If you plan for a year, plant rice.
If you plan for ten years,
plant trees.
If you plan for a century,
educate your children.
Nepali proverb
It was the meeting of a little girl, Sushi, one evening in February 1992, in a street in Kathmandu,
which inspired
“Nepal, Childhood and Light”.
Nepal, Childhood and Light
The condition of the woman
Contemporary Nepalese society, despite some timid legislative progress, is anchored in patriarchal conceptions of the male-female relationship.
Society is marked by patriarchy: the woman is under male domination, first the father, then the husband or failing that the uncle or the brother. Without this “recognition” by a man, the Nepalese woman is not a citizen and cannot have official papers.
Tradition is the norm that determines the role and position of women. Its duties are predefined by the social hierarchy and by the subdivision of society into castes.
Her rights remain limited by male authority.
Add to that
-
the fact that modest families try to marry off their daughters as early as possible to avoid paying a large dowry,
-
the prohibition and exclusion that affects women during their periods or after childbirth (Chhaupadi)
-
the lowest proportion of women who follow a decent education
-
rampant sex tourism
and we will understand that it is especially Nepalese girls who need to be supported.
However, we note that since 2013 it is a woman who has been President of the Confederal Republic of Nepal: Bidya Bhandari, whose position is mainly honorary. Close ally of the communist bloc, she was re-elected without difficulty in 2018.
The president is not the only woman present in the upper echelons of Nepalese power. Parliament has been chaired since 2015 by Onsari Gharti Magar, also the first woman in this position. Sushila Karki was the first woman president of the Supreme Court until her recent retirement.
Through its education and schooling activities, NEL fights to ensure that young Nepalese girls escape early and/or forced marriages and sex tourism. The parents whose daughters we educate understand that an educated young girl with a gainful job is their “retirement insurance”!
The castes
The set of rules governing the system was codified by Jayasthiti Malla, founding king of the third Malla dynasty in the late 14th century.
In the 1850s, Jang Bahadur Rana, returning from a trip to Europe, decided to codify Nepal's law and slightly modified the system, removing some excessive rules. This gave birth to the civil code: “Muluki Ain”. Finally, in 1963, an overhaul of government institutions, accompanied by various reforms, advocated equality of punishment between all castes and thus abolished the system from a purely legal point of view. In reality, this caste system remains very present in the minds of the population and still has a profound impact on daily practices.
The three main principles governing the caste system:
-
First, a “principle of separation”governs the possibilities of physical contact of an individual with the rest of society. This is an essential point for understanding Kathmandu public spaces, since we can define public space as the meeting place of the individual with society, of individuals and groups among themselves.
These rules mainly concern everything related to food and marriage conditions.
Each caste is endogamous: this is the strictest condition for the survival of the entire system. Currently, exceptions to this rule are increasingly negotiable, but are far from being generalized.
When it comes to food, each caste has its own prohibitions and the most fundamental questions concern the purity of the person who prepares the meals and with whom it is possible or not to share it, more than the food consumed. -even. From a spatial point of view, the result is that the lower castes are, for example, provided with specific wells so as not to contaminate the water of the higher castes.
-
The second major principle is that of “division” which governs religious and economic activities.
Castes correspond in some way to professions: the greater or lesser purity of the tasks carried out in a profession defines the greater or lesser purity of the castes which exercise it.
However, all professions are essential for the harmonious functioning of society, which means that each caste is necessary and part of a greater whole.
Thus, each individual receives by birth a place within society. It is a place in the figurative sense but also in the literal sense: the castes are more or less precisely grouped into distinct neighborhoods, in specific places in the city. It appears that the spatialization of castes, through the location of their fountains or their workplaces, owes absolutely nothing to chance. But these physical separations between castes in urban space are no longer official today, they are states of fact. The actual destinations of fountains or other places of life remain very codified in mentalities, they are thus known to everyone and transmitted from generation to generation, but not written.
-
Indeed, the last major principle is that of “hierarchization” according to the criterion of purity. The important thing is not the individual as such but the social bond that unites him to the group. The result is that all members of the same caste have the same surname. In daily life, behaviors are more communal than individual, which can be seen very clearly in the very practice of sacred spaces. We have seen that the urban morphology of the city sought to give substance to the cosmos. The same is true with social organization. Concretely, this can be seen by the precise place of individuals during major collective festivals and their processions, or by the conduct to be followed when sharing an inheritance.
