I have been asked often over the last few months, Why do you
choose to pay for the education of girls in Nepal and India? There are so many
reasons but hopefully this story will start explain why.
Due to the remoteness of many of the homes of the children
who attend Demazong Academy they must board at the school . This means that
they say at the school full time for 11 months of the year and would return
home for 1 month’s holiday. If it is not possible to return home they may stay
at the school all year in the care of the school’s headmaster Pema and his wife, family and staff. It is not unusual for a parent to send their
child into the care of another, trusting that they are getting an education without
contact for months at a time. To our western way of thinking this is inconceivable
but in Nepal and this remote part of India this is the sacrifice a family makes
for an education. An educated child has the chance to get a better job and in
turn a better life for both them, their family and community.
Anita, thanks to the sales of covers for back to school 2013
is our company’s second child to receive her education, board, food, uniforms
and books for life. I have the privilege of calling Pema who runs the Demazong
Academy in Sikkim, my Nepali Brother. When I wrote to him and said that we had
started to set aside funds for a second child and that “I wanted a to find a
child who’s life would be truly transformed by our sponsorship” this was his
reply.
 |
| Myself & Pema |
I was very happy to hear you. Here we all
are fine and well. We are preparing for the session. All the students and
teachers are back after vacation. The construction of our new kitchen is done.
We now need some plastic chairs for the dining hall.
Here I have the picture of Anita with her
parents. They are originally from Nepal. They came to Sikkim a long time
back and were living in one of the remote area of South Sikkim. Two years back
Anita was studying in Class one in one of the Government School , living with
her parents. One of the men came from Gangtok to meet her parents. He
promised them that he will take Anita to Gangtok and send her to one of the
good school there. Once Anita was taken to Gangtok they never came to meet her
parents. Recently Anita’s parents have shifted near to our school. Her father
often comes to me to help in some construction work. One day he told me
the story about his daughter Anita. Immediately I made a phone call to everyone
who I know in Gangtok. After one week we came to know the address of that
person. I manage some money for him and send him to Gangtok to bring his
daughter back. He could not bring her back on that day. Later we came to know
that she was locked inside and both the man and his wife went to work in
office. When her father went he found lock hanging outside the house and
came back helplessly. I felt that on Sunday all the government offices
will remain closed and the man and his wife will be at home. So, I send him on
Sunday for the second time and finally he met his daughter and brought her back
home. Anita was never sent to school. They treated Anita as a servant and let
her do all sort of domestic work.
Today I will call her parents and tell them
this good news. I would like to thank you very much for giving hope and
opportunity to her.
Looking forward to hear from you. Convey my
love and wishes to your kids.
Pema from Sikkim
As Pema
says, Anita’s story is not unique. This happens every day. But for now Anita is
safe and free to go to school like any girl her age should be free to do.
If you’d
like to read more or need a good cry, a wonderful book is Little Princes by
Conor Grennan about child trafficking in Nepal.
http://conorgrennan.com/little-princes/
