News - Page 9 of 19 - Himalayan Education Lifeline Programme

December 5, 2014

A career-changing experience

I went to Changu Narayan in January with the modest hope that I could encourage disadvantaged children to improve their English. Nothing prepared me for the life changing experience that it would be.

Nepal was my first experience of the developing world and the level of poverty was shocking; families piled on motor bikes, cafes disguised as sheds, women washing at communal water pumps and dusty garages that advertised sim cards but sold only calor gas and chickens.

The culture of the education system too was so different that I’m sure my “noisy” lessons were frowned upon.…

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December 4, 2014

Struggle for children with disabilities in Nepal

Child with disabilities laughing as she uses her new walker, Nepal

International NGO, Plan, reports the following:

3 December 2014: Children with disabilities in Nepal face a series of barriers to getting an education and drop outs can suffer social exclusion and violence, reveals new research from Plan – launched on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December.

The new study Include us in education!, produced in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, conducted in-depth interviews with 21 families in Nepal.

The research shows that when children with disabilities drop out of school it can have a negative impact on their psychosocial wellbeing, as many will have faced violence, bullying and discrimination, by peers and teachers, as well as in community and home life.

December 4, 2014

Nepal slips on TI corruption index

KATHMANDU, DEC 04 – According to eKantipur.com, Nepal has slipped ten places on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency Inter-national, earning a dubious distinction as one of the most corrupt states in the world.

The annual survey by the Berlin-based watchdog has placed Nepal in 126th position with a score of 29 among 175 countries. It was placed 116th on the index among 176 countries last year. The CPI measures the extent of corruption within a country on a scale ranging from zero to 100.

December 3, 2014

The joys of volunteering!

Teaching in K – 5th grades in Nepal was a wonderful and enriching experience, but becoming a part of the local community was a special bonus I had not anticipated. During my two month stay, I was invited to Shiva’s (a major Hindu god) birthday celebration, a wedding, and a funeral.

On one of the many days off school for holidays, I found out it was Shiva’s birthday and was asked if I wanted to go to the temple, hidden up on the hill.…

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November 22, 2014

10,000 children estimated to work in Nepal’s carpet industry

Oliver Balch in the Guardian, Thursday 20 November 2014 13.51 GMT

Aged 11, Sanju was sent by her parents in rural Nepal to work for a carpet factory in the capital Kathmandu. They were assured she would be paid and well looked after. That was the last they heard of her. Her new employer had her working from 4am until 8pm, seven days a week. She stitched knots until her fingers bled.
Aged 11, Sanju was sent by her parents in rural Nepal to work for a carpet factory in the capital Kathmandu.…

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November 19, 2014

Corruption: the canker that eats away at progress

On my visit to India, I was struck once more how much corruption dominates everyday life, from the very poor water supply in Kalimpong and Darjeeling, to the unsurfaced roads in Sikkim. In the 40 odd years I have been visiting the region, daily life gets no easier. The only improvement I can see is that middle class people now have access to mortgages so they can build themselves better houses, but they live in a society where everyone is working for themselves.…

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August 29, 2014

Grandmother Slays Leopard With Sickle in 30-Minute Battle

As the Wall Street Journal blog reports, more than 7000 Indian villagers are killed by animals every year:

: Kamla Negi, the woman who killed the leopard that attacked her, recovers in an Uttarkhand hospital on August 26.; Sohan Lal

Kamla Negi, a 56-year-old rice farmer and grandmother from a small village in northern India, fought a battle to the death with a wild leopard—and won.

She was walking home Sunday when the big cat leapt at her on a quiet path in her village in India’s hilly state of Uttarakhand.…

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July 6, 2014

Red tape cut to pull India out of tourist backwater

A report in the Sunday Times

by Nicola Smith, Delhi, Published: 6 July 2014

The Taj Mahal is world famous, but India is struggling to attract foreign visitors (INDIA TOURIST BOARD)

BLESSED as it is with the Taj Mahal, the beaches of Goa and the Himalayan foothills, India should be a magnet for tourists.

Instead it is an also-ran that last year greeted just 6.8m visitors, compared with China’s 129m, making it only the 41st most popular destination in the world.…

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May 28, 2014

Nepal’s bogus orphan trade fuelled by rise in ‘voluntourism’

The following article by Pete Pattison appeared in the Guardian on 27th May 2014:

“Like an increasing number of tourists visiting Nepal‘s mountain peaks, colourful markets and lush national parks, Marina Argeisa wanted to experience the latest must-do activity on the tourist trail: a volunteering stint at an orphanage.

What the 26-year-old Spaniard did not know was that her good intentions were unwittingly feeding an industry that dupes poor parents into sending their children to bogus orphanages in order to extract money from well-meaning foreigners.…

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April 14, 2014

Sponsorship can transform lives

This is what one Nepalese student nurse says about the sponsorship she received from HELP:

“Its been very long since the last time i wrote to you. I apologize for the inconvenience but i am writing to you today to share you about my recent progress. Today its the first day of our Nepali new year 2071 and i wish you a very happy new year as well. I pray for the best of health, success and wealth to you and your family.…

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