ChangeFusion Nepal

Baber Mahal Revisited hosted the end of year celebrations for YAF in Nepal this past Saturday. Themed ‘Celebrating Youth Action,’ the event featured a ‘mela’ of youth organizations from around Nepal, an experience sharing seminar for YAF grantees, an ‘Idea into Action’ talk by Rafael Poudel, and a small photo exhibition by youth photographer Kushal Bista (picturenepal.com)

On the occasion of the first year partnership between ChangeFusion Nepal and Youth Action Fund, Baber Mahal Revisited was buzzing with the voices of eager youth. Young people from around Nepal represented their organizations, working in sectors like health, advocacy and media among others. The event not only provided a chance for different organizations to share ideas and build a network, but also helped inspire local youths who’d come to learn about the amazing work done by people just like them.

Rajendra Mulmi, a pioneer of youth advocacy in Nepal, and Anil Chitrakar, noted Ashoka Fellow and motivational speaker, were on hand to talk with and help inspire participants. Both were well received during their closing remarks. Anil Chitrakar was graceful enough to judge a small ‘idea contest’ and award Arbind Chaudhary a special prize. The winner as well as three other honorable mentions have been invited to attend a special session held by USAID to help flesh out their budding ideas.

Before the night closed to resounding cheers and applause for young musicians, a special slogan for ‘Youth Action’ was also unveiled: ‘I can. I will.’ Representing the idea that potential and action go hand in hand, we hope this slogan works to inspire young people to do their part in nation building.

As we say goodbye to the first year, We are already looking forward to another year of operations. Our team is gearing up to help youth in Mahottari face their social, economic and political problems.

Thank you all, for making the day and evening a resounding success!

Someone had once said “Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice.” For me, it was both. It was sheer chance being introduced to ChangeFusion Nepal and without thinking twice I took it, not really knowing if it was the right choice. Before Catrin mentioned ChangeFusion Nepal, I had no idea of its very existence, let alone about the work they do. I decided to work for CFN at I think around 9 in the morning and I was still sleeping when Luna had called. After speaking to her over the phone, I went back to sleep and later when I finally woke up I thought: Was I talking to her in my sleep? Did I really say yes to her? Why didn’t I think over it properly? But then again, sometimes you take the very best decisions when you don’t think twice and just DECIDE!

The best part about CFN for me is the people I work with, both within the office and outside. I learnt more here in a month than I did in my 4-month internship at this quite a “big well known” organization. It was through CFN that I met a woman like Sabita Maharjan. A survivor of domestic violence, she has been able to mobilise many other women in Kirtipur and has been able to establish a knitting venture and a cooperative all on her own. It was after meeting her and knowing her, I started to believe that you don’t really need to be well educated to achieve anything. You just need to believe in yourself and work towards your goal – that’s all that counts.

Through ChangeFusion, I met Mr. Khom Raj Sharma (a CFN Fellow) who is one person I really admire. It is amazing to see that despite being visually impaired, he runs an organization for the empowerment of such differently-abled people, uses laptops, mobile phones and skypes with as much ease as I do, has been a part of the Jagriti Yatra in India and is now soon going to start up a Cyber Cafe Venture with services for the visually impaired.

It is such a great exposure for me altogether. I get to work with not one or two but 10 different such passionate people. Their ideas, their passion, and their efforts – it makes me wonder, what have I achieved so far? But the fact that I’m involved with their ventures and am supporting them in whichever small way I can is what makes me happy and look forward to every single day at work. My dad keeps asking me, “Are you enjoying your work?” I say “YES!” and the good part is, that I actually mean it.

 By: Anupama Shakya

It started like you’d expect a story of travel to start. With waiting.

With my trusty backpack on the bench beside me, and my companion on this trip, Ram Sapkota, busy on the phone, I waited patiently for my flight. Arriving early means you don’t have to bear the crowd through check-in, and it gives you enough time to focus on the journey ahead. I was trying to think about the flight (I was hoping there’d be peanuts. Flying isn’t complete without salted peanuts) and of our destination – Pakhribas in Dhankuta. This would be my first field visit for ChangeFusion Nepal, and also my first experience living in a village. I didn’t know what to expect, cliched as that sounds – I really didn’t. All I knew was it would be something I’d never done before and that in itself was worthy of spending a few quiet moments contemplation on.

