Bailo

During the festival of Tihar Nepalese children perform "Bailo" going around people's houses singing and dancing in return for a donation and some treats - a bit like "trick or treat" in the Western world. Yesterday the refuge children came to my home and I recorded a short video of their trip. I have just now posted that footage to my charity run fundraising page in the hope that any viewers will contribute something to my online sponsorship in appreciation, just as I was pleased to put my hand into my pocket yesterday:

http://www.justgiving.com/philipholmesbupa

A donation can be modest and I don't expect many to compete with the gentleman who added £5k to the kitty yesterday!

I hate mobile culture

It became a running joke with my friends that I didn't possess a mobile until I reluctantly accepted one a couple of years ago. And then only because one of them bought me one out of exasperation at being unable to reach me. My problem was not with the technology per se - I love communications and ease of accessibility, particularly when trying to run a UK charity from Kathmandu and to stay in touch with friends and supporters. Instead I was troubled by becoming part of mobile culture, within which those who own the confounded things feel compelled to use and answer them, however inappropriate, wherever they may be and whatever the occasion. Take a look at the picture I received this morning of former circus girl Maya who I have mentioned in a previous post as being a talented distance runner. She's just 15 but yesterday came 9th in a 3km run against national adult athletes. In the picture she's receiving a prize from the local MP but just look at the geezer in the background who is so subtley (not) concealing his use of his mobile.

I am considering bringing Maya over to London for a future running event if my Trust can find some sponsorship for her nearer the time. That would be the chance of a lifetime for her and well deserved.

On the subject of which, don't forget my online sponsorship form for the BUPA 10km run:

http://www.justgiving.com/philipholmesbupa

Sponsorship is developing nicely as is interest from fellow runners. Two of my London-based staff, Chris Kendrick and Nadia Kamel, will be joining me, as will six other supporters (so far). If you would like to come too, registration for the race opened yesterday:

http://www.london10000.co.uk/site/?pageID=200

Laxmi

We are in the midst of the Nepalese festival of Tihar which is equivalent to Diwali, the festival of lights in India. Yesterday prayers were being offered to the goddess of wealth, Laxmi. It's remarkable how theologically opposed this is to Christianity which rejects prosperity - at least in principle. In bygone years devotees would place an array of little oil lamps around their houses to attract Laxmi to their hearth but these days they drape buildings with huge lengths of fairy lights for the same purpose.

Last evening was one of the three evenings per week of scheduled power cuts. The electricity went off at 5.45 as per normal but to my surprise it came back on again half an hour later (normally the power is off for three hours). Then I realised that someone somewhere must have realised that the cut would have meant no fairy lights and no enticement of Laxmi.

This morning it was back to "normal" with no power when we awoke, the reality of Nepal's poverty and our getting up in the dark with a screaming Alisha who is now firmly in "the terrible twos".

Jane and Olwyn go to Hetauda

During their volunteer attachment with The Esther Benjamins Trust in Nepal, Jane McKears (pictured right with Programme Coordinator Binod Bhujel) went with Olwyn Cupid to assist at our branch office in Hetauda. Hetauda is the principal town in Makwanpur District which before our work had its positive impact was the main child trafficking area to the Indian circuses. This is what Jane wrote about her time there:

"Olwyn and I came to Nepal to do five weeks voluntary work over the Desai holiday period. Both of us are widely travelled, and Olwyn in particular has seen most of the world.

We were drawn to the project by a number of things. I had briefly visited the project at Bhairahawa and was attracted to the positive and optimistic attitude at the centre. It quickly became clear to me that this really is a charity which is here for the benefit of the children and not the Directors. With my having a background in Health Visiting and Child Protection, and Olwyn being an Inspector of schools, we soon recognized the project as being totally child-centred. Our first few days were spent at Godawari, which is five miles outside of Kathmandu. In this gentle oasis, we picked oranges from the trees in our garden [I wondered where those had gone to...] and enjoyed views from our rooftop towards Everest. Outside in the road, goats and hens wandered amongst brightly painted lorries.

