New Hope Nepal Board

Wow!  How exciting to see our new board come together for their first meeting!  We have a wonderful group of six men and one woman committed to leading.  The board was kept busy for two days being introduced to their new responsibilities, discussing the client population and activities of the organization, reviewing the bi-laws suggested by our lawyer, and working through some decisions about exactly what category of agency we will be registered as.  The agency is currently in the legal process of being registered as a Nepali non-governmental organization (NGO) which we hope will be complete in early 2016.  In the meantime we will continue to bring relief, start the pilot family strengthening and foster care programs, and gather information for community development projects.  

Our working mission statement is:

New Hope Nepal promotes child protection, seeking to preventing trafficking and child abandonment through the empowerment of families and communities.   Our programs focus on the goals of strengthening families, caring for vulnerable children in a family setting, developing sustainable livelihoods, supporting education, encouraging good health, and advocating for those without a voice.

New Hope Nepal Board of Directors

 From left to right:

Januka Adhikari, Mahadev Baniya, Dinish Sunar, Purna Bahadur, Nukal Tamang, Chandra Surya Thapa, Indra Bahadar Sunar

Why Nepal?

Nepal was embroiled in a civil war from 1996-2006, with the Maoist rebels fighting for control of the country against a long-standing monarchy. In April of 2006 the King was overthrown following several weeks of violent protests, and the Maoists entered the government as a recognized political party. During the war, over 12,000 people were killed and between 100-150,000 were internally displaced.

The country is among the poorest and least developed in the world, both economically and in terms of infrastructure, ranking near the bottom in almost every major category. Half the country lives below the poverty line, earning less than $1.25 per day, and unemployment rates hover around fifty percent.

As usual, children are the most widely effected by both the poverty and violence.  Two-thirds of children in Nepal are underweight and one-half have stunted growth due to malnutrition.  Nepal has the highest early mortality rate in the region.

Poor, rural families are giving the "opportunity", for a price, to send their children to the city for an education.  Traffickers take the fee, and the children, but then abandon them on the streets, force them into begging rings, or sell them as slaves.  Nepal child rights organizations estimate that there are currently around 15,000 children living in orphanages in the city, although these numbers are difficult to keep track of, as many of the orphanages are not registered or regulated by the government. Kathmandu Valley has one of the highest densities of orphanages in the world.  Many of these orphanages are exploiting the children who suffer torture, sexual abuse, begging duty on the street, one meal a day, no treatment when they fall sick, and no schooling.  4,000 children are estimated to live in sub-standard conditions in orphanages.  Children are found severely malnourished.  Horrible stories of torture are told.  There is even one documented case of an orphanage being founded and run by foreign pedophiles. 

Institutionalization is a 19th century solution.  It is never the preferred way to care for a needy child.  Unregulated it can be dangerous, leading to much worse care the the child ever would have received in their family of origin.  Nepali children deserve an opportunity to return to their parents or have another permanent family.  They deserve support within their communities.  And they deserve to live in loving temporary families in the meantime.

Source:  CIA World Factbook, Terre des Homme, UNICEF

Why foster care?

     WHAT IS FOSTER CARE?

            Short or medium-term temporary fostering is the planned placement of a child in a family for a few weeks, months or years. It provides a safe place for a child to live until it is possible to reunite the child and the parents, place a child in extended family care, or arrange an alternative longer-term or permanent option in accordance with the child’s developing care plan.

Foster parents are given training to assist them in meeting the emotional and physical needs of the children in their care. They are provided with a stipend as well as provision for the feeding, clothing, medical care and education of the child.

WHY FOSTER CARE?

Foster care as a preferable alternative to harmful forms of residential care.

Children are best served in families.  Their complex needs cannot be fully met in institutional care.  Scripture, research and common sense all agree on this fact.  Only a family can provide the love, attention, emotional support and spiritual development a child needs.  There are numerous studies highlighting the harm caused by residential care and benefits to children from foster care. Children reared in large-scale residential care had, on average, an IQ 20 points lower than their peers in foster care (Barth 2002).  Young children who were moved from large-scale residential care to supported foster care before the age of two made dramatic developmental gains both cognitive and emotional compared to those who continued to live in residential care and whose situation worsened considerably (Nelson et al 2007).

Children who grew up in foster care attained higher levels of education and family stability, and had a lesser likelihood of arrest, or conviction or substance use problems, than those who had spent time in residential care. Adults formerly in foster homes were also more likely to have close friends and stronger informal support. Children living with a foster family are more likely to gain experience in carrying out daily household tasks, such as cleaning or cooking which can help to better prepare them for living independently (Barth 2002). Infants in small group care facilities scored worse on measures of socialization and development than those in foster care (Harden 2002).

When children living in residential and foster care were interviewed; the children highlighted their strong preference for family-based care over residential care, with concerns that residential care did not offer them with the same level of individual care and attention.  Instead, foster care was widely recognized as a positive placement for children who could not live with their families in the short or longer-term, and which could provide children with care and attention (Everychild 2011).

Benefits for the foster family.

            Homeless children are not the only ones who benefit from foster care.  The foster family, and especially the foster mother, benefits as well.  Foster families are paid a stipend for caring for, and sharing their home with, the child.  This is in addition to the child’s medical, educational, clothing, and nutritional needs being met.  The stipend assists the family in meeting their own needs allowing better nutrition and education for their own children.  Foster mothers are elevated to the status of professional parent; wage earners given worth in society and their families (Paul, 2012).  Training provided to them includes such subjects as child development and nutrition information which not only assist them in parenting their foster child well, but their own children too.

WHY THE CHURCH?

            The church is called to respond to the needs of vulnerable children.  Churches are uniquely equipped, organized, viable networks of caring individuals who can respond in meaningful, culturally appropriate ways.  The local church is in the best position to minister to the needs of children and families in their own community.  They can provide direct spiritual, emotional, and material care with the support of their brothers and sisters around the world. 

            Throughout scripture God’s people are commanded to care for the orphan.  In Isaiah 58:6-12 tells us God desires us to share our food with the hungry and provide the needy with clothing and shelter.  The verses have a beautiful promise of blessing for those who fulfill the desires of the Lord in this way; their healing will quickly appear, the glory of the Lord will be their rear guard, the Lord will listen to their cries, and He will guide them and satisfy their needs, blessing the work of their hands.  When God’s people obey He is close beside them.

References

Barth, R (2002) Institutions vs. Foster Homes: The Empirical Base for the Second Century of Debate. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC, School of Social Work, Jordan Institute for Families

EveryChild (2011) Scaling Down. Reducing, reshaping and improving residential care around the world. Positive care choices: Working Paper 1 EveryChild, London

Harden, B (2002) Congregate Care for Infants and Toddlers: Shedding New Light on an Old Question. Infant Mental Health Journal, Vol 23 (5)

Nelson, C, Zeanah, C, Fox, N, Marshall, P, Smyke, A, Guthery, D, (2007) Cognitive recovery in socially deprived young children: The Bucharest early intervention project. Science 318 (no.5858); 1937–1940 (21st December 2007)

Paul, M. (2012, May 22). Director Vathsalya Charitable Trust. (R. Moore, Interviewer)