Our Humanity(Hamromanawta)

Introduction:
Inside the perimeter of Kathmandu valley one can easily observe pitiful conditions of many street children due to various reasons. The number seems to be rising with more and more problems elevating with it. With no expertise and support, they seem to wander around various market places to seek option for their living. Apart from collecting plastics and bottles, most of them even involve in criminal activities. The point, however, is an obvious fact as no hungry stomach remains calm. In addition to that, there is a most disturbing scene i.e. glue sniffing. ven though, it has been attempted by many other organi!ations working for "treet #hildren$s welfare to change the habit, the condition is still the same. With a great necessity of fully compatible social organi!ation which would act like %&ome'Away from &ome(, we have decided to start the concept of %)ur &umanity( as a humanitarian act. )ur &umanity will be an organi!ation focusing on overall aspects of "treet #hildren. It will operate as an *+) for the welfare rather than profit. It would not act in the same way the other organi!ation did with a failing result or outcome. It would provide alternatives to the street children for their sustainable development and bright future strategically. "ince the problem persists more in Kathmandu, the capital city, organi!ation would start its venture from the same place. &owever, branching would be done, when felt necessary, to all other parts of the country. It would also align with various common goal oriented organi!ations, whether they are local clubs, *+)s and I*+)s. "upport by any individuals through any means would be highly appreciated. ,ost of the tasks shall be conducted by general members and the executive committee, being an *+). With a team of highly experience yet young members, the organi!ation would be a boon not only for individual but society and country as a whole. )ne or two staffs would be hired in order to have regular functioning of the office though. There will be a day to mourn and less to celebrate tomorrow as the number of children in the street of Kathmandu -alley keeps increasing steadily and the street children continue to suffer. "treet children lack basic needs, have health problems, and are exposed to elicit drugs, communicable disease and sexually transmitted disease. "treet children are often involved in road accidents and victimi!ed by local authorities, the police and members of the public. "ome of the children complain of mistreatment and abuse at government rehabilitation centers. In addition, children lack due process in the courts as they are often unrepresented in legal proceedings. #hildren are also vulnerable to exploitation. .or example, young girls and boys are often used as prostitutes and young men are sometimes used to fulfill cultural practices, such as wife inheritance rituals. There are many organi!ations involved in child welfare in *epal but their lack of resources makes

them vulnerable to control by donors. "ome exist merely to take advantage of donor funding. The main causes of the problem of street children include poverty, problems at home or at school, street attractions and vulnerability. The government should take the lead in coordination, supervision and monitoring of individuals and organi!ations involved in child welfare. The government should also take the lead in enforcing the #hildren$s Act. )rgani!ations involved in child welfare should also engage in more proactive child advocacy, initiate screening programs for street children and training programs for the children and population at large. "uch initiatives must involve child participation and work toward family reunification. The focus should be on the rural and peri'urban areas where most children originate. The government, through the Area Advisory #ouncil /AA#0, should fund and coordinate child welfare programs by ensuring an appropriate distribution of the #onstituency 1evelopment .und /#1.0 and other government funding to 2ualified child welfare programs. The government should also enact reporting re2uirements to ensure organi!ations involved in child welfare accurately report any non'government funding. This pro3ect involves the goal of identifying interventions strategies. The pro3ect also involves visit to children homes and rehabilitation institutions, individual$s interview of social workers, police officers, governmental officials and randomly selected street children in Kathmandu valley. This pro3ect is concerned with the pro3ect mission of getting children of the streets and protects their human rights. We cannot, however afford to move in a rush and hurriedly considered recommendations that do remove children off the street, but homeless result in gross violations of their human rights we must move with caution to ensure that the initiatives we will implement will both remove the children off the streets and protect their human rights. The implementation must also be sustainable so as to stand the test of time. The main causes of the problem of street children include poverty, problems at home or at school, street attractions and vulnerability. "eminar participants and interviewees alike recommended that the government should take the lead in coordination, supervision and monitoring of individuals and organi!ations involved in child welfare. The government should also take the lead in enforcing the #hildren$s Act .)rgani!ations involved in child welfare were also urged to engage in more proactive child advocacy, initiate screening programs for street children and training programs for the children and population at large. "uch initiatives must involve child participation and work toward family reunification. The focus should be on the rural and peri'urban areas where most children originate.

