can manage." In 1999, ETC was given a Margaret Mead Centennial Award for "demonstrating effective action and community creativity." Go to< target=_blank>http://www.etc-nepal.org/> for donations or for more information. |
| dyamn | Posted
on 20-Apr-04 09:47 AM
great ideas guys, i would certainly pitch into something like this. I think we should be concentrating to the needy ones first. how about the street children sleeping inthe streets of kathmandu. It tears my heart to see thier pics and see them sleeping on the cold wet roads. Let's help them first , cuz basic things like food and shelter counts more than education i think. You need to survive before you can open books. Let's do something for these kids. It doesn't have to be a big thing, how about we do it from sajha.com. here's my plan: we ask for volunteer sajalites to stand for sajha election, we chose one of the saja lites , we create an accout and montly or bi weekly put money into that account, we transfer that money to the person in Nepal and let him do something for the children. It would be nice to involve NGOs or already established agencies but people are less likely to trust them. How about we start out something simple and something that we can do on our own?? my two cents.. |
| Hellbound | Posted
on 20-Apr-04 10:07 AM
Sirish, Great idea. It’s very nice of you to bring our attention to this forum to help poor kids in Nepal. I saw that featured picture and thought why no one had yet picked the topics. One thing I’ve always noticed in Sajha that people care less when poor street kids – who are deprived from a typical society--are featured. I am ready for contribution:-) Let's see how this thread develops, and what decision we will reach to. |
| Peter Smith | Posted
on 20-Apr-04 01:06 PM
I know of one Boston based organization started by some nepalese students. The org website is www.nepalchildren.org I think its a great start!!!! |
| Katmandude | Posted
on 20-Apr-04 01:22 PM
Who are these two kids? Can we do something at least for these 2 kids right away? We can make bigger plans later. Would the photographer be able to track them down and with our donations find them a decent shelter? Can we ask the photographer to go back and maybe track them? I hope this does not become a "biraloko ghantima kasle ghanti jhundaune katha". k'dude |
| Spurs_fan | Posted
on 20-Apr-04 01:49 PM
I am interested in contributing whatever way I can for the betterment of kids living in poverty. Definitely something to be taken care of!!! |