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Youth engaged programme on
Developing a culture of peace and
non violent society
"We
believe that due to the lack of forum and opportunities unengaged
and open minded youths are always the cause of conflict, violence
and other negative activities in the society. This project's main
objectives are to provide forum on knowledge, music, and sports
for empowering youth and support their general activities for the
overall development of society. As a result they will develop a
culture of peace and non- violence society."
Geographic region
Lamjung, a district that falls under the western development
region, lie s
in the Gandaki Zone of Nepal. The district Lamjung, which is the
habitation of approximately two lakhs (200,000) people, has a
literacy rate of 56%. There are 61 Village Development Committees
(VDCs) in this district. 5 campuses, 15 higher secondary schools
and 268 schools have been established to contribute in the
education sector. Because of the very less number of telephones
available in the district, post offices are the main source and
the strongest medium for communication, which fortunately are
present in all 61 V.D.Cs. There is only a hospital in the district
but at least a health post in all the 61 V.D.Cs. The district has
occupied a landscape of 1692kms and the surrounding districts are
Gorkha, Manang, Kaski and Tanahu. The district is rich in nature
but it lacks proper road management. Although there are plenty of
water and forest resources, they have not been properly and wisely
used. Most of the villages have lacked electricity and may still
lack it in the next few years.
Armed conflict and Lamjung
Lamjung has not been able to stand out from the effects of the
conflict after the Maoists initiated their civil war from 2052
B.S. In the initial  years,
the Maoists had their own ideas and philosophies to follow but
after the cease-fire in 2058; human rights of the innocent
civilians seem to have been violated in a very outrageous and
disgusting manner. During this period, majority of the local
residents seem to have joined hands with the Maoists party and
indulged themselves in their activities. They had even developed
political faith in them and as a result of this; some of the
problems of the local residents seem to have been solved. But on
the other hand, most of the landlords who are respected and
qualified people started leaving the rural communities of the
villages that was mostly affected.
Each passing days people were unwillingly being migrated to avoid
the unbearable pain. In the search of a secured destination, most
of them have resided in the district headquarters, Pokhara and
Kathmandu and some have even immigrated to foreign countries. The
livelihood of the rural people is highly pressurized and is in a
vital situation because of the conflict between the parties. Print
and electronic media have clearly identified that children, women
and old people are the most violence-affected group. Many families
are helpless and frightened at the loss of their family members
because they have been kidnapped, abducted or murdered. The
villagers are really distressed without the knowledge of the
whereabouts of their relatives. The civilians (mostly rural) are
the ones who have to tolerate the unnecessary harassment from both
the parties involved in the conflict.
Youth migration
After the first ceasefire declared in Mangsir, 2058, the villagers
had gone through terrible and terrifying situations, which have
directly affected the youths. The Maoists started pressurizing the
youths to join their parties and get involved in their immoral
activities. On the other hand, the Royal Nepalese Army after
seeing the youths living idle started charging them with the guilt
of being a Maoist. These youths then had to go through severe
interrogation, harassment or physical torture. As an expected
consequence of these acts, the youths were forced to wander around
for a secured destination, which was likely to be the district
headquarters, or any other job oriented place. Some of them are
still unsatisfied, and then started to look for foreign employment
and immigrate to other countries in the search of a peaceful
working environment. To escape from one’s own country's situation,
hundreds of youths choose to live in a foreign country where they
have to work really hard for the very low wages with very few
facilities given to them there.
Presently, the youths seem to have vanished from the villages.
Only helpless and aged people seem to dwell in these places.
Obviously, the society, religion, culture, regional festivals,
economical trades and developments are the directly affected
factors. The problems in villages such as health, education,
transportation and employment seem to have magnified. The people
of the rural villages are living in a drastic condition. Since
then, our country has been acquainted with disgraceful adjectives
and synonyms and negatively looked at when it comes to the topic
of the global map.
Project Coverage
The coverage of this project was outside the capital city, in a
small town of Lamjung district; known as a Bhorletar valley which
is surrounded by the local villages and
three rivers.
This project focuses three Village Development committees (V.D.Cs).
They are Bhorletar, Ishaneshwor and Bangre.
Situation Analysis
Bhorletar
Village Development Committee (VDC) is situated at Lamjung
district. This VDC is 37km far from district head quarter and it
covers 1070 hector square area of Lamjung district. The height
from sea level is 3300ft. It is known as a beautiful valley
surrounded by three rivers. The population of the VDC is more than
10,000. In Bhorletar V.D.C, there is one community school known
as an Ishoneshwor higher secondary school, where around 1000
student are studying and more than 100 students in its Bachelor
degree of Ishoneshwor campus. Similarly, there are 6 primary
schools.