Vision:
)ur &umanity will envision a new *epal which will be democratic, inclusive, 3ust and prosperous to all and sensitive to the rights of the children in real sense.

Mission:
To work as a resourceful organi!ation this will aim to fulfill its responsibility by offering its service to ensure the rights of the child, especially for children who do glue sniffing and dendrites.

Major activities of street children 4. 5egging 6. #arrying luggage 7. #leaning business premises and vehicles. 8. #ollecting waste papers, plastics, charcoal and metals for recycling. 9. :arking vehicles ;. +ambling <. =oading and off'loading vehicles >. Assisting the city council cleaners in sweeping and collecting garbage ?. #leaning utensils in food kiosks 4@. :etty thefts e.g. pick pocketing /mostly by the under 4; years0 44. -iolent robbery /mostly by the over 4; year$s youth0

Some of the factors that push and pull children to the streets
1 !ro"lems within families :arents separatedA at times children are forced to live under very harsh conditions. :arents staying together but with misunderstandingsA causes instability to children. Widowed manB women leads to change of living conditions after the death of one parent "tepparentA some step parents mistreat children forcing them to run away )rphanedA "ome children are forced to find how to make their own ends meet due to loss of both parents. #hild born out of wedlockA not accepted by some families. :laced awayA At times we place our children to live with our relatives against their wish.

-ery poor familiesA There are families where children must go out to fend for food and some end up in the streets. 6. :roblem at school "chool feesA This is mostly with secondary school cases /age 48 C 4>0 #orporal :unishmentA *ot so common currently but is still a problem in some schools "ome factors that pull and maintain children in the streets 4. &andouts /free food, clothing, money, etc0 6. Availability of drugs and easy access to them 7. To some extent the services provided by organi!ations handling children /some children get attracted0 8. :eer influence 1rugs commonly used by street children 4. =eather glue 6. #igarettes 7. 5hang

!roject #etail:
$oals % O"jectives:
ven though there is much to do in this particular field, goals have been categori!ed into 7 ma3or typesA $oal 1: &ecordin' and mappin' O"jectives: To monitor number of street children in a weekly basis and create record. To analy!e the alteration and mapping the hot spots of street children. $oal (: )ransformin' )b3ectivesA To create awareness programs with encouragement to opt for better options other than glue sniffing.

To organi!e regular basis of medical camps for ascertaining their good health. To search for shelter options, clothing, if found unwilling to remain in centers. $oal *: +rid'in' )b3ectivesA To act as mediator between street children and donor agencies or individuals. To facilitate government and other partners in articulating various plans and policies for the management of street children. To relocate families and relatives for the reunion.

,-ecutive .ommittee
"* 4 6 7 8 9 ; < :ost #hairman -ice chairman "ecretary Treasurer ,ember ,ember ,ember *ame "agyan Degmi :rabin 5hattarai :ratikar Karki "hivaram ,agar ,ahesh Timilsena Davi Khadka 5ikash K# :hone *o. ?>@6@@8@4@ ?>47<888;> ?>84?>>6;6 ?>@76<?;94 ?>844>97?< ?>8??86;>> ?>846@;;47 ' mail regmi.sagyanEourhumanity.org.np prabin.bhattaraiEourhumanity.org.np pratikar.karkiEourhumanity.org.np shivaram.magarEourhumanity.org.np mahesh.timilsenaEourhumanity.org.np ravi.khadkaEourhumanity.org.np bikash.kcEourhumanity.org.np

:ro3ect title #hetana bikash. 5albaalika bikash tathaa utthaan karyakram.

:ro3ect site "elected sites in Kathmandu valley at initial phase

Target group "treet children #hildren at risk #hildren in labours exploitation Ignored and marginali!ed children =ost children

Key activities .ield visit Training Borientation #o ordination :sycho' social counseling 1ocumentation and case study management .ollow up

/ction !lan: In following phases, plan for establishment shall be executed as soon as the fund is being providedA :hase 4A "earching for the center where office can be established /It shall be done before the funding is provided.0 :rocuring re2uired official e2uipments and materials &iring full time staffs for the functioning of day to day office Degistering in various networks like "ocial Welfare #ouncil and others which are necessary.

