Health Clinic

Poverty aggravated by the 12 years long armed conflict drove many a women and children from hills and mountains to seek refuge in urban cities. Kathmandu, the capital city, magnetized large number of such unfortunate lot. Bereft of skill and education, these poverty-ridden women and children have difficulty finding wherewithal for survival. The cities have largely been unkind and apathetic to their woes. These people who could barely manage two squares of meal are left with no resource to afford education and medical care, the fundamental necessities of life. Health problems don’t discriminate between rich and poor. The rich suffers health disorder by eating too much, the poor eating too little. Either of them needs health care facility as diseases are non-discriminatory. The difference is the rich can afford it; the poors are forced to live without it.

Nepalese governments in quest of attracting foreign investment in health and education sector went for privatization and deregulation. The policy triggered unprecedented growth in private nursing homes and hospitals. As these facilities resulting from privatization are operated from profit motive, they are beyond the reach of poverty-ridden, conflict victims who have sought refuge in the capital city for social and economic security. Their problems and challenges remain unaddressed. They are put through the hardships and have no one but to blame their own fate.

Nepal Matri Griha set itself to the task of remedying the health problems of this unfortunate lot. For the purpose it set up a health clinic manned by a physician and nurses to deal with health related problems of the poverty-ridden women and children. The clinic which is serving the poor women and children has been there for 2 years. The women patients frequenting the clinic largely visit the health clinic with reproductive health (RH) complications.

The children come there to seek cure for common ailments. NMG health clinic is serving approximately 10-15 patients a day. The health clinic operates on a two-prong strategy. In the first place, it examines the patients, diagnoses the ills, and provides treatment. However, when and if complications are detected which calls for sophisticated treatment, the NMG clinic coordinate with government hospitals equipped with better facilities for the treatment of such patients.

Health Clinic Objectives

NMG being a charity-based organization committed to serve the poor and vulnerable with philanthropic zeal believes that everyone has rights to access health services, and no one should be deprived of it. NMG’s principle objective is to ensure that the internally displaced people, poverty driven migrants and conflict victims receive minimum health facilities. NMG serves exclusively the poor women and children who have none other options than to die in want of care and treatment. Thus, NMG’s key objective is to ensure that the poverty-ridden women and children who can’t afford health care gain access to minimum health care facilities.

The private clinic run by NMG focuses mostly women who have been suffering from reproductive health (RH) related ailments. They are served in the clinic and if and when advanced level treatments required NMG coordinate with big hospitals to ensure their access to health services. Nearly 150 physio-therapy patients and equal number of RH patients are currently receiving services from NMG health scheme.

Why Health Theme ?

Health consumes 59 percent of Nepalese household income (Human Development Index survey 2005). A Health Post run in a Village Development Committee (VDC) with a population of 5000 on an average receives an annual budget of approximately 50,000/ rupees which is roughly US $ 800/ for health expenses. The capitalist mode of economic system opted by the succeeding governments triggered the acceleration of nursing homes and private clinics in the urban centers. The health services there is beyond reach for poors. This leaves the poor with no choice but to die unattended and untreated. NMG wants to bridge the gulf by accessing poor and vulnerable to such services, and advocates simultaneously for their health access.

Education Theme

Children who have been orphaned, victim of conflict, victim of family breakdowns, victim of poverty, victim of abuse and domestic violence, are often found seeking refuge in big cities where human apathy and cruelty breeds in the insalubrious nook and corner of urban cities. These children have suffered the twists and turns of fate, and are compelled to face the ugly and cruel facet of life at the tender age, need help. By helping these buds of humanity, every citizen is helping the society in the making. NMG seeks to protect these vulnerable children from abuse, exploitation, slavery and bondage. If they are not rescued, salvaged and protected from harms and hostile elements today, they would engender more ills and perversions in society tomorrow.

Hence, NMG believes that they should be given back their stolen childhood and all the opportunities and facilities that come along with it. Education and children’s access to it is crucial for healthy and positive growth. Education shapes their minds, builds healthy thought patterns, cultivates skills, and contributes to their sound physical, mental and intellectual growth. Nepal fashioning itself increasingly in the capitalist mode of economy, privatizing and deregulating vital services like health and education, has denied access of many poor and helpless children to education. For the post-conflict children who have landed in cities for survival, accessing to school is simply unthinkable. Private schools run for profit are too expensive for them to afford, and public schools subsidized by the government is too poor, substandard, inadequately staffed, and crammed by students. These children, who roam in street, work in carpet factory, act as domestic help, and work as waiter and dishwasher in Kathmandu’s dirty, dingy eateries, must be supported for their school access. Its not that the government of Nepal is unknown or unaware of its post-conflict displaced children’s pathetic plight, it is simply helpless. The government is swamped with heap of problems resulted from conflict, and this human disaster has nearly always escaped its attention.

