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Touching Assistance A Japanese national mobilizes support back home to assist the schools and promoting greenery in Nepal ’s villages
By A CORRESPONDENT
With the objective of spreading the message of education and environment, a Japanese NGO called NPO Green Solutions has been helping in the construction of schools and afforestation programs across different countries including Nepal .
On the occasion of the golden jubilee anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and Japan , the NPO Green Solutions Japan president Teizo Shinohara visited Nepal recently. Shinohara said that his efforts are aimed at helping the education sector by funding the construction of school buildings as well as at helping the environment by making students aware about it and involving them in tree-plantation campaigns around their school areas. He believes that by instilling the sense of environment protection in early childhood, the society and the larger community can benefit in the long run in terms of production of aware citizens.
Last month, the Japanese NGO mobilized support from a reputed Japanese company called Matsushita Electric Works Co. Ltd as well as Matsushita Electric Works Workers’ Union and Kwansei Gakuin University to help in two major causes in Nepal . It helped in the building of road in the vicinity of Child Development Center in Khadka Bhadrakali Village Development Committee (VDC) of Kathmandu district and in the construction of school building of Dhara lower secondary school in Paranchaur VDC-5 of Kaski district.
In both the places, the NGO led by its president Shinohara mobilized the children and students and involved them in plantation of over 500 saplings of trees.
According to Shinohara, the campaign of tree-plantation will have a long-term educative impact on children and make them aware about environmental issues. The major aims of his NGO also include promoting green environment and education. The NGO believes that both are of equal importance to the mankind. Treating young students as young saplings, the NGO has been promoting the cause of ‘school forest’ by launching tree-plantation programs in the vicinity of schools. This, Shinohara says, brings young people close to nature and environment.
At a time when modern lifestyle in encroaching the urban households in Nepal , it is important to teach children about the importance of conserving nature and environment in order to ensure a sustainable development. During this visit, Shinohara was accompanied by two students from Kwanei Gakuin University including Kazuki Fuji and Uki Nagata.
These apart, till now Shinohara has also helped raise funds for the building of four school buildings in the name of Masakazu Mizutani, who is the president of Matsushita Electric Works. The four Mizutani schools are in different parts of the country.
Happiness Index: Nepalis Fare Better Than Neighbors
Despite the years of violent conflict, poor economy and lack of opportunities, Nepalis have been measured to be happier than their counterparts in India or Pakistan .
According to the first 'World Map of Happiness', Nepal is the 119 th happiest place in the world. The report shows that India is the 125th happiest country in the world, behind Nepal , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka .
The map is prepared by Adrian White, a British analytic social psychologist from University of Leicester and it rates 178 countries. Pakistan is 166th while Bangladesh (104), China (82) and Sri Lanka (93) have all scored higher than Nepal on the study's measure of three major sources of happiness — health, wealth and access to education.
Denmark comes out as the happiest place while Burundi in Africa is shown to be the unhappiest nation.
The study was based on data from individual countries and findings of over 100 studies surveying 80,000 people by UNESCO, CIA, WHO, New Economics Foundation, Veenhoven Database, Latinbarometer, Afrobarometer and UNHDR between 2002 and 2005.
New Kids On The Block
Sharbari Chauhan and Shibani Chauhan are the latest singers to hit the market. Young and talented, the Chauhan sisters have released an album of songs for children.
The album “Sha-shi” was released recently amid a function by senior singer Fatteman Rajbhandari. There are eight songs in the album. Lyricists of the song include both established and new writers including Krishna Hari Baral, Mukunda Raj Shara, Raman Ghimire, Dinesh Adhikari, Manjul, Kiran Kharel, Ram Prasad Dhungel and Bir Singh BK. Likewise, music compositions have been given by reputed musicians such as Raju Singh, Laxman Shesh, Shambhujit Baskota, Sachin Singh, Shila Bahadur Moktan, Alokshri and Ram Bhandari.
Both the sisters study at DAV School . Their parents – father Shankar Chauhan and mother Amita Chauhan – have encouraged their daughters to sing. Amita Chauhan has produced the recording of the album and has declared that the royalty received from the sales of the cassettes and CDs would be provided to Baal Dhadkan – an NGO that helps in the treatment of children with cardiac ailments.
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