| Sajha.com Archives | |
| Username | Post |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 05-Jan-03 02:03 PM
HELP NEPAL Network Appeal HELP NEPAL Network (HeNN), a charity of Nepalese living in different parts of the world, has decided to help construct a school at a village (Simpani Subedi Gaoun) in Lamjung district, a remote area in Nepal. The new school will be a two-storey building consisting of 12 new classrooms, 6 on each floor. The materials will be mostly stone masonry, plaster, and timber (which are cost and labour efficient) with concrete and steel used for structural purposes. The Network is donating £2,000 towards the project. Of the total £7,000 budget, £3,000 is to be received from the Annapurna Conservation Area Trust. The school from its side will contribute as much as it can by mobilising local youths to volunteer the labour and by running its own fund-raising campaign. The successful completion of the work will result in an important secondary school for the area. HELP NEPAL Network, established in late 1999 with a primary aim to encourage Nepalese around the world to contribute to good causes in Nepal, is a registered charity in the UK, the US and Nepal. The registration process is in its final stage in Australia. HeNN is also active in Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Finland, Italy and New Zealand. In three years, HeNN has raised over £20,000 and completed several projects successfully in different parts of Nepal. The details and photographs of the projects can be found in the Network’s website at www.helpnepal.net . All administrative costs are born by HeNN committee members themselves, hence every penny contributed reaches those in need. And all the contributors who provide us with their contact details are kept informed about the Network’s activities through six-monthly progress reports. HeNN appeals for your support to successfully complete its latest undertaking. Every little help helps and our enthusiasm will suffer in absence of your support. Please contact anyone of the following to make a donation: Ameirca: Kiran Thapa (Email: kiranbthapa@yahoo.com; Tel: (001) 631-471-4164 (H) / (001) 646-334-6173 (M)) Australia: Dr Raju Adhikari (Email: r_adhikari@hotmail.com; Tel: (613)95116833) Austria: Himali Upadhya (Email: himali.upadhya@rzb-wien.raiffeisen.at) Belgium: Kumar Gurung (Email: kumargrg@hotmail.com) Belarus: Dr Upendra Mahato (Email: lumbini_by@yahoo.com; Tel: 00375-172-231-322 (H)) Italy: Navin Dhakal (Email: navin@uwcad.it; Tel: (0039) 403-739-252(H) Nepal: Arun Singh Basnet (Email: helpnepal2000@yahoo.com; Tel: 479574/484200) New Zealand: Minakchhi Karki (Email: mka34@student.canterbury.ac.nz ; Tel: (0064) 033-434-616 (H) The UK: Dr Pranab Gyawali(Email: prandoc@hotmail.com ; Tel: 07979-503-506) |
| noname | Posted
on 06-Jan-03 05:57 PM
It's amazing to learn that this thread is viewed only 100 times so far. Looking it other way, it has already been viewed more than 100 times! (In an effort to keep this thread alive!) |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 05:01 AM
And in a further effort to keep this thread alive, I would like to thank all the visitors who have viewed this thread. I strongly believe in "bade, bade jayate tattwo bodha", hence have a very positive view about discussions and debates on any thing under the sun. But sometimes I wonder if many of us spend much time in discussion, rather than in action. No wonder then, 'noname' was amazed by only 100 viewings of this appeal. However, just like him, I like to see it from the other way and feel positive. Rabindra |
| VillageVoice | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 09:14 AM
Good luck to Rabindra, and Kiran Thapa. You guys are doing a great job !!!!! |
| khaja biscuit | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 09:40 AM
Everyone wants to help Nepal. Who does Nepal want to help? |
| najar | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 09:54 AM
I too, join VillageVoice dai in wishing the team a good luck! The effort indeed is very laudable. I had heard about the venture, but was good to know the details. Thanks Rabindra Mishra for posting this. Shall contact the US rep for further information. |
| SITARA | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 11:14 AM
Thank you for the posting. I applaud the team's efforts and positive attitude. Will contact one of the contact persons listed. Thank you! |
| Logical Sense | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 01:55 PM
