A place where they do not have the responsibilities and chores that they have in their homes. Around 40 percent of Nepalese children don’t finish the fifth grade, generally because their families can’t afford to keep their children in school. Instead, some children are sent away to get married, others help out at home. This is problematic, because the children do not get a change to have an impact
on decisions made concerning their lives. They often get turned into adults before they are all grown up. This is in contravention of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children have a right to be heard and to have an influence on their own lives. Our project:
In Aarhus, our group consisting of members from the organization Child Rights Ambassadors (Red Barnet Ungdom), are working to improve the conditions for some of these children. On our trips to Nepal, we have met many children and youngsters, who expressed their desire for a place where they could be with people their own age. A place where they can be themselves, free from adults’ expectations and the Nepalese caste system. That is what the “Our Haven” project sets out to give to these children. Over the next couple of months, we are expanding from three clubs in one district to thirty clubs in three districts. Here the children will have the opportunity to both play and learn about children’s rights. The clubs are run by young volunteers from the area and they are prepared to arrange events and games designed to teach children about their rights. To this end, our project is implemented with a rights based approach (RBA). The children themselves will be given the possibility to define what kind of activities shall take place in the clubs. In this way, the clubs are a place where children and their rights and abilities are at the center. Different backgrounds and social standing are pushed to the side to make room for everyone. That is why we chose the name “Our Haven” – it’s a place where all children are free to be themselves. As described above, the cooperation with our Nepalese partner organization is vital to the implementation of the clubs. Our partner organization is called Nepal National Dalit Social Welfare Organization (NNDSWO) and has a lot of experience with development aid in Nepal. For the past years we have worked closely together to create a project that helps children and youth in Nepal in the best possible way. This is what makes it possible: NNDSWO recruits volunteers, advertises the clubs, helps attract children and youth and reports on the clubs’ development. To put it in a nutshell, NNDSWO is responsible of the day-to-day running of the clubs, while the Danish team is in charge of supplying the necessary financial means. Danish group members:
Sarah Holm Jacobsen, Majken Daugaard, Christoffer Vinther Hansen, Ditte Vestergaard Poulsen og Zenthuja Sivalingam.
