Child Protection Nepal Project #25815

EmpowerHER: Rights, Protection and Hope

by Our Sansar

Project Report | Dec 27, 2022
Whom have we welcomed this year?

By Julia Krepska | Director

2022 was the second year of our Children's Protection Programme in Janakpur. We are so proud and grateful to our local staff for running the project so well and in such a caring manner, and assisting so many girls that would otherwise have nowhere to turn to.

As it's our last report of the year, we thought we would report on a couple of cases (names have been changed) and how our work has changed their lives.

One of the girls that we assisted this year is 14 years old Elisha. She used to be repeatedly raped by a 70 year old neighbour over a 2 year period when her parents were at work and Elisha was left at home to look after her younger siblings. Elisha got pregnant as a result and the man forced her to have an abortion at a local pharmacy when she was 5 -6 months pregnant. The case has been filed against the man. When she was initially treated at the hospital, the doctors worried that she might not survive at all. She was in a terrible health condition. She then joined our safe house and is receiving counselling, care, education and we are working on her plans for the future.

Another heart breaking story is that of a 16 years old Rani who got involved with a 20 year old man that hid the fact that he was married. The girl got pregnant at the age of 14 and the man forced her to get abortion. She got pregnant again at the age of 15 and the man abandoned her. The girl and her family filed a rape case against the man and police have issued an arrest warrant but the man had escaped to India. He is in hiding now and we are trying to locate him. Rani joined our safe house when she was 5 months pregnant, however there were many complications with her pregnancy and we provided her with a hospital treatment for a few weeks. She almost lost her life and sadly the baby did not survive. She is under our care for now, receiving counselling, education and care. The parents are supportive but the community is causing issues due to the social taboos so Rani will stay with us until it is safe for her to go back home. In the meantime we are also working on her plans for the future – providing her with education and possible skills training (she would like to start a beautician course).

Sadly, these cases are not rare and we are being constantly notified of similar ones by the police, local hospital, or social workers. We are doing whatever we can but that is never enough. We have planned more community campaigns for 2023 to ensure that we can reach more people, local governments, schools. We are hoping that through this work we can minimise the scale of gender based violence in Province 2.

Happy holidays everyone and we will keep you updated with all the progress in the New Year! Thank you so much for all your support!

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Aug 16, 2022
All these new activities!

By Julia Krepska | Director

It feels like we're forever busy with our girls, and that's probably because we really are! Sabita is proactive with ensuring the girls are able to pursue all the interests and there is a real focus on education. We have one little boy who is attending the shelter during the day time - a month ago he wasn't even able to hold a pen, now he is proudly practising some Nepali letters. Hopefully we will be able to enrol him into a regular school in the next few months.

The girls have been inspired by Sabita's cooking skills (in her previous life she was also a chef!) and now they have a small stall twice a week, selling healthy Nepalese snacks at the market. They are loving it and are also learning about budgeting and savings at the same time.

And from really exciting news - we have a lovely new library!!! The girls have now 3 laptops, books and a lot of games. The library is also open once a week to local children. This is possible thanks to a very generous donation from the Didi Project, we are very very grateful.

Nisha has just gone to Kathmandu with one of our girls and her family who also need different types of assistance. It has been a very complicated case with many organisations involved trying to help them. Sadly, nobody was able to accommodate the girl who is a victim of rape, despite a lot of desperate calls from the father to many organisations. The moment we were informed about the situation, we took her in immediately. Poor girl was at a high risk of suicide and required very intensive counselling. Depending on the treatment in Kathmandu, the girl will probably go back to our shelter at some point soon and we will ensure she gets the best possible care.

We come across these kinds of cases all the time and it can get very tough on the staff. However, after the girl mentioned above got turned down by so many organisations, our staff were so happy to help her and one said to us 'I am so proud to be a part of Our Sansar, and now I really realize the importance of our work in this area'. This says everything. We will never refuse to help children that genuinely need assistance.

Thanks to your support we are able to help so many girls and boys - a massive thank you!

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Apr 18, 2022
Our new beautician and other news

By Julia Krepska | Director

A lot has been happening at our girls shelter in recent months. The staff have been doing incredible work trying to assist as many girls (and boys on some occasions) as possible. We have heard some really sad stories and took action to make the lives of the children easier.

All the girls who are staying with us are receiving counselling and the staff are very active at working out the next steps for their future. We have had a lovely new Education Officer, Nisha, starting with us recently and we are already seeing a huge difference in the girls' attitudes to education. A few weeks ago, a mum of one of the girl's came for a visit, and the girl who had never been able to read or write before, insisted on teaching her mum how to write her own name. Our staff were really touched and now feel even more motivated to improve the overall levels of education.

A few of our older girls have been showing real interest in gaining more skills and we are trying to match them all with relevant training sessions. One of the girls is at the moment doing training at the local beauty parlor after which she will receive an official certification - this will enable her to find work in the future or even to open her own salon. She is practising new skills at the shelter everyday!

Rest of the girls are receiving regular tailoring training from our very skilled Project Assistant, Junu. The girls have already started making some really lovely things, including bags, hair bands and even their first dress! We are now planning possible expansion of the training to include more young ladies in the area.

In the meantime, our wonderful Social Worker who supervises the shelter is also assisting with the launch of our new project, and Nisha will also be helping with some educational parts so all in all - we are very busy but very productive.

We will keep you up to date with any future developments.

Thank you so much for all the support!

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