After a couple of frustrating days when we did not even know where the children were, we were able to join them at last. It was such fun, teaching them to play "What's the time Mr. Wolf" and other games. They actually screamed with excitement. It was only later that we discovered some of the "children" were 19 years old, but having had their childhood destroyed, they were learning to play. I gave an impromptu First Aid Course with an almost empty First Aid box, but the children appreciated practicing covering an open wound.

The following week we were transferred to Hetauda. Nothing in our previous travels prepared us for the ten hour bus journey there. Cramped into the small back seat which we shared with 2 men, we could not move our legs at all, but felt more fortunate than those sitting on the roof…especially when the late monsoon flooded our road. The 14 seater bus conveyed 26 of us along, not counting those sitting on the roof. It was stifling hot, and the pot-holed road was emphasized by the lack of suspension. Bouncing along as though we were horse-riding, I was once bounced up so high I banged my head on the ceiling of the bus. Respite came with a loo stop. Looking out through the large hole, which replaced a window, I was able to enjoy beautiful rural views whilst having a wee. Naturally when we unpacked our cases, which had been strapped to the roof throughout the downpour, the entire contents were soaking!

So why did the morning find us relaxed and contented? Nepali people are amongst the friendliest in the world. And the children at our project were welcoming and helpful. By lunch time I had had my toe nails and left hand finger nails painted scarlet by the children, and Olwyn had enjoyed showing them how to use her camera. Plentiful meals of dhal bhat were provided, which were delicious but mountainous! We had great fun singing English and Nepali songs together, and then had ball games which reminded me how much fun childhood can be. It wasn't all fun of course. The regular water and electricity cuts were frustrating, but we followed the lead of the children who took it all in due course. Neither did we like the mosquitoes which seemed particularly attracted to us.

Highlights for me included, taking a pregnant girl to hospital for a check up, where it was interesting to see the ante-natal check up. We both loved visiting the families of circus returnees to see if the girls had settled well back at home. Seeing families live in 2 roomed mud huts was not a new experience for us, but gaining insight into the social causes of child trafficking was an eye-opener. It is not just simply illiteracy that leads families to believe their children will be transformed into film stars, but a simplicity which is associated with the geographical limits of their lifestyles. One family we visited, were of the Chepang tribe. They are the poorest tribe in Nepal and live their entire lives in the jungle, eating only what can be found there. They live in houses of mud and branches, and never leave the area. Imagine how tragically simple it would be to fool them that their daughter was about to be given a great future in the circus. As Hetaudu is prone to child trafficking, the staff have been out with loudspeakers , conducting awareness campaigns. Let's hope this reduces the incidence.

Our time at Hetauda was also used to conduct a research project to find the current state of the circuses in India,. This will inform the future direction of the work of the Trust.. most of what the circus returnees, and ex-circus managers told us, only reinforced knowledge already available to the Trust. It was extremely painful for us to hear the girls describe their treatment, but this just served to strengthen our commitment to supporting the work of the Esther Benjamins Trust.

If you are thinking of coming here as a volunteer, please bring with you an open mind. Nepali culture is complex and diverse. Would I recommend that you come here as a volunteer? Well, yes – if you have the skills and knowledge which are useful to the Esther Benjamins Trust. Remember that the volunteer experience is primarily to benefit the children, and our own enjoyment is secondary. For both of us this has been a wonderful experience, peppered with a great sadness at suffering which we cannot erase."

Table Tennis

Yesterday I opened a mini youth club at the Trust's children's refuge at Godawari, Kathmandu and inaugurated the table tennis table. The facility isn't lavish - it's all we can afford - but it will mean a lot to the kids who are getting older and more energetic by the day. Afterwards I welcomed new volunteer Carole Swithern and bade farewell to outgoing volunteers Jane McKears and Olwyn Cupid. This has been a record year for the number of volunteers who have come to help us out and quantity has been matched by quality.

