I am extremely glad to welcome you all to "Rafting for Charity" event on May 18, 2013. Laxmi Pratisthan is always committed to serve the nation with its effort on social transformation. Time and often it organizes various charitable programs. This rafting event is one of them. The participants will enjoy rafting, an adventurous water sports. Besides fun, this participation will contribute for a very pious purpose of serving the neediest people of our nation. The spare amount of this Rafting will be utilized for conducting various activities for uplifting the living standard of Chepang Community at Lother V.D.C., Chitwan.

We are visiting Kanda on 21 May with a package of health services. The aim of the visit is to prepare a draft of a master plan to transform the community. Our team will comprise with Mr. Hari Prashad Regmi, Dr. Hom Bahadur Basnet, Health workers along with members of executive board including Mr. Amritman Amatya (Vice-Chairman), Mr. Ajay Rana Bhat (General Secretary) and me, Bishnu Gautam (Chairman).  Reaching at Kanda, our team will provide health check up services and distribute some medicine. That is the current need but we have to make a Master plan for at least   three years to bring actual change. We will explore their actual problems and the potential solutions. Then make a draft of things to be done so we can create the environment for them to contribute on the change process, utilizing local resources. We strongly believe on the statement - Give the skill of fishing not the fish. And we work accordingly. Instead of providing them the grains, we will distribute the appropriate seeds so that they could cultivate and harvest it to a larger amount in a sustained way. We will teach them the proper way of farming. After conducting feasibility study, we will train them on vegetable farming, cropping, fruit farming, animal husbandry and so on.

Currently we feel the pain of our nation. More painful is the fact that the Chepang and other similar communities are still suffering a lot despite having huge potentiality for a happy living. Though they have been blessed with natural beauty, they could not march forward towards civilization. This hurts us.

Laxmi Pratisthan, in coordination with Miteeri Foundation of Chitwan, has distributed some seeds of beans and planted some (515) apple plants a few months before. Beans support for solving the short term need of food while apple plantation aim at giving long term result. New buds are coming out of the apple plants now. Miteeri Fondation has been working on the village before this initiative with its program "Mission Kanda" that served the community by distributing medicine, clothes, goats etc. Such efforts support for the immediate remedy of surface problems. To address the root causes, unified and planned effort is needed.

During our visit, we will study them more closely and explore the resources that could be mobilized. With a detailed plan of action, we will try to uplift their social and economic status through skill enhancement trainings. At least one person in a family will have the complete knowledge of at least one work. We are hopeful that the village will be a changed place within a few years. Their misery would go away, giving them a dignified identity of the "Change Agent" in the whole nation. Laxmi Pratisthan will cooperate and coordinate with various other agencies & institutions for that. From our study, we have learnt that the cause of their misery is not lack of resources but they lack the proper skill and knowledge of utilizing resources. Therefore we will explore available/ could be available resources there before launching any programs or activities. On the basis of priority and effectiveness, we will provide them training on agriculture, animal husbandry, handicrafts etc. as per the geographical location and environment. Furthermore, we will try to establish the basic infrastructures for developing tourism with their participation, utilizing their own resources. That would, we hope, change a village of a tale into a best tourism destination. Their distinct identity and culture could attract thousands of tourists annually from all over the world provided they are equipped with the necessary skills.

"How is that Chepang Village?"  You might guess it to resemble other remote villages where people from back warded community could not have good food and clothes. But the reality is more tragic. The Chepangs of Kanda don't dream of good food but they worry more just for filling their belly or feeding their hungry children. Till the date, they need to wait for Bhadra (August-September) so that they could harvest maize and fill their stomach fully with grain. If the grain that they produce last for three months, they are lucky. For more than 9 months of the year, they rely upon forest.  Forest fruits and vegetables too are not easily available. It's quite usual there to spend night with empty stomach when they could not fetch anything even at the jungle. During March/ April, they even satisfy their hunger by eating Rhododendron.

This is 21st Century and the world has turned out to be a small village with the improved technological development. News and information are at the tip of the figure. Pressing a button, we could receive the delivery of our order. On the other hand, there are people suffering a lot as if in the 15th century. Hard to believe but the story is real. No rays of civilization and development entered Kanda, a remote village of Chitwan. It could be reached after a few hours (about 8 hours) walk from the city but no facilities could reach there. They are deprived of all the rights and facilities they deserve as the citizen of the nation. Had there not been a primary school, no traces of the government's presence could be felt.

Today also, an expecting mother runs towards jungle when her labor pain starts. Do you why? Because she lacks a piece of cloth that could wipe her baby or sock her blood. She delivers a child on the dry leaves; the same leaves serve as the wiper and the wrapper for the newly born baby. There is no health centre, neither any health worker. And thus, the mother would carry sickle with her to the jungle so that she could separate the umbilical cord from the baby. Can you guess what the mother would eat after delivery? As mentioned earlier, the village lacks enough grain. Except for the maize harvesting season, she too would rely on roots, tubers and fungus. Since the mother doesn't get nutritious food, the child's nutritional need could not be addressed. They could neither get enough milk nor the nutrition to substitute milk. Thus the child mortality rate is high and those who survive suffer malnutrition. Students go to school not to read but to eat Tiffin (Lito made of flour), provided by the school.

The suffering of Chepang is heart rendering but we think that the situation could be changed. We will help bringing change. We, hereby, declare that Laxmi Pratisthan would add Rs. 100,000 to the amount spared from rafting to establish a trust for Kanda Transformation. The amount collected on this transformation trust will be utilized to conduct various programs on the village. We appeal you all to contribute for the trust so that lives of Chepang could be eased. Your contribution goes to the neediest people in the world whose basic needs are not yet fulfilled. We will contribute for improving their social and economic status so that the village could be developed. The transformed Kanda could be a best agro tourism destination. By the time, we could launch a package program of rafting at Trisuli River, jungle safari at Chitwan National Park and Hiking uphill to Kanda. Yes, we wish to welcome you all to such package program in near future. 

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Email: laxmipratisthan@gmail.com