Targeted Area: Manohara Slum, Manohara, Bhaktapur, Nepal

Manohara is a place located at Bhaktapur, in the banks of the river Manohara . People have been residing in that area for six years. We selected the manohara slum of Bhaktapur because of the following reasons:

1.     Poor environment sanitation.

2.     Pitiful condition of girls.

3.     Increasing rate of violence in the slum community.

4.     Only a primary level school in a community of 600 households.

5.     Different organizations are working there but none of them have targeted women violence as the problem.

6.  People belonging to 23 different ethnic groups reside in the same slum.  

Interview with the people of the Slum

PROBLEMS OF MANOHARA SLUM

1. Water scarcity
2. Lack of proper toilets
3. Gender discrimination
4. Domestic violence
5. Flood and water borne diseases
6. Lack of proper educational institution
7. Pollution and poor sanitation
8. Conflict between people of the community

Manohara slum

TARGETED GROUP

After the observation of the slum area  we found out the Dail Community provides food every morning to the children and the teenagers of the slum. After having a talk with the principal of  'Shree Saraswati Prathamic Vidyalaya' , we found out that minimum 25 teenage girls from the slum come to the school and the dial community. So we decided to target 30 students within the age group of 12- 16 yrs that come to the school, as the are still immature and need more awareness and empowerment.

Shree Saraswwati Primary school

                              

Teenage girls  at Dail Community

Visit to Manohara: Slum Area Kathmandu, Nepal

With the intention of moving ahead with our project, we brainstormed what could be the next possible step of our project. After a huge discussion with our group members and teachers, it was necessary to know about the situation of the girls living in the various slum areas of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur District.

On the suggestion of our facilitator Mrs. Sarita Dewan, we visited Prerana, a non-governmental organization which helps the poor and needy people, where we met Mr. Moti Lal Lama, the program coordinator of the organization. After having a conversation with Mr.Lama, he gave us the feedback to visit slum area of Manohara, among the various alternatives which were slum areas of   Sankhamul, Tripureshwor, Bhaisipati and Manohara. 

Our members with Mr. Moti Lal Lama, the program coordinator of the organization.

Prerana Organization

After this visit, we discussed about choosing the most appropriate place on the basis of which we could proceed out project. Depending upon this discussion, we chose to visit Manohara as there were six hundred households who were inhabiting there for about 10-15 years and it was the widest slum area among the alternatives and it had less facilities comparatively. 

The number of households were comparatively higher than that of other slum areas. On the visit, we observed that there were four communities. DIAL COMMUNITY CENTRE was established by the Korean government to provide support and help to the children and teenage girls. We were provided with great support and appreciation by Mr. Kul Bahadur Tamang of the community and his fellow colleagues. 

Dail Community

The slum was 3 KM in diameter, there we observed the desperate and deprived condition of girls and other people. They were at their worst and pitiful condition as there was no environmental sanitation and they were dressed up in ragged clothes. We also found that there were few sanitary stores where the necessary items were hardly available. We also had a conversation with few of the teachers of ‘Saraswati Prathamik Bidhyala’, which was the only school of that slum area, and with staffs as well as people. They guided us to Chandramaya Tamang, a member of Kishori Shakti Samuha(a committee which gives knowledge to the teenage girls related to physical changes) who again led us to Kishori Sitaula, leader of that group. She and her family provided us with necessary information which helped us a lot in our project. We also interviewed some of the natives and collected more information. The natives said that there was a lot of problem related to violence and abuse in the slum.

We extended our gratitude for providing us with necessary information for our project and we were thankful for their appreciation and guidance. We observed the whole slum area of Manohara with full support of the Sukumbasi ( slum) people. We also found out that most of the people were very friendly and cooperative.

A volunteer teaching the students of the slum in DIAL community

Observation of the "Occupy Baluwatar Movement"

Since December 28, 2012, every morning from 9 to 11 AM , protesters from various youth clubs have gathered outside the Prime Ministers official residence in Baluwatar , Kathmandu, Nepal, standing solidarity to end gender-based violence in Nepal. Most of the youth clubs have united and started a movement knows as " Occupy Baluwatar Movement " in order to end the women violence in Nepal and to seek justice for each and every victim whose case has not been registered and solved .

      In order to observe the movement and to know about the initial situation about women violence in the country, we went to Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal on 20th April 2013. The Occupy Baluwater Movement has reached it's 106 days of protest against injustice. Most of them have been protesting every morning,  right from the first day of this movement. Even after protesting for for 106 days, the government officials were not responding to their protests and they said that they will continue the movement until the Prime Minister of Nepal personally guarantees that the government will prevent the incidents of violence against women.

We had a plan to participate in the movement but it became too risky for us due to some problems as some of the people were even taken  in custody. After the observation we could see that how vast and deep the problem was and we got more empowered and dedicated  towards our project.

Project Details

Violence against women is a burning issue in today’s context even though many women are empowered and aware now.  In Nepal, although, women are leading in many sectors, there are many girls especially in the slums who are facing harassment and violence.

When we read in the newspapers about the cases of women and girls who are facing the problems of violence, we observed cases of violence against women and girls in one month as recorded in the newspapers.There are hundreds of such cases unrecorded throughout the country.  In this situation, we decided to do what is possible within our capability and then we started a project named “STUDENTS UNITING AGAINST VIOLENCE (SAVE)”. In this project we will ask support from the volunteering groups or various organizations that are working in the field of girls/ women violence in Nepal.We will collect some money from the students of our school voluntarily and will use that money to support the girls of the slums by providing them some sanitary materials. The support program will be targeting the women ans especially teenage girls of the slums; as in the slums , the girls are less protected and backward than those of normal society.

Observation of Newspaper Articles and Violence Cases

The types of cases and their number according to the newspaper from January 26^th to February 27^th

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The articles from different newspaper.

PAPER NAME	CASE TYPE	NUMBER OF         CASES
Kantipur	Women violence	9
	Rape	5
	Articles on women	5
Kathmandu Post	Women violence	6
	Rape	18
	Protests	9
	Articles on women              violence	10
Himalayan Times	Rape	8
	Polygamy	1
	Child labor	1
	Protest	2
	Articles on Women               violence	2
The Republica	Sexual abuse	1
	Articles on women               violence	9

VISION OF THE PROGRAM

The vision of our program "Students Uniting Against Violence(SAVE)" is to aware the girls and women of the slums about violence by interacting with them in a positive manner and through awareness speeches. We are especially targeting the girls in local slums of  Bhaktapur valley as they have less security and facilities compared to the slums of Kathmandu. We are also planning to give some materialistic support to to slum girls and some health advices.

RATIFICATION OF LOGO

26th January

The responsibility of making logo was given to Miss Esha Rajbhandari on 21st January. As on the 26th January the logo was ratified in the presence of all members as proposed by Esha. The logo is given below:

The Logo Made By Esha Rajbhandari