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Drama Delight
The prestigious Godawari Village Resort recently played
host to a variety show with a difference – its performers
were children from the refuges of The Esther Benjamins Trust.
The 150-strong audience was treated to a programme of dance,
drama, gymnastics and song by children who had spent the
previous three weeks learning new skills under the tuition
of Sue Way and Nick Discombe,
two volunteers from the UK.
Read
more...
'Namaste! UK'
Himalayan Mosaics - the not-for-profit company established
by EBT founder Philip Holmes to offer job security to the
victims of child trafficking - showcased some of the artists'
latest creations at a special exhibition held in conjunction
with
Namaste-UK .
Read more...
Back to School
On the 1st of May 26 girls and one boy, many who were released
from the New Raj Kamal Circus in January, enrolled in our
fast track education course in Bhairahawa. This intensive
course has been designed to provide the girls with a realistic
chance of obtaining their School Leaving Certificate (SLC
- the Nepali equivalent of GCSE) with a low student - teacher
ratio as well as the regular and continued support of a UK
trained teacher now on our EBT staff in Nepal.
Read more...
Two more trafficking
agents arrested
On 18th February 2007 one of our field workers, Kumar
Giri, instigated the arrest of two more child trafficking
agents, Tamelseni Pariyar and Deepak Shrestha.
Read more...
Charity Award!
Congratulations go to volunteer Nigel Clarke on his winning submission to the annual
BAA i-volunteer charity awards scheme.
This scheme recognises annually the contribution
of BAA employees to the charitable sector with awards presented at a gala dinner in
London, this year it was held on the 18th January.
Nigel's report on his contribution
towards our Draper's Company fundraising dinner in 2005 won first prize under the
"Best Fundraiser" category. His report, which topped a short list of 250, scooped an
award of £5,000 towards the Trust's work with rescuing circus children.
Sun Oven arrives
in Bhairahawa
On the 14th September our partner organisation, the NCWF, amidst great excitement from
the refuge children, took delivery of a sun oven after a long and circuitous journey
from the USA. The oven will harness solar energy at the new NCWF bakery and has the
capacity to produce 300 loaves of bread per day in good weather conditions (there is
plenty of sun in Bhairahawa!). The equipment will provide not only work for circus
returnees but food for the children's refuges and a source of local income. We are
very grateful to the Trustees of the TUUT Charitable Trust for their very generous
funding support that allowed us to purchase the equipment.
Sisters Reunited
Sital Syangdon (12) and her sister Priya (14) were abandoned by the Great National
Circus when it disbanded at the end of last year.
They were brought back to Nepal by
another NGO to find that their impoverished parents had taken their own lives and there
was only an aunt to look out for them. Sital was taken into care by us but Priya was
whisked off by the aunt to a life of virtual slavery in a carpet factory in Kathmandu,
receiving only food and clothes for her labours.
After a search by the NCWF office in Hetauda, Priya was finally
traced and the factory owner given the ultimatum: either hand
her over to us or face a police raid. The next day, 7th
August, she was released and the sisters were reunited once
again, excitedly gabbling to one another in their own (Tamang)
dialect. Priya can now look forward to attending school for
the first time.
After her release Sital told us of child beatings inside the circus with cries drowned by the
revving of motor bike engines. Now she is one of two children at our Kathmandu refuge
who is enjoying attending daily gymnastics classes at the National Stadium.
Maybe Priya will feel inclined to join her?
Sital is pictured left, Priya right, with their carer Shailaja
First Mosaic Course in Kathmandu
June saw the first mosaic art course (to the best of our knowledge!) for children in Kathmandu.
Thirteen refuge children attended a course run and taught by EBT Director Philip Holmes at his
home, part of which has been converted into a permanent studio for the children.
As can be seen
from the images, the results have been quite remarkable and these are now on display above the
children's beds at the refuge. But most remarkable of all has been to see children who have
experienced such traumas being absorbed totally by the pastime and indeed, singing as they work.
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Circus boys' sporting success
The rehabilitation of the children we rescue includes supporting
them in whatever pastime they find helps aid their recovery
from the harrowing experiences they have endured.
Read more...
16 Girls freed from the Amar Circus
Sixteen trafficked girls have found freedom from the
Amar Circus which had been playing in Haryana State.
