Desperate Girls

The Badi Girls

Between 7,000 and 12,000 young girls, aged 9-16, are trafficked each year from Nepal; mainly to India. According to Nepal Monitor/On line journal, 2007, there are more than 200,000 Nepali girls in Indian brothels.

The Dalits(untouchables) are the lowest level in Hindu society, and the Badi community, in Western Nepal, are the lowest of the low. As a displaced hungry people group the Badi community has made sexual subservience a way of life. Young girls from this group “serve” other groups. This has become a tradition and means of livelihood. Many girls, even when they are unwilling, are forced to serve as sex slaves. Family members knowingly sell their daughters to traffickers.

Though prostitution is illegal in Nepal, the industry reportedly has links with highly ranked officials and political leaders. Large groups of girls are taken across the border with many police and government officials being in collusion with traffickers and brothel owners.

Traffickers and related criminals are often protected by political parties, and if arrested, are freed using political power. As a result, there is an underlying distrust of police that has led people not to file cases against traffickers.

Domestic action involves activities of NGO’s and other volunteer groups. These groups are playing a major role to address girl-trafficking and sex slaves issues. Some NGO’s are playing a very important role to improve the situation. From creating social awareness to rescuing and rehabilitation, they are providing services (and relief) to those that need it the most – the likely victims as well as the rescued ones. The Lighthouse foundation is one of these.

*See Chandra Kala’s story on this blog site.

Saturday 31 March 2012

God at work in Nepal


Grahame has just phoned from the far reaches of Nepal where he is with Raju.  He preached in the village church of about 200, and one of the clan leaders committed his life to the Lord.  Apparently, he had asked for prayer the night before for some health problem, and he has the best night's sleep in a long time.  There was also a wedding after the service of two young people, from opposing clans, who had both been to bible college here in Kathmandu, so now the church has to set the example of being all one in Christ.  One church member also donated land for use for the church, about a residential block size, (ruparnee) and the man who had just come to the Lord has another block next door, and he says he will donate that also once they begin to do something with it.  Possibly for a school in the future.  Tomorrow, they move on to another area. Looking forward to hearing what great things are happening there.  There will be some changes with the two schools here.  Grade 3-6 will be at Tusal, and the lower grades will be at Mulpani.  Robita will be head there and Lalima will be principal at Tusal, but also head principal over all.  We bought a lovely cot with mosquito net and a little carry basket for the houseparents at Tusal.  It is their first baby, and they are doing such a wonderful job there with 40 girls.  They sleep on a mattress on the floor in a store room and have so little.  They were both beside themselves with joy .  It was such a blessing to us see the little expectant mother so delighted.  Agnes and I were having lunch at Nanglos, happily eating our chips and suddenly there was a great commotion  in the kitchen with half a dozen men jumping around and making noises, the security guard came running in.  The action shifted into the corner of the cafe and then behind a counter.  The waiter there who can speak came over with a big smile to reassure us not to worry, it was only a rat.  Agnes, Liat and I  took our sponsor girls out to lunch today after church.  One of the house mothers came, one of the male teachers and an Aussie girl who just happened to be there.  We all had a great time together and then we took the girls off to buy a pair of shoes each.  They couldn't get there fast enough.  Afterwards, they had an icecream cone, and then headed off to their various hostels.  We are always amused at the church announcements at Hosanna church.  It is a real Cecil De Milne film production.  There are flashing lights on the big screen, and whooshing noises and each announcement blasts onto the screen.  Two prayer points:-  There is a little child at Hosanna church who has cancer in her eye and she  had an operation this week.  She was next to me in church this morning and one eye is just milky white Please pray the operation is a success.  Secondly,  Tusal school opens on the 16th April.  There is much organisation to be done.  Please pray for Lalima and Robita.