The journey was uneventful but pleasant. We were in the air for about half an hour, and arrived in Biratnagar mentally prepared to spend the next six hours or so cooped up in a car or bus weaving through the high mountain roads. Peanuts were served on the flight, so I was in a happy mood. We shared a cab ride with other passengers to Dharan, about an hour away, flying through the straight and wide roads of the Terai. We waited again for an hour to catch a bus leaving for Pakhribas. By the time we arrived and were greeted by our hosts, it was almost nine. With no energy, and a little bit hungry, we quickly finished dinner, sat around to talk for about an hour and headed to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

It started with a tall glass of Buffalo milk and local honey with eggs for breakfast. The breakfast of champions, enough energy to last you almost the whole day. Which it had to. We spent the day riding around on the back of a motorcycle visiting four schools in the area, monitoring their activities and talking with students and teachers. It was exciting meeting so many people, keenly interested in one goal, all sharing ideas and talking enthusiastically. It was refreshing to see a close knit community, people saying ‘Khaja khayo?’ every few yards to people they knew.

By the time we had a late lunch – around four or five – I wasn’t even feeling hungry. All I could think about was what was next and who we were talking to after that and what plans we could create and what suggestions we had to give and a whole lot more. A small hike that evening with an interesting bunch of people calmed me down a bit, a lot of laughs and conversations. It seemed a fitting end to a hectic day, standing on top of a small hill overlooking the whole valley beneath, nothing but the blackness of trees with light from little houses around the hills like low lying stars, while the real ones dotted the sky. I would miss this place, its people and its quiet peacefulness.

And I did just that on the long ride back home, thinking about how much fun it had been and how unlike it was from most places I’d lived in. I was getting reading to settle in for a few days of nostalgia by the time I fell asleep. The next day at the office, I was told I’d be making a quick trip to a village in Rasuwa in middle of the week.

There’s no time for nostalgia when you’re busy making new memories.

By: Shashwat Sharma

My journey started with an excitement to identify promising youth in Mahottari for the 2^nd phase of Youth Action Fund and I had not thought it would be harder than identifying the youth in Dhankuta (where our 1^st youth camp was held). To find youth in this area was the major challenge if done alone as a researcher. Being from a hilly origin I was apprehensive that it might affect  me negatively but later I realized, such a thing mattered less if the actions and activities were done remaining below the radar and in support of local facilitators.

Frustration piled up by observing the political and social conditions affecting day to day activities. I was shocked to see that although youth were ready to take the initiative, the external environment played a major role as a bottleneck. Youth, despite of opportunities, are in search of alternatives of getting engaged. Going abroad in search of opportunities is rather seen as positive instead of, getting involved in armed conflict or indulging in drugs. A number of youth also seemed to get lured in to becoming Maoist combatants – excited by the factors of easy money and weapons, less for any cause. In such conditions, forming social capital of like minded youth in the form of clubs and their network is the emerging promising factor. However, getting out of the box and getting informed about the national and worldly affairs seemed missing greatly. Their major activities involved cultural activities like celebrating Saraswati Puja and sports like cricket. Nevertheless, these activities act as the binding force in maintaining social harmony amidst diversity in ethnicities.

Women and girls are scarcely seen outside their house and more engaged in the household chores. Observing the situation of Mahottari, bringing them out of the traditional practice and empowering them are huge challenges. I was saddened to see even educated women remained voiceless let alone, uneducated ones. However, if only one or two women could emerge as role models, they could be an inspiration for women to form their own social capital. Their presence at the execution level (even in clubs) is almost zero which puts a big question on inclusive gender development. There is a definite need for the involvement of women from an early stage at all levels.

People in the urban and in hilly areas are enjoying the presence of government officers but unavailability of them in such areas is likely to build tension and hatred against the government. At least, I can question the government officers at the place where I belong but the locals in Mahottari seemed unaware of the government officers working in their community. Village Development Committees and health posts mostly lack the presence of government officers. However, at the heart of Mahottari, public schools were found working effectively in coordination with the community; youth clubs were filled with enthusiastic youth and they were willing to create change if provided with proper support. It proves that the approach of shared partnership between civil society, government agencies and private sector holds promise for development within Mahottari.