Best wishes Rabindrajyu. It is very satisfying to me to see that a global coalition has been working. On the side note: I would like to bring attention to people like you and your organization to remove 'help'/'charity' kind of notion by 'partnering'/'friendship' kind of notion. If you are interested please read my LOOOONG column in this site regarding ways to achieve this: 'Can We Make a Difference' http://www.gbnc.org/sajha/html/column.cfm?extraid=54 The point I make is 'help'/'charity' only satisfies donors in the long run, not the recipients. Read on.... -iti |
| TheHeat | Posted
on 07-Jan-03 02:09 PM
Thank you for starting this thread.... |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 08-Jan-03 04:55 AM
Dear Logical Sense, I read your highly impressive column, 'Can We Make a Difference', and would like to request others who have not read it to go through it. I 100% agree with you about the ways you have suggested to 'support' people back home. Especially your idea about each expatriate Nepali sponsoring a child in Nepal is something everyone should ponder on. Regarding the use of words like 'help' and 'charity', I agree with you to an extent but I don't think that should be an issue if the works are being done sincerely and effectively. I would appreciate if you could write to me on rabindramishra@hotmail.com with your real identity. As you have shown in your article, you have many workable ideas on how we can make a difference in Nepal. HELP NEPAL can learn a lot from you in furthering its causes. I would also like to thank all others for their encouraging responses on the appeal. It means a lot to us. Rabindra |
| nirmala | Posted
on 08-Jan-03 01:26 PM
Dear Mr. Mishra, You write as if you are a great philantrophist which might initially sound great but just tell me are you in the country to know the situation? I guess not. Lamjung is at present a very dangerous district to live in and such a construction work would never complete in that district as well as many other districts of Nepal. Therefore I suggest you and members of HeNN to come down and personally inspect the situation of the area , at least stay there for a year and half and then only start your noble works. Nirmala |
| sally | Posted
on 08-Jan-03 02:12 PM
Nirmala, I understand your point, but if people conclude that the situation is too dangerous to do anything constructive, aren't the forces of darkness winning? There's no question that rural development work is deeply hampered these days. Any project that's undertaken will certainly go more slowly than it would have in happier times, and could be dangerous. It's also true that there might come a time when energetic, committed people who are willing to stick their necks out in Lamjung and elsewhere will have to withdraw, as they've had to withdraw from Rolpa and many other places. But let's not decide that the situation is already lost, and that anyone who thinks otherwise is ignorant of the on-the-ground realities. I'd assume there is some reason why the members of this committee have chosen this area in Lamjung, and that they have contacts there to guide them. It is still possible to work in rural areas. Not easy, but possible. I don't know if this group will succeed in its aims or not. But I do know that if we shrug our shoulders and sigh and insist that useful work can never be completed, then we're defeated before we've started. |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 08-Jan-03 04:41 PM
Dear Nirmala Jee, We in HELP NEPAL understand your concern, however, as Sally has pointed out it is "not easy, but (still) possible" to work in rural areas of Nepal. I would like to request you to visit HELP NEPAL's website at www.helpnepal.net to find out how in the last two-and-a-half years we have successfully completed projects in Dolpa, Dang and Pyuthan, which are as remote as Lamjung. So far only one project has been hampered because of the security situation in Nepal, as that involved sending a team of health workers from Kathmandu and we were not in a position to guarantee their safety. Otherwise all the projects, which involved local participation, have been completed in time. This does not mean that success in Lamjung is certain. But we will try our best to make it a success as we have done in the past. We don't want to be "defeated before we've started." However, If we happen to fail, I hope you won't sit there and say, " you used to talk like a great philanthropist, look what has happened now, I told you...!" Anyway, please wish us a luck, I strongly believe in the power of positive thinking. |
| forget-me-not | Posted
on 08-Jan-03 04:47 PM
Rabindra Ji and Help Nepal congratulations for your good work. |
| Logical Sense | Posted
on 09-Jan-03 01:06 PM