LRobyn

Friday 30 March 2012

Oh!Ye of little faith

As I returned from the cyber cafe, guess what, the internet was up and running.

lWe were invited  to Raju's house for dinner the night before Margo left. They always cook a beautiful meal for us and are very careful not to cook anything with gluten in it.  But this time, something went wrong and I had a very bad night and next day from something I ate. We caught a clapped out old bus on the way home, a first for us.  We usually go by taxi. They are so cheap.,  Everyone on the bus wanted to talk to us and Agnes took photos of them all , as usual.  We had a very merry ride home.  Agnes, Margo and myself were invited for tea at the home of the young woman we bought material from.  We followed her down narrow little alleys , up a flight of stairs, and entered one little humble room with two beds and a TV. with a little alcove at the side for the kitchen.  The hospitality here is wonderful.  She rushed about making tea, then the sister in law arrived to get a look at the westeners.  We all had a great time together, took photos, with promises to return in the near future for her special ginger,pepper and cardamon tea.

LRobyn

internet frustration

We have been totally frustrated these last few days trying to get our internet fixed with promises of help but as usual no one comes.  I am at the local cyber cafe.  Thankfully there is a lovely young man here who speaks english who is helping me get sorted out.  Apart from this, we are having a lovely time.  The weather is still great and  15 hours of power a day is very managable for us.  We have a lot of Buddhist monks moved into the other floors of the guest house and every day they get up on the roof and blow their trumpets and bang drums.  It sounds like the orchestra tuning up.  The streets of Kathmandu are as fascinating as usual.  The chaotic traffic with all the honking, bikes, taxis , buses and the mandatory big black bull with large horns meandering through the traffic, given right of way.  All the little flat carts loaded with fruit and veges, and the sellers with their variety of little goods spread out on the footpath.  The women in their colourful saris and national dress, and the men spitting everywhere.  Margo has gone home, and we were sad to see her go.  She is such a great woman.  We had such a good time together.  Liat arrived the same day and  is slotting in,.  and will be off to Mulpani school this afternoon.  Agnes has been teaching at another school for two days training teachers in teaching with a Christian World view and all sorts of teaching methods to inspire children, instead of the boring rote learning that is the norm here.  They presented her with flowers at the end.  She is just so good.  I love watching her at work.  Grahame and Raju flew out this morning, Friday, to Chepang, Hertuda, and  Gorkha  and will be away till Wednesday.  All three of these places are begging for schools.  There will be a possible 300 kids in school after the April holiday.  There are at least 50 children being enrolled from the local community who are from Hindu families, which is pretty exciting.  Grahame has also been teaching at the Bible school for 2 hours each morning for 5 days.  There are about 40 young men and women from villages being given basic training for 5 months, live in, who go back to their villages to lead churches.  They are such beautiful young people. Tomorrow is church day, and we are hoping to take out our sponsored girls.  I will be taking Bimila and Juna, Agnes has Kalpana and Pusba, and Liat is taking out Marta and her sister. We will need one of the house mums to come with us to interpret.  We will take them shopping for maybe a pair of shoes each and then lunch at Nanglos, a cafe that employs deafmutes.  They are always so lovely in serving us .  It is always interesting ordering, by playing charades.    I had a list of things to write about but left it home, but hopefully our internet will be going soon (great faith) and I will have more to tell you

Robyn

Monday 26 March 2012

In house training.


.  Today, Margo had in house training with some of the teachers, from 11a.m. to 3 p.m.  They are all so lovely and Lalima is going from strength to strength as Principal.  It was my responsibility for lunch and they have such amazing appetites.  I have never seen such slim little women consume huge amounts of rice.  I have learned to cook dahl which was appreciated by all.  Grahame and Agnes met with the district Inspector of Schools.  One of the principals we want to instill in the school is the sense of community and it is so great for us here on the team to operate like that.  At the end of the day, we have all worked together with different gifts to get the task accomplished.  We had dinner at the Garden of Dreams tonight, and did some shopping at Tamil.