 Although I feel blessed to be from Kathmandu – where opportunities are in the vicinity, it gives me greater satisfaction to be able to work for places such as, Mahottari – where opportunities have to be created by one. Hats off to the youth who strive hard to make a difference in spite of all the challenges and are full of promises for a better future.

By: Rafael Poudel

On January 10 as an intern of ChangeFusion Nepal, I was assigned to visit, observe, monitor and co-ordinate the interviews taken by Ms Mina K.C, one of the grantees of Youth Action Fund (2011).

First of all, we interviewed Ms. Junu Shrestha, a visually impaired mother of a 22 months old child. She seemed quite optimistic about life and had high hopes about her career despite the fact that both, she and her husband, were visually impaired. However, she was not very happy about having a child so early. She told us that if she knew about family planning before, she would have waited till she got her Diploma. Observing my perimeter, I realized how hard it was for her to manage her daily chores while having to look after her child seeking care and attention. Her room was a little messy, the bed sheets a bit too dirty and there were stains on the table cloth and curtains.

The second person we interviewed was Ms. Prasansa Chettri, a 24 year old M.A student. Though she got married two years back, she remains unaccepted by her husband’s family. Even though the family being educated and her husband also being visually impaired, her in-laws wanted a daughter in law with no disabilities. She had to go through a storm of emotional trauma because her in-laws would threaten her and ask her to leave her husband so that he could marry someone who was visually abled. Prasansa lamented that she had to face discrimination right from childhood due to her visual-disability.

The two interviews were one of the best experiences of my life. I not only got an opportunity to talk to these differently abled people about their problems, but also got an opportunity to visit their homes and observe their way of life. I changed my definition of happiness into being optimistic and hopeful no matter how bitter the reality is. Prasansa said that she has never lost motivation to study even though there are no libraries for her, no books and above all not much support from her faculty members. Despite of all the difficulties, these people are living their lives with full enthusiasm and confidence.

I, as a benevolent citizen feel responsible to help them and persuade others to support these people in various aspects like health, education, providing them with employment opportunities and above all providing them with the respect they deserve.

Rafael Poudel is the Co – Coordinator of Youth Action Fund being administered by ChangeFusion Nepal.  It has been great having Rafael as the one leading Youth Action Fund and team member but the best has been knowing him as a person who will always remain a lifelong friend. Read on to discover his journey through the worst and best times he has had during his professional and personal life.

I believe life is pre-determined and connected.

I had a normal life with a standard routine and like most of us went to an educational institute which did not appeal to me much but I had no option. Before getting associated with ChangeFusion Nepal, I had worked in various organizations as a volunteer. I practiced volunteering for more than 3 years and best out of all was with a youth organization called Youth Initiative. Mona Aditya, my colleague in Youth Initiative, who also was working in ChangeFusion Nepal, once approached me to translate a document. I realized that the document we translated was for ChangeFusion Nepal only after I joined the team.

My entrance in ChangeFusion Nepal was not with much of a formality rather with an open heart by Luna Shrestha Thakur, Founder of ChangeFusion Nepal. She once posted on Facebook that she was in need of a volunteer. I browsed the website of ChangeFusion Nepal and got enticed by the idea of supporting youth in innovative and best ways possible. The concept of social entrepreneurship was new and viral globally and I always liked to learn new things. The very next day after meeting Luna during the International Youth Day 2010 at Thamel, I was given a short orientation about ChangeFusion Nepal and got involved from August.

 Things happen with a reason and life has a reason too.

 Although most considered me stupid for leaving a high paid but less interesting job, whatever I got during the early days of ChangeFusion Nepal was a lot, as it was higher than what Luna used to get for herself. I have not found any one working as selflessly as her, working without a single penny and with passion. I can remember a sentence once stated by my friend on twitter which is “If you can learn from the worst times of your life, then you are going into the best times of your life”. ChangeFusion Nepal was also in the similar condition and we strived hard in sustaining ourselves. Looking at the present condition, I think our hard work, patience and team spirit has paid off well.

Rolling stone gathers no moss.

I have seen so many organizations starting with great enthusiasm at the beginning but later lose their energy. Rafael of previous time has really evolved and the credit goes to ChangeFusion Nepal which itself transformed from its infancy to a leading organization in Nepal. My journey to various part of the country, meeting youth of different faces and knowing them was the best learning moment. I have learned a lot by doing and the trust put on me to lead Youth Action Fund. Youth Action Fund is the next step for me to put my learning into the practice. I hope to see myself as a content and dynamic rolling stone forever. Thanks to ChangeFusion Nepal and especially Luna Shrestha Thakur in providing this great platform.