Rabindraji, It is an honor to get a positive feedback from you regarding my article 'Can You Make A Difference'. As I read more about your HeNN I can see that you are headed for success because of two important points I make in my article is followed by your organization: a) Local participation and b) Thinking about sustainability. Keep up the good work. Sally and you gave a very good explanation to Nirmala's pertinent question. Though it is difficult to work in remote Maoist infected areas in Nepal, but it is not impossible. My group has also worked successfully in remote villages in co-operation with Maoist activist. Thoough many projects got delayed, but, all most all of them were completed. Rabindraji, I will definitely contact with you in person when time comes. Let us work together. At this moment, biggest challenge for me is to think how to make this 'DESIRE' in all of us keep burning for long term. We should think how to make this desire GO ON A CRUISE CONTROL. Here in Sajha, many threads like this came and gone without much of fruits. One started by Ruck, she even started a MSN group on this, but, it also seems slowed down. Another time Siwalik started another thread (http://www.gbnc.org/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=8423), that also did not seem take much of steam. I do understand, Sajha is not a place for this kind of 'Serious' endeavor, but, I do think Sajha can play a great role in making people like you and me, Siwalik and Ruck, and many others meet and find out about each other and work together OFFLINE. So, salute to Sajha for making it interesting and working for our community to get MATURED!!! -iti |
| sally | Posted
on 09-Jan-03 03:44 PM
Rabindra ji, I've observed something similar. I'm also involved with a rural nonprofit (my husband is there now, working in his district) and, like you, we've found that the one aspect of the project that couldn't get off the ground involved getting people from Kathmandu to come out there. Some were eager to be involved, if we could guarantee their safety (which we couldn't); others were simply fearful and didn't even want to think about it (perhaps for good reason). Yet everything that involved local people has really mushroomed. Interesting. Working in rural Nepal is dangerous these days. So is driving on the Beltway. So is breathing the Kathmandu air. We get accustomed to the risks we know, and fear the ones we don't know. I remember my saasu begging us to live "anywhere but Washington or New York" because she thought people would just shoot us on the street. After 9/11 I was told not to go outside alone, and to come back to Nepal where it was "safe" (!!!) Distance may make the heart grow fonder, but it also magnifies risk. Logical Sense, very logical comments as usual ... I agree! |
| noname | Posted
on 09-Jan-03 06:57 PM
At this hour of need, I (AAFU GARNE KEHI HOINA, GAFAI BADHI) am interested in anything that keeps youths away from war. School is one of them. Some quarter is trying hard to close schools, development activities and likes in order to make youths 'available'. In their frustration and in the lack of anything positive to do, they resort to violence. Activities like construction, schools and others is essentially a way to sublimate the young force. My suggestion would be to involve the locals from the very beginning i.e. conceptualizing stage of the project. I join all to applaud the effort from HELP NEPAL. On another note, is it not the time to make a side-by-side effort to have these programs in a broader spectrum? More so, when known figures like Rabindrajis are involved. |
| Jhilke Kyailan | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 02:43 AM
Rabindraji, You are doing something very noble..keep at it....god five you and others like you the courage and wisdom to continue with what you are doing . |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 05:19 AM
Two things: 1. Many of the responses on the HeNN appeal, seem to imply that 'I' am doing all this. THAT IS NOT THE CASE. I was instrumental in initiating HeNN but I am just one of the team members now. I posted the message on this forum as I was familiar with it. The main credit, I suppose and I hope others will agree, goes to HELP NEPAL - Nepal team without whose sincerity, commitment and hard work nothing would have been possible. They are a team of volunteers who work for free and run their own fund-raising campaigns to add on what we send from here. They are simple, but amazingly effective. 2. Many of those who have viewed this appeal seem to be engaged in similar efforts or keen on helping us in our endeavour. Please contact anyone mentioned in the contact list above if you want to discuss about working together, or help us in any way. As I said earlier, every small help helps. Hence, in the UK our motto is "One Pound a Month Fund for Nepal." And, we encourage Nepalese to "Have a can of beer or a cartoon of juice less in a month and donate the savings to the fund". Back in Nepal, our friends say, "Have a plate of momo less in a month and donate the savings to the fund." I suppose most of the Sajha visitors must be based in the US and Kiran Thapa (Email: kiranbthapa@yahoo.com; Tel: (001) 631-471-4164 (H) / (001) 646-334-6173 (M)) there would be more than happy to help you. Small donations are making a big difference. Please help. Rabindra |
