Support this project with a donation now>>
Children's Peace Home, Parsa (CPH)
The Children’s Peace Home is situated amidst beautiful unspoilt countryside and fertile farmland in the small village of Parsa in the Dang valley, about 7km from the town of Ghorahi.
The Peace Home is a charitable initiative providing care, education, support and vocational training to underprivileged children in the Terai valley of Dang, Nepal. The children supported by the Peace Home include several orphans whose parents were killed as a result of the political conflict between the Maoist insurgents and government troops, while others are from impoverished families unable to support them and send them to school.
All the children in the Peace Home receive an education at the Hindu Vidyapeeth school in nearby Ghorahi, to which they are taken by school bus. Outside school the children receive support with their studies from residential Peace Home staff, a caring family environment, and additional vocational training and experience in skills that will enhance their future opportunities and sense of empowerment.Aims and Objectives
- To provide a high standard of education to children who would otherwise be denied the opportunity for any education at all.
- To improve the quality of life for children from impoverished families or those orphaned as a result of the recent political conflict.
- To empower children with vocational skills and an understanding of their own potential.
- To increase the children’s opportunities for employment and further study, and to help and support them to achieve the best possible future.
- To engender in the children being supported a sense of responsibility towards and respect for society and their role within it.
- To encourage children to support other members of their communities when it is within their power to do so.
- To provide an example for other organizations and individuals seeking to improve the lives of the underprivileged or marginalised in society.Background
Unemployment in Dang is high, and many families live by subsistence farming alone, sometimes producing a small surplus that can be sold in the market to bring in a small income. Many families are unable or unwilling to send their children to school, either because there is a need for them to work on the family land to provide food for the family and a small income by selling produce locally, or because school fees, or the books and uniform necessary for children to attend a government school, are out of reach of the family’s income. In addition to this, the recent conflict between the government and Maoist terrorists has resulted in casualties on both sides, which in turn has resulted in a large number of orphans in the villages and towns throughout Nepal. These children are often overlooked by the government schooling system and as a result receive no education and receive an extremely low level of support from their guardians or by the government support program. The end result is that opportunities for the future are severely limited, and these children risk growing up disenfranchised and resentful towards the society they feel neglected by.
CPH aims to address every level of this problem, by providing these children with a home in a family environment in peaceful and healthy natural surroundings, a full private school education, and additional vocational training and support to help them discover their potential and the way it can be used to better themselves and their society.
The Present
At present two buildings, one for boys and one for girls, house the 22 children currently supported by the scheme. The buildings, which have been constructed using local labour, traditional building methods and locally sourced materials, comprise of dormitories, downstairs classrooms and a kitchen to provide healthy cooked food for the children. A well on the site provides fresh water, and there is no shortage of shady grounds around the houses for the children to play and study. Each day the children are transported by school bus to the HVP school for lessons, and they return in the evening to receive a cooked meal, study together, and have prayers before bed.
The Future
A larger third building is planned for the vacant plot adjacent to the residential blocks, which will become the main centre of the Peace Home’s activities. This will allow the children to receive more sustained programs of vocational training, recreational activities and classes. This building will incorporate the dormitories, leaving the current smaller buildings free for Peace Home staff, visitors and for the storage and preparation of food.
A separate meeting hall for prayers, visiting speakers and programs is also planned, which will also be made available for use by the local community. Two smaller huts are to be constructed in the grounds for use by the children and visitors to the Peace Home. Other planned additions to the grounds include a playground, a kitchen garden, and a deep well for irrigation and drinking water.
Registered Charity: 1082685
71 Eastwood Road, Bramley GU5 0DX