I now have seven runners (self included) pledged to take part in the BUPA 10km run for which online registration opens today. We are planning to do the run with clowns' (sad) faces with the message that the Indian circus is no laughing matter. I am those who have been very quick off the mark to sponsor me. I have been so encouraged that I have upped the fundraising target to £10,000, aiming to raise £1,000 for each kilometer that I run in the year of the Trust's 10th birthday. New runners and sponsors most welcome!

I am very proud of our new look website, which has had a total makeover and went live at the weekend.

Dashain fall out

Earlier this month I described in a post how most of our refuge children go back to their villages to stay with family members for the main Hindu festival of Dashain. On the face of it our sending them back makes good sense as it's fulfilling the wishes of children to enjoy some semblance of family life and it keeps them in contact with families. Family bonds are very important in Nepal. However, this practice carries huge risks and once again we've had our annual raft of disasters. I met with the children's carer, Shailaja, yesterday to discuss the fall out from Dashain and the non return of a few children and teenagers.

It seems from our discussion that a large part of the problem comes from children leaving the structured routine of our refuge in Kathmandu to the unstructured (indeed chaotic) lifestyle back in their villages. Unsupervised by parents, the children are free to roam around the place, make acquaintances (some of which can be very unhealthy) and develop alternative naive visions for their short term futures. And so they come to the decision to drop out of education or training and in the case of at least four of those who are not coming back to us, to get married. Needless to say, the education and training that we offer provide a real future, but the children/teenagers don't necessarily see it that way and their families are too ignorant to counsel them otherwise.

Shailaja was clearly saddened during our discussion as she is very emotionally involved with the children. She has known some of them for years and it was she more than anyone who turned a few of them around after they emerged as basket cases from the abuse of the Indian circus. She's also upset in the knowledge that the children haven't realised their full potentials and won't get another chance or as good a chance again. And she knows that, after making a personal visit to the see the children at their homes this week that they won't be persuaded to come back to us. We have to therefore console ourselves in the knowledge that we have provided a stable emotional bridge between the circus and return to the community. Without that bridge the returnees' reintegration would have been difficult, if not impossible.

The vacant places at the refuge will be filled again soon; there are plenty of other young children - vulnerable siblings of returnees - who could use those vacancies and be offered a chance in life. However we decided yesterday that in future we will obtain a commitment from children and their parents that in the final four years before taking the all important School Leaver's Certificate examination (at age 16) refuge children will not return to their villages for Dashain or any other festival. Parents can come to see the children if they so wish. We have to ensure that expensive charity refuge/education places are used to their full potential and that children don't find themselves in the village environment which is so conducive to taking wrong decisions at a critical time for their future.

It's very hard to strike the right balance in this kind of work but if you keep at the forefront of your mind what is in the best interests of the individual child then you won't go far wrong.

A long time in charity

Former UK Prime Minister, the late Harold Wilson, once said that "a week is a long time in politics". After my fundraising experiences of the past week I am inclined to the view that it can also be a long time in the charitable sector. For at the start of the week I was quite bullish about our chances of being able to balance The Esther Benjamins Trust's books next year through a new raft of funding applications to grant making foundations that we have just issued. However last week we received rejection after rejection, including from traditionally generous historical funders. I can only infer that those foundations are as worried about donating as has become the general public in the present global financial crisis.

On Saturday I wrote to my Trustees to share my concerns and propose that we cast the fundraising net even wider than before in the coming year. One of the new initiatives that I have suggested is the Trust's participation in the annual BUPA 10km run in London on the 25th May next year. Online application will open on 28th October but the Trustees have agreed that we will purchase an additional 30 guaranteed places to ensure that we can field a good team. And I have decided to put my feet where my mouth is and join the run myself. I'll be inviting supporters to join me but if you can't do so please sponsor me through the online form that can be accessed through this blog.

