Upendra

Upendra cooks for his two younger brothers, feeds them and walks 2 kms to“Koseli”  from the Jadibuti slum. He is 12 yrs old and his brother, Chandeshwor 10 yrs. 

Now, there is a little confusion here. Chandeshwor says he has attended two “Gadimai Melas” (religious fair held in their village every five years) and assumes that he must have been at least two years old to remember the first one which means he is 12yrs now and since Upendra is 2 years older he is 14yrs. Every time this conversation comes up, Upendra only smiles mysteriously which leaves us all guessing. However, looking at their height and growth patterns we have decided that Upendra should be 12yrs and Chandeshwor, 10yrs. The matter is more or less settled temporarily.

What sets these three brothers apart from the rest of the kids at Koseli is that they are the poorest among the slum kids. In the 21st century, they live a life without a toilet. Like most of our findings at Koseli, we discovered this one too during the medical screenings. These kids were suffering from scabies. Scabies is a contagious skin disease marked by itching and rashes, caused by itch mite. If Chandehswor would recover, Upendra would have it and the cycle was continuous. The repetitive nature of the cycle made us look into the causes of the disease and we found out that their toilet routine was probably the most unhygienic aspect of their lives which was also the source of the disease. The other families in the slums have a make shift toilet which is quite bad but then it is better than having none at all. We cannot help these kids in that aspect but we have talked to them about the importance of hygiene and the instances of recurrence of disease have gone down relatively.

Upendra, to his credit also has the gambling streak.

The 24 hour informal channel of information is probably the most effective mechanisms we have established at Koseli so far. Since we talk a lot about NOT gambling at school, the children are beginning to understand that MAY BE its not a good thing and they should come and report if they spot their friends engaged in the game.

 Soon through our network, we heard that Upendra had missed school to stay back and gamble. And since he didn’t have any money to gamble he became the dealer and actually ended up with some money in his kitty at the end of the day. I wondered if I should have been happy or sad at the news.

 This was the BIG NEWS of the day. So, when he came to the school the following day, all the other kids waited for him to get a big scolding. I was obviously very angry but in the last few months I have also realized that these kids don’t deserve to be scolded under any circumstances. I just talked to him at length. Sometimes, I wonder if they even understand a word of what I am saying as they look at me blankly with a smile leaking from the side of their lips all the time. Nevertheless, Upendra promised that he wouldn’t gamble again. I guess he also knew if gambled again then the information would reach school at the speed of light. 

The parents of these boys are very poor and live in the village. They have left them in the city to fend for themselves. Once or twice in a year the father takes them to the village. Recently they went to the village for a festival and turned up only three weeks later. When we talked to them, they told us they had a very good time in the village playing on the muddy village roads and fishing in the pond. Obviously, they did not attend any school during that period. While they love Koseli, they didn’t miss it during their stay in the village. They loved their carefree lives.

 I wish they had just stayed back in the village and attended school there. The story would have ended, but then as expected one fine day their father dumped them back in Kathmandu and the little kids are once again lost in the lanes of the slums and struggling for survival.

“Upendra will be twice the age of normal Grade one child when he reaches there next year, provided he continues to come to school regularly this year”.

Renuka

Renuka is a 8 year old gentle child. She is an absolute pleasure to watch. She loves skipping ropes and makes sure that nobody is hurt while she is playing. She, (along with 3 other little girls), lives with her didi. All these five girls living in a small room are bonded by humanity even though only two of them are sisters.

Like most of the other children at Koseli, Renuka was also a happy child and never complained of any physical pain. Then, during the monthly medical screenings we realized that she bleeds. It was quite a shock for us as Renuka was too young to be menstruating. After a round of questions and answers we realized that there was blood in her stool. And it had been there for so many days, months, years..she didn’t know.. 

Its amazing how most children at Koseli have no proper sense of timeline. They relate to time through events. Usually there are long mental gaps between two events. No event is significant enough to remember at length. As young children, they keep moving from one place to another depending on their circumstances. Most of them don’t live in a place for more than 2-3 months. In addition to this, there is also the movement between the village and town. The days are filled with trivia, so to remember the details is actually too much of a pressure on their little minds. Thus, the stories they construct and relate are very vague and open ended.

So, Renuka too on her part was also not able to tell much. She able to tell when she spotted blood in her stool for the first time or if she had experienced any kind of pain in the past. Physical pain is a part of their lives and they don’t know what life is without it, so it generally goes unaccounted.