Field workers from The Esther Benjamins Memorial Foundation
(EBMF), our partner organisation in Nepal, had liaised
with the girls' families before dispatching a rescue
team at the weekend.
Read more...
Last Nepalese women released from Indian Circus
The return in May of three Nepalese women from The Great
Indian Circus in Kerala means that this particular circus
no longer holds any Nepalese performers.
Read more...
First circus rescues of 2007
January 2007 saw our rescue team along with 12 parents descend upon the New Raj Kamal
Circus that was operating near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, North India. Linking up with
ChildLine India and other local activists the team secured the release of all 20 Nepalese
girls who were in the circus, at least some of whom were being sexually abused by the
circus owner. Legal action is now being taken against the owner for his offences and the
girls are back in Nepal either with their families or staying at our residential care
facilties.
Click here
to read the full news release.
Mosaic Exhibition
On 25th March 2007, to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of
the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, EBT opened
"The Freedom Exhibition" at the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu.
Read more...
Great Golden Circus surrenders performers
Circus rescue team members Bhim Lama and Ganesh Shrestha returned
to Hetauda on 9th September 2006 along with five Nepalese girls that
they rescued from the "Great Golden Circus" that has been playing
in Gujarat.
The youngest of the girls was just 12 years old.
The successful outcome followed a two week trip into India in
the company of four of the girls' parents
Thangka Training
In April nine former circus girls started training in Thangka art at our Kathmandu Training Centre.
The silence in the studio is intense as the girls happily apply themselves to their detailed and
beautiful work. A standard has been reached that has already seen employment offers to four of the
girls upon completion of their training.
Street Children are given hope
On 1st July the Night Shelter for street children was re-opened
in Butwal and ten young boys have already settled in and seem
keen to make it their home.
The shelter was initially opened
in 2001 but was closed following the successful reintegration
of five children with the remainder being transferred to our Bhairahawa
refuge.
Over the past year staff have carried out field work in the Butwal area where they
came to discover
that there was a desperate need to re-open this shelter and preparations to do so began.
On arrival these boys were in desperate need of care; providing clean clothes and medical attention
is just the beginning, with some boys having admitted that they sniffed glue when living
on the streets.
The shelter will provide them with non-formal education,
counselling and emotional support as well as recreational
and sport activities.
After 3 months and not more than 9 months (subject to positive
behavioural change) the children will be transferred to second
stage care in Bhairahawa and enrolled in the local school.
A visit from the south
Professor Krishnamoorthy of Tamil Nadu Agricultural Unit paid a visit to Bhairahawa in July.
The purpose was to conduct a workshop on "milky mushroom" cultivation, a potential local income
generation method for the future. The mushrooms grow well in the monsoon season and are new
to Nepal - and they're delicious! During the visit he spent a little time drawing a map for some
of our children to show the huge distance he had travelled to share his expertise with us.
Press articles
To read an article that appeared in Times 2 on 25th
August 2004 about the background to the Trust and its
work please click
here.
To read the story of the rescue of the girls from the Great Roman Circus that appeared in the Washington
Times please
click here.
From gamekeeper to poacher
The complicated and saddening nature of child trafficking
was highlighted in December when we were asked to receive
seven girls and women who had been trafficked from various
locations across southern Nepal.
Read more... |
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Link to: Annual_Report.pdf
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Olympic Flame
Chandra Prasad Pun, 20, from the Disabled Day Care Centre
in Butwal, has been selected as one of 14 people to represent
Nepal in the forthcoming 2007 Special Olympics World Summer
Games being held in Shanghai, China from 2-11 October 2007.
Read
more...
Deaf School Developments
We are now funding two new teachers at the School for Deaf
Children in Bhairahawa.
This has enabled them to open Class 9 for the first time,
and next year will see these children progress in to Class
10 culminating in them appearing for the School Leaving
Certificate (SLC) (the Nepali equivalent of GCSEs) in March
2009.
Read more...
January
volunteers
The Kathmandu refuge has been a hive of activity in
January 2007 with staff joined by UK volunteers Mike
Ashman and Marian Bennett, their visit coinciding with
school holidays and a lot of children hungry for recreational
activities! Mike is an employee with Vega Group in the
UK and ran the London Marathon for the Trust back in
2003. Now he is seeing for himself how worthwhile that
effort was, but with around 50 children to entertain
maybe he'd prefer to be in training for another marathon!
