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All the best to all three women! Excellent initiative.

Wonderful initiatives
Best wishes to the runners!

This actually got me thinking . . .

*************

Just out of curiosity:

Haven't we in Nepal had enough of this sort of "hardware" help in towns and villages?

Don't get this wrong.
I am not being cynical here -- just curious.

YEAR ONE:
Well-meaning people raise money to (physically) build a school or a health-post in
some village in Nepal. It's usually a very good idea. The cause tugs at everyone's heart-strings. After the money is raised and the building is constructed . . . a mantri or someone big comes and does "ood.ghaatan" at the village. Everyone is happy.

YEAR TWO or THREE:
But visit the same school or health-post in 2 years' time, and you are likely to see
"software" problems ruining the hardware, which is that charity-built building. The software problem would be: lack of teachers/nurses/health care providers . . . lack
of (commercial) revenue streams for the school or health post to be sustainable .. .
low trust among local political factions, negatively affecting the smooth functioning of the school or the health post and so on and on.

RESULT?
What starts out as a wonderfully heart-warming idea often results in something concrete (i.e. a building) before -- unintentionally -- hitting a "software wall" -- that deprives the hardware of necessary software of committed people, processes and continuous improvement.

QUESTION:
Having seen my share of these "bikasay cheehan" (or "development graveyard" to borrow Hem Bdr. Bista's memorable phrase from another context) in my limited
travels across Nepal, my question:

Is there a way to make sure that the establishment of 'hardware' (i.e. buildings and so on) also pays a lot of attention to these 'software' issues so that continuity of good work is assured?

****************

Another point:

"Bhai Bahini Program is designed to allow a child in the US to support a child in Nepal with their parent’s help."


That's fine.

BUT I have always wondered: Why is that most people rush to pay for children's education in Nepal, while no one pays for the MBA or law education of, say, smart
but economically deserving Tharu or Gurung or Dalit or Magar or Byasi students in
Nepal?

I would think that returns to education and returns to society would be much. much higher when you invest in the education of smart but economically deserving Tharu student pay for his MBA at, say, Kathmandu University, or for a law degree at, say,
the Kathmandu School of Law than helping a child to go to class 10 from class 1.

My hypothesis is this: The more doors you open for "smartest" (as deemed by necessary filters) and economically deserving ethnic Nepalis to succeed professionally by way of helping them earn their higher (professional) degrees, the more likely it is that their ethnic communities will benefit from their expertise/competence/networks
and professional prestige.

Just food for thought.
Please feel free to disagree with reasons.

oohi
ashu

So:

Continue to put a lot of pressure the government to invest in children's education (which it should be doing in the first place). If private money does government's work, then the government faces no incentive to take children's education seriously.

But use private money to subsidize the higher (professional) education (in fields such as medicine, law, nursing, business, etc) of smart but economically deserving ethnic students who can use that "extra help" to be full-fledged professionals . . .

Just a thought (while I merrily procrastinate on writing a report :-(

oohi
ashu

A person should be able to walk before he/she runs.There are government sponsored seats for janjatis for higher education like medicine or engineering. But how many of them have gone back to the country or their village?
Roughly speaking $ 2000.00 can educate (sponsored ) 35 kids going to school as oppose to one MBA going to KU for a year. I would vote for 35 literate people who would in future find a way to fend for themselves in Nepal rather than a highly educated person who would pack his/her bag at the earliest opportunity for a greener pasture.
Big things come in smaller packages.The latest example is Grameen Bank which is serving the local people with local means and resources.

Software/hardware को कुरो बाह्रै टाका जायज हो, आशु।

अनि, प्राथमिक र उच्च शिक्षाको कुरा गर्दा, निजी क्षेत्रको चन्दाले प्राथमिक र सरकारको जिम्मेवारी स्वरुप उच्च शिक्षाको कर्तब्य निवारण गर्दा र तिमीले भने जस्तो विपरित तरिकाले गर्दा के फरक पर्छ? तिम्रो विचार जान्ने कौतुहल मात्र मेरो।

But then agian, Tisa, wouldn't one MBA professional might have a potential to creat opportunities (both in educationa nd jobs) for many more? So, wouldn't sponsoring a college student -- while, of course, not meglecting the primary education -- make a better sense in the long run?

