Project DCEC-RODEC
In Kathmandu, there are many very poor children who cannot attend school and who spend their days on the street, where they are exposed to all sorts of risks (exploitation, accidents, illness and infections due to lack of hygiene, …). In such conditions, and with no access to basic instruction, it is hard for them to build themselves a better future. Mostly, these children come from needy families that emigrated to the capital, are sons and daughters of young mothers, or are abandoned by their fathers or both parents and entrusted to a family member too poor to take care of them.
Generally, these children’s parents or the people in charge of them work throughout the day, earning too little to pay for basic family needs, let alone education. In consequence, the children are abandoned all day and quickly become “street children”, trying to obtain food and to survive some way or another. Obviously, criminality and drug consumption are an easy next step. It can however be prevented by offering these children the opportunity to attend school, to meet reference people, and to have a place where they are welcomed outside school hours and where they can be accompanied and receive affection and care.
Objectives
The objective of this project is the creation of a day centre in one of the poorest parts of Kathmandu, where small children can pass the day while receiving appropriate care, and where older children can stay before and after school. In this centre, children will also receive a complete meal in the morning and a snack in the afternoon, assistance in completing homework, and basic medical care. The people responsible for the centre will work with the families of the children to make mothers aware of hygiene problems as well as the possibility of a healthy, yet cheap, diet.
Strategy
To reach these objectives, Kam For Sud is collaborated with the Nepalese NGO ‘RODEC’ (Rights Oriented Development Center), that has been working since 2003 in favour of disadvantaged people, promoting children’s and womens’ rights and fighting discrimination due to sex or caste, particularly in the medical and educational fields. RODEC identified fifty children corresponding to the above description , and found a flat to rent on the ground floor of a small building in the periphery of the capital, with a few green spaces around where the children can play. They also selected the staff required for the project.
Activities in detail
with the children:
- Meal ofdal bhat in the morning (rice, lentils and curry – traditional Nepalese meal)
- Enrolment of all children of age and capacity in school
- Homework support and accompaniment in extracurricular activities
- Snack in the afternoon
- Regular medical check-up and basic healthcare, including necessary vaccinations
with the families:
- Awareness building of thematics such as : hygiene, health, nutrition, motherhood, AIDS, etc.
- small financial help for families
Results
The project plans on allowing all children to complete at least a basic school education (up to the 10th grade), in good health and capable of becoming independent citizens. Meanwhile, the children’s mothers will receive support to improve nutrition and hygiene in their family. They will be made aware of their own rights, and be enabled to create a social network to feel part of a united community.