 After I took my board exams of +2, I was in dilemma about what to do during my holidays. Since I had a vacation of more than 4 months, I wanted to do something that would even help me in my future. I whiled away my time for few days and that’s when I got a chance to join ChangeFusion Nepal (CFN) and gain some experience. Well it has to be my good fortune because of which I grabbed the opportunity and started working there.

Previously I was a mischievous guy who had no idea about the value of time but my last three months in CFN has provided me with a clear vision about utilizing my free time in a proper manner. My days during the Youth Action Fund camp in Dhankuta gave me lots of ideas about my life. It made me feel that I had to do something so that my existence would count. During the camp, there were many applicants of my age. I physically interacted with them which took away the fear of mass communication from me. I got a chance to learn about different social issues and their impact on our society as well.  This voyage made me familiar to different ideas that could be implemented in my country. Even back here in the city, I did the follow-ups which taught me lots of new things as well as developed a confidence in me to represent myself in front of others in an open manner. I interacted with lots of persons, personally as well as through phones. Providing suggestions and feedback to individuals who were a lot senior to me, was something of which I could be proud of.

I think many youth of my age have no clear vision due to which they roam around aimlessly. They have no idea about what to do during their free time and that is what leads them to abuse addictive substances. Maybe I could have been the same if I had no idea about utilizing my time. But my three months at CFN has provided me the proper guidance which has developed a positive attitude in me. I was a boy with an empty head but CFN has turned me to a matured youth. I am glad that I accepted the opportunity which Luna didi gave me. I have learnt a lot which cannot simply be expressed in words and I am pretty sure about these things helping me in my coming days. Because of a helpful and co-operative environment around, I do not even know how these three months went away. I was here to learn but I have achieved much more than that.

There was a time when I did not know opportunities existed or could be created but when I was a part of the Youth Action Fund camps, I realized how much I was missing. The youth that I met, the applicants that I interacted with and the individuals I have met during my three months here have all shown me a life of possibilities. My current involvement with the Youth Action Fund team makes me realize how worthy my existence has become. I dread to think of how my life would have been a waste had I not become a part of my current team.

Youth Action Fund (YAF) has become a platform of growth for my career and life. In 2009, when I was a student of 2nd year Bachelor’s degree, I got a chance to join a program with HimRights as a representative of the youth active in Kavre. The program was my first introduction to the YAF program in Nepal. At that time I had no idea about project proposal writing or how to run a project. I tried my best to write a proposal for YAF concerning various problems till I decided to write about the problem of high usage of polythene bags in my local community. I finally submitted the proposal on 19^th January 2009 and after a month HimRights called me to inform that my proposal was forwarded.

 After 8-9 months from the period my proposal was forwarded I got a message of proposal acceptance. On 22^nd January 2010, a 3 day meeting was organized in Dhulikhel by HimRights. During the meeting, the old and new grantees of YAF were present and we shared our information and knowledge with each. The fund for my project was finally released in June 2010 and I started with implementing the activities in my community through the cooperation of local schools, clubs and people in my locality. Our group formulated an organization in the name of ‘’Youth Action for Rural Development and Social Harmony Forum (YARDS). The organization is still active in dealing with different local issues and also includes 3 more YAF grantees from Kavre who are active members.

I am thankful to Luna didi because now I am in ChangeFusion Nepal, the organization leading the YAF Nepal program at the moment. It is a really good and different experience as compared to when I was applying for the program and now, when I am a part of it. When I was applying for the YAF program I did not have any information about youth activism and creativity but now I am more thorough with problem solving in creative ways. My job responsibility involves following up with applicants regarding missing information or providing them feedback/ suggestions on how their proposal can be attractive and more creative.

In my experience, most of the applicants want to solve the problems facing their community however they are restricted in terms of innovative solutions especially getting out of the development concept of NGOs. Most of the youths identify the very important issues but their method of resolving it is limited to conducting workshops and training. Our job as the team handling YAF is to make the youth aware that there are other ways of solving issues especially through media mobilization, independent media etc. The interesting fact is that amongst all the issues, majority of the youth want to get involved in the issues surrounding local governance and environment.