Robyn

Sunday 25 March 2012

A Day of Joy and Love

Saturday is the day for church.  Seems strange but in Nepal that is the way.  Robyn has told you all about the church. The joy in the faces of the folk there and the friendly and eager welcomes is very humbling.  The place was packed and I think nearly all wanted to come and say Jaimaci (God's blessing I think) at the end of the service. The love they have for the Lord is challenging. They are mostly so poor and yet they are      so rich in their faith.
The atmosphere in our Guest house is another form of joy and love. It is so good to be able to join with brothers and sisters and work together in harmony.  Robyn makes a mean curry and pasta.
The hostel was another joyous affair. All those little heads that popped up over the balconies of three storeys and waved and blew kisses drew smiles to our faces. On the way one of the local young boys came to see if Pappa Bob ( from the January Team) had returned. An impact on the community has already been made by the Hostel and the visiting Aussies.  Loved to see the dancing and join in the singing. Loved to give Yuna her gifts from her sponsors.
Then home tonight to do the mundane like wait for the water tank to be cleaned and filled before we could do the washing; eat a delicious dinner around the table while sharing with each other; watching Margot prepare for her School Set up for the new high school.

Yep....lots of love and joy today. Thanks for the prayers and keep on praying. The Lord has lots of work here to be done.
Agnes

Saturday/Church full throttle

Saturday is church day here as it is like our Sunday.  Church at 9a.m. till 11a.m.  This month is especially geared to young people.  Raju is teaching through a series  Today was the church's core values.  It was loud and absolutely packed to the doors.  That is only the first service.  This afternoon, we all went  to Tusal again.  They are so organised.  They had had lunch and were all waiting paitiently in the assembly room.  We were entertained with their beautiful singing and dancing as usual.  Then we sang some actions songs with them which they really enjoyed.  There are ten new girls there.  I took one little girl shopping for a pair of jeans and a tee shirt with money from her sponsor.  She had a great time.  Everything pink an blingy.  Prashamsa, the young woman from the village with two children who had been begging to come in to the hostel, was at church this morning.  She had an appendix operation recently, that was very kindly funded by some Aussies, and she was so grateful. She clung on to me all morning like a little child.  Her eyes welled with tears as we were leaving.  The wonderful news is that she is in the Bible school for the next 5 months.  What a difference her sponsorship has made in her life.  Christ has set her free and her sponsor has made it possible for a wonderful future.                    

Robyn

Friday 23 March 2012

Home away from home

It is lovely to see familiar faces again, lots of hugs and big smiles.  Weather is great, though dusty, and electricity is much better than expected.  The streets are cleaner and life here bustles on the same.  Yesterday, we three ladies bought material to make outfits in the national style and were amazed to find out that two outfits, tops and pants made by a tailor cost less than $8.00.  Unbelievable.  We made friends with a lovely couple in the material shop and we are invited to tea next Monday.  We like to cultivate these friendships and we often get an opportunity to give them bibles and talk about the Lord.  They are such sweet people.  I am going to Tusal this afternoon to see my beautiful girls.  I am very keen to see Chandra particularly, to see how she is doing.  There is another 15 year old just arrived, who has also had a terrible life.  There are 8 new girls coming next week.  We go to Chhinchiu for the last 9 days before we come home to do teacher training there.  I think there will be about 20.  One highlight we are looking forward to is a mass baptism in the river at Jhuprakola.  So many have come to the Lord.                                              


Robyn

Thursday 22 March 2012

Getting our feet on the ground

The sight from the right side of the plane was the best view of the Himalayas yet. The tall white caps against the blue sky was wonderful. We were all on the left side and yet still could see them. On our side we were reminded that Nepal can and does get dry and dusty before the monsoon arrives as the landscape was quite brown. On exiting the airport the dust hit and Margot could feel the old sinus condition flare up. It was so good to see Raju's smile.  We had a really classy taxi but the ride to Bouddha was the same adventure with horns sounding and centimetres to spare on each side and the odd bull or cow holding up the flow of traffic.
Tea at the Bakery Cafe with our friendly waiters. Many of them are deaf and mute and one is a small man. Great and friendly.
Off to bed early and then Grahame up early as usual and just as well as someone missed the bathroom door in a kind of sleep walk and found the bedroom instead and was guided by some correct directions from Papa.
Papa did his"off to the office " thingo. The girls had a day on Bouddha Road shopping. Coulters and shoes. Coulters are the national dress of our Nepali sisters.  Two taxi rides and home for a meeting with the Mulpani teachers who will become the Tusal high school teachers. Raju and Papa guided us all through the course of the meeting and we got the week ahead all organised.
Yes...we have now arrived, been organised and we are ready. More to come.  Agnes.