Marian is on her third volunteer visit to Nepal in the
last two years and her very popular presence provides
a lovely continuity in childcare support.
Click here to read
Mike's online travel journal and view his photos.
Circus rescue from within Nepal
Our circus rescue team retrieved four Nepalese girls
from The Great Samrat Gymnastic Circus on 13th February.
The team visited the circus after learning that it had
been operating near Pokhara in the Syangja District,
and, after attending a performance to verify the presence
of girls, approached the District Child Welfare Board
and local authorities for assistance.
The girls, who included two minors, were released immediately
by the police and are now staying at NCWF refuge facilities
in Hetauda. They originate from Morang and Sunsari Districts
and will be reunited with their parents in due course.
The circus owner has signed a binding agreement not
to recruit any further Nepalese girls for his troupe.
The team leader, Ganesh Shrestha, said afterwards that
any Indian circus which crossed the border into Nepal
would be checked out by the team.
Another
suspected child trafficking agent under arrest
On 8th October 2006, NCWF field workers Bhim Lama and
Kumar Giri apprehended suspected child trafficker Kajiman
Shrestha in Udaypur District after completing a seven
hour trek by foot into the hills.
From our recent work
with trafficking victims in that District it is suspected
that Shrestha may have trafficked as many as 100 children
to Indian circuses. He has been handed over to the authorities
and we will soon initiate legal proceedings against
him.
District
Court sentences child trafficker to 11 years imprisonment
On 20th October 2006 the renowned 60 year old child trafficker
Mithu Luitel finally received an 11 year sentence and
a fine equivalent to £330. She was arrested and taken
into Police Custody one year ago by our partner organisation
NCWF along with Maiti Nepal (an NGO also working to
bring an end to child trafficking).
More Circus
releases
Sunday 16th July saw the safe return of 18 girls to
our office in Hetauda, south Nepal, following their
release from the Great Prabhat Circus in India. The
girls all originate from Udayapur District and their
release came after a visit to the circus, which was
performing in Andra Pradesh, by NCWF staff members Ganesh
Shrestha and Kumar Giri, accompanied by 13 parents.
The girls will now join our rehabilitation programme
that offers education and training according to capacity
and needs.
Two leading
agents behind bars
On 30th May 2006 two leading child traffickers, "Dhane"
(above left) and "Thuli Didi", were sentenced to 20
years imprisonment by the Makwanpur District Court.
The accused were infamous agents within the region and
their conviction follows a long hearing in which our
partner organisation, the NCWF, was instrumental in
encouraging their victims to give key evidence against
them while EBT funded the necessary legal support.
This
landmark decision by the court represents the first
occasion to our knowledge that child trafficking agents
linked to the Indian circuses have been prosecuted successfully.
July volunteers
A record eight volunteers came to support our work in
Nepal in July. At the start of the month five students
from Kingston University (Selina, Danni, Paul, Andy
and Simon), led by Dom Stevenson, arrived in Hetauda
to provide support to the girls and help them express
themselves in drama, dance and story telling.
They were joining Nepali U.S. student volunteer Babina
Tuladhar (pictured right with Dom) who had been there
since mid June giving close and invaluable staff support.
Babina was able to ensure that there were no language
difficulties in the preparations leading up to an open
day by the girls for the girls on the 23rd July. This
was a resounding success.
Meanwhile, Northern Irish student, Julie Graham arrived
in Bhairahawa mid month for a one month stint to help
with recreational activities for the 24 children at
the White House refuge.
Julie, a first year social work
undergraduate and guide leader came armed with glass
painting kits and modelling clay ready to introduce
the children to all kinds of wondrous creations. Before
arriving in Nepal Julie successfully organised a sponsored
walk in Ireland that raised £2,500 for the Trust. Where
would we be without our volunteers?!
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Rakhi Festival
The traditional festival of Rakhi was observed at the
Godawari refuge, Kathmandu, on 9th August. Following
a programme of dance (including a display of some modern
moves by the boys) and song from the girls with guitar
backing, the circus returnees from our Kathmandu Training
Centre honoured their surrogate brothers at the children's
refuge. This involves the symbolic offer of food and
the tying of coloured threads around the wrist. Afterwards
food was available in more generous supply!
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