Based on my own personal experience, YAF is a great platform to grow as an individual and empowers the youth with the ability to solve the problems in society. All of us have seen various problems in our community and everywhere. We think that they are small and their effects are also small but these types of problem are affecting us everywhere and add up to bigger issues. If we want to solve any issue big or small – we have to start from the beginning. The youth in Nepal have the potential to be Changemakers and social activists however, they have to be provided the opportunity to make their dreams comes true and YAF is one such opportunity.  I am very grateful that I was and am still a part of such a great program.

27 July 2011 was the day when we left for the much awaited youth camp in Pakhribas, Dhankuta district.  We had gone with the idea of  educating the participants but at the end of the days that we spent there (27 – 30 July) we learnt a lot more from them. The plan was to meet just the participants of Pakhribas but we decided to meet youth in most of the districts which was on our way. We conducted programs in Biratnagar (Morang), Chitwan (Parsa) and met with a previous Youth Action Fund grantee to discuss the possibilities of scaling up the idea in Hetauda (Makwanpur). At the end of our journey, we had interacted with 103 participants, spread the word about the call for proposals and came back with a lot more than we expected.

Our aim was simple – it was to orient the participants to think of innovative ideas that would help in tackling issues faced by the community or society but the outcome was ‘not so simple’. The first day of the youth camp was an eye opener for us – it was an intensely thought provoking experience for me. When asked about the vision that each of them had in terms of their life, all the participants came up with the vision of solving the problems in the society – gender discrimination, sanitation, unemployment and the list went on. Each of them had a great vision but what was lacking was the sense of individuality tinged with innocence that you expect from a young group such as theirs ( the average age was 22). All of them were well spoken and every word of theirs reflected the language used by organisations in their training programs. Most of them were ‘veterans’ in the field of attending training programs, an indication to the presence of organisations trying to bring about a change but the biggest question was – How do we avoid the youth – our future to become less like brain washed mass produced activists – just full of words with no action ?

We were determined to bring about a change in the participants, we wanted them to start thinking in an innovative manner and on their own. With this thought in mind, all our sessions were planned with the idea of sharing and learning from each other. We discussed problems, thought of solutions, tried stream lining issues and sat and prepared proposals together. By the end of the 3 days in Pakhribas, the participants had become more specific about the ideas they had, they learnt that for any change to happen it needs to start from a small step.

The 35 participants we met were willing to learn, not afraid to ask and gave us the hope that all of them did have a sense of individuality inherent in them. As we left Pakhribas we had a sense of happiness of having fulfilled our goal. We had decided – our success will be measured not by the number of youth that get supported by the fund but by the number of youth we manage to inspire through our camp. We would like to believe that our first youth camp and the sessions we conducted on the way were successful and we hope that the participants found it an equally enriching experience.

Organised by ChangeFusion Nepal and supported by NBI, the 3 day event will work as a platform for social entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures along with, a strong emphasis on promoting and learning about Social Entrepreneurship.

 The 3 Day event (18 – 20 November 2011) will be organised to celebrate and recognize the spirit of Social Entrepreneurship in Nepal. The dates coincide with Global Entrepreneurs Week (14 -20 November) and the beauty of the event will be the chance to meet and interact with individuals who have made a social and sustainable impact. The highlights of the event will be:

Bazaar: The Bazaar will showcase the ideas/ ventures of social entrepreneurs from the different districts of Nepal providing the visitors and guests with an opportunity to interact and learn amidst the picturesque surroundings of Babermahal Revisited.

Interactive Sessions: You will also have the choice of attending sessions with experienced entrepreneurs or individuals who have contributed to Nepal. The sessions will be interactive, with the aim of engaging the attendees instead of being just a ‘download’ of information.

Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award (SNASEA): The final day of the event will be dedicated to rewarding and recognizing the work of deserving social entrepreneurs. They will be selected based on the nominations or individual applications we receive.

We are currently calling for applications and nominations for the Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award which will be presented on the last day of the event. Our objective is to cover the whole of Nepal and discover the hidden gems, which we know are there. If you know anyone who deserves recognition or a platform to showcase their  ventures please nominate them or apply for the award by 22nd September 2011.