Just provoking osme thoughts here. :)

I don't think we're talking about the government here. If we had private funding like from HENN, then who would be better off recipient? The Primary Education students or Higher Education students?

Tisa has a good point. Should we fund 35 young children who then would have some base in their life after let's say SLC, or should be fund 2 deserving students MBA studies after which like Tisa says they will seek greener pastures.

I'm in favor of funding the children.

They might, Poonte Da.But the problem is they don't want to stay in Nepal .I do not have statistical figures but how many government sponsored recipients for higher education or KU graduates stay back in Nepal?

So, sponsoring a child for primary education is as vital as sponsoring a college student, which, in turn, is just as important as creating better opportunities for college graduates.

Where does one begin, keeping in view the overall positive outcome for as many -- of all ages -- as possible?

One thing i do not understand is why does one has to stay back in Nepal to do the development. Isn't it time that the smarter Nepalis should be seen internationally too? Unlike many in Sajha, i see no harm when a smart guy leaves the country and tries to find 'greener pastures' because then he is creating a way for other smart people like him who would be able to create a much bigger impact and opportunity in the future if they succeed.

However, it is also true that most of the Nepalis abroad are still struggling but then also if only he is able to support the country in some ways (financially or intellectually), it would be worth it.

I support Ashu in that ...time has come now to rather support a business person than a villager because if the business succeeds, he would be able to create a much much bigger impact in the community than a single person struggling in his/her village.

anyone knows about any 'business incubators' in Nepal? I was doing a research on them and was amazed by how they help the businesses.

PEACE!!!!

So, there you go, Tisa! How about sponsoring a college student who, if ends up staying in Nepal, would be able to teach/create opportunities for others; or, if leaves the country, will help the national economy by sending huge remittances. Perhaps he will even bring/send back some much-needed expertise in his field to Nepal.

Again, just trying to provoke some thoughts. I myself am in a quandary still with regards to this issue. :)

Ashu your input is always welcome.

Ashu wrote:
"Haven't we in Nepal had enough of this sort of "hardware" help in towns and villages? "

Answer:
At least, Help Nepal (HeNN) found many places where such "hardware" do not exist. 1. Murma Village in Mugu and 2. in Haripurwa Village in Sarlahi.

The "sort" you may be referring is not applicable with HeNN. HeNN works with the local organization with 50% of their contribution to bring about sense of belonging of the project. I know HeNN works differently from that sort.

Ashu wrote:
YEAR TWO or THREE:
But visit the same school or health-post in 2 years' time, and you are likely to see
"software" problems ruining the hardware, which is that charity-built building. The software problem would be: lack of teachers/nurses/health care providers . . . lack
of (commercial) revenue streams for the school or health post to be sustainable .. .
low trust among local political factions, negatively affecting the smooth functioning of the school or the health post and so on and on.

Answer
HeNN is well aware of the problems you cited and the rise and fall of the buildings and software problems. The Mugu Health post erected by HeNN with the youths of Murma Village is running fantastically by local standards with the help of local people and even Govt. We have been able to train health workers and pay them for their services. We still have unsused reserve intended for Mugu Health Post.
So this may not be a typical example of that "sort" of projects and help of various sizes are coming from different institutions.

Ashu wrote:
I would think that returns to education and returns to society would be much. much higher when you invest in the education of smart but economically deserving Tharu student pay for his MBA at, say, Kathmandu University, or for a law degree at, say,
the Kathmandu School of Law than helping a child to go to class 10 from class 1.

Answer
Multi-pronged approaches would have been nice. We have orphaned/displaced children to take care of and we have sharper students needed to be taken care of. Thats the reality. Let HeNN take care of some of the children, now and follow them to higher education. HeNN is not that big organization to deal with all the problems right now. HeNN is just a medium to help solve some very basic problems. HeNN asks for possible help from other people (possibly some of them are reading this) and HeNN thanks those contributers to make things happen.

FYI
visit
www.helpnepal.net to see what can be done with very small amount of money collected.

Sirish,

Thanks for your response.
What you say makes sense, and I support your call for "multi-pronged approaches".

