Nepal in the News

What's your idea of the perfect vacation? Is it lying on a beach, tanning and gazing at the lapping waves? Or skiing through fresh powder on a snowy mountain? Or might it, instead, involve digging a well in a poor village, teaching English to a group of foreign schoolkids or lugging bales of hay to feed elephants at an animal rescue shelter? If you lean more toward the latter, you might just be a voluntourist (a mashup of volunteer and tourist)

When young college students are asked why they volunteer, the answer is usually something along the lines of “I just want to help people,” or “I want to make a difference in the world.” While these answers may reflect good intentions, the actual work that they do tells a different story, and the negative results are seen in the aftermath of this work.

Prevention Project: Street Dramas  NGN's Prevention Project team goes deep into rural Nepal to present anti-trafficking street dramas. All our actors are locally selected and trained, and know first-hand the story of "trafficking" of children. Entire villages show up to learn what signs to look for. Help us keep children from ever knowing the trauma of trafficking and family separation!

"I was looking for a way to give back while I was traveling. I have always loved being around children so volunteering in an orphanage made sense to me. I found a place very close to the tourist district where I was staying and the cost of staying there seemed quite reasonable, especially since I was happy to give money to help kids anyway. I also bought fruits and vegetables for the children while I was there, but their diet never seemed to change."

After several violations and what had clearly become a harmful situation for the children, the Nepali government has recently initiated a rescue to bring a group of children home from an "orphanage" in a tourist district of Nepal.

A Child's Voice: Living in a remote district of Nepal, you have known that your family has struggled with growing barely enough food on the steep mountainside to feed your family, and no medical treatments when you are sick or injured, as well as very little knowledge of the outside world. .

How it Begins: Imagine you are living in a place so poor and remote that your family survives on $100 a year. The closest school is a 5 hour walk and the teachers rarely show up anyway. A trusted member of your community, neighbor or family relative approaches you with the idea that he can help your child and your family have a better and easier future life.

This is a short paper produced by Next Generation Nepal (NGN) to advise members of the public and tourists who may encounter child trafficking or child abuse in children's homes or orphanages in Nepal.

NGN's former country director, Martin Punaks, speaks about the state of Nepal, the work that NGN is doing, and how it has been affected as we arrive at one year since the earthquake.