In Bhorletar there is a presence of almost all government offices
like health post, education institutions, post office, animals and
farmer care clinic, forest secretary post etc. More than 100 army
and police forced are staying here to provide the security in this
area. Green Valley Youth Club is the one of the dynamic local
organization in Bhorletar. It surrounds three other V.D.Cs and
they directly or indirectly depended on its business, education,
health, communication and other government service.
In this situation Bhorletar valley (Bhorletar, Ishaneshwor and
Bangre) has around 30,000 people. In this largely populated area
there are only five telephone lines for communication and one post
office for ordinary mail as well as one cinema hall for
information disseminations and entertainment. Private schools are
running their education on computer science but they are only
limited in theory classes. Community school of Bhorletar has five
computers among 1000 student but they are also out of use because,
of lack of awareness and skills of human resource.
Idea Action local partners (Gomati Youth Club and Green Valley
Club)
Idea Action concerned Bhorletar valley overall development. It has
developed its local partners to assist on the whole development
and empowerment of youths. We have long-term strategy to implement
our projects and assist their action for human rights, social
justice, sustainable development, use of intermediate technology
(solar energy), ICT, awareness, interaction, events, skills
development training, voluntary action, sports, culture exchange
and others relate fields.
For this project we have selected three youth clubs. There are
Green Valley, Gomati and Green Hill consequently from Bhorletar,
Ishaneshwor and Bangra V.D.Cs.
Introduction of our partner Clubs
An active and alert community has taken the pride of establishing
the Gomati Youth Club at Ishaneshwor, V.D.C in the year 2052.
Gomati Youth Center has started awareness and advocacy campaign on
Education, Health, local development and they are fully
responsible for all most all local festivals & cultural
programmes.
The main objective of this club is to empower the youth so that
they can conserve the religion and culture and uplift the society
on local levels. This club mobilizes the youth to participate in
creative development and creates unity and brotherhood in the
society. Since then, the club has arranged social gatherings and
meetings on the occasion of regional festivals, fairs and
religious occasions so that the people become aware of the rich
values and cultures of the country. In every two years, the club
members organize a meeting to activate the proposed programmes.
The club till now has seen equal participation from both the male
and female individuals. The club is performs in the networking of
the local schools, other clubs and the Women's group. This club
has established an official literature publication named the
'Gomati Shahittik Sangalo'.
Green Valley Club was established in the year of 2056 at
Bhorletar. Its main activities are to empower the youth through
sports. The unengaged youth are the cause of conflict and violence
so we must develop alternative forum for youth so they do not stay
idle and have no chance to get involved in conflict, violence and
other negative activities.
Similarly, Green Hill Club is representative form Bangre V.D.C. It
is also actively involved for its overall development since many
years.
Regular activities of Gomati Youth Clubs
The Gomati Youth club has been organizing cultural programmes
every year on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami (Nepali’s main
festival). The main objective of such program is that everyone can
gather at one place and exchange greetings as well as share their
experiences on different matters and discuss further possible
development processes. Since 2052, the club together with the help
of the local schools, clubs and civil society has been conducting
entertainment programmes with the hope of peace in the country.
Similarly, such types of
programs were conducted on Ram Nawami at the local Ram Bazaar in
the year 2061. More than 1000 people were present at the
programme. During the same programme, Gomati Youth Club had paid
honor to the local female volunteers who had been contributing a
lot for the health of the local people. They had each been
presented with a sari (a special female dress) and a blouse and
also an acknowledgement letter for helping the club to teach the
people maintain their health, take proper maternal care, etc. This
token of honor had been given to remind them to keep up their
spirits and lend a helping hand at time needed.
PROJECTS
FEMALE EMPOWERMENT
Teej Song Competition: Building Peace Through Nepali Culture
The annual Hindu 'Teej' festival is the one festival of the year
devoted entir ely
to women. It is an opportunity for women to worship together,
sing, dance, and socialize without having to serve their husbands,
brothers, and sons. A longstanding and continuing tradition is
for women to share songs they have composed about the joys and
sorrows of their lives. Building on this important part of Nepali
culture,
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club organized a song competition
during the 2005 Teej festival in Ishaneshwor at Ram Bazar.
Entrants were asked to compose a song on the theme, How to Develop
a Peaceful and Non-Violent Society. A total of 23 teams
participated with each team consisting of 5-7 women from
neighboring villages. Prizes and certificates were awarded to
submissions that best addressed the current social barriers to
building a culture of peace.