The stool test report confirmed that she had an ulcer in her intestine. The ulcer had become so big that it had started to bleed. The intestine was on the verge of rupture and here we had this girl still skipping her rope, not complaining of any pain and attending school regularly. In situations like these, I am at a total loss of words and feelings. It is beyond normal human capacity to react.

Fortunately, Renuka was diagnosed before it was too late. She underwent medication and has recovered fully. 

I request everyone who is reading this to take a moment and think about the whole situation. I wonder if any of you would react differently, if life ever  brought you face to face with a little child like Renuka.

Students of Primary Section

Manoj Jirel, 14yrs

Madan Tamang, 14yrs

Sulav Thapa, 14yrs

Srijana Gurung, 13yrs

Mnaisha Shrestha, 12yrs

Poonam Adhikari, 13yrs

Chandra Tamnag, 14yrs

Paras Rai, 13yrs

Namrata Rajbanshi, 13yrs

Manju Jirel, 12yrs

Raj Lama, 14yrs

Rajesh Magar, 12yrs

Aman Karn, 10yrs

Yogesh Rajbanshi, 7yrs

Neha Karn, 12 yrs

Sunita Tamang, 10yrs

Chandrakala Mahat, 12yrs

Manish Rai, 10yrs

Manish Shrestha, 7 yrs

Mamata Gajmel, 10yrs

Monica Shrestha, 9yrs

Suresh Gurung, 11yrs

Ujjwal K.C, 9yrs

Obit Magar, 12 yrs

Ashish Bayalkoti, 13yrs

Kanchan Mangrati, 14yrs

Kindergarten

Unnati KC, 6yrs

Jason Lama, 8yrs

Anita Tamang, 8yrs

Sanjay Srivastava, 9yrs

Hari Karki, 11yrs

Sanjiv Nepali, 10 yrs

Santosh Karki, 12yrs

Januka Dangol, 10yrs

Bimala Khadka, 11yrs

Gaurav K.C, 8yrs

Karma Singh Tamang, 8yrs

Neeran B.K, 6yrs

Renuka Dangol, 8 yrs

Puja K.C, 9yrs

Divya Lama, 12 yrs

Raj Shrestha, 10 yrs

Bicky Karna, 8yrs

Rejina B.K, 7yrs

Kushal Adhikari, 6yrs

Mamata

Home is the ultimate security or atleast I assumed that till I met Mamata. She is 9 yrs old and lives with her aunt and studies in Grade 1 in Koseli. She loves dancing and is passionate about her studies. It is not unusual for children of Koseli to disappear from school for long durations. But when Mamata didn’t come to school for a month we were worried and started digging for clues that were keeping her away from school. 

Mamata’s parents live in Boudha. Her father and step mother didn’t think that it was important for her to go to school. After all she is a girl and at nine years, she is  capable of doing all the house hold chores. So she was kept away from school. During that one month her father was sick, so she was also his nurse along with being the keeper of the house. Once her father was better, she expressed her desire to return to school, all she heard in return was a stern NO. As days passed Mamata missed school more and more and finally she decided to confront her father. On hearing a yet another NO, Mamata left home and came to live with her aunt who stays very close to the school. She has been very regular since then. 

Yesterday, Mamata’s aunt for some reason got very angry with her and threw her out of her house. She spent the night at a friend’s place. The problem came to our notice when she came for dance practice today. We have arranged for to stay with another family whose children also study at Koseli and tomorrow we hope to make her aunt understand the gravity of the matter and let her return home.

Mamata is not at discomfort about leaving her father’s house, being thrown out of her aunt’s house and now spending the night in a stranger’s house. Mind you, all these houses are shanty one rooms with already four, five or six members living in them. While it is impossible for most of us to even imagine leaving our homes, it is not a big deal for the slum kids to stay wherever they find space and with anyone who is willing to accommodate them. It is not a sense of security for them but a place where they spend their nights. And that is what makes them extremely vulnerable.

Nursery

Saurav K.C, 6yrs

Sanjit Srivastav, 4yrs

Sushma Tamang, 6yrs

Kanchan Jimi, 5yrs

Panas Rai, 6yrs

Anish Rai, 7yrs

Bicky Lama, 4yrs

Sneha K.C, 6yrs

Rachana Dangal, 5yrs

Sahara Pariyar, 7yrs

Aryan Bisunkhe, 6yrs

Ram Tamang, 7yrs

Sudip Karki, 7yrs

Maria Gadal, 7yrs

Ganga Tamang, 8yrs

Biswas Khadka, 8yrs