Child sponsorship 2009 update from Surkhet, Nepal

Dear Friend,

It is monsoon, first half of the year and it is time to be in contact with our friends and the sponsors to give the brief account of the present situation of the village and the progress report of the children whom you have been supporting for a long time for the betterment of the village and the children.

It has been nearly one and a half year since the Constituent Assembly was formed with the strong mandate to formulate the people's constitution within the scheduled time of two years.  During this period, the country has faced the change of government for two times. The newly formed government led by CPN (UML) has not got its full shape because it is seeking the full consensus among the political parties. The important national issues have remained unaddressed since the House has been disrupted for more than a month.  The largest party CPN (Maoist) who led the government after election to Constituent Assembly is now out of the government and boycotting the session of Legislative – Parliament protesting against president's decision.  The government and the responsible major political Parties are trying to buildup the consensus to conduct the session of the Legislative-Parliament and pacify the regularly expressed agitations by different interest groups. All the political parities are well aware that without broad national consensus the present situation of anarchy and parliamentary deadlock can not be solved out and the new constitution can not be formulated in time simultaneously.  Contrarily, they have been unsuccessful to come to the consensus so far. We are still hopeful that political consensus will be retained and the constitution be drafted in time that will put all the agitations and the problems to the end and country will catch-up the way to peace and prosperity.

After a long hot summer, now the children are in a little bit relief as the monsoon has just started from the third week of June in Nepal.  This year, the maximum temperature in Surkhet went up to 40 degree Celsius and the rain we had so lately just from 27th of June of this year. Although it was hot this year, it didn’t affect that much to our children. They didn’t show any physical ailment during this summer except some tiny tots who were recently admitted to this village. All the children in the village are growing with desirable height and weight according to their age and are enjoying happily in the village atmosphere. Most of the children go to school in different classes and have also shown reasonable effort in their respective classes. In this period of time, first lot of children who were admitted at the establishment of this village have already left the village and pursuing higher education and training in our youth facility and most of them have settled well in the society. In this half of this year, we were able to admit 18 children of different ages in different circumstances. Out of 18 children most of them have lost their both parents and were living in misery. We were forced to admit two infant girls who lost their mothers just after the delivery. Including these newly admitted children, now the total no. of children in the village is 142; 74 boys and 68 girls.

We feel pride that our children have shown remarkable effort not only in the academic field but in other co-curricular activities also. They have won prizes in different sports activities like football, shooting games and other outdoor games organised by the district. Two of our girls from this village got an opportunity to participate in First Youth Shooting Tournament in Singapore and they have already setout for this tournament. Similarly, SLC appeared children and +2 (Certificate Level) children have shifted to our youth facility in Nepalgunj. The results of SLC examination has just declared and our five children have managed to go through in first and second division and one boy couldn’t pass this examination and is appearing in supplementary examination which will be conducted at the end of July or in the first week of August. All those examination were conducted by the government of Nepal.

To mark the auspicious occasion of 23rd SOS Day celebration and 60th Anniversary Day, like the years before, we celebrated in festive environment by organising various activities in the village. This year, to mark this very occasion we organised various sports activities among the children and fun games for the mothers in the village. The most important and impressive football game was organised by the village this year. Inter Valley Under Twelve (U-12) Football Tournaments was organised in which private boarding schools and some government schools participated. It was held for three days and on 21st June the final game was organised in our field. Our New Star Club of SOS Children’s Village Surkhet won this final game. This tournament was sponsored by NIC Bank of Surkhet branch providing cash prizes to the winners. on the occasion, our SOS School also organised a District Level Oratory Competition and Open Marathon Race for school children. Remarkable presence was shown by the different schools. On the special day on 23rd June, from the early morning, the school organised the 5km marathon race for the boys and 3km race for the girls which was started at 6.30 AM. After the completion of this game, our main function was started in the village.  Some local dignitaries, heads of government offices were invited on this occasion. Cultural programme was organised and prizes and sweets were distributed to the children by the dignitaries. In the evening small a party was organised for the families of this village.

Our three affiliated projects, the SOS School, SOS Social Centre including a Day Care Centre and the SOS Youth Facility have served the community in many respects. The school is providing the best possible quality education for the neighboring children and the village children. Like the year before, this year also remained remarkable year for us for students’ outstanding performance in academic as well as extra curricular activities. The SLC appeared students have maintained the standard of the school by showing good results in the examination. Out of 73 students 8 students were placed in distinction, 56 in first division, 5 in second division and rest four with first class marks couldn’t go through this examination and are appearing in supplementary examination which will be conducted soon. This result is the best result in the district. Similarly, Day Care Centre is also serving perfectly well to the children coming from the deprived community. Altogether 65 children are benefiting by this care. In this year 20 children were phased out and 20 new children were replaced. Our nurses have given perfect care to these children with hygienic food.

SOS Youth Facility Nepalgunj, consisting of two separate homes for boys and girls, has become full-fledged facilities. Most of the children are pursuing their higher education in university and most of the girls are taking staff nurse course in different organisations. Overall academic performance of our youths is quite satisfactory. Most of the youths are about to complete their bachelor level and are slowly learning to make a working habit by doing some part time jobs without hampering their regular studies. We believe this will help them understand the working environment in the job markets and get matured to accept the real life situation and challenges.

Finally, we thank you for your generous help and hope this continuous and cordial support will remain in future too. We remain with our best wishes and regards.

Sincerely Yours,
M. B. Nepali, Asst. Director