Idea Action worked closely with Gomati Youth Club in organizing
the event. Gomati
Youth Club reached out to the nearby communities, ensuring active
participation by local women. Idea Action provided financial
support and technical expertise, collaborating with Gomati in
overall planning of the event.
YOUTH VOLUNTEER ACTION
Engaging Youth in Local Communities
Providing volunteer opportunities for youths is a
cornerstone of Idea Action's strategy for uplifting Nepali
society. Not only does volunteering allow youths to learn new
skills and explore their interests, it also actively engages them
in their local communities.
 Since
1998, Gomati Youth Club in arrangement volunteers activities
for youths. In 2005, Idea Action worked with Gomati to organize a
program for volunteers to assist worshippers attending Shivaratri
(Lord Shiva's puja). Over 600 worshippers converge at the
Ishaneshwor temple on one day for Shivaratri. Youth volunteers
collected and distributed cow's milk and "Belpatra" (tree leaves)
to worshippers which are given as offerings. The local government
and community provides little to no crowd control, so youth
volunteers also managed the crowd, organizing lines and creating
areas for worshippers to leave their shoes (which must be removed
before entering the temple), thus making it easier for worshippers
to access the temple.
Similarly, the club functions on other important festivals such as
Tihar, Sankranti, Baisakh Purnima, and Saraswati Puja. The club is
doing it's best to preserve and uplift the cultural values of
these festivals. On these occasions, the club also conducts
creative competitions such as quiz and essay competitions mostly
for students. Representatives of other clubs, teachers, social
workers and local residents support such competitions.
Idea Action works to support such activities which engage youth in
their communities while also strengthening and promoting Nepali
culture.
CREATIVITY
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club regularly hold creative
competitions to encourage students to enhance the student’s
abilities and encourage them. Prizes and certificates are
awarded. These competitions immensely contribute towards the
increment in intellectual capacity, grooming of hidden talents,
development of leadership skills, increment in general knowledge
and confidence in presentation in the society. These young
citizens have their own studies to take care of but yet they
involve themselves in such activities that they believe will
surely enlighten their lives.
TOP UP KNOWLEDGE
A. Training
Program on
Leadership Skills
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club organized three-day training at
Karaputar to develop youth leadership skills. A total of 30
youths age of 18-25 were participants in this programme. The main
topics of the training addressed conflict resolution, youth issues
and gender inequality. This training session was held with the
support of other organizations like, 'Swawalambhi Samaj Sewa
Kendra'.
B. Interaction programme on establishment of Library
Idea Action and Green valley club organized interaction programme
on establishment of public library in Bhorletar. There were fifty
participants including, school’s principle, campus chief,
president of VDC and other people.
CHILDREN
Idea Action regularly organizes general knowledge, sports and fun
related activities for the children. It has launched awareness
programme on, Children are peace zone.
On Bhadra 11, 2062. Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club conducted a
quiz competition hoping for developing a culture of peace and non
violence society in the country. The other objective of this
programme was to pressurize the government to declare ceasefire in
a peaceful way as the Maoist had already done from their side.
Milan Subedi had conducted the competition in the chairmanship of
the club's Secretary Damodar Soti and the chief guest was Idea
Action’s officer Mr. Bhum Raj Tiwari. Altogether four teams
participated in the competition. The chief guest Bhum Raj Tiwari
presented the winners with prizes and certificates.
Similarly, on Magh 16, 2061 in memory of the four martyrs Idea
Action and Gomari Club organized a quiz competition to increase
awareness and knowledge of the conflict among children who live in
conflict areas. Idea Action believes that if more children are
informed of the circumstances of the conflict, they may be less
vulnerable to participating in the violence. Altogether six teams
participated in the competition which tested the children on their
knowledge of human rights, peace, and democracy. Jagat Mani Soti
conducted the programme in the chairmanship of the club's
President Pralad Mani Soti. The chief guest for the programme was
Gyan Prasad Adhikari and the programme took place at Gomarti Youth
Club's offices in Ishaneshwor. Winning teams were awarded
received prizes and certificates.
AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION CENTRE
 In
rural areas of Nepal, agriculture is the main and often only
source of employment.
In conjunction with its local partner, Gomati Youth Club, Idea
Action has developed a strategy to expand the Agricultural
Information Center at the center of the village in Ishaneshwor.
The Agricultural Information works to encourage local farmers to
implement modern agricultural methods. The center also provides
information about new technologies, crops, and seeds. Currently
10,000 people benefit from the Center which not only develops
agriculture in the community but also engages youth and has
reduced joblessness in the area.