Shree Nepal Matri Griha Primary School jog by NMG is meant to address the problems of education of the unguarded and vulnerable children. NMG believes that these children have rights to education and right to shape a good character and positive thinking. The school which is currently imparting quality education to approximately 350 children up to Grade 5 will soon be upgraded.

Rational for upgrading NMG school

The NMG School exclusively enrolls children who could otherwise be never educated. They are helpless, resource-less, opportunity-less, and exposed to all sorts of abuse and exploitations. They are victim of family breakdowns, domestic abuse, abuse under alcoholic influence, unguarded and unprotected. These children are enrolled here and provided education up to Grade 5, which is primary level. Upon completion of primary level, they are sent to public or private schools subject to resource availability and affordability. This involves two types of risks for children who are alien to urban society. The first type of risk is that once they come out from guarded and protected enclave and face the society outside, they are vulnerable and exposed to dangers of trafficking, abuse and exploitations at the hands of wolfs under human skin prowling about in the society. As they are still tender, young and susceptible, they become easy target for people preying on children. The young girls are lured into sex trade, and other inhuman and perverted purposes. The boys too are likely to fall into bad companion and ruin themselves.

The other type of risk is cost increase. The private schools which boast of quality education are expensive. The fee keeps rising as the government regulatory and controlling mechanism is too frail to rein them in. Public schools which are comparatively cheaper are plagued by several woes. They have inadequate teacher, crowded classrooms, and poor physical facilities, substandard quality of teaching/learning, and untrained and inexperienced teachers. As there has been a huge gap between private and public schools in terms of quality, facilities, infrastructure, the public school products are no match to private school products. NMG wants to produce competitive citizens who should be able to cope with every challenge of life.

Hence, the only option left for NMG is to go for upgrading the NMG School run by it as to enable children pursue education up to the secondary level in a safe and risk-free environment.

NMG’s strategic pursuit in accessing children to education

NMG seeks to serve maximum number of children at minimum cost. Even as it pursues this strategy, NMG in no way compromises the quality of teaching/learning. The government policy has it that there should be one teacher for every 50 students in public schools but classrooms are usually crammed with students exceeding 100 in numbers. The private schools normally have 35 to 40 students in one classroom. Private schools can afford least number of students as they are commercially and profitably run. NMG, on the other hand, is charity-based organization funded by individual donors who have been magnanimous, humane, and self-sacrificing for a noble cause. NMG believes that every single penny donated by such big hearted people should be completely, thoroughly and effectively utilized. It should reach the needy and the deserving in earnest. NMG seeks to strike a balance between quality and quantity and produce a desired result. It wants to avoid a situation where 15 or 20 students are receiving education in the classroom while another 10- 15 children are carrying load on shoulder, playing in the mud, or dishwashing in the roadside eatery. NMG believes that every deserving child should gain equal and equitable opportunity. It is therefore, NMG proposes to put 30 to 35 children in one classroom to access maximum number of children to education, but, of course, not at the expense of quality.

NMG also conducts monitoring of children by visiting homes, exchanging dialogues with parents, apprising the domestic conditions, sensitizing parents in favor of children’s education, encouraging them to refrain from alcoholic and abusive habits etc.

NMG’s objective in accessing children to education

NMG seeks to achieve the following objectives by accessing poor, orphan, and conflict-victim, victim of family breakdowns, victim of domestic abuse and victim of alcoholic influences children to education:

• Enable these hard-luck hit children enjoy fundamental rights to education
• Contribute to build a society free from abuse, perversions and exploitations
• Enable children, victim of circumstances, shape good character, gain skills, cultivate positive thinking, develop competitive edge and lead a dignified life

Strategic Activities to ensure access of children at risk to education

Over the past 8 years serving victim and vulnerable children and women NMG has earned scores of allies, partners, and collaborators and build a network of like-minded philanthropic organizations working in different parts of the country. NMG has evolved criterion for enrolling children in NMG School. The criterion is shared and disseminated among its allies and partners who when come across such children refer them to NMG. In this way different organizations are volunteering to support NMG in its mission of educating children denied of opportunity.

Future Strategy

NMG plans to reach Grade 10 by 2013, spanning over 5 years, upgrading one class a year beginning from year 2008. It is a five year plan. The students who pass Grade V are promoted to Grade VI this year. And those pass Grade VI will be promoted to Grade VII in subsequent year and so on. This will be the strategy followed in course of upgrading.

Scholorship Program

None of us would stand against that the children are the wealth of nation. We need education to use the wealth properly for the development of the nation. So, the education gives us knowledge and ideas to the best use of the wealth that can’t be misused.

Nepal Matri Griha has been creating the opportunities to the disadvantaged children who are utterly deprived of education. There are thousands of children who are working as a household labour or roaming around living very pitiable life. The parents are not educated in one hand and in the other there are limited people who are able to spend thousands of funds for their children’s schooling, similarly other millions of people are still seeking a way out for hand to mouth. In this pathetic condition they cannot dream for their children’s education. NMG has been providing scholarship for the severely poor and needy children. Because they could not continue their further study in new school.