Chitwan Community Project has a plan to create and maintain a small school close to villages that can be provided for free to very young children to get into the habit of sending them to school. While the numbers of young girls entering primary education in Nepal has improved, girls are still withdraw from school early because their family needs them to help out at home and since girls will to go their husbands family once they are married, there is not seen to be a reason to educate them. Also, some families withdraw their children from school because of the distances the children need to travel to get there, and the extra expenses that are not provided by the government such as uniforms and the value of the children working at home.
Providing free education closer to home will encourage the adoption of better attitudes toward education and the buildings will have the added benefit of being able to be used for women's education also.
Rajan also has a plan to develop education programs for women in the village to learn how to read, write, and learn income generation skills such as sewing. When a man is unable to work to provide for the family for any reasons (poor health), the family suffers an enormous loss. Women who is abandoned by their husbands are left in an extremely vulnerable situation for them and their children.
The village area has its own community forest which is provided by the government to many villages in the buffer zone between the villages and the protected forest in Chitwan National Park. The idea is that the villagers maintain this area and can use it for income generation to provide better roads and infrastructures. While in this village there is a community forest and committee run by the villagers, and a community watch tower which can be used to generate income from tourism. Tourists are unaware of its existence and attend those in the neighbouring forest instead meaning those not directly in the area of the hotels are missing out. This community forest provides an opportunity for any volunteers in the village is a magic overnight experience in the forest and with some new ideas, could potentially generate further income for the village.
Poaching and deforestation is still a significant issue in Nepal. Although they are laws against some of it, the temptation of the villages to carry out illegal and environmental devastating work for a small piece of the richer peoples pie is too strong.
If there were other income generating opportunities for these people, the temptation would not be so great. Ranjan is in touch with people is his local village and is slowly earning their trust and respect. If there was more money available to pursue ideas in other income generating activities, the environment would be much better protected.
Biogas Project
Toilets and pumps water
While some families in the village have their own toilets and water pumps, there are many in poorer surrounding village that do not. These families are forced to use either a neighbours house or the surrounding grounds or rivers which creates the potential for the spread of preventable diseases. Small children are particularly susceptible to diarrhea which can be fatal when their small bodies dehydrate and there is no access to the type of medical care we have. The rivers are also used for washing and bathing when they are no water pumps available which pollutes the water and increases the risk of diseases.
A double toilet block such as the one show with the water source can be built in these villages for families to share and increases the villagers ability to maintain better sanitation.
Buffalos - Cows
Children's education
Women's education
Men's education
Community forest
Many families who can afford it, keep buffalo. The milk is drunk by families and surplus is sold in the market. Baby buffalo can be sold. Male buffalo cost less as they are used for meat while female buffalo cost more as they can reproduce offspring to be sold as well as milk.
Health Care Programs
While the government provides health posts in each district with discounted medicines, there are not always accessible to the villagers. They do not always have their own motorbikes for transport and rely on public transport such as horse cart or taxi which are not only expensive but often do not service the outskirts. Walking to health posts is not even possible in good health as the distances can be significant and the roads rough and temperature extremely hot at times. Health education is brought out to the villages but is not frequent enough and does not extend far enough to reach every body. During a volunteers stay in the village, a neighbouring villager was forced to ask for help when they had sold all for their assets (animals and farm equipment) to pay for medicine and had nothing left to afford a further visit to the hospital, the patient died a few weeks later leaving the family with no male to earn and income, no assets to support their survival. A child in the village had died recently and the cause of death was unknown.
Can you imagine this occurring at home where we can rush our children to the doctor and the slightest sneeze or runny nose?
If there was some money available or capable volunteers to provide health education and resources, health care would become more accessible to everyone no matter how far away they live and how much money they have.
Community loans scheme
Money is regularly collected form women in the community as a cooperative to pool together to allow loans for education and health care. It works like a savings bank but by pooling together allows for larger needs as they arise. Regular repayments are made loan is taken out. The allows access to money for women for emergencies and development needs. At present the available money is not large. Contributing to further increase the pool could help enormously. While the women involved are continuing to save more and repay the loans already taken, any kick start they can receive will be of continuous benefit.
It work to provide cooking gas from animal refuge.
First the poo from the family buffalo or cow is placed in the grinder then worked into the system. The gas is created and piped into the home. The left over product is then collected and can be used for fertiliser. This project assists families to the poo for two purposes, and supports their daily living needs. Without biogas, the family would be forced to either purchase gas, or quite often to acquire wood from forests to uses stoves which not only depletes the forest due to over use, but also places the male family members a risk of injury from forest animals, potentially having a devastating affect on the families abilities to survive as a whole.
Contributing to the goat project develops the potential for income generation for a limitless number of families over time. If you purchase a baby female goat for one family they then must give the first offspring to the next family who gives their first baby female for the next family too. Any subsequent offspring may be sold to generate income for the family.
Breeding of the goats is cheap enough for the families to afford, especially after they have made their first sale. Its costs less than 100NRP which is a viable cost for the family.
Female goats are used for reproduction while male goats are sold for their meat.
(mutton is a popular meat eaten in Nepal particularly at festival time).
Goats