Introduction
Sahara Children’s Home (SCH) was established in 1996 according to the vision of a young Nepali lady. SCH is a not-for-profit, faith-based non-government organization, affiliated to the Social Welfare Council of the Nepal Government. It is led by a Nepali board consisting of professionals. It has been challenging yet a feasible vision for Christian witness through social ministry. It aims to provide vulnerable children with a better life of love, care, proper education and security in a homely atmosphere. Children coming into SCH come from situations of both rural and urban poverty. To date, 16 children have graduated and are living independently.
In our working area, several orphans, semi orphans and street children are found. The problem of orphan street children is acute due to urbanization and industrialization. Due to a variety of reasons, including deaths of family members or spouses by different kinds of diseases, re-marriage, divorce, absence of love and security in families, family disputes, unwanted pregnancy from trafficking and sexually exploitation of girls, some children are left without care and support. These children may become involved in rag picking, pickpocketing or participate in other anti-social, criminal activities. Therefore, we envisage mainstreaming these children in the national structures by providing care, support and protection in Sahara Children’s Home.
Vision
SCH’s vision is to show God’s love to orphans, semi orphans, vulnerable or underprivileged children and street children to help them and enable them to become independent in society.
Mission
Our mission is to mainstream orphans, semi orphans, vulnerable and underprivileged children and street children into the national structures by providing them with shelter, food, education, health care and a happy home. We seek to enrich and nourish these special ones whom Jesus loves so much.
Background
Nepal is a landlocked Himalayan country with a population of approximately 30 million. About 12 million of these are children under the age of 18. While 70% of Nepalese children begin elementary school, half of them drop out before the fifth to eight grades. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with its GDP of around $743. Fortunately, the internal armed conflict in Nepal which started in 1996 ended with relatively peaceful resolution in 2006. But it affected millions of children and some lost their lives. The decade long violence left around 40,000 children displaced and as many as 8000 children orphaned.
Some children, e.g. orphans or those with ill or destitute parents, face great challenges as family connections and favors are so highly important in gaining well paid employment in Nepal. Child labor is common, it is said about 1.6 million children under 18 years old are working in menial, sometimes dangerous jobs e.g. in restaurants, as domestic servants or on construction sites. Some children found homeless and destitute on the streets survive by begging alms. Girls from poor families are in special need of protection and education because an estimated 15,000 girls are sold into Indian brothels every year.
Most of the families from which SCH children come have 3-6 children, usually with cares struggling to survive by doing odd jobs. As is typical of such daily wage earners virtually all the family income is used in providing necessities, in most cases that means they cannot afford the cost of school fees for their children. In some cases, a family can afford cost of school fees, but don’t have money to purchase vital school supplies and materials. As a result, most poor families must choose very simple and poor quality but affordable schools for children in village areas. Such children from poor families attend schools that have no libraries or opportunities for research. Yet these children sit the same exams as better off children who have access to good schools with all the necessary facilities.
Higher levels of education scholarships are available to high achieving students. Such scholarships would offer a lifeline to poor students, but inadequate schooling makes it almost impossible to reach the standard required. Sadly, those who need scholarships most in order to pursue higher education have little access to them.
For children from poor families who are fortunate enough to start school, maintaining long-term attendance is still a big challenge because many of them drop out to meet family needs. For example, many girls stop going to school in order to take care of sick parent at home or boys to do some work to financially support the family. By the time such a child is free to go back to school it is no longer possible to continue in regular schools. The only options are entrepreneurial and vocational skills training courses.
There is a vicious cycle of poverty in which an illiterate parent finds it hard to get a good job with a reasonable level of pay. Low income makes it difficult to afford children’s school fees. Without good education, the child also has poor employment prospects, so the cycle continues from generation to generation. The cycle can only be broken by giving children access to good schooling and an environment conducive to study.
Goals / Objectives
- Provide children with their basic needs including health care in a homely environment.
- Provide good education up to Secondary Education Examination (SEE) or through grade 12 (10 + 2), and/ or bachelor’s degree.
- Provide opportunities to develop children’s skill and support development of children’s independence
- Provide equal opportunities to the children and ensure that they enjoy their rights.
- Teach them that children of all nationalities are the same.
- Operate legally with accountability and transparency with the support and guidance of our Board.
Activities
- Identification of orphan, semi orphan and street children
- Pre-view the incoming orphan, semi orphan or street child to assess problems or difficulties
- Emotional acceptance of the child
- Teaching facilities for basic education
- Teaching facilities for vocational courses
- Counselling facilities
- Recreational facilities
- Health care & medicines
