YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Last year Nepal experienced two major earthquakes on April 25 and May 12, 2015 with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.3 on the Richter scale. The toll was and continues to be devastating with:
- Close to 9,000 people killed;
- 22,000 injured
- nearly ½ million homes destroyed;
- 2.8 million people displaced
- 5.6 million people impacted
Given the devastation caused by the earthquake 14 districts were declared priority areas
The effects of the earthquake have also been exacerbated by protests since September along the Nepal/India border leading to a lack of cooking gas, diesel/petrol, medicines and an increase in food prices. It seems as if things are now easing but only time will tell.
This is the general background to the stories that I’m going to tell you about two people who I know who need your help.
I met Naresh, who is 22, a few years ago but saw him today and he told me his story. Naresh is from Dadeldhura District, in the very far southwest of Nepal. When he was one month old, while sleeping, he was burned severely in a kerosene fire and lost his right hand. He had numerous operations which the family had to put a lot of money into.
Naresh has five brothers and sisters and when his father died from a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 36 the family was devastated.
Naresh had never gone to school until 2006 when he met Joyce, a Dutch woman who had started a school and home for children with disabilities in Bhaktapur through the Suvadra Foundation with a Nepali named Krishna. Naresh lived at the home for a number of years, also attending school for the first time in his life.
Naresh is a bright young man is now in Class 12 which is considered college in Nepal where he is studying Hotel Management and Tourism. Besides going to school nd in order to support himself Naresh is also working at Nepal Apartments in Thamel, which is a guest house. Naresh attends his school from 10-2, six days a week and then works the other hours. He lives in a room at the guest house. Naresh earns NPR 8500/month which is about $85.
Two of Naresh’s sisters are married, but he still has three siblings at home, an emotionally disturbed brother who is 18, a sister Manju, 17, who is in class 7, and a brother Kadak, 15, in class 6. The cost to send the children to school is NPR 1000/month/child, about $10/child. The children don’t attend school regularly because their mother can’t earn enough money to pay the school fees.
Nita Mishra
I met Nita 3.5 years ago when I first came to Kathmandu. At that time she was 11.5. Her English was incredibly good and she seemed to have a lot of confidence and loved basketball. She was living in two small rooms at the Nepal Disabled Association-Khagendra New Life Centre in Jorpati, Kathmandu a home for persons with disabilities, with her father, Binod Kumar Mishra and her mother Neru. A few months later her brother Nitesh was born.
Binod, now 43, has worked at the New Life Centre for many years as a general laborer, earning NPR 7000/month, about $70 but gets paid only once every four months. When Binod was four he was burned in a fire and because he didn’t get proper treatment he lost his right foot and now needs a new prosthetic at a cost of NPR 20,000 about $200, which the family cannot afford. He keeps his current prosthetic on by tying it together with string.
Binod although illiterate, Nita taught him to write his name, does his best to earn for his family, but it isn’t easy. Because he gets paid only once every four months he has had to take a lot of credit for the family to purchase food.
Binod is from Bara District and ran away from home at a young age because life in the village for a person with disability is very difficult. Fortunately, he was helped by a shop keeper in Katmandu but ended up living in the New Life Centre.
Neru, Nita’s mother is 32; she was married at 14 and finished class 7. Although she smiles a lot I also observe a lot of worry on her face. Yesterday she told me that she had taken a number of classes to start a business including making incense, candles and baskets out of recyclable materials. But the family has never had the money to purchase the resources that she needs to make these products and start a business.
Nita at 15 is an incredible young woman. She is always upbeat. Nita is studying in Class 10 a very important year as she will be taking her School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams in April. Once she passes the SLC exam she will be eligible to go to college which is 11 and 12 grades plus another 3-4 years of higher education. Nita has an A average and wants to be a pharmacist. The problem is that the family cannot pay her remaining school fees:
- · Monthly fee 2250×9=20250 about $200
- · Exam fee 450×4=1800 about $18
- · Morning class 2100×4=8400 about $84
- · Total 30,450. About $300
If you have any queries feel free to email me or contact me at 977-9841223749.
Janaranjan Devkota
Administrator, Manakamana H.S.School
The other problem that the family is having is that their living space was damaged by the earthquake. They moved to another space but New Life Centre asked them to move because this was only a temporary space and now they are living in two rooms which have cracks from the earthquake and is not considered safe.
There is no running water inside the rooms and the bathroom is a walk away. New Life Centre has asked them to move but they can hardly afford the NPR 10,000/month or $100 for their own space. The other issue is that for 25 kg of rice which the family eats in an average month the cost is NPR 1650 or $16.50, Dal a staple of the Nepali diet is NPR 1500 or $15/month for 6 kg and vegetables are about NPR 2500/month or $25. Life isn’t easy.
I know that we are all constantly bombarded with requests asking to help others. You may never meet Naresh or Nita and her family, but these are people that I know and they need your help. The amounts aren’t huge. What we are talking about is helping Nita to continue her education and not waste the life of a talented young lady who will most likely be able to turn the fortunes of her family around. Nita’s family also needs your help in just living their daily lives in a safe environment. In Naresh’s case we are asking for you to help his siblings continue their education.
I intend on helping Neeru, Nita’s mother to determine the best way to start her own business and getting her product(s) to market ensuring that her family has a sustained income and won’t have to ask others for help. Nita is collecting financial information for me so that we can work out some cash flows to determine how much Neeru can make from starting her own business and the basic start-up costs. This is information which I will also provide to you.
Please think this over! If you feel that you would like to help, no matter what the amount is please write to me at mikerlakers@yahool.com and we can discuss the best method for you to get your contribution to Naresh and Nita. You can make a difference!
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