यी विदेशी महिला को हुन् ?

यी विदेशी महिला को हुन् ?

Painful case
 
ANJALI SUBEDI
Orphanage management

(फागुन ३ गते सानो पाइला र केहि एनजिओहरुले ललितपुरको धापाखेल स्थित ह्याप्पी होम बालगृहबाट ठीक त्यसरी नै बच्चाहरुको उद्धार गरेका थिए जसरी फागनु १४ गते दिलशोभा श्रेष्ठको आमाघरबाट बच्चाहरुको उद्धार गरिए । सञ्चारमाध्यमहरुको खासै ध्यान नपुगेको त्यो घटनामा एक जना विदेशी महिलाको प्रत्यक्ष संलग्नता रहेको थियो । ह्याप्पी होमबाट बालबच्चाहरुको उद्धार गरिदैं गर्दा त्यहाँ अन्दाजी वर्ष ६० की एक विदेशी महिलाले बालबच्चालाई उद्धार गर्नु पर्नाका कारणबारे त्यहाँ उपस्थित केहि छानिएका सञ्चारमाध्यमका संचारकर्मी सामु ब्रिफिङ गरिरहेकी थिइन् । बिफ्रिङको क्रममा तिनी आफ्नो परिचय भने दिइरहेकी थिइनन् । अर्थात तिनी आफ्नो परिचय गोप्य राख्न चाहन्थिन् । तिनी आफ्ना कर्मचारीहरुलाई ठाडो निर्देशन दिइरहेकी थिइन् । तिनी बाहेक त्यहाँ उपस्थित अन्य सबै नेपाली नै थिए । त्यहाँको माहौल बुझिनसक्नुको थियो । 
केहि विदेशीहरु नेपाल आउँछन् र बालबच्चा उद्धारको नाममा हामी माथि हैकम चलाउँछन् । हामी भने तिनीहरुका आदेश पालना गर्नुको कुनै विकल्प नै नरहेको जस्तो गर्छौं । यो राम्रो  भने पक्कै होइन ।
यिनै सानो पाइला नामक एनजिओको नजर दिल शोभाका आमाघरमा पनि प¥यो । आमाघरमा व्यवस्थापकीय कमजोरी त थियो नै । अहिले मलाई के कुरामा दुःख लागिरहेको छ भने सरकारका जिम्मेवार निकायको ध्यान तबसम्म पुगिरहेका देखिंदैन जबसम्म यी एनजिओहरुले कारवाहीका निमित्त नघचघचाओस् । यी एनजिओहरुका आग्रह पुरा नगर्ने बालगृहहरु यिनीहरुको निशानामा पर्छन र अन्यले भने त्यत्तिकै सफाइ पाएका हुन्छन् ।
हामीले देशको यो स्थितिलाई दयनीय नै मान्नु पर्ने हुन्छ जब कुनै विदेशी महिला दिलशोभा र उनको आमाघरमाथि औंला ठड्याओस् र सरकारी संयन्त्रहरु भने त्यत्तिकै निष्कृय खाली बसिरहोस् । भावानुवाद :  ब्लगर राज श्रेष्ठ)

In its Facebook page on February 6 an NGO called Sano Paila invites applications for Reintegration /Transitional Manager and Reintegration Officers for ‘Nepal Rescue Agency Project’ that frees children and vulnerable people from the bonds of slavery, stigma and extreme social deprivation. The project is supported by UK-based Charity Freedom Matters which works in combating trafficking and modern day slavery, the announcement reads.

On February 15, a team of Sano Paila and few other NGOs is found set to rescue children “living in deplorable condition” from Happy Home Orphanage of Dhapakhel, Lalitpur. They claim they had done necessary home work—from gathering evidences to contacting government bodies concerned —for this. On the spot, a foreigner in her 60s, briefs the account to the selected media persons present there to break the news. She does not like to reveal her identity while briefing the rescue operation plan. She issues smart instructions to her people to pick the kids from the shelter home. Everyone present there is Nepali except her. It’s hard to understand the whole affair. Some foreigner comes to our country to rescue kids from risk and we follow her instructions with zeal. I don’t feel good about it.

She acts with an authority and tells us how to bring poor children out of shelter home and how to make them feel comfortable and delighted. But she has little to say about what would happen of those kids in the long run—who would take care of them and whether they would be able to continue going to school as they are doing while in shelter home. All that she and her team seem to know is that the children were in risk and they had to be rescued.

The operator of Happy Home Orphanage was asked why there were more kids in the register than the home had been housing. When he failed to offer convincing answer he was detained by the police the same day. Moreover, he was caught lying to a mother that her three children were not in hostel at the time she had wanted to meet them. However, the rescue operation could not take place that day. And the foreigner told everyone not to be disheartened.

While Central Investigation Bureau team was taking time to complete the job, I managed to speak to three members in the orphanage: a lady who would take care of the kids and two resident boys. I could make out that the boys were properly fed. I asked them if they were treated properly. “If we make big mistakes then, of course, we have to be ready for punishment,” one of the boys said. The other children I saw later, when they had come to orphanage for lunch, looked healthy and well dressed. If they had not been housed in the orphanage, not all of them would get these facilities, I thought.

Earlier during the discussion I had told the foreign lady that those who end up in orphanages are helpless kids, though many of them might still have parents. Able parents do not leave their kids unattended, I said. And since our government is not in position to take care of such children many shelter homes exist in the country. One cannot expect such homes to be in perfect condition.

The bitter truth is children are subjected to physical and mental abuse even at our homes. Cases of child right violations are common in our society, at home and schools. In poorer families, kids don’t get regular meal. Thousands of kids are into child labor and deprived of education despite living with parents. I could not share these realities with the foreign lady. I belong to a country where majority of politicians sell off their and state’s dignity to serve their interests. In such condition, someone from outside can easily challenge our dignity.

Dil Shova Shrestha’s Aama Ghar has come under scrutiny of Sano Paila. Aama Ghar is a place where I go to spend time when I feel low and lonely. The lack of management is visible there. You do not need to register your name to go in and come out of Aama Ghar. You can pick and drop things there, nobody questions you. I have seen residents are given tea, snacks and meal on time. Children are not getting proper care but they are not in helpless state either. If you want to drop one more helpless kid (although Aama Ghar is already overcrowded for this) there Dil Shova would not object to. If you can convince her that you want to take one or two of the residents your home to offer them better shelter, she would not think twice before agreeing. Dil Shova thinks the world is as simple as her. If you talk to the resident mothers they will tell you about their selfish sons and daughter in laws and praise Dil Shova for taking their care.

For the last few months, however, I had been receiving complaints against Dil Shova by the volunteers each time I visited her home. They objected to lack of management. I asked Dil Shova if she knew about those complaints and suggested her some ways to address them. She did not look worried at all. She said she has blessings of the many old mothers and feared nothing. Dil Shova herself does not hesitate to eat stale food in a dirty plate. Cleanliness is not something that bothers her. She does not comb her hair until she has to go out or to attend some functions.

Dil Shova is under investigation now. Other orphanages are also under scanner. Whether the operators of orphanages and elderly home deserve such intervention is a different matter. What saddens me is the fact that our government agencies do not take the matters in hand unless some NGOs, like Sano Paila, take the initiative. Most often the orphanages that fail to appease these NGOs are targeted. The rest are spared.

It’s unfortunate that out government is not in a position to regulate the orphanages and other social organizations. It’s painful that some foreign lady is taking actions against Dil Shova, not our own government authorities.

The author is with Republica’s social bureau

Published on 2014-03-01 08:52:57 

Source : http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=70304