Update November 2016

After the terrible earth quake in April 2015, this fall I slept fort the first time in my room on the 5th floor again. On this foto you can see, the view is unbelievable beautiful. Our rented house is surrounded by many monasteries. In the front you see a very organized and clean carpentry and further back a factory where they produce Nepal paper. 

During my stay of three months, I went downstairs and slept in the office because I felt unsafe in my room because of some earthquakes. But otherwise always stayed and slept in my room.

My first weeks were very much influenced by the mothers and their children. One mother who decided in spring to move out and live on her own with her three children, disappeared with her boyfriend just before I returned to Nepal. When the children returned from school in the afternoon, they only found their clothes. Before moving out, they lived with their mother at Sachham House, and we took care of them while their mother worked. As Sachham is not a children’s home, they will have to leave. But we cannot abandon them. The parents are divorced. We haven’t seen their father in a long time. He came to our house to visit them and didn’t leave a bad impression. But he could never take care of his children. During vacation, he took the children to his old parents. Grandfather was very touched when he dropped his grandchildren after four weeks at Kathmandu. Soni, his granddaughter, never left his house and wanted to go back home to Sachham in Kathmandu as soon as possible. In the beginning, she cried a lot, mostly in the evening in her bed. Now, she is feeling safe again. I tried to find a good home for them but after the earth quake all the children’s homes are full. Next year, a colleague opens up a new home, they will take them in. I hope we will not have to place them elsewhere in the meantime. They had to go through too many changes over the last years.

For care taking of the children, we have to employ another person who is in charge. So far, two mothers shared the tasks of taking care of the children and cooking. They both have one day off in a week. Now they are taking care of 10 children, do the laundry (by hand in cold water), the household, take the children to school. The house mother is especially responsible for a good atmosphere for the children in the house – a huge responsibility! Up to now, a student helped her. She went to college from 5 am – 10 am and was available for all the work in the house for the rest of the day. She is also responsible for guiding a homework group. In spring, she will leave the house and we should find a replacement soon. The work load for our house mother is too big, especially on the off days of the cook. The same applies to our cook who almost never works with the children. 

That is why we would like to employ another person who shares the work with the house mother and is also taking care of the homework group. On the off days of the cook she also would replace her.      

Today, there are 2 mothers, 2 female students (one student left for a one year internship in Bahrain), 5 male students and 10 children living in Sachham House.

I still appreciate that we are able to have young women and men living under one roof. In Nepal, in families you do not usually talk about any issues concerning adulthood. Questions like “How do I behave towards a woman?” or “Why did she react angry to this sentence?”are not being addressed. The girls very easily feel harassed. Many questions and problems arise and can be dealt with better when living together than trying to solve them theoretically.

In Kathmandu, many young people have to do without any warmth and security. They come as stranger from their small villages into the huge city and have no safety at all. This is, why I think it is important that our organization can continue its work as initially started. Although, it is only one drop on a hot stone. Many drops disperse and wet the stone eventually. Though, sometimes you only see the success after many years.

Sachham is still a construction site and will remain one. There are always problems that need to be solved. Our house must face the actual situation, too. I am very thankful to all our friends and donors for their continued support. After the earth quake, we received many donations which we could use where they were needed most. Today we are very greatful if you support Sachham also in the future with your generous donations.

We wish you all a pleasant season of Advent and Christmas and many happy hours with your family and friends. Good luck for the upcoming year of 2017!

Warm regards,

Kathrin Baumgartner