That said, my questions were general . . . and you know me well enough to know that
I asked them to provoke thoughts and to generate some interesting back-and-forth kurakani while still being fiercely loyal to your ideals.

That said, three things:

First, in future, you might want to think about setting aside some funds to commission an independent "impact study" of Help Nepal's help. That way, you can showcase
what has worked and what has not, and why. And sharing of that learning would be valuable to generate additional funds, to focus on winning practices, to scale up your work and to inspire others. Just a thought.

Second, I agree with Poonte here in that primary education is NOT to be neglected.
But I fear that as more and more of us subsidize children's education (out of goodwill and genuine care and so forth), that just gives the government an excuse to sit back and NOT pull its weight to really make children's education its NUMBER-ONE priority. I am open to the idea that maybe my fear is unfounded; but I -- as a Nepali -- remain unhappy that even after 56 years of desh bikas, we have made very very slow progress on making primary education universally available, accessible and useful in Nepal.

Is there a way for Help-Nepal-like organisations to constantly breathe down the government's neck to take the issue of primary education seriously? I agree that
doing something good somewhere is better than doing nothing, but I am not sure whether doing run-of-the-mill education work really builds scale and effect.

And third, in Nepal, looking at how specific knowledge and skills -- NOT mere literacy -- appear to give a much higher returns on investment with many spillover benefits, I
have been thinking: Aren't there other creative ways to help Nepalis help themselves?
My sense is that a Tharu lawyer or a Tamang MBA or a Chamar Nurse or a Sunuwar doctor will NOT only help their own immediate families, but will also act as role models
to people in their communities, and will provide access to networks, information and educational and job opportunities to many, many literate and non-literate members
of their community.

Yet we collectively remain shy about providing private money for the success of smart ethnic Nepalis at universities (for medical, dental, legal, nursing, or short-term vocational programs) who are likely to have a DISPROPORTIONATE influence on
the upliftment of their communities and villages. My idea? Maybe this "top" but economically deserving segment needs another look. That's all.

Thanks Poonte, Tisa, Sirish and others for this kura-kani.

oohi
"time to sleep now: finished that paper by working all through the night :-) "
ashu

I think these three are trying to make some extra money.

I am not against people leaving the country for greener pastures as long as they do on their own money.If I am betting my dollar on a person so that he/she can contribute back to their society then I would like them to be an example.Or you could be like Shrawan Nepali (www.ama-foundation.org) and stay in "greener pastures" .
Ashu and Poonte da,my father sponsored a guy from Western Nepal to study medicine so that he could go back to his village and serve his people and guess what ???
Right now he is serving in Ohio looking for "greener pastures".
As we have a saying in US ,"catch them young", we can mould the minds of kids and help them help themselves for future.

I think it is wrong to help someone expecting them to do something all the time. Often times we help people but then talk so much about it or like to control the person completely just because we have given him some money or helped him in the past.

Tisa, isn't it just great that your family helped a person to become a doctor who otherwise could not have been one. It is his call to do what he can now but then expect him to do something would be wrong. We all have our own need and being a average person, i do not blame him at all for choosing Ohio instead of Jumla or his village. maybe one day he will do something in his village - who can predict the future???

Like someone said let our left hand not know what our right hand gave.

Sheetalb I think that in most of the scholarships provided to the government it is stipulated that the student return to the home country after finishing studies. I wouldn't say that is expecting something back it's just one of the rules of engagement since the scholarship itself is provided in order to help the nation.

HOW WE MAKE SURE THAT THE MAOISTS WILL NOT CAPTURE THE HELATH POST?

I would think that returns to education and returns to society would be much. much higher when you invest in the education of smart but economically deserving Tharu student pay for his MBA at, say, Kathmandu University, or for a law degree at, say,
the Kathmandu School of Law than helping a child to go to class 10 from class 1.

In response to Ashu dai's post:
I would rather pay for someone's education from class 1 to 10. That way a child out there will have basic reading and writing ability as opposed to someone who already has a B.COM degree. I may not be providing quality education (expensive boarding school) but hey at least the child won't remain illeterate.

On a personal note, don't u think KU is ridiculously expensive?