New organization & jatras
My new work is with an organization called Aasaman Nepal (Aasaman is a Mithili word meaning blue sky) with offices in both Kathmandu and Janakpur and working areas in the southern part of Nepal-Mahottari (my old district), Dhanusha and Sarlahi with hopeful plans to extend into other areas of the Terai. Aasaman works in the area of child labor, eradicating it that is, through the promotion of universal education for all children up through the age of 15. Of course, there is more to the child labor issue than merely promoting universal education-a large part of Aasaman’s work includes the monitoring of child labor issues in these districts and throughout the country; working with communities and local officials on changing social norms regarding child labor (widely accepted and taken for granted in Nepal); training child’s rights protectors at the village level and even assisting communities and villages with income generation schemes for the administration of schools and the infrastructure of school facilities themselves. Aasaman also works with educators on retention techniques for children who do attend school (and to ascertain that children who move from work to school will remain), and has started programs aimed at discouraging and eradicating child marriage (a kind of child labor, especially for girls, not to mention the other human rights issues), which also prevents children from attending schools and has plans in the works to develop a more comprehensive early childhood development (ECD) program.
Aasaman’s primary source of funding at the moment comes via Save the Children Japan, and two of my current colleagues worked for SCJ in the past. This can be viewed as both a weakness and a strength: weakness in terms of dependency on one major donor, but a strength in that SCJ work experience means that the organization is much more strategic than the majority of indigenous NGOs in Nepal, which is much to my delight in these first few weeks of work. Aasaman takes great inspiration from the MV Foundation in India-an organization that takes a zero tolerance policy regarding child labor (all children out of school are to be considered child laborers) and has pioneered this principle. This is a tough line to follow in Nepal, especially in the districts, where child labor is generally accepted as a natural part of Nepal’s impoverished state. The general argument that one may hear is that the eradication of child labor will inevitably lead to a more impoverished state for families due to the loss of income. The MV Foundation, and in turn Aasaman, believe that the abolition of child labor actually lifts families out of poverty: with children out of the work force adults are able to take their place and demand more money because the source of cheap labor has been eradicated. Families often sell off livestock (it was their child’s task to take care of them) for normally a bit more income, or other family members fill the void. There is some evidence to prove, however, if the burden of extra work should fall on anyone it is typically women (mothers) who, despite the even longer hours, are normally more than happy to oblige given that their children have an opportunity to attend school.
Policy makers (include the ILO or International Labor Organization here) have tended to focus on children in the so-called hazardous industries, which is fair enough considering they tend to be the most exploited and the most visible. In Nepal, however, the largest number of child laborers work in the agriculture sector, and with such daunting figures, the tendency, I believe, is to have completely ignored this aspect of child labor. It’s a tough “poverty argument,” but which doesn’t always hold up. A question that begs to be answered is: Are all families not sending their children to school too poor to do so? Aasaman works under the assumption that this is not always the case as there are even examples of families well off enough to send their children to school that do not. Factors that contribute to this may be: tradition, illiteracy, and lack of access and weak local administration of policy in the village districts that does not demand that all children attend school.
Besides myself, there are four others in the Kathmandu office, all with distinctive titles, which normally corresponds to the work at hand. Most everyone seems to be involved with a variety of things-that’s one of my jobs, to delineate tasks for more efficiency. At the same time, their skill level is quite advanced, and I’ve been quite impressed, at least initially, with their thoughtful approach. Of course, there’s always room for improvement in terms of planning and management, but those are fun issues to get into when everyone has a willingness to do so. And so far, that seems to be one of the biggest differences between my new and old organization. I’ve yet to meet any field staff, but will hopefully do so soon during some planning meetings and site visits in the districts.
There was the beginnings of a jatra (festival) yesterday just outside our office doors. Nepalis love to construct these elaborate chariots and poles made out of wood and bamboo, ornately decorated with flowers and burst of color and carry and/or wheel them around the city. About 20-30 men struggled to hoist this particular pole up on their shoulders (while two others stood on top and turned the top part of the pole around like a giant prayer wheel) and then march off to different temples and areas of the city. I believe this festival was in celebration of Narayan, or the sleeping figure of Vishnu as he awakes from his monsoon slumber. The pantheon of gods and goddesses all have their special day even if it is just to announce that they are once again on the job.
I have VSO workshops to attend most of next week on good governance and a couple of extra days especially for management advisors and our MA group referred to as MAPS (“you won’t get lost” or something cheeky like that is the slogan…) for which I have been asked to facilitate a couple of sessions-I expect more of this being now based in Kathmandu, but it’s a good opportunity to diversify my own work and experience.
Tihar, or the festival of lights, is coming, which I look forward to since I have good memories of it during my travel days in India. Everyone puts candles or lights in their window during the night to welcome the entrance of the goddess Laxmi, the bringer of wealth and good fortune.
Posted by david at October 30, 2004 01:07 PM