Kathmandu, August 3, 2016: Seeing the children reeling under poverty and not being able to continue their education, two youths have come up with an idea to launch a campaign to help them continue their education.
‘Together For Education’, the campaign jointly initiated by Navin Kumar Yadav and Anil Magar, students themselves, has already been successful to provide Scholarship for 28 needy children so far in different schools and colleges in Nepal. The campaign, just into 26 days, has also been pledged with more than 70 seats for student scholarships by different schools and colleges in various districts.
They have mobilized and sought support from the schools itself for the scholarship purpose, working as a bridge between the school and the needy students. As part of which, they request and convince the schools concerned to facilitate the needy students with full fee waiver. Meanwhile, uniforms and stationery materials will be provided with the funds collected through the campaign.
One of the students facilitated with scholarships from the campaign, Poshan Chaudhary, is a 14-year old brick-kiln worker in Dang district. Receiving the scholarship, he has now been passionately studying in a +2 college in Kathmandu, and aims to be a doctor.
The campaign has handed over the responsibility to local coordinators themselves in the concerned areas so as to instill their feeling of ownership towards the campaign and facilitate the regular follow up and progress.
To make the campaign more effective and reach far flung villages, the group has established its network in Janakpur, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Nuwakot, Kavre and Gorkha districts and helping the children in these localities with scholarships and stationery materials. Added to this, the group has handed over the responsibility to local coordinators themselves in the concerned areas so as to instill their feeling of ownership towards the campaign and facilitate the regular follow up and progress.
Through the campaign, they are also developing the feeling of communal harmony, closeness and reconciliation between the people in the hills and those on the plain land as the members in the campaign are both from the Terai and the Hills, and so is the work area.
To make the process more systematic and help the probable sponsors connect with the children, they are soon starting and maintaining online profile of those needy students.
Through the campaign, they also want to impart a message that one does not always need money to do a good work to benefit the society. Working in an innovative way, without any fund, the campaign also seeks to impart a lesson that it is possible if we are together.
Opportunities don’t search for us, we need to look for it instead.
Through the campaign, they want to show that, if youths want, they can, and create a ripple effect so that other youths also come up with similar ideas to create a better society.
And, good thing is that they’re not stopping here! “Our mission will not stop! Next year onwards, we are even planning to construct school buildings to those schools that are in extreme need of it,†says Navin. “Along with this, we have also planned to provide students with career counselling and motivational programmes to so that they won’t get into wrong track,†he adds.
“This campaign seeks to show that if you really want, you can,†says Anil. “We are overwhelmed by the very good public response so far in this campaign,†he expresses his happiness and satisfaction on public reaction towards their initiative.
The campaign seeks to impart a message to the youths that if one is really determined to do something, they can do on their own. The campaign also wants to impart a message to the youths in the nation that one should not wait for the government to do things, if it’s possible to do that from your own side.
Youths can do anything if they want! Everything is possible if they come together!
(In pictures: People from different walks of life supporting the campaign)
By Basanta Kumar Dhakal
