Educate Nepal Mission Teams: Saturday, 19 April. Dologhat church and mountain views (almost)

Desperate Girls

The Badi Girls

Between 7,000 and 12,000 young girls, aged 9-16, are trafficked each year from Nepal; mainly to India. According to Nepal Monitor/On line journal, 2007, there are more than 200,000 Nepali girls in Indian brothels.

The Dalits(untouchables) are the lowest level in Hindu society, and the Badi community, in Western Nepal, are the lowest of the low. As a displaced hungry people group the Badi community has made sexual subservience a way of life. Young girls from this group “serve” other groups. This has become a tradition and means of livelihood. Many girls, even when they are unwilling, are forced to serve as sex slaves. Family members knowingly sell their daughters to traffickers.

Though prostitution is illegal in Nepal, the industry reportedly has links with highly ranked officials and political leaders. Large groups of girls are taken across the border with many police and government officials being in collusion with traffickers and brothel owners.

Traffickers and related criminals are often protected by political parties, and if arrested, are freed using political power. As a result, there is an underlying distrust of police that has led people not to file cases against traffickers.

Domestic action involves activities of NGO’s and other volunteer groups. These groups are playing a major role to address girl-trafficking and sex slaves issues. Some NGO’s are playing a very important role to improve the situation. From creating social awareness to rescuing and rehabilitation, they are providing services (and relief) to those that need it the most – the likely victims as well as the rescued ones. The Lighthouse foundation is one of these.

*See Chandra Kala’s story on this blog site.

Sunday 20 April 2014

Saturday, 19 April. Dologhat church and mountain views (almost)

Today, the team went out to Dologhat chuch, two and half hours drive in the school bus. Some team members stayed home due to illness, the germs seems to be circulating freely through the guest house. The drive was the usual risky driving, broken down trucks along the way. One truck had crashed into a little house right on the edge of a precipice. Good thing the house was there, or the driver would have been a statistic. Once there, we climbed the ladder- stairs to the church in the loft.

We were jammed in like sardines in a tin. Last time, we nearly froze to death in January, and this time it was sweltering. We also went to look at the land on the River where we hope soon to start the training centre, church, school etc. Then on the way home, we went to a hotel for lunch. Sadly this time of the year, there is too much pollution to see the snowcapped mountains. Only the foot hills were in view.

Robyn