Update from Nepal: The report from Bethan
Phurbu visited Bethan (Yubaraj's village) in Ramechhap District from September 15-16. During his stay he collected alot of information about Yubaraj from his family, the local teacher, and others in the village, and he sent a report this morning that summarized what he learned. After Phurbu and Yubaraj returned to Kathmandu, they met with Basu and Puskar. This post summarizes the information gathered by Phurbu with some additional details reported by Basu after their meeting.
There’s a great deal of information here – including some surprises – and we’ll continue to gather even more information over the next week or so. Heather O’Neal will be meeting Yubaraj, Basu, Puskar, and Phurbu on Thursday and I’ll post a report from her as soon as possible. We’ll also post photos that Phurbu took in Bethan as soon as they’ve been sent.
About Yubaraj and his family
We discovered that Yubaraj was born in June 1989, which means he was 16 when Kevin Sites interviewed him and he’s 17 now. Yubaraj did leave his village to come to Kathmandu when he was 13, and he has been working to support his family for four years. It’s possible that this discrepancy with Kevin Sites’ article is based on a misunderstanding (Basu has confirmed that Yubaraj looks young for his age). Still, it’s disconcerting to learn that Yubaraj is older than we thought and that he’s been out of school longer of two. Yubaraj told Basu and the others that he has been in Kathmandu for almost five years working at shops and, for the past nine months, at the car parking area in Thamel.
Yubaraj is the eldest son in his family, and we learned that he is responsible for six people (in addition to himself). Yubaraj’s family consists of his mother (43), three sisters (12, 10, and 5), and a brother (8). His two middle siblings are in grade 1 at school. His youngest sister is not in school, and his oldest sister studied to grade 3 but is now at home. According to his mother and his teacher, Yubaraj’s father left his village four years ago and works as a porter in Kathmandu. He “doesn’t take any care to his family and he never go[es] back to the village.” Basu talked with Yubaraj again after he returned to Kathmandu yesterday, and wrote that “people used to say dead as he did not show at home since almost five or six years ago, no news where he lives/what he does, some people even say he is away with second wife (Yubaraj says it is not true) and so on. Yubaraj also says he did also search very hard but could not get in touch for so long.” It’s very understandable that Yubaraj would tell Kevin Sites that his father had died, although again it’s disconcerting to see this discrepancy with Kevin Sites’ interview.
There is one other member of Yubaraj’s family – his wife, Apsara. Phurbu writes that according to local people and the teacher, Yubaraj was married six months ago. Apsara is 16-18 years old and from the nearly district of Kavre. She left her studies four years ago after completing grade 5. Basu adds that this marriage was “due to the suggestions by his elders/relatives to help his mother in household jobs, too; as his mother is not too well for whole life – fallen from a tree long time ago [and] might not have got proper treatment due to lack of money at that time and not [cared for] her by his father (by her husband). So Yubaraj has the responsibility/a big financial burden on him… to care a number of six (three [sisters], one brother, mother and his wife) people plus one. Yubaraj is the eldest child in the family so is compelled to take all of these good and bad things!!!”
We wanted to confirm the family’s financial situation, and Phurbu made the following notes about their property and income. Yubaraj’s mother owns a grass-roofed house that is “in ruin;” the family is living in a neighbor’s house (according to the teacher and Yubaraj’s mother, it would cost about $1,000 to build a normal house in the village). Yubaraj’s family owns one buffalo, one goat, and about ¾ of an acre. According to his family “their agricultural product only help them for about 6 months and rest of months his mother does other people’s work in village and feeds her children and Yubaraj also help his family.” According to the local teacher, Yubaraj’s family, and others in the village, it would cost about $800 for a family of six to live for a year if they had to buy all the food in the Market.
Schooling
According to Yubaraj’s teacher and mother (and Yubaraj himself), he left school four years ago because of the financial problems when his father left them. At that time, he completed grade 5 and was studying at grade 6 (Basu added that Yubaraj completed nine months of grade 6). Yubaraj’s teacher said he was a “simple and disciplined student but was poor in his study because of his own housework.” It’s often the case that children have a difficult time keeping up with schoolwork when they also have alot of work to do at home, and this isn’t necessarily an indication of how well Yubaraj will do in school if he is able to return. We confirmed that Yubaraj has not received and is not receiving any financial assistance from any organization for his schooling.
The school that Yubaraj was attending (Shree Kusheshwar Higher Secondary School) is about a 25 minutes’ walk from Yubaraj's house. The cost of attending this non-boarding school (about $20/month) is of course considerably less than the cost of a boarding school in Kathmandu. While the quality of education would be higher in Kathmandu (qualifications of the teachers, availability of materials, etc.), attending this secondary school might be a viable option for Yubaraj if the donated funds would not support a boarding school. Phurbu wasn’t able to obtain Yubaraj’s report card or attendance record because the head school teacher was away (at district headquarters), but Yubaraj’s teacher has promised to send it to Kathmandu as soon as possible.
