Protect & Inspire Street Connected Children, Nepal

As the whole world begins to slowly recover from the devastating effects of COVID19, sadly the pandemic is going to be felt a lot longer in Nepal, where still only 20% of the adult population has been vaccinated. 

I would like to share with you one of our success stories, where we managed to reunite Arun with his family.  At three months old, Arun's mother abandoned him and his disabled father and left him in the care of his uncle in a small village.

At 10 years old, Arun's uncle left in search of work and a new life in the city, so he moved in with his father.  They struggled with their relationship and one day Arun took a bus and ended up in Pokhara, a city he did not recognize and was a long way from his village.

Alone in the big city and unable to remember where he had come from, Arun was forced to live and work on the street. Our outreach worker who was monitoring child labour, identified Arun as being vulnerable and was determined to try and find his family.

Arun moved into our Street Shelter, where he was with other boys, who had all found themselves living on the street due to a range of complex reasons. After months of counselling with our social workers, using mapping methods to mark out landmarks near to his home, they eventually worked out the name of Arun's village, and tracked down Arun's father who had filed a missing child report two years prior.

This whole process took a year before Arun was reunited with his father and uncle and once all the formalities were concluded, he was free to return home.  Our social workers will keep in touch with Arun over the next few years, to check on his wellbeing and his school attendance. 

After some determined lobbying by our team in Pokhara, who always work hard to make sure action is taken against employers of children under 14 years, Arun has been awarded Rs. 25,000 (£159) in compensation for the unpaid work he had completed whilst on his own in Pokhara.

To reach more children we urgently need more help - a donation of any amount will go far in funding the tireless efforts of our social workers in Nepal, who work day and night to identify and house vulnerable children.

Thank you for your support and with your help we can change the lives of the children we work with forever.

Best wishes

The Kidasha Team

As the COVID-19 situation here continues to improve and we look forward to more freedom, the situation in Nepal is now critical.

Cases in Nepal have surged by 1,200% in recent weeks, with the number of daily infections increasing from 100 to over 9,070 in the last month. Perhaps more worryingly, the national testing positivity rate is being reported at a huge 47% and with ICUs full and oxygen supplies critically low in some regions, international observers say that Nepal is on the brink of a human catastrophe.

As a result, several regions across Nepal have imposed new lockdowns, including in Pokhara and Butwal where the majority of our work takes place. After been closed for six months last year, schools have been forced to close again and as the majority of our beneficiaries lack the means to access on-line learning opportunities, the impact on their educational attainment is dire. As too is the impact of restrictions on livelihood opportunities which having just started to recover are again being decimated, with ever more families struggling to survive and thousands of children being at even greater risk of neglect and harm.

Our team on the ground is using their extensive experience from last year's crisis to coordinate our response. We are providing emergency aid to children and their families, working to protect the most vulnerable children from harm and also will be re-starting our community learning classes.

Despite these challenges, we remain committed to do all we can to protect the most vulnerable children and keep them safe during this escalating crisis, However, how much we are able to do relies on the generosity of our supporters and therefore we would be really grateful for any more help you are able to give.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

The Kidasha Team