Marie Gibert, for Géoconfluences on April 8, 2008
Special point: L
The difficult situation of Dalits (untouchables) who remain ostracized despite the government's desire to integrate them into society.
NEL does not differentiate between children from different castes and ethnicities. NEL accepts all religions and does not proselytize.
Society in Nepal
Teaching
The condition of women
The castes
Become
godfather,
donor,
member!!
Nepalese society
Discovering Nepalese society would require lengthy studies.
For a first approach, here are three important points of view for the action of Nepal, Childhood and Light:
- teaching
- the condition of the woman
- the caste system and ethnic groups.
Education in Nepal
Primary education in Nepal has been compulsory since 1975 for all children aged 6 to 11. Unfortunately, only 68% of them actually go to school.
The Nepalese school system has public schools and private schools, the latter mainly in urban centers.
Public education is free, but private schools are expensive. There are no regulations regarding the amounts of tuition fees for private schools, resulting in significant price differences from one school to another.
The education provided in private schools is of better quality, even more so in higher education. So a Nepalese child has better chances of success in his studies in private structures. These significant costs are the responsibility of families: tuition fees, school supplies, compulsory uniform in Nepal. It is therefore rare for families to be able to enroll all their children. They have to make a choice and it is naturally the boys who are often favored.
Generally speaking, access to good schools and the pursuit of higher education are still the prerogative of the elites
The school year in Nepal begins around the beginning of May and registrations take place in April. In private schools, teaching is provided in English. Children go to nursery school from the age of three. The primary course lasts 5 years. The first level secondary course runs from 6th grade to 8th grade. The second level secondary course comprises 2 years, 9th and 10th and gives access to a certificate of completion of studies (SEE).
Not long ago, a child could be satisfied with this level to find a job. It is increasingly necessary to continue in upper secondary education: the 11th and 12th years are required to have access to university at the level of the master's degree in 2 years and the doctorate in 5 years.
Note that school attendance of ethnic minorities is very low, only 30% and that the literacy rate for girls is only 15%.
As for the mountain regions, they have few schools, very rudimentary, poorly equipped and the teachers are often not well trained. The journeys for some children are long and dangerous.
NEL educates girls whose families are unable to pay school fees.
In addition to children from the slums of Kathmandu, it also welcomes children from different villages deprived of school.
The condition of women
Contemporary Nepalese society, despite some timid legislative progress, is anchored in patriarchal conceptions of the male-female relationship.
Society is marked by patriarchy: the woman is under male domination, first the father, then the husband or failing that the uncle or the brother. Without this “recognition” by a man, the Nepalese woman is not a citizen and cannot have official papers.
Tradition is the norm that determines the role and position of women. Its duties are predefined by the social hierarchy and by the subdivision of society into castes.
Her rights remain limited by male authority.
Add to that;
-
the fact that modest families try to marry off their daughters as early as possible to avoid paying a large dowry,
-
the prohibition and exclusion that affects women during their periods or after childbirth (Chhaupadi)
-
the lowest proportion of women who follow a decent education
-
rampant sex tourism
and we will understand that it is especially Nepalese girls who need to be supported.
However, we note that since 2013 it is a woman who has been President of the Confederal Republic of Nepal: Bidya Bhandari, whose position is mainly honorary. Close ally of the communist bloc, she was re-elected without difficulty in 2018.
The president is not the only woman present in the upper echelons of Nepalese power. Parliament has been chaired since 2015 by Onsari Gharti Magar, also the first woman in this position. Sushila Karki was the first woman president of the Supreme Court until her recent retirement.
Through its education and schooling activities, NEL fights to ensure that young Nepalese girls escape early and/or forced marriages and sex tourism. The parents whose daughters we educate understand that an educated young girl with a gainful job is their “retirement insurance”!
The castes
The set of rules governing the system was codified by Jayasthiti Malla, founding king of the third Malla dynasty in the late 14th century.
