Its because some humans will be visiting us today”, we used to get prompt response from anyone near us but mostly it used to come from our didis [room nannies]
Are we not humans to be visited by another humans ? One of us used to raise question then. Of course, you are but the one who are visiting us they are more special than us ? another used to respond faster than the question was asked.
Recently, when I was listening one of my friend, when he was telling me about his bad experience of visiting disabled centers, within the valley my mind drifted back to my childhood memories of the same kind of experience, but at the same time it was so different in so many ways.
We used to be dressed mostly light yellow color frock for girls and pants for boys. White color shirt for both boys and girls. This combination was good, but if about 200 children wore the same dress then it was a uniform of Bal Mandir in 1980. This was also the dress we used to were to go to parades in some big royal ceremonies, they used to celebrate, within or outside the Bal Mandir.
Then, I did not knew that; they were big and important donors, who came to see how we were doing, Now, as I am grown up, I do understand why we were done so well to receive them. That special day needed us, to take a good bath the day before and then wear clean dress almost whole day, as they never appeared on time or it was the Nepali way of undermining the time value by foreign and then making us ready by more than two - three hours ahead of the visit. This meant, not to play in such a way that spoiled our dress with dirt.
A friend of my who runs an special school was telling me his experience of visiting places before he started his school. He had visited many of those special needs places in the valley to figure out before he opened his school. His experience was not very good, as most of the places were using those needy as a beggars to get donation for their institutes. They were ‘dressed in shabby’ and they looked ‘really hungry and destitute. My friends had very sharp observation. He did notice the racks stacked with dresses but the children were not dressed accordingly, and they were not feed properly, hoping more donation with every visit. If visitors took time to visit places that meant many hour of hunger game for children so that the visitors feel sorry for the children and that meant more donation.
Some of this disabled centers, even sold the donated goods, which is synthetic legs or arms to amputee in institutes. They sold it to army men who had lost their legs in war who could afford but could not get such good quality synthetic legs or arms in the market.
There are people who post in their blog that why rich tourist should not give to the charities, when they go to visit children home here in Nepal. I was sent one link of Lonely Planet from one of my reader, in comment post of my blog post. It was really disturbing to read that link, that how children homes have become an earning medium of bread and butter for many people in Nepal and most of its centers are in Kathmandu.
At one point it says that, do not give money to the children home, which children look more dirty, needy and their wounds are open and looks not taken cared off. They were purely used to beg, beg and beg. Whatever money you give will not go to the betterment of the children you feel sorry for. You might be giving to the owner who is running this business under the hide.
When my friends told me his side of experience then it only hit me hard in my head that there is vast difference between a missionary, and a social work. Royals did the missionary work; after a good vision but there are so called social workers who do this kind of work just to make money, even charity work is not exempt for their need to make bread and butter.
When I was in Bal Mandir, it was royals who were running this organisation. Its not that there were not people, who never talk of corruption inside the Bal Mandir, but, let me tell you one thing here more honestly, even children were big trouble to the management due to their stealing binge and children [ my roommates and classmates ] only want to talk about the corruption that was done by the staff in the management.
Sometimes, when I really want to understand why there is two sides pointing at each other when it comes to corruption. May be the reality is, no one is clean in this case, and presumes that the one party does not know what the other party is doing ! Should the children steal the donated goods that was meant for them ? or the management got too greedy to see the high quality products, whether it be dress or foods or in the case of disabled, legs, arms or hands ? If the staff were greedy to steal those donations goods due to the greed, then what could be the reason behind the children to get involved in stealing things; that was purely meant to them ?
Well, I guess this question sure demands me to write another post in this regards. I sure will try to answer this in my next post.
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