Project on ICT and Tell-center
Gomati Youth Club has installed a telephone facility with the UHF
technology from Bhadra 5, 2062 with the main aim to provide
convenience to the local people and working on the way to develop
of tell-center. Idea Action is working to develop tele-center in
this village. This local telephone facility has benefited the
residents of Ishaneshwor and the Dumki village of Kaski district.
Before this telephone was installed, there was only one telephone
in the village and the villagers were charged highly for the calls
they made. But now once a competitor has come, they have lowered
their charges and are now charging minimum rates. The charge for
making a call to any place in the kingdom is Rs. 8.50. The general
people now do not have to wait in long queues to talk to their
friends and relatives far from them. Each day more than 100 people
are being benefited from this facility. At least three members of
this club are donating Rs.1000 monthly to provide this facility to
the people of this village. This project becomes an income
generation for the clubs. Collecting funds are implementing in the
club regular activities and new project as a result youth are
empowering in volunteer action and other types social development
activities.
ENVIRONMENT
A. Cleanliness programme
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club initiated a cleanliness
programme at the Kusumakar Higher Secondary School. This included
an outreach project to encourage students to properly dispose of
refuse in dustbins labeled 'Use Me' which are kept on school
grounds. Students are now seen to be disposing of trash properly.
b. Plantation accomplished
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club completed a plantation programme
in Baishakh 2060. The main objective was conservation and
preservation of the environment. While activities such as
planting trees worked to improve local communities' environmental
conditions, this plantation program also improves economic
conditions in the area. Besides this, financial status also
improves from banana farming. So the farmers of these villages are
enthusiastic about the plantation activities and have been
participating in them. Presently the club has used its premises V.
D. C's building surroundings and the school premises for the
plantation. The local farmers have used their own lands for such
activities.
DEVELOPMENT
a. Mill activated with the support of 'aama samuha' (A group of
local female)
Idea Action worked with the Gomati Youth Club and 'Aama Samuha' to
construct a mill in Ishaneshwor V.D.C. This infrastructure
development project empowers the women in their works. The mill
produces mustard oil and grinds wheat, barley and maize. The mill
has directly profited more than 120 families from ward no. 7, 8
and 9 of the Ishaneshwor V. D. C. Gomati Youth Club invested RS.
14,000 in the mill. The mill runs with waterpower which otherwise
could have been run by electricity and it would definitely have
been more profitable.
B. Construction of Community Meeting Area
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club has contributed an amount of RS.
3000 for the construction of Community Meeting Area, centrally
located near the main market at Karaputar. This place is going to
be constructed for the facility of the patients and their
visitors. In addition to providing necessary funds, Idea Action
and Gomati Club have also worked to organize volunteers to
transport construction materials to the building site.
C.
Annual Construction of
Temporary
Bridge
Idea Action and Gomati Youth Club have been annually constructing
a 'fadke' (a small bridge) to link Karaputar and Bhorletar
directly in the absence of a permanent bridge. Every November
when the water level of the Midim River is low, the fadke is
constructed. While all villagers from Thumki, Ishaneshwor and
Bhorletar benefit from the fadke, students in particular use the
fadke which allows them to reach their schools easily. With the
fadke, it requires only 15 minutes to reach Bhorletar from
Karaputar, a journey which would otherwise take up to 90 minutes.
However, in the monsoon season beginning in June, the water
invariably rises and washes away the fadke that served local
residents for the previous eight months. The club constructs the
fadke every year with the help and support of the local people
too.
D. Road Construction
Idea Action works to provide community assistance that actively
involves community members in providing solutions to local
problems. Idea Action and Green Valley Club provided funds to
rebuild a one kilometer road which was constructed by local
volunteers. The motor way links villages and markets within
Bhorletar as well as improves access to neighboring VDCs. An
estimated 10,000 people have benefited from the project. This
project main aim is that Idea Action and green valley club have
rebuilding a road in one km way. Green Valley club also denoted
fifty thousands and volunteer activities.
This project main aim is that people themselves solve their
problems in local level. Idea Action and green valley club have
rebuilding a road in one km way. Green Valley club also denoted
fifty thousands and volunteer activities. As a result this motor
way has links village and markets in Bhorletar and all vehicles
are move toward to the next VDC. Around 10,000 people are
beneficial after this project.
Project on Documentations
Gomati Youth Club has published an official document 'Gomati
Sahitik Sangalo'. The main objective for its publication is to
introduce itself on district and national levels. The first
publication came out on the auspicious occasion of Vijaya Dashami
2060. The contents of that publication was focused on the club
activities, the writings of the local people and the talents of
the students. The editor of this publication is Pralad Mani Soti
and it is going to be published annually.
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