Video update of the building project with Interseed

Nepal 2012 Building team from InterSeed Foundation on Vimeo.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Greetings from Nepal






Robyn says that since we have started the blog we should use it to let you know we have arrived safely in Kathmandu.










Raju was at the airport to meet us as usual after an hour lined up to get our visa's and through customs.  All our luggage was in tact for which we a thankful.







Guesthouse







We settled into the guesthouse and then went to the Bakery Cafe for dinner.  

$2 each way for the taxi and $13.00  for the four of us for dinner.






The power is on tonight until 9.00am tomorrow. That's an unexpected blessing particularly since I have a breathing machine because of sleep apnia.

Goodnight all
Grahame

PS we are 4 hours and 15 minutes behind you in time.

Saturday 17 March 2012

Latest Building Project

In February 2012, 15 people formed a construction team to help progress the construction of a new Multi-purpose hall and 4 new classrooms and office at Chhinchiu, Surkhet in West Nepal.
Interseed has raised and contributed the funds for this project. The highlight of the trip was the chance to interact with some of the children from the Lighthouse Hostel who will use this facility.




These facilities will be used extensively by the local and wider community for worship, education, training, community activities and administration of community development projects.


In April this year 'An introduction to Effective Teaching' will be conducted in these facilities.







Friday 16 March 2012

From East to West to help the rest

I recently read ‘The book that made your world’ by Vishal Mangalwadi and it cemented in my mind that the only hope for the Nation of Nepal is the transformation of its people by being benefactors of the Great Commission. That the people receive and respond to the good news, receive the Holy Spirit and be thoroughly taught in the Word of God. This will transform the Nation.

My observation is that the local church in Nepal is doing what the local church should do. They are preaching and living the gospel with passion and doing their utmost to reach and teach their people.

Hosanna Church Ministries has been operating a Training College with a 5 month intensive program twice each year.
The students are sponsored and taught by well-meaning and mostly competent bible teachers coming in from various countries. However, during a recent trip to Nepal I had an opportunity to teach in the college for 3 days. During that time it became clear to me that not all the teaching these students are receiving is biblically sound. I challenged the notion of prosperity for all believers and noted that the Lord Jesus demonstrated that poverty was not a sin but the love of money and covetousness is. I noted some of the DVD’s given to the College and authors being recommended were not helpful to the students receiving a sound biblical education.
The Director of the College asked me to help them put the college on a sound foundation. This is not an easy task as Satan will always be seeking to distort the truth in Bible Colleges as he has done throughout the centuries. The Director, Santosh Guiday, has been approved for a scholarship to attend Bible College in the Philippines in September for 3 years. 

Sameer Nakarmi will be responsible for the administration of the College while Santosh is away. Sameer has limited Bible knowledge and therefore is not well equipped to identify error when a false teacher slips through the cracks. I have invited Sameer to Australia to study at Crossways, Mueller College Campus, a 1 year Diploma course which will earn him formal qualifications. This will cost around $13,000 for course cost alone.

I have known Sameer for 2 years and recently spent three days living with him and traveling around Surkhet on the back of a motorbike with Sameer driving. He translated for me at the Bible School last September. He is a very fine young Christian man. He comes from a very sound Christian family and is part way through a Bachelor of Business Administration. He will take a year off from his studies to do the course and he will need permission from his course supervisor. Pastor Raju Sundas has complete confidence in this young man to do his best and return to Nepal to continue in ministry. He sees this opportunity as a great blessing for the church, not just for Sameer.
Can you partner with us to sponsor this young Timothy by helping with his airfares, course costs and living expenses while he is in Australia.
Sameer has recently passed his prerequisite English exam to gain acceptance at the College.
Please pray with us as he formally applies to the College for a July 2012 start and applies for his visa.
We thank God for those who have committed to Sameer and we ask that you continue to pray that the funds will come in to pay his fees and accommodation.

Please email  educatenepal30@gmail.com to express your interest.

Grahame Kerr, Director of Mission Christian Community Ministries.
Donations to Bankwest BSB 304152 Acc. 0006477
Earmark (Educate Nepal Sameer)