Village schools in trouble, as the government cut down grant

By Nitya Nanda Timsina

KATHMANDU, March 28:Hundreds of government schools and tens of thousands of students have been affected after the government cut down regular grant to the village school by 50 percent this year.

"An estimated 500,000 students and 5,000 government schools have been affected by the cut down in the grant given annually to the Village Development Communities (VDCs)," says Bhisma Pratap Thapa, vice-president of National Association of VDCs in Nepal (NAVIN).

The Rs. 5,00,000 annual grant, given to every VDCs, is mostly spent on giving the salaries to the teachers working the government schools of remote villages. But, the government this year decided to cut down the allocate budget to meet the growing security expenses after the imposition of emergency in November last year to quell the Maoist insurgency.

"This step of the government would seriously affect the villages fighting to bolster the country’s education quality," caution the VDC officials, who recently gathered in the capital to discuss their problems.

The government used to give Rs. 500,000 to each of the 4,000 VDCs, a half of which is given away as salaries to the teachers hired for the government schools. The VDC officials complain that they would not be able to appoint more teachers in the government schools, which are already suffering from the problem of teachers quitting the jobs due to the Maoists’ fear.

"People have clearly signaled their disgust in the villages in reaction to the government’s move," said Rishi Kesh Ghimire, a central member of NAVIN.

"Even the people’s representatives are unwilling to stay in the villages due to the security problem," one of the VDC chairmen of Lamjung. Like in other districts, Maoists have been targeting the teachers and villagers in Lamjung as well.

But the lack of budget is not the only problem of the villagers. They are equally worried on keeping intact the teachers, who are quitting their jobs due the Maoists’ threats, said another VDC chairman. "There is a shortage of teachers in many of the government schools in remote areas where the Maoists have a strong hold."

Despite their search, the government schools have not been able to find adequate teachers to run the schools even as the new academic session is beginning next month.

Take for example Sundarimai Primary School in Ugratara VDC of Kavre district, which has been facing the problem of teachers. According to Bhisma Pratap Thapa, the school had only four teachers for 250 students but one of them recently quit the job after the VDC decided to cut down his salary. "This is just an example of one school," Thapa said. "There are hundreds of schools in other parts of the country, who have faced this problem."

The worst affected schools are in the Maoist-hit districts of Rukum, Rolpa, Jajarkot, Gorkha and Lamjung, where most of the teachers have fled due to the Maoists’ threat, according to Thapa.

Vajra returns from Norway

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LALITPUR, March 28:While many of the youths were enjoying the festival of Holi with dirty water and what not, Mohan Prasad Joshi, a middle aged music teacher, was playing the music of Holi with clean water.

He put different quantities of water in about two dozen of porcelain bowls and produced a series of sounds by hitting mildly on their rims with two bamboo sticks. The bowl set became a classical music instrument when they fell into his marvelous hands.

"It’s called jal-tarang, each drop of water matters to produce exact sound. It is a bit from other instruments because I take empty bowls at the stage and prepare it before the performance by pouring water on the bowls," said he, while preparing the "instrument" before performing on fine Thursday morning.

Joshi is the guide of the youth classical musical group named ‘Vajra’, established some six years ago.

Among others, the group presented the composition based on folk music of the festival of Holi, popular mainly in the Kathmandu Valley.

The group have recently returned home on March 22 after presenting 10 concerts in different cities of Norway from March 11.

Shantosh Bhakta Shrestha, one member of the five-member band, said they were invited in a programme of cultural exchange by Norwegian Concert Institute.

He added that two of Norwegian artists Knut Reiesrud and Hans Fredrik Jacobsen are visiting Kathmandu and they would perform here with the Nepali counterparts.

Joshi said that the audience were delighted to listen the typical music from the Himalayan Kingdom.

"It was perhaps because of the curiosity to know Nepal through our music and also the meditative quality of the oriental classical music," Joshi said.

