A new model of help

The initial idea for the assistance I would provide to SWAN was helping them with creative use of IT to increase their scope: this idea eventually ran its course with the constant electricity load-shedding (at least 4-5 hours during office hours), and a less than reliable internet connectivity. Similarly, with the dearth of skilled manpower in the organization who had a good working knowledge of English, looking for grants and funding for the organization was very limited. Manuals were created, but unfortunately I dont see it's efficacy in the near future. After consulting with AP back in DC, we decided to shift our focus from providing support to the staff, to instituting a small project that could be expanded in scope if the two year plan went smoothly.

The plan now is to select 12 marginalized girls from surrounding area, and provide them financial support in continuing their education for two years. Social mobilizers working at SWAN already have given me names of girls whom they have selected as the most deserving and facing immense hardship. The fund provided by a private donor is not much, but could be a good pilot project that could attract further funding if we can show that a small financial help can keep the girls away from work, and in school. 

Frustrations in the field

My last blog detailed some of the problems I faced while conducting advocacy work for abolishing child bonded labor. The lack of viable income options and abject poverty of the families made them very reluctantly send their kids to work. Similarly, on a larger societal scale there were those who thought their employing of children actually helped the family and the children themselves. This cognitive dissonance seemed ever more rampant in educated households that justified their actions with the false belief of "helping the poor folks out". On the other hand, I had my own problems to deal with.

My pre-arrival problems, the ones I had assumed before arriving at SWAN, dealt mostly with the excruciating hot weather, living conditions, transportation problems, and to some extent language barriers. All of those fears certainly were not unfounded, and I did encounter all of those to a certain extent, some worse than the others. However, one thing that I had not adequately prepared myself for was the organizational frustration I would face. In the first two weeks of initial settling down the Program Manager who was the liaison between Nepal and DC abruptly resigned from his post, and without a proper communication established within the organization about my work, I was left to clarify and explain my seemingly-abrupt presence. All the while, the now headless organization was desperately trying to complete their annual review for the donors. I tried my best not to get in the way of their work, while at the same time trying to implement new initiatives that was supposed to help the organization. The only problem was that the few permanent staffs in the organization were not as excited and hopeful as I was. My midterm review, as part of the internship requirement, went rather smoothly, which can be construed both as a good thing or a bad thing. On the other hand my own assessment of the organization was not faring too well. To add on to my frustration I started getting stories, through personal interviews, of mismanagement of funds, and heavy handedness of the organizations board director, who was also the founder, in running the girl's hostel that was run by the organization. Since my mandate did not dictate looking into those allegations, I was advised not to stir the pot. I don't know if I should have tried to talk with the director about the allegations, but I did not want to jeopardize any one's safety, no matter how small the chances of that happening. Also, ironically the director was single-handedly the one keeping both the organization and the hostel afloat, so I was also a bit weary if the individuals making the accusations were doing it out of past grievances. My only way forward from this is to focus on the new program that I am planning to set up and see to its success.