All things to all people

Many of the local NGOs in Nepal seem to think that their best chance of securing overseas funding is to try to be all things to all people (potential donors). Take for example this bid that I received yesterday from an NGO that I had never heard of before. In spite of having a very broad range of NGO interests (objectives) that cover just about everything imaginable within the development sector, the activity in this "proposal" comes down to nothing more than indiscriminate spraying of village houses with pesticide (not sure that I'd care for that much around my home):

"Proposal for the Pest Control

Main Objective of the NGO:

A.) To launch the various activities for the development of Agriculture & Veterinary Sectors.
B.) To implement Rural Water Supply & Sanitation and Toilet Construction Programme.
C.) To implement world charter of child rights and their development.
D.) To implement various activities for the people under natural disaster.
E.) To improve the living standard of deprived lower caste & scheduled tribe by mobilizing them into groups.
F.) To implement various activities in health sector.
G.) To assist in poverty alleviation of low income families.
H.) To disseminate knowledge about education & conduct training for self employment.
I.) To improve internal infrastructure of tourism. And
J.) To mobilize women into groups to improve their living standard, skill development and income generation.

B. Project Details:

Name of the project: Pest Control
Project Site::District: Dhanusha VDC: Nanupatti, Pachharwa, Sonigama, Chakkar, Aurahi, Duhabi, Bafai, Lakhauri, Dhabauli, Hattipur Harwara ,Sabela, Satokhar, Kharihani, Deori Parbaha & Dhanauji.
Project Duration:Date of Commencement: Jan, 2009
Date of Completion: Feb, 2009
Project Status: NewProject
Sector: HealthProject
Selection Criteria:
I) Pest Control is the basic need of all living being. Like cockroach, mosquito & flees are spreading the disease in to the life. As the people of these areas highly demanded to have pest control spray in to their home from donor based organization like us.
II) Cholera, Malaria & Viral Fever like disease are attacking to the healthy people due to heavy attack of flees & mosquito.
Project Objective: Get rid off from the pest attack and spreading disease.
Project Implementation Process:We will hire the expert in the field and then by spray the dilution of DDC Chemical in each village by door to door at the pre-information to the house holder.
Target No. of Beneficiaries: More than 50000 people
Expected Out come: 100% result oriented based on pest control.
Monitoring & Evaluation of the Project: The work will be monitored by the joint committee from the NGO, District Health Organization and local community.
Preparation and submission of progress report: At the end of Project (one copy to the Donor Agency and One copy to the Social welfare council).
Sustainability of the project: Every year we have schedule to inspect the areas whether pest control is required or not if yes we will conduct the project on the donation basis of donor agency.
Proposed Amount: Total Proposal of amount for the project: NRS. 11, 00,000 (Financial) Cost of Programme: 650000 Cost of Administration: 450000 (Including Over head)
Personnel Required: No Of Local Staff: 15 people Inspection Team: 3 People"

I can think of better ways of spending £10,000 in Nepal.

Goose-a-laying

My charity's Christmas cards are now available for purchase. The cover shows a mosaic entitled "Goose-a-laying" (as per the 12 Days of Christmas carol) that was made by Kumari, a former circus girl who is a graduate of the art workshop that we've been running in Kathmandu this year. The cards sell at £3.99 for a pack of 8, with postage and packing costs of:

Up to 4 packs - £1.65
Up to 6 packs - £1.75
Up to 8 packs - £2.00
Up to 10 packs - £2.55


Once again, through the kind sponsorship of leading London-based engineering company Ramboll Whitbybird, 100% of the purchase price represents a donation to The Esther Benjamins Trust (EBT). Recipients of the card will be able to order an original of the mosaic - which is from a limited edition - that will ensure trafficking survivors are kept in work making them well into January. So beat that for a charity Christmas card offer!

You can place your order by contacting EBT through e mail - info@ebtrust.org.uk - by telephone - 020 7600 5654 or through placing an order via the Trust's website - www.ebtrust.org.uk/site/home.htm

Vijaya Dashain

Today was Vijaya Dashain, the tenth and main day of the festival of Dashain. Normally it's when young people visit family homesteads to receive a blessing and "tika" mark on the forehead from the family elders. Also included in the package is a few barley shoots tucked behind the right ear of the recipient of the blessing and a gift, that usually involves a small amount of money.