| VillageVoice | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 08:41 AM
It's not quite along the lines Rabindra would have wanted, but I thought I would mention a couple of points here because they are related to school and the overall security situation in the country. 1. It's a fact that the security situation in the country is bad--whether we like it or not. And a major reason why thousands of families are fleeing their homes--esp. in the western hills--is becuase of the poor security situation. Children are particularly vulnerable. 150 children were recently abducted by Maoists from a school in Bajura (?). Child solidiers have long been employed by such insurgent groups as LTTE--and Nepal has now joined the ranks. Not even India, B'desh and Pakistan--countries with long history of violence--are in the notorious list. I only hope that the city-based elites don't brush aside this fact as a hinterland phenomenon--much as we did when the insurgency began in '96. 2. A tireless social worker, a friend of mine runs a school in western Nepal (a hill district). The school has some 600 students--500 from the so called upper classes/castes and 100 dalits. The latter don't pay--their costs are met by the fees paid by the other group. He just returned to US after an extensive travel in his home and neighboring districts (I am afraid I can't give much details without his permission). Here's what he had to say. Maoists refused to accept his offer for "donations", saying that his school was serving a great social cause. Whether they did so for propogandist purposes, or were motivated by their genuine appreciation of the school's modus operandi, welll, only the Maoists know. You are free to draw your conclusion. |
| Robert Frost | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 09:18 AM
Mishraji, Really a very good venture indeed and I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartful wishes and also very many thanks for starting such a charitable project. I hope the childrens will have a better quality education that has been very much lacking in the rural side of Nepal. I dont know much about what the Maoists are upto. The last I knew about their plans, they would not articulate any kind of bloody hinderance towards the Educative as well as Social side of Nepal. But time and again I have been reading that they have been suffocating parents for sending their children to School. Therefore, I do agree with VillageVoice when he says that the security situation may very likely be of some kind of obstacle to your project unless if you have thought about any idea of how to go about such situation if it occurs. Hence a question to you: What kind of Security situation have you thought of to better operate your venture in views of Maoists pressure which is very likely to come with recent attack on Security Forces at Lamjung district, and also Lamjung being one of the better place for Maoists hideout? Having said that, your project is the best I have seen anyone come up with living abroad and I wish well for its success. Robert Frost! |
| sally | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 10:06 AM
RF, How can there be security? Rural people who choose to get involved in projects aren't secure while working on it, but they're not secure in their beds, either. The kids who will eventually go to this school will not have security, because they live there. The people who build it won't have security, for the same reason. Outsiders who come in for a shorter period have to deal with that. Just as if you work the night shift at a gas station in southeast DC, you have to deal with the fact that--while the chances are you'll be fine and it's not as risky as people might think from a distance--you ARE genuinely vulnerable. Of course, a group could WORSEN the security situation by running around promoting some political party while in the hinterlands, or working with people who have reputations for cheating and corruption. But security guarantees? When a situation is honestly risky, who can do that? Sad but true. |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 04:36 PM