The group consists of Shantosh Bhakta Shrestha on ‘israj’, Suresh Raj Bajracharya on ‘sarod’, Bidur Rajkarnikar on ‘tabla’ and Raman Maharjan on flute. Joshi guides them and also plays ‘jal-tarang’.

The group so far has released three albums - Vajra, Koselee and Creation. All of them are highly influenced by the traditional music of the Kathmandu Valley and the artistes have best used the traditional instruments. They are now on the process of releasing their fourth album soon.

The members said that the group was formed, carrying an objective to revive and spread dying traditional music of Nepal.

Orphanage, where children find depths of love

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KATHMANDU, March 28 : It will be a long adventurous journey of 10 kilometres, approximately 45 minutes drive from the capital, before you reach your destination in the middle of a thick, green jungle, a place so distinct and peaceful, it’s the Shangri-La orphanage in Chapagaon.

Concrete buildings, a lush green garden with the chirping of birds and a perfect environment for children, will be the first impression you get of this orphanage. Away from the noise and pollution of the city, the orphanage is a home away from home for many of the children who hail from the remote villages of Nepal. The children live in solitude and confined within the beauties of nature that provide the children an abode where they find themselves close to a quiet realm that speaks of love, care and hope.

Shangri-La Orphanage is a warm and peaceful home for fifty children, who were otherwise destined to become street children, or living in conditions beyond human dignity. It has grown to be a place where they can realise their full potentials as human beings in a society where they will find love and the security of a family and home.

The orphanage was founded in November of 1998 through the combined efforts of Nepalese Shangri-La Association and the German Govinda Development Aid Association (GGDAA), representing the Nepalese and German legal framework for such a collaboration.

"Shangri-La Orphanage is committed to bringing lasting improvements in the quality of life for orphaned children in Nepal, "says Roco Umbescheidt, Chairman of the GGDAA.

All the fifty children in the age of 3 to 12 years don’t have both their parents or never had a real family. All of them had lived a very hard life before their arrival in Shangri-La. Most of them had to fend for themselves through very difficult circumstances and disrespectful treatment had been realities of daily life. Due to these harsh memories, six of these children have psychological problems. "Such a past has definitely left deep traces in the psyche of these children," says Roco.

Besides their regular study hours, all the children are involved in one or the other of some personal development and skill enhancing activities of their choice such as carpentry, agriculture, drawing, painting, dancing, singing, swimming, computer and cookery. They start the day with meditation and yoga practices in the morning to revitalise their inner beings that will gradually help them regain self-confidence and trust that comes with the trials of life.

A walk around the place tells you all about the theme of self-sufficiency practice that is so evident in the orphanage. They have planted 74 orange trees, are cultivating mushroom, and have installed a drip irrigation system for the vegetable garden. They also have bee-keeping and vegetable plantation for the children’s nutritional supplies.

The project is now working towards establishing a school where around 500 students will find opportunities to study, and where 100 children from underprivileged families will get scholarships for free education in the school. This project is expected to provide continuous sources to sustain and make the orphanage self-reliant and ultimately run independently of foreign donations; and at the same time to provide quality education for these children of destiny, from Shangri-La, and the surrounding community.

Emergency supplies to quake victims

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KATHMANDU, March 28 : The United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) has delivered 70 tonnes of emergency supplies to the thousands of quake survivors in the Baghlan province of Northern Afghanistan hours after the earthquake hit, states a press release issued here by the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia.

Today, a second UNICEF convoy has arrived in the worst affected towns of Nahrin and Burka, transporting additional materials including desperately needed food, medicine and shelter, it said.

Five UNICEF staff members including a doctor, a nutrition expert and water engineer are on the ground as part of a UN and NGO team assisting survivors. UNICEF ground staffs have reported that most urgent needs are shelter, children’s winter clothing, basic medicine, safe water and sanitation.

According to UN estimates, 80 percent of the population in the earthquake-affected area were still relying on supplies.

