Saturday, July 30, 2011

Orphanage & donors

With 200 children inside Bal Mandir, there were always some children who were not normal, some disabled, some deaf who used to go to only deaf school in perhaps in Nepal , which is still inside the Bal Mandir premises and some children were autistic or down-syndrome. Those were the one, who could not go tot normal school, but, yet they too needed to teach and learn.

Volunteers for down syndromes : Some foreigners [white people], used to come, when I was aleardy in school and go, before I came back from school. As a growing up child in Bal Mandir, for me all white people were Americans and when they said, “NO, I am not”, then my reaction used to be always the same always, “ Oh ! you look like Americans.”

There was, this big room near by the office area, painted in all rainbow colors, and all kinds of pictures hanged on the walls. There were picture dangling on the thread which also was hanged from this side of the wall to other side of wall. All colorful papers and childish paintings on them. Their class room did not looked like our class rooms. It was a whole lot of different look than ours, because it was for down-syndrome children.


Volunteers for knitting class : so many people ask me where did I learn my knitting skills, which is so fine and perfect, than what they know. Well the answer is obvious, Bal Mandir, as it used to get, so many people coming in, to teach the best skill from what they already know. The art of sharing and passing is best part of this class. I myself was never ever in any such group although, there were many of my age group found the spot in those training classes. Kedar Shrestha, the housemother who hated me, must have, used her power to pull me from those classes, but it was not the much of complaining issue.

The one, who was in the group always used to share it with the rest of us, who were knit enthusiast, like me. Knitting was kind of staple skill or favourite time pass during the winter seasons, in the Bal Mandir. I think, those volunteers were from different countries like America, Korea and Japan. This gave us a chance to learn the best of all parts of the worlds little bit good skill from this and little bit good idea from that country. So, no wonder, if I have grasped all the best options, available there for me and made it my own style in all that and I am sure if, Kedar Shrestha, would have been alive, she would have coiled in red with jealousy. How good I am today on this skill, even though she had pulled me from all those classes.


Volunteers for Ikebana : I am quite not sure that his particular class was volunteered one, but there was this beautiful Japanese lady. She used to teach us this Japanese art of flower arrangements, which is called Ikebana. At the end of the training, when the exam was taken, to see how much we have learned, it was so surprising, that I have made it to the third position. Me ? on third place ? to some thing called room decor ? Nah, but then, it was truth also, whether I like to believe it or not.

Volunteers for physical hygiene : But the most life changing volunteers were from Nepal and these people perhaps could have been from the health sector. I am not quite sure, but perhaps they were doctors and nurses. They taught us to keep our toilets clean and wash our hand after each visit to the toilets. Prior to their visit and a week long [may be], training; toilets used to be Oh ! my God, dirty. There was not much of culture also in those days prior to ’85, too flush it, once we went to toilet to relieve us. Boys toilets, used to be even worse than girls, which is very common around the world and even after training, it did not changed much.

Of course, there was a man to clean it twice a day, but 200 children plus staffs and only about 20 toilets, needed frequent cleaning and lots of water to clean it. Those volunteers changed our concept, that toilets are meant to be dirty place. At least it cleansed in my mind forever.

3 comments:

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  2. The Mitrataa Foundation took over running Bal Mandir in May (a five year contract):

    http://mitrataa.blogspot.com/2011/05/bal-mandir-revisited-be-careful-what.html

    Unfortunately, ten other homes remain under the direct control of Nepal Children's Organization. And at the end of five years, Bal Mandir is handed back to the same criminals:

    http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/43654

    Mitrataa was very hesitant to take over Bal Mandir (because of the corruption -- see below). Over the years, millions of euros, dollars and rupees have been given to NCO. Most of the the money has simply disappeared.


    Mitrataa Foundation -- Annual Report 2010:

    10. Bal Mandir

    Many of you will know that Bal Mandir is a children’s home in Kathmandu, currently home to 200 children. It is run by Nepal Children’s Organisation, one of our core partners. We have been running a number of projects at Bal Mandir with NCO and we knew that they had been having financial problems. They are responsible for over 600 children in 11 homes across Nepal. They approached us and asked us to consider taking over the management of Bal Mandir for 5 years to help them set it up as a sustainable, model home that they could then use to help them set up similar models in their other homes. Although running children’s homes is not core to Mitrataa’s Vision, a train-the-trainer approach to sustainability is at the heart of what we do. So we agreed to explore this project with them. It was a huge project and after many negotiations the agreement was signed by Mitrataa and we were to take over management from 1 September 2010. We were so excited about the possibilities for this project and were so grateful for the support we received from many different people and organisations as we embarked on this very daunting journey, including Bathurst Breakfast Group, Randwick Rotary, East Canberra Rotary, SHAWS Kindergarten.

    Unfortunately, due to severe corruption within NCO, we had to cancel the project as we were not confident that we would be able to deliver on the objectives without risking Mitrataa’s reputation as an organisation that refuses to pay bribes. This was a heartbreaking decision but we felt very strongly that we could not put the rest of the projects and all the people we work with in Nepal at risk.

    http://www.mitrataa.org/about_us/Annual%20Report%202010.pdf

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  3. You used the word criminals for them and we use the word blood sucker for them. The contradiction is that they too given a chance that we do not hear it, make us feel exactly like a parasite and leach. This hate-hate relationship between the needy and the people in between is so much that we love to hate them as they say the feelings is mutual.

    About the taking over the management is you sound exactly like Bernhard who is my sponsor since I left Bal Mandir. Now he is running with a group of trustees from Switzerland a Prabina foundation and a Prabina Home. Unlike you he had approached to take over the management of Bal Mandir in about 2004-2005 but not for short term. The corruption and bribe was soo rooted he backed off from the project. After that in 2008 he had stated hostel for girls only now Prabina Home. He hates giving bribe, even to Maobadi forget about any other person.

    Do I have to add more, he is my hero ! Sorry unlike you I am not good at providing links.

    By the way read today's Kantipur, how corrupted the authorities of Nepal Children's organisation are.

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