Similar to the experience of Village Voice's friend, the Maoists have been friendly to us as well - at least on one occasion. When a school in Pyuthan was being built, they reportedly came and enquired about the source of the money. When they were told that the money came from the hard-earned savings of the Nepalese living abroad, they were 'impressed'. They 'instructed' the school committee to use the money properly and went away. But this was more than a year ago when the situation was a bit better. Let's hope they that they will be friendly to us this time as well. |
| Biswo | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 06:01 PM
It is great to read about something actually 'constructive' these days. And that too in the districts of Pyuthan, Lamjung etc. In Suskera, I read about John Wood and his "Room To Read" a couple of months ago. HENN is something we are familiar with already. I hope I will of some help to Rabindraji's project. When I think about Laxmi Prasad Devkota, one thing that always comes in my mind is the fact he was fined a hefty sum (was he incarcerated too?) for trying to open a library in the Rana-ruled Kathmandu. Yes, danger is always there, especially when the regime ruling these benighted tracts firmly believe in the proposition that they are better off not letting the kids be educated. But let our conscience be spurred by what I read in the Sanskrit course of my nimna madhyamik vidhyalaya: 'vidhya dhanam sarwa dhanam pradhaanam'. The transmogrification of benign Maoists insurgents into 'pedophile-guerilla' was always predicted. Rebels do forcefully and unscrupulously conscript people basically everywhere. In China's 1949 revolution, both Kuomintang and communists did this. It is sad, and conscientious people must do something to prevent it.Those people who are doing everything they can do to save our kids deserve praise for their job. |
| Paschim | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 08:46 PM
Let me applaud Rabindra and his colleagues yet again for their perseverance and passion in their social work in rural Nepal. ------- I just returned from Nepal two days ago, and since November, I have spent 3 weeks there on 2 separate visits, including one week spent outside Kathmandu. Remembering the old saying, "he is too clever by half", it is worth noting what BRB has been claiming -- that Nepal now has two economies, two armies, two governments -- one of the Maoists and one of the Raja. This is not entirely false. Kathmandu gives you a deceiving impression of the "calm" in Nepal though; and I was surprised to read what Ms. Sudha Shah, currently being talked about on Sajha, told a TV interviewer recently during her brief visit, " Nepal is as peaceful as it was when I left 17 years ago. I feel that news on Nepal that reaches abroad is presented differently." Kathai baraa. Maoists have continued with their raising of "taxes", and their calculated extortion has affected all -- teachers, schools, shopkeepers, businessmen, enterprises. Maoists say openly that the tax they collect is to fund their "own" army, government and cadres (apparently these cadres, with an average age in their early 20s, draw a monthly "salary" to the tune of 8,000, just like a forty year old Upa-sachib in the formal civil service). With this kind of fiscal incentive, one wonders if they will ever run out of "activists". And note that our SLC pass rate "determined" by the government is still around 32%. Where do some of the "failed" 68% turn to? Schools have not been spared. Where they have complied with the orders (pay up, ban the national anthem, scrap Sanskrit, reduce fees), they have been allowed to run; where schools have taken a stand they have been terrorized (remember the bombings of school buses in Biratnagar early December?). In the proper villages, since government teachers are often the only people drawing a regular stream of salary, they are asked to donate around 20% of their salary to little Maos. If Help Nepal's project in Lamjung is in the territory that the Maoists hold sway (i.e., not in the sadarmukam), then it should at least reach an initial understanding with the local bosses. It is unlikely that King G's security forces will come to an effective rescue if the project runs into trouble with the teenage warlords. ------ Radheshyam Adhikari's piece in the latest Himal on the present crisis in education is worth reading; as is Prakash Jwala's (former UML MP from Bheri) article in Kantipur of 3 days ago with some good questions for the Maoists on their professed "bahulbaad"). Despite BRB's misleading retorts, to see where the inspiration is coming from, one must read more on the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Two small books are worth going over: Michael Vickery's "Cambodia 1975-1982", and Dith Pran's, "Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors"; Yale also a Cambodia Genocide Program whose sources are worth consulting. ------- I wish Rabindra and Help Nepal all the very best in their continued drive for the "common good" in the jillas. I will make my modest contributions to Help Nepal this year too. |