Security forces foil Maoist attack in Dailekh

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DAILEKH, March 28:Security forces on Wednesday night foiled an attempt of Maoist attack in Narayan Municipality, the district headquarters of this hill district in the mid-western region.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Diwasraj Udas, however, was injured after a stray bullet fired by the rebels hit on his arm. The rebels had opened fire at a police patrol team at Kandachaur area of Narayan Municipality-6 on Wednesday evening, according to police. DSP Udas was airlifted to Nepalgunj for treatment on Thursday morning.

However, the security forces forced the rebels to retreat from the surrounding hill areas from where the rebels were targeting the government facilities in the district headquarters. The security forces were mobilised in the neighbouring VDC of Chauratha after receiving information about the Maoist build up in the hill areas.

Security forces in the district headquarters had been put on maximum alert after the rebels gathered there from other areas of the district.

Police said a night vision helicopter flew in the area at around 11 p.m. and launched aerial offensives against the rebels who clashed with the security forces for about two-and-half hours.

Locals of the municipality said they spent sleepless night for fear of Maoist attacks. A local said his family members were staying inside the ground floor of their house as cautioned by the security forces.

Security officials said that they had immediately given protection to the Chief District Officer and Assistant Chief District Officer in the army barrack after the Maoists fired aiming at the district headquarters.

Police said that situation of the district headquarters came to normal in the morning though the locals refrained from celebrating the Fagu festival due to yesterday’s nightmare.

Rebels destroy small bridge in Bardiya

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GULARIYA, Bardiya, March 28:Traffic movement along the Gulariya-Rajapur road was disrupted today after Maoist rebels on Wednesday night destroyed a small bridge with a powerful bomb near Gamakka village, about 20-km away from here, according to police.

Local authorities said police and the locals were working throughout the day to open a diversion for the operation of transport service from here, the district headquarters, to Rajapur, a town located in the Karnali River delta.

However, local transport entrepreneurs said they would face problems unless the bridge was reconstructed before the onset of monsoon.

Earlier a few days ago, the rebels also blew up a culvert along the Gulariya-Bhurigaon road linking the district headquarters with the East-West Highway.

Meanwhile, a report from Siraha said that the rebel Maoists destroyed thousands of rupees of public property by setting four VDC offices on fire yesterday, stating as police said.

The VDC offices destroyed by the rebels are Sonamati, Majhaura, Sothiyain, Fulkaha Katti and Barchhawa, where the ruling Nepali Congress has won majority of the seats. Police said details of the damages were still to be assessed.

Over 100 Maoists’ victims treated at Bheri Hospital

By Rudra Khadka

NEPALGUNJ, March 28 : The Bheri Zonal Hospital here has treated more than 100 people injured in Maoist attacks in the mid and far-western region under the Mass Casualty Management Team (MCMT) since the beginning of the state of emergency, according to hospital sources. Doctors of the hospital constituted the MCMT in order to deal with mass casualty in the aftermath of the emergency.

The team comprising 22 doctors of the hospital was formed on November 26 last year to provide prompt medical services to the people who may got injured during the crossfire between the security forces and the Maoist rebels.

According to Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr. Durga Pradhan, all of the people who received free medical treatment from the hospital were Maoists’ victims. He said that the hospital had a capacity to treat as many as 60 people at a time. Twenty beds have been kept aside for the Maoists’ victims.

The doctors have, however, experienced low flow of the injured people since the emergency was declared. An injured person has to produce a recommendation letter from his district administration office to receive the free service of the hospital. On the average, the hospital has to spend around Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 12,000 for the treatment of each of the Maoists’ victims.

Maoists’ victims are also satisfied with the services extended by the hospital. "I got new life after receiving the hospital’s excellent service," said Bal Bahadur Basnet, a resident of Jumlakot in Jumla district, who was injured in a Maoist-laid socket bomb blast a few months ago.