***********
That’s all for now – we’ll post more information as soon as it becomes available!
There’s a great deal of information here – including some surprises – and we’ll continue to gather even more information over the next week or so. Heather O’Neal will be meeting Yubaraj, Basu, Puskar, and Phurbu on Thursday and I’ll post a report from her as soon as possible. We’ll also post photos that Phurbu took in Bethan as soon as they’ve been sent.
About Yubaraj and his family
We discovered that Yubaraj was born in June 1989, which means he was 16 when Kevin Sites interviewed him and he’s 17 now. Yubaraj did leave his village to come to Kathmandu when he was 13, and he has been working to support his family for four years. It’s possible that this discrepancy with Kevin Sites’ article is based on a misunderstanding (Basu has confirmed that Yubaraj looks young for his age). Still, it’s disconcerting to learn that Yubaraj is older than we thought and that he’s been out of school longer of two. Yubaraj told Basu and the others that he has been in Kathmandu for almost five years working at shops and, for the past nine months, at the car parking area in Thamel.
Yubaraj is the eldest son in his family, and we learned that he is responsible for six people (in addition to himself). Yubaraj’s family consists of his mother (43), three sisters (12, 10, and 5), and a brother (8). His two middle siblings are in grade 1 at school. His youngest sister is not in school, and his oldest sister studied to grade 3 but is now at home. According to his mother and his teacher, Yubaraj’s father left his village four years ago and works as a porter in Kathmandu. He “doesn’t take any care to his family and he never go[es] back to the village.” Basu talked with Yubaraj again after he returned to Kathmandu yesterday, and wrote that “people used to say dead as he did not show at home since almost five or six years ago, no news where he lives/what he does, some people even say he is away with second wife (Yubaraj says it is not true) and so on. Yubaraj also says he did also search very hard but could not get in touch for so long.” It’s very understandable that Yubaraj would tell Kevin Sites that his father had died, although again it’s disconcerting to see this discrepancy with Kevin Sites’ interview.
There is one other member of Yubaraj’s family – his wife, Apsara. Phurbu writes that according to local people and the teacher, Yubaraj was married six months ago. Apsara is 16-18 years old and from the nearly district of Kavre. She left her studies four years ago after completing grade 5. Basu adds that this marriage was “due to the suggestions by his elders/relatives to help his mother in household jobs, too; as his mother is not too well for whole life – fallen from a tree long time ago [and] might not have got proper treatment due to lack of money at that time and not [cared for] her by his father (by her husband). So Yubaraj has the responsibility/a big financial burden on him… to care a number of six (three [sisters], one brother, mother and his wife) people plus one. Yubaraj is the eldest child in the family so is compelled to take all of these good and bad things!!!”
We wanted to confirm the family’s financial situation, and Phurbu made the following notes about their property and income. Yubaraj’s mother owns a grass-roofed house that is “in ruin;” the family is living in a neighbor’s house (according to the teacher and Yubaraj’s mother, it would cost about $1,000 to build a normal house in the village). Yubaraj’s family owns one buffalo, one goat, and about ¾ of an acre. According to his family “their agricultural product only help them for about 6 months and rest of months his mother does other people’s work in village and feeds her children and Yubaraj also help his family.” According to the local teacher, Yubaraj’s family, and others in the village, it would cost about $800 for a family of six to live for a year if they had to buy all the food in the Market.
Schooling
According to Yubaraj’s teacher and mother (and Yubaraj himself), he left school four years ago because of the financial problems when his father left them. At that time, he completed grade 5 and was studying at grade 6 (Basu added that Yubaraj completed nine months of grade 6). Yubaraj’s teacher said he was a “simple and disciplined student but was poor in his study because of his own housework.” It’s often the case that children have a difficult time keeping up with schoolwork when they also have alot of work to do at home, and this isn’t necessarily an indication of how well Yubaraj will do in school if he is able to return. We confirmed that Yubaraj has not received and is not receiving any financial assistance from any organization for his schooling.
The school that Yubaraj was attending (Shree Kusheshwar Higher Secondary School) is about a 25 minutes’ walk from Yubaraj's house. The cost of attending this non-boarding school (about $20/month) is of course considerably less than the cost of a boarding school in Kathmandu. While the quality of education would be higher in Kathmandu (qualifications of the teachers, availability of materials, etc.), attending this secondary school might be a viable option for Yubaraj if the donated funds would not support a boarding school. Phurbu wasn’t able to obtain Yubaraj’s report card or attendance record because the head school teacher was away (at district headquarters), but Yubaraj’s teacher has promised to send it to Kathmandu as soon as possible.
***********
That’s all for now – we’ll post more information as soon as it becomes available!
posted by Christine Egger at 10:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home