I went to our children's refuge this morning to act as the "family elder" for about 50 children who had nowhere to go to this Dashain. They included children who were HIV positive that had been rejected by their families but probably also a few of our older boys and girls who had given up on their natural families and preferred their friends' company rather than attending a shallow family celebration. Often these same family members had trafficked them to the circuses or wrecked their lives through alcohol abuse and various misdemeanours that had led to prison sentences.

The occasion went well and it was as moving for me as ever. For the first time five of the older boys (aged 16-18) after receiving my blessing (which is of rather dubious merit) bent down and touched my feet with their heads as a mark of respect. This leaves you feeling very awkward but it brought home to me just how much these kids realised what had been done for them, not just by me but by the charity as a whole - trustees, staff, volunteers and supporters. At times I rant about the trials and tribulations of working in this very difficult society - including in this blog - but today all the effort felt very worthwhile.

Vehicle worship

I returned to our children's refuge in Godawari this morning to continue with my experiments in smoking food. The results of yesterday's fish smoking looked very appetising but might have been a little overcooked. The taste was great though and received the thumbs up from the local staff members who'd helped me with the smoking yesterday. Today I am trying to produce tandoori smoked chicken in advance of letting the refuge children try all the products when I attend the main Dashain ceremony there tomorrow.

Driving through Kathmandu it's very quiet at the moment with most shops closed and few vehicles on the road. Dashain is the main Hindu festival and it's really a time for being at home with family or going back to one's ancestral village to visit relatives, hence the deserted streets. There are quite a few homemade swings ("pings") made out of bamboo poles to be seen in open spaces (including one at the refuge) that are designed to take the child literally and metaphorically heavenward and away from earthly things. However to my eye this doesn't quite fit with some of the other, more material, devotions. As I left the refuge today the staff were decorating the NGO's vehicles - bus, jeep and motorbike - with garlands and sugar cane leaves as part of a worship procedure while children were playing on a ping in the background. The Director, Shailaja, who is a practising Roman Catholic, smiled indulgently and told me that if she didn't allow this then if there were any future breakdowns she'd be blamed for not have allowed "puja" or "prayers" to have taken place. So she's gone with the flow which is actually a very Nepali thing to do and this easy going, tolerant approach I suppose is part of the charm of this place.

No way to treat a filing cabinet

In August I attended a one day course at "Smoky Jo's" near Shap in the English Lake District, learning everything that you could ever want to know about how to smoke meat, fish, vegetables - anything really. My picture appears on the Smoky Jo's website gallery:

http://www.smokyjos.co.uk/Smoky%20Jo

The purpose of my attending the course (which I would highly recommend) was to establish if I could learn some basic skills that could be transferable to Nepal as a form of income generation for the girls we've rescued from the Indian circuses. Jo and Georgina were fantastic and very knowledgeable hosts and I came away all fired up (so to speak) with enthusiasm for the technique.

Last month New Zealand expatriate volunteers in Kathmandu, Sarah and Ian Broughton built a smokery to my guidance. This isn't exactly rocket science; essentially you can convert a metal filing cabinet to meet the demands of smoking. All you need is to cut a hole in the top of the cabinet and add a chimney. The bottom of the cabinet becomes a heat source, one drawer up from that is where you do your hot smoking and the top drawer is reserved for cold smoking. Delightfully simple.

Today I trialled their smoker for the first time, cold smoking a drawer full of fish (salmon, trout and king fish that I had suitably primed beforehand). I'll see what the results are like tomorrow morning before continuing the experiment with a hot smoke of chicken.

No one in Nepal is smoking any foodstuffs to the best of my knowledge and early indications are that there could be a lot of mileage in refining this technique for an increasingly discerning local market.