| SimpleGal | Posted
on 10-Jan-03 10:16 PM
I just learned of the Help Nepal effort through a friend who is a silent reader at sajha. And was very pleased to read Mr. Rabindra Mishra's postings. I join fellow sajhaites in applauding this drive. My support, both in spirit and in kind, will always rest within the interest of efforts such as those detailed in this thread. Best wishes and In peace. |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 11-Jan-03 04:25 AM
It is heartning to know that many of Sajha discussants and its silent readers have actually started to contact Kiran (Thapa) Jee [Email: kiranbthapa@yahoo.com; Tel: (001) 631-471-4164 (H) / (001) 646-334-6173 (M)] in the US to make whatever donations they can. We will certainly keep you all informed about the development regarding the Lamjung project in particular and HELP NEPAL in general. Please visit our website at www.helpnepal.net from time to time for updates. If you provide us with your contact details, we will also be happy to send you our six-monthly progress reports that we send to all the contributors on a regular basis. However, those progress notes are also put on the website in the 'achievement' section, so can be viewed any time. Rabindra |
| paramendra | Posted
on 11-Jan-03 09:41 AM
Great work, Mishraji and friends. Any Terai districts on the to do list yet? |
| khaja biscuit | Posted
on 11-Jan-03 10:20 AM
The joy of "checkbook philanthropy" is the next best thing to joy of virtual sex. |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 12-Jan-03 10:45 AM
Paramendra Jee, So far we have worked in Chitwan among the Chepang community. Otherwise we have not had a chance to work in 'Terai districts'. However, if you or your friends back in Nepal have any possible projects that may fit with the objectives of HELP NEPAL, we would be more than happy to consider it. It would be better if such projects belong to relatively remote areas. Back in Nepal, Mr Arun Sing Basent (Ph: 479574) is the person to be contacted. Rabindra |
| paramendra | Posted
on 12-Jan-03 12:08 PM
Mishraji, a scholarship fund that targets communities like the Mushahars, Dusads and Chamars would be nice. That would be across the Terai belt, and not just in one district. Or do you focus only on "projects," as in constructions? |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 12-Jan-03 03:20 PM
That's a very good idea, but at the moment we have decided to limit ourselves to projects that benefit not individuals but communities. When we first started, we discussed extensively on the nature of projects that HeNN should undertake and then decided not to do sponsorships and scholarships until we had enough resources to keep track of every individual cases. With the construction of schools/libraries, and health projects, we have been able to monitor them from the start to the finish, and in some cases, even support them later. |
| paramendra | Posted
on 12-Jan-03 03:35 PM
Rabindraji --- our names rhyming notwithstanding --- if "the construction of schools/libraries, and health projects" be the goal, I am sure there are plenty of villages in all Terai districts that are also in need. I applaud the great work of your group -- action and not just words --- but please remedy the geographical anomaly. Jai Sambho BBC! :-) |
| Rabindra Mishra | Posted
on 13-Jan-03 02:31 AM
We will definitely keep your suggestion in mind, Paramendra Jee. Thanks a lot for your positive remarks and advice. |
| mirador | Posted
on 13-Jan-03 03:43 AM
Rabindrajee---our names not rhymind notwithstanding---I would also like to point it out to you that the lower-midwestern and the upper-middle far western also are in great need. Oh wait! there is the upper western (starvation), upper eastern (genocide) and the bottom central, from where yours truly comes. I would offer to help but I am quite engaged in the much profitable trucking bussiness. Which, by the way, has given me, and I shall hope that it continues so, ample material for my forthcoming book entitled "The T card, On Wheels". Before I depart, let me humbly remind you that your godly radio programme is truly remarkable. Although, due to my demanding schedule, I hardly ever have any time for it. All I get to listen to as I crisscross the states is mighty Rush Limbaugh and his patriotic right-wing homophobic rants. All the best to you (and cheers to USA - mother of all the (196?, 182?) coutries in the world. |