In the 1850s, Jang Bahadur Rana, returning from a trip to Europe, decided to codify Nepal's law and slightly modified the system, removing some excessive rules. This gave birth to the civil code: “Muluki Ain”. Finally, in 1963, an overhaul of government institutions, accompanied by various reforms, advocated equality of punishment between all castes and thus abolished the system from a purely legal point of view. In reality, this caste system remains very present in the minds of the population and still has a profound impact on daily practices.
The three main principles governing the caste system:
-
First, a "principle of separation" governs an individual's possibilities for physical contact with the rest of society. This is an essential point for understanding Kathmandu public spaces, since we can define public space as the meeting place of the individual with society, of individuals and groups among themselves.
These rules mainly concern everything related to food and marriage conditions.
Each caste is endogamous: this is the strictest condition for the survival of the entire system. Currently, exceptions to this rule are increasingly negotiable, but are far from being generalized.
When it comes to food, each caste has its own prohibitions and the most fundamental questions concern the purity of the person who prepares the meals and with whom it is possible or not to share it, more than the food consumed. -even. From a spatial point of view, the result is that the lower castes are, for example, provided with specific wells so as not to contaminate the water of the higher castes.
-
The second major principle is that of “division” which governs religious and economic activities.
Castes correspond in some way to professions: the greater or lesser purity of the tasks carried out in a profession defines the greater or lesser purity of the castes which exercise it.
However, all professions are essential for the harmonious functioning of society, which means that each caste is necessary and part of a greater whole.
Thus, each individual receives by birth a place within society. It is a place in the figurative sense but also in the literal sense: the castes are more or less precisely grouped into distinct neighborhoods, in specific places in the city. It appears that the spatialization of castes, through the location of their fountains or their workplaces, owes absolutely nothing to chance. But these physical separations between castes in urban space are no longer official today, they are states of fact. The actual destinations of fountains or other places of life remain very codified in mentalities, they are thus known to everyone and transmitted from generation to generation, but not written.
-
Indeed, the last major principle is that of “hierarchization” according to the criterion of purity. The important thing is not the individual as such but the social bond that unites him to the group. The result is that all members of the same caste have the same surname. In daily life, behaviors are more communal than individual, which can be seen very clearly in the very practice of sacred spaces. We have seen that the urban morphology of the city sought to give substance to the cosmos. The same is true with social organization. Concretely, this can be seen by the precise place of individuals during major collective festivals and their processions, or by the conduct to be followed when sharing an inheritance.
Marie Gibert, for Géoconfluences on April 8, 2008
To note : The caste system is still intact today, but the rules are not as rigid than in the past. In 1962, a law was passed making discrimination against other castes illegal, leading to all castes being treated equally under the law.
Special point:
The difficult situation of Dalits (untouchables) who remain ostracized despite the government's desire to integrate them into society.
NEL does not differentiate between children from different castes and ethnicities.
NEL accepts all religions and does not proselytize.
Become
godfather,
donor,
member!!
Join the action of Nepal, Childhood and Light!
Become a sponsor : two possibilities :
-
The total sponsorship amounts to minimum 60 € per month.
-
Co-sponsorship allows you to sponsor a child together and according to your possibilities.
Contact: nel.presidence@gmail.com
Become a donor : to help NEL without taking responsibility for a child :
regular or one-off donations, by monthly or quarterly transfer or by check.
Become a member : a small, modest but essential support; : contribution of €15 per year
In any case, you will receive the 3 or 4 NEL bulletins and will be able to vote at the annual general meeting.
All your payments (sponsorships, donations, memberships) entitle you to a tax reduction up to 66% of the amounts committed.
A payment of €100 = €34 actually paid.
Useful links
STARWORLD TOURS & TRAVELS (P) LTD.
Lazimpat, Kathmandu
PO BOX: 12081 KATHMANDU
NEPAL
Yam LAMA, (Director and English/French speaking guide)
Phone: 00977-98 18 60 05 68
Mobile: 00977-98 51 05 45 78
E-mail :contact@starworldtours.com
<---Two good guides--->
ANNAPURNA DISCOVERY - Treks & expeditions
Chitra Bahadur SUBBA
GPO BOX 25649 KATHMANDU - NEPAL
Phone: 00977-1-4910201
E-mail :ctssubba@yahoo.com