Fulbari Summer Camp: Building Hope for Nepalese Children

Vital Stats

Subhash G

  • people helped7000
  • People Doing It 16

The Problem

During the ten years of civil war (1996-06) between Nepalese government forces and Maoist rebels, more than 13,000 innocent Nepalese lost their lives. Thousands of childern were among the victims and, of those children who did survive, many lost their parents. Arupokhari is one the most deeply affected villages. The physical inaccessibility of Arupokhari, coupled with deep-seated casteism, has hindered the overall development of the community. About 65% of 7,600 people are Sudras, i.e. untouchables, the lower caste. The Sudras are at the very bottom of Nepalese caste hierarchy, which consists of: Brahmins, Chhetris, Vaisyas, and Sudras. Though caste discrimination has been illegal since 1990, Sudras are still banned from temples, water taps, and have to use separate utensils at homes and tea-shops. The project supported healthy social and emotional development of those affected by the civil war from Arupokhari, a remote village in Gorkha district in Western Nepal. The Fulbari Summer Camp focused on a wide range of play activities including sports, visual arts, music, dance, and drama as a way to enable inter-caste reconciliation and trauma healing. The camp also supported community peace building by embracing the universal values of child care prescribed in the Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC): the right of children to play mediated through local, culturally appropriate activities . The values expressed in CRC are better addressed at a micro level through child-focused activities in communities. A program of this type was never been conducted in the entire district. I wanted to help so called lower-caste and war-affected children reclaim their playfulness, passion and joy. These children are deprived of basic rights to equality because of the prevalence of caste discrimination, a situation that worsened during the civil war. They are in dire need of psychological support and care to balance the effects that the exhausting and brutal civil war has had in their lives. My project aimed at replacing a war ethos of violence and destruction with fun and creativity. With compassion and care, I believe that children can heal and become healers within their communities.

Plan of Action

http://fusion.stolaf.edu/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsDetails&id=4609 After assembling the team of 16 people, equipment, books, crafts and other necessary materials, my team headed to Arupokhari in the second week of June where we spent a week recruiting local volunteers, teachers and helpers and setting up for the camp at Shree Darbar School. The selection of children was done in conjunction with the VDC to ensure that the group is inclusive and diverse. Five childern between the ages of 5-12 from each of 9 counties were be chosen. Ishwor Adhikari, the former chairman of the VDC, agreed to be our contact person in Arupokhari. The camp ran under my direction. The camp site, Shree Darbar Secondary School, was often used as a shelter by the Maoist rebels during the war and school routines were constantly disrupted; such scary times are still raw in the minds of young children. It was our goal to relieve this, replacing children’s school associations of fear with ones of support and love. The children attended attend camp from 10 am to 4 pm for five days a week. They returned home each night. Lunch was provided in the camp. The camp engaged children with each other through group activities such as drama, storytelling, music and dance, arts and crafts, and sports (soccer, frisbee, dandibiyo - a favorite local stick game, and kite flying) facilitated by our team of volunteers and teachers of different castes. The staffing of the camp greatly contributed to community building as the local volunteers can then respond and support children in the future. As children played together during these activities, it provided an opportunity for them to heal, open up, communicate, and grow. The camp’s lively and fun atmosphere made children feel comfortable in studying, playing and eating together irrespective of caste. It allowed them to understand that their lives are more defined by joy and love than by war, fear and discrimination. Child education experts and the child psychologist were crucial at this stage. Through observing the children’s activities they developed and implemented counseling sessions and healing processes with the appropriate use of fun and creative activities. I set up a fund to provide scholarships to 25 children this year and hope to expannd next year. I think the children learned to play together by putting behind the sad episodes of violence and war. Since a project of the kind was never before implemented, the whole villagers were excited and embraced our apporach of reconcialtion and rehabilitation. It gave them hope for new begining in their lives.
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