:hase 6A 1eveloping a team for research and disseminating them for finding specific hot spots and tracking their number. ,aking documentary based on them. :ublishing a small report based on it and providing one copy to the donor.

:hase 7A Interaction with street children regarding their problems or needs. :lanning for the health camps as well as awareness programs. "earching for potential donors for further programs.

With these phases, )ur &umanity will turn out to be a powerful resource centre and a mature organi!ation. *oteA 1eadlines shall be drawn after getting initial support for the establishment of organi!ation.

0ollow 1p and ,valuation: "ince any organi!ation has to think for the long run, follow ups of their activities is must. ach team doing research or any other forms of interaction shall produce report at the end. The report shall be used for the overall evaluation of the pro3ect. 5ased on the evaluation other programs shall be formulated. Desearch work would be done in a weekly basis but in the last week of the month there will be evaluation meeting consisting ma3ority that is at least <9F of executive members, volunteers, office staff as well as representative of donor /if necessary0. The summary of evaluation with valuable findings in research shall be provided to the donor or anyone it concerns.

Human &esources: There will be executive members / ,0 who shall work as active volunteers. Interested people or groups can be associated and work along ,. &owever, one full time staff shall be hired for the day to day operation and more shall be added after )rgani!ation becomes sustainable. !ro"lems and clues and )ips to solve the pro"lems 40 &andouts The #urrent "ituation The giving out of foodstuffs and money is reali!ed to be attracting more children to the streets, but some individuals apparently find it difficult to refuse a hungry child or to tell him or her to go to an institution instead. "ince there are genuine concerns about how some of these institutions are run or what they in fact accomplish, it may not be surprising that street'children prefer the streets where they think they have certain advantages, such as supposed freedom and ready cash.

#lues ,embers of the public should be discouraged from giving money, food, and other handouts to street children. Instead, organi!ations in this field should explore the most effective way of providing these givers with alternatives, while at the same time exploiting the desire to give, so that the total amount available for street children and those at risk of going to the streets is increased. The fact that members of the public respond to the presence of children on the streets in a variety of ways, some of which actually do more harm than good, shows that there may be a source of local funding here that is not being ade2uately tapped. To that extent, street'children organi!ations need to explore this possibility for increased local funding, and not rely almost exclusively on foreign funds. 60 1onor Influence The #urrent "ituation The current situation seems to be that donors often come up with new ideas they want implementing organi!ations to put into practice at very short notice. :erhaps there has been a change in the donor country itself that puts the funding agency under pressure to urge implementing organi!ations to reflect a similar change. "ince many implementing organi!ations do not have a clear vision or ob3ectives on which their choice of strategies and specific interventions can be shown to rest, this leaves the way open for the donors to insist on compliance. 2eed for colla"oration and a referral system #urrently there are many organi!ations working with children in different ways work directly with street children in Kathmandu -alley such as #WI*, &appy &ome. .lues 4 An organi!ation should examine itself to know what its particular strengths are. This will enable agencies to learn from each other, make use of comparative advantages to streamline their operations, and also share information and other resources where possible. 6 It is e2ually important, in this regard, that organi!ations have specific policies regarding how they interact with other organi!ations and programs that are also involved in the work. 7 +ood working relationships between private'sector and public'sector organi!ations is very essential.

8 1onors should also co'ordinate their own activities and support organi!ations that work well together.

