Nepal
Happiness sharing movement
—- Aiming to create a community that leads to happiness from the field of education —-
background
Nepal became a federal democratic republic after overcoming turbulent years such as the civil war that began in 1996, the royal slaughter, and the great earthquake, and a new constitution was enacted in 2015. Representatives of local governments such as villages and towns have been elected for the first time in 20 years, and with the transition to the new district system, more budget has been given to local governments. It is expected that the support provided by NGOs will be gradually transferred to local governments.
However, the administration is not yet ready to take on the “true development”. Partner NGO SAGUN has been involved in rural development for several years with a view to collaborating with the government. Now that Nepalese society is changing, the tree of the earth aims to develop together with SAGUN to become a role model for other regions.
Contents of the support program
We empower minorities, women and children, who have been the most socially and economically vulnerable in Kabhrepalan villages since 2007, to solve their own problems in their area. I have been focusing on. To that end, it is important to increase the number of young people who receive higher education. Based in a public high school in Mangartal Village, Kabhrepalan County, east of Kathmandu, we are promoting programs such as enhancement of education, improvement of life and human resource development. The content is not decided by an outsider, but the villagers take the initiative from the first step, and the supporters and the supporters discuss and proceed “while sharing happy times.” The feature is that “happiness” is the guideline for development. In order to explore and spread the true participatory way, we aim to use the village of Mangartal as a model and expand it to other areas.
- scholarship:
Education is needed for children to escape poverty. However, the idea that “girls do not need education” and the custom of child marriage are still prevalent. We give priority to girls, ethnic minorities and Dalits (untouchable people) from students who wish to go on to the second and third years of high school, and provide scholarships. The scholarship will be used for tuition and stationery.
2. Elementary school teacher support:
Every elementary school in Nepal suffers from a shortage of teachers. In 2019, we will continue to support two teachers from two elementary schools in Mangartal. We support salaries and provide teaching advice so that local young people, such as graduated scholarship students, can become elementary school teachers. Teachers who can speak ethnic languages are appreciated by both children and parents.
3. Goat breeding program:
Two major earthquakes in 2015 struck the villages in the support area, damaging 90% of the houses. Until then, a small interest-free loan for poor families (a revolving fund method in which the borrowed money is returned after one year and the collected money is passed on to other villagers) is used to provide the affected families. I can no longer support it. After discussing with the villagers, it was concluded that goat breeding is suitable for the area and that goat breeding can generate high income. Of the 10 female groups who participated in the breeding program since 2016, 9 were able to return the money they borrowed two years later, doubling the number of goats. The loaned money will be collected and passed on to other villagers. Currently, there are 35 farmers involved in goat breeding under this program.
4. 700 copies of the newsletter (Rosilahar):
“Ros’Rahal” means “the waves of the Ros’ River”. It was named in the hope that the concept of a “happy sharing movement” would spread like ripples in the Ros’ River basin. The magazine is packed with useful information for the local people, such as what to do when a goat gets sick, and is appreciated by the local people who have few paper media. Posted by high school students, teachers, villagers, etc. I will also contribute from the tree of the earth.
5. Training for administrative leaders:
After investigating the situation in the area that was heavily damaged by the earthquake and submitting a report to the chief, I received a request that “I would like you to carry out training for leaders.” The constitution has been amended and new community development is progressing, but the village representatives and officials are still lacking in power. I don’t know the development know-how. It’s time to unleash the power of SAGUN, a group of development experts!
Local partner
SAGUN
Founded in 1991, it is a Nepalese NGO whose members are experts and social activists from various fields. It is characterized by efforts to solve problems such as poverty, human rights violations, discrimination, and environmental destruction by harmonizing with society as a whole and building cooperative relationships.
Kamal Phuyal
Mr. Kamal, a director of SAGUN, is a participatory development facilitator who works for NGOs, international organizations and government agencies throughout Nepal. His motto is “development is to share happiness”, and for sustainable development, the participation of the people who live there is essential, and ultimately they need to take the initiative. I think. I have learned participatory methods such as PRA (Independent Participatory Rural Survey Method) and have been practicing them in rural areas of Nepal since 1990. Currently, he is active not only in Nepal but also in Japan and abroad as one of the best rural development workers internationally.
Mahanta Babu Maharjan
Secretary-General and Program Coordinator of SAGUN. She used to run a participatory program with ActionAid with Mr. Kamal. She was also involved in activities to deepen the understanding of people with mental illness called CMC Nepal, so she is familiar with the phenomenon of oppressed feelings appearing in groups and is deeply interested in the problems caused by gender discrimination and domestic violence. is. She is a grandfather who is kind to her grandfather at home.
Muku Maya Tamang
Village liaison. I live in a village with a family of four, a husband and two sons. She has been to Japan for training, so she is good at Japanese. After joining SAGUN, she gets a motorcycle license and rides around each area of the mountain to stay in touch. She resumed her studies, which had been suspended, and graduated from high school. She is now a studying enthusiastic woman who attends college in the village. During her study tour, she also worked as an interpreter. A nice smile!
