Spark Project on Promotion of Child Education

Children's education has been playing a major role in today’s society. A person without education and qualification is worthless and seems like a handicapped person. One must be mentally and physically prepared to learn and adapt to new things in society. Education shows us the importance of hard work and, at the same time, helps us grow and develop. Although there had have made policies and rights regarding child education, children are still facing problems in getting one. Despite the children and societal needs, children who are way too far from their dreams are forced to end one. Education builds team spirit and discipline in children, which will help them and the country in the future growth and development.  Education acquired during childhood teaches and molds a child in their communication and assists them to work as a team.

CHILD EDUCATION has always had a very huge impact on me, it is the SPARK I hold. During early September, I got a chance to conduct a program for children aiming at quality education awareness. First, my team members and I went to a nearby temple known as Mahadevsthan to get ourselves exposed to the beautiful nature by collecting all the local derived children. The children were very desperate and inclined to get involved in these activities that they loved.

The primary goal of the project was to distribute necessary materials to deprived children and to encourage them to read, breaking poverty. We were focused on raising awareness and spreading the importance of child education. The present children were also supposed to bring out their creativity through a drawing competition which was held on that particular day. Throughout the project, they additionally got a chance to engage themselves in mini-football competitions and clean up the temple area.

Considering the pandemic we also took all the safety measures along with gloves, masks, and sanitizers. The children were actively participating and they made the project even more fun. Firstly, we held a drawing competition, everyone was very thrilled to participate. The drawing competition brought out all the creativeness inside them. Further, we announced our winners and awarded each of them with storybooks to keep them motivated and never stop doing things they loved. My team members and I then successfully distributed reading materials such as copies, pens, sign-pen color, etc, and some reusable bags to the kids, promoting education. They were all very contented to receive the gifts where some of them also had tears filled in their eyes with joy. Next, we all took a little break and offered the children snacks, juice, and chocolates. Then, we held a mini football competition to add more fun and relaxing day to children. After the loving and fun day, we took all the children back home and had a long-lasting memorable day for life.

Overall the project was a huge success. Everyone learned various new things and got to know a lot of things from one’s perspective. After the completion of the project, my team members and I were deeply enlightened by the importance of education and how only one project can bring smiles and hope to their little eyes. We also hope to conduct these projects more in the near future because at the end of the day it is also our responsibility to lead a positive project to bring change and form a strong nation through the literate population. The project has deeply influenced me and had a more clear vision of my spark. The active participation from both my team members and children made the whole project more fun and astonishing.

This September has been very fruitful and informative for me. I was lucky enough to get to attend the Certificate Course on Social Artistry brought by ICA Nepal. The session included some incredible personalities involved in Social Artistry for more than a decade from across the globe. Some of the facilitators were Janet Sanders, supported by Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook, and the Social Artistry team of Nepal. Everyone has a little Spark within them, and throughout the session, we got the opportunity to explore those Spark. I am very considerate about the CHID EDUCATION, and I wish every child to be able to reach literacy, breaking poverty. Even though I want to do a lot of things aiming at child education, so far I haven't been able to make it. During the project, all the attendees were asked to conduct Spark Project in whatever thing they wish for leaving a positive message in society. All the financial support was also provided by the ICA Nepal to aspire them to start up. I will be forever grateful to the whole ICA team and the facilitators for the opportunity.

Prepared by: Swikriti Parajuli

I’m a student and I believe in learning and sharing. Besides community development, I’m passionate about arts, music, and sports.

Menstrual Taboos during Festivals in Nepal

Menstruation is a naturally occurring physiological phenomenon in women. It is religiously considered “impure,” deeming women “untouchable”. 

There are more than 50 festivals celebrated in Nepal every year. While the national festivals have fixed dates, religious festivals are set by astrologers following the lunar calendar. There are more than 50 festivals celebrated in Nepal every year. We are now at the mouth of our biggest festival, Dashain. Dashain is the biggest and most important Hindu festival in Nepal. The festival commemorates the victory of good over evil and the nine forms of Goddess Durga. It is also known as Bijaya/Vijaya Dashami or Bada Dashain.  

Festivals bring great joy and togetherness to our loved ones. All family members get together and have fun together. The women of the house are busy with a series of chores that they must complete along with cleanliness in their homes. Women often struggle during the festive season by counting their menstrual days. There is a strong belief that women shouldn’t put tika or else it is a sin. Women are considered impure and dirty throughout their menstrual period. They are even considered untouchable and are prohibited to enter the kitchen, temple, going to the puja kotha, or participating in religious functions while on their period, not to touch any plants/ crops or they are dead and even put tika.

While growing up, most Nepali women didn’t enter places of worship during her period and the new generation are also learning the same. In many cultures, menstruating women are not allowed to bathe or wash their hair during the first three days of their period. Menstruating girls and women are excluded from fasting and praying during the festive season. Around 40 to 60% of adolescent girls dry their reusable napkins/cloths under direct sunlight outside the house, but others are still reluctant to dry them in the sun because, in Hindu society, there is a strong belief that the sun is a god, and it should not be shown to a god or else it is a sin. Likewise, they dry their reusable sanitary pads in dark places because if seen by others, boys and men might tease the girls which also leads to infection. Especially the Brahmin family practices strict menstrual rituals. But slowly but surely something seems to be changing. Women have begun to question these practices. 