70 ,istrust and lack of collaboration )he .urrent Situation The biggest problem is the lack of trust and the unwillingness to work together so that they can learn from each other. ,any are trying to do everything, rather than settling on what each can do best, leaving the rest to others, and even helping them where possible. Where in addition there is absence of clear vision and ob3ectives, a very bad situation results where one child and his or her family is being supported by 7 or more organi!ations and non of them is aware of the scenario and many others do not get the help they need making conditions in society worse and worse. /evident by the current picture in Kathmandu -alley town0 The current situation is that most organi!ations offering services to street'children or children and youth at risk do not have policies, or if they have them, they only developed them when they absolutely had to. This is presumably because there is considerable fear instilled among organi!ations by the very word Gpolicy$ itself. Policy simply means thinking about problems in advance, and how the organization will want to handle them rather than thinking under pressure to decide or act quickly. "o there is no need to be terrified about Hpolicy$. #lues 4#ollaboration also makes it possible for the government to delegate authority for the handling of specific tasks /such as the registration of new programmes0 to one or more of the organi!ations to undertake on its behalf. Without collaboration, such delegation is impossible, because agencies will still be working on the basis of divided minds and at cross purposes with each other. #ollaboration, on the other hand, leads to speciali!ation, which eliminates competition and makes partial delegation of governmental authority possible. 6 )rgani!ations that work with street children or children and youth at risk must learn to think through the changes donors may ask them to make, and not to agree to them unless and until they are convinced that the changes are desirable. 1onor interests and the changes they recommend should perhaps be incorporated into an organi!ation$s programme on a gradual basis, with the organi!ation being given time to think about the change and reflect on its likely conse2uences and implications, then giving donors a feedback after an agreed'upon period of time.

7 The government$s presence, active involvement, and indeed leadership in the whole area of street'children work is presently seen and felt. This is to say that the +overnment has improved greatly and should be encouraged to do even much better. 8 #ommunities need to be educated as to why this common interest and strong stand are important. "ome stakeholders in the present effort have suggested that education of communities is not being encouraged currently because the government fears this possibility. 5ut children$s issues need to be de'politicised. It is in the interests of everyone involved in this field to work toward demonstrating that an educated community that is empowered to take care of its own is an asset to the government rather than a threat, because it actually helps the government to shoulder its responsibilities.

1se of Information3 .ommunication and )echnolo'y in Handlin' 'lue sniffin' A In Kathmandu valley there are many Wifye Iones which will be the one of the means of communication to handle the activities of children through networking sites such as facebook, Twitter and yahoo and gmail. *ot only this we can capture their activities through these networking sites through laptop."o it will be possible to assume how many street children are affected by glue sniffing and we can identify those children with the help of this networking sites through gmail and yahoomail.This technology will help to know the real scenario of Kathmandu valley the real life and the real use of drugs that is used by street children.This will help to put pressure on the activities of a non governmental organi!ation and as well as the government itself.This will be the one of the means of communication and technology that our ngo has launched.

1se of we"sites: In website there will be every technology such as networking, outline marketing, community built up, swift code, pay way, e'sewa, mobile cash. This will help to collect donation for those street kids. In *epal the most of the population are mobile users and through mobile banking system this technology will help to collect fund for those kids who are affected by drugs. ,-penses: 1uring the establishmentA ,4uipments and supplies 1esktop #omputerA 6no costing *Ds >@,@@@ Wesite designing of &amro ,anawata costing *Ds 49,@@@ -ehicleA 4no costing *Ds 4>@,@@@ #ameraA' 4no costing *Ds >9,@@@ "canning machineA' 4no costing *Ds4@,@@@ Wireless modemA' 4no costing *Ds ;@@@

,iscellaneous supplies /.iles &olders, Degister, pen, pencils etcA *Ds 4@,@@@/In approx0 )ne month rentA *Ds 6@,@@@ "alary for staffA *Ds 49,@@@/for 6 months *Ds <,9@@ monthly0 #ommunication and TravellingA *Ds 6@,@@@/for 6 months0 lectric 5illA *Ds 9@@@ Telephone set upA *Ds 4@,@@@ Telephone and internet billA *Ds 4@,@@@

1st initiative: #ocumentary on Street children Denting of video'cam and overall productionA *Ds. 9@,@@@ Traveling and general expensesA *Ds. 6@,@@@ .ooding and drinksA *Ds. 49,@@@ Total expensesA *Ds. 9, 9;,@@@ /e2uivalent to J.".1 ;6<@.88 as 4 J.".1 K *Ds. >>.;<0 .or further information please log on to our website www.ourhumanity.org.np and email us infoEourhumanity.org.np and contact &amromanwta /)ur &umanity0 organi!ation chairman and # ) ,r. "agan Degmi at his cell no L?<<?>@6@@8@4@.