It’s not just Hindus who have menstrual rituals and taboos, some old tribal religions practice it as well. Apart from the indigenous communities of Nepal and the Sikhs, most cultures follow some form of menstrual customs. There are two adherents of thought behind the age-old practices of menstrual taboos. First, the restrictions on women during menstruation supposedly ensured they got adequate rest, time to nourish their bodies, and paid attention to their hygiene. It was meant for a woman’s overall well-being. But this doesn’t make much sense. On one hand, it's saying to make sure she’s in good health while on the other hand, the practice put her under several dietary restrictions and make her stay in a dark place. The second, more plausible reason is that menstruation indicated a woman’s reproductive status to her family and the community. This proved helpful in monitoring women’s sexual activities and thus prevented pre-marital sex and adultery. Hence, from a sociological and anthropological viewpoint, the taboos were largely meant to contain, suppress, and dominate women. Most of the women couldn’t bring themselves to completely disregard the stereotypes as they didn’t want to go against their family’s faith and tradition, feared hurting their mother’s feelings, and, for others, habits were difficult to break. There are many restrictions on menstruating women. Although we have made so much advancement, still menstruation is considered a state of impurity and curse of God rather than a natural process.

Women during festivals keep their menstrual cycle updated in their calendar and are compelled to use medicine to prevent or delay their menstruation. Once they get their menstruation during the festive season they are taken out from all the functions and are forced to miss everything. Discriminations against menstruating women are still widespread in Nepal where mensuration is considered taboo. In Nepal, several women face numerous restrictions imposed by their families. 

This year also, many women and girls may be refrained from putting ‘Tika’ during Dashain and Tihar. Families should acknowledge that menstruation is a natural process and a private matter. It is not a curse or a state of impurity.

Prepared by: Swikriti Parajuli

I’m a student and I believe in learning and sharing. Besides community development, I’m passionate about arts, music, and sports. Being a girl myself, and on the same shoe as other women, I have always looked forward to addressing such menstrual taboos and aware  people.

Fundraising for NGOs in Nepal

Fundraising for NGOs in Nepal is a membership-based web portal exclusively designed for NGOs, not-for-profits, community service providers, social enterprises, volunteers, fundraisers, individuals seeking grants, and skills in fundraising. It is an initiative of the Institute of Cultural Affairs Nepal (ICA Nepal) and its sister organization Institue of Innovation and Quality Assurance (IIQA). As ICA Nepal is known worldwide for its facilitation and community development, IIQA also aims to establish quality movements in society. One can get access to unlimited global and national donors database, grants, sample proposals, useful resources, and tools for sustainable fundraising. FFN highly promotes fundraising through quality skill enhancement of NGOs on fundraising capacity. We train individuals on writing proposals and reports and contacting relevant donors for support, including providing consultants for project development and fundraising for local and global projects. Fundraising for NGOs in Nepal was launched in early March 2021 with the objective of the holistic development of NGOs in Nepal.

Fundraising for NGOs primarily provides information on the full range of funding opportunities across the globe. Members will have access to unlimited opportunities, resources, and amplification strategies for successful funding research through our online database. As many donors don’t have their own sites to propose for the calls, donation seekers are deprived of such information and are on the verge of extinction. We, Fundraising for NGOs empower them to address such barriers by providing a quality platform. One will be notified through 20 to 25 email alerts daily, our monthly newsletters, web updates, and multiple media so as not to miss any relevant grant call for your organization. FFN believes in the importance of external and internal activators such as donors and project implementation agencies to mobilize the community and achieve sustainable development. We collectively work as a bridge between donors and donation seekers with a qualified team working in the sector of fundraising for more than 30 years.

ICA Nepal recognized these shortcomings where NGOs lose their identity after a few years, mainly because they cannot get funding for their dream projects, and started the capacity building of the NGOs in the field of project development and fundraising. We basically have three different forms of membership (i.e free, premium, and exclusive). Our subscribers can get access to basic and Nepal-relevant fundraising information as well as seminars, our monthly newsletter, EBooks, and Emanuel. Our exclusive members are the subscribers selected wisely by our team as we provide one-to-one guidance and collaborate with them. We additionally review and give feedback to the project proposals developed by NPOs. 

Fundraising for NGOs had launched a Micro-grant initiative on Community Development 2021 under STEM Education, Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), and Social Artistry Leadership Training. We have been conducting different pieces of training sessions on the topics that are accepted all around the globe for fundraising, informal Q&A sessions where every participant can raise queries as well as share their experience, different classified talk shows with experienced personalities in a particular field every Friday also known as “Every Friday Learning Friday”. It is estimated that more than 15000 NGOs in Nepal are working in various development sectors. FFN is the ultimate destination to learn something new, share experiences and best practices, ask questions, share opportunities, and more supporting each other.

During the pandemic, our FFNs team is carrying out awareness-raising and different humanitarian aid activities to ensure that the situation is brought under control through our small efforts. We have been able to raise different medical equipment such as cylinders, oxygen concentrators. Fundraising for NGOs in collaboration with its partner organizations has been aiming to provide relief for Dwarf Community present at Dakshinkali Municipality. We also implemented a tree planting program to promote sustainability by facilitating all necessary crops, thereby improving the environment. All the local people were very grateful and happy with our initiative, and we also hope to visit there again in a healthy way.

Prepared by: Swikriti Parajuli

I’m a student and I believe in learning and sharing. Besides community development, I’m passionate about arts, music, and sports. 

Fundraising for NGOs in Nepal is a web portal collectively designed to help NGOs sustain by direct linkage to donors in a much easier and healthy way. FFN is one of Nepal’s first platforms to provide information on relevant donors nationally and globally.