|
The long distance adoptions project is active in Nepal, Tibet/China and
India; it is possible to “adopt” a child but also a sick, disabled or
elderly person, or even a Tibetan monk, of any age, living and studying
in a monastery. Some of the donations collected are also used in the
realisation of basic infrastructures – schools, clinics and aqueducts –
in the communities in which the children live.
 Children
in Nepal
In Nepal the Association works mainly in
the area of the capital, Kathmandu. One of the poorest countries in the
world, with a daily income of less than a dollar, most people find
themselves living on the threshold of extreme poverty. However, the
Kathmandu Valley still attracts thousands of poor people from the
countryside who are in desperate need of work. But, as the economic
situation of the country continues to worsen the numbers of unemployed
and hungry grow; in the capital vast areas of degradation exist where
the rising number of poor live in precarious homes that lack water,
sanitation, electricity, food, mattresses, blankets…
Public services, when available, such as those for medical care and
education incur costs that have to be paid by the person using the
service and so it is the poor who often remain excluded.
In recent years the closure of many small carpet factories, has also
resulted in more job losses and an increasing number of unemployed.
Life expectancy is low and illiteracy high as school attendance is not
completely free. Parents are requested to pay enrolment fees and
expenses for uniforms and books that many are simply unable to provide.
For this reason many parents have no other choice than to send their
children to work in the fields or as servants in other people’s houses,
even though child labour is actually banned by the Nepalese Government.
Many types of medical care are also not free, and for the poorest people
it is often impossible for them to pay for necessary treatment.
Sponsorship money is used to provide children from poor families with
medical care and education in local schools.
^
 Children
in Tibet/China
In Tibet, the Association works mainly in
the villages of the Shigatse region in Central Tibet where the average
altitude is of 4000 meters.
The living conditions in these villages are very hard. The houses are
built simply from mud bricks with a stove as the central feature and few
windows to stop the cold from entering: there is no water, electricity
or heating, but many people also have to live with no furniture,
mattresses or blankets.
People survive by tending livestock and on the meagre harvests produced
in this kind of hard and dry mountainous environment, but often this is
only enough to last the family for 6-7 months of the year. Most families
have nothing to sell and therefore have no money to dress their children
or buy school materials. Children often have to confront the harsh
Tibetan winter with the few ragged clothes they are wearing and with
whatever footwear they can find.
The climate is extremely cold and arid in this region, a situation
worsened by a dramatic scarcity of water. Most villages have no aqueduct
or water pump and there are no basic sanitary services. There are no
healthcare facilities and those present in the city are expensive and
too far away due to the lack of transport. The village schools, that
exist, are attended by few children as parents do not have even the
small amount of money needed to buy books and other school materials.
There are no shops in these villages and no postal services.
Due to the altitude and severe climate trees are rare and the only
sources of fuel are dried shrubs and yak dung. There is a severe lack of
nutritious fresh fruit and vegetables.
Here, in these villages, help is divided equally between all the
children and their families: every family receives a stock of food for
the winter, sacks of rice, flour and barley seeds; children receive,
other than money, clothes, school uniform, shoes, school materials,
soap...
The help is also used to improve the general living conditions of the
surrounding community through the realization of sanitary and
educational infrastructures.
(See Humanitarian Aid)
^
 Children
in India
In India the Association concentrates its
work in the remote zones of the Himalayas. In these areas of India the
living conditions are very similar to those in Tibet, with whom it
borders. The altitude in these zones is around 3000 meters and people
survive from subsistence farming. During the brief summer months entire
families have to work long hours in the fields to secure harvests, but
often this is not enough to see them through the long winter months.
Some villages are often isolated for months at a time from the rest of
the world due to snow and severe weather conditions. These difficult
living conditions, combined with the lack of even small amounts of money
and transport, mean that children are often unable to attend school.
Many people are forced to travel in search of work building and
repairing roads.
The services in these regions are minimal; in the area of the villages
receiving our help there is a small dispensary that offers basic medical
care, but those in need of hospital treatment have to make the long and
difficult journey over the mountainous Himalayan terrain to reach India.
In some villages there are small schools offering elementary education,
but for many families the cost of school materials is beyond their
reach. To continue their education after the village school children are
forced to leave their families and attend schools in India.
The long distance adoption project in India aims to provide families
with basic necessities, medical assistance and guarantee the school
attendance of children. The project also includes children who study in
local monasteries; a number of Buddhist monasteries have been rebuilt in
India and poor children are often accommodated here because they can
study in a traditional manner. These monasteries are extremely poor and
all too often there is no money to ensure decent food, to buy medicine,
clothes, shoes or books.
As well as a donation of money, the Association also buys and
distributes directly to each family: school materials, clothes, shoes,
flour, cooking pans, fuel and other basic necessities.
^
 Adoption
of the elderly and disabled
Generally, in the poorest countries public
assistance is scarce or does not exist and the weakest people often find
themselves alone and in desperate conditions. Without any means of
support and with no income these people, already vulnerable, find
themselves without money to buy food, clothes, medicine, or to pay a
rent
The long distance adoption of an old, sick or disabled person can give
them back their human dignity, hope and peace of mind.
^
 Adoption
of Monks
The help of the Association also reaches,
through the long distance adoption of monks, various Tibetan Buddhist
monasteries in Tibet/China, India and Nepal. Here the precious and
ancient spiritual, cultural, artistic and medical traditions are
preserved and propagated: a heritage for the whole of humanity. It is
within the walls of these monasteries that many young children also find
the possibility to study according to their own culture and tradition.
But, these monasteries are extremely poor: there is no money to ensure
decent food, to buy medicine, clothes, shoes or books.
The buildings, even when newly built, are often extremely precarious and
are always in need of repairs to the roof, walls and windows due to the
extreme and harsh climate of Tibet.
Through the adoption of a monk – child or adult – a very beautiful human
relationship can be developed, and these monasteries with their ancient
traditions are helped to survive.
^
 Work
in the field
Contact with adopted children
Volunteers of the Association travel regularly to the countries
where the long distance adoptions project is underway.
INDIA AND NEPAL
Volunteers of the Association travel to
India and Nepal twice a year (period of February/March and
August/September) to deliver directly the aid collected and to
co-ordinate the activities of the Association.
Newly sponsored children of school age are enrolled into local schools
at the first possibility. School fees are paid directly to the school
and the name and address of the sponsor is communicated to the family
and school of the child.
It is possible to correspond directly – in English - with sponsored
children. Letters to children living in Nepal should be sent care of the
office of the Association and in India directly to the specified
address. However, the postal system in these countries is often slow and
unreliable, and so letters can also be sent through the Association in
Italy; these letters are delivered by hand at the first possible
opportunity.
The Kathmandu office in Nepal helps, as far as possible, the families to
correspond with their sponsor. However, many of the parents of sponsored
children are illiterate and so ask friends, teachers and sometimes even
their boss to write on their behalf. Letters are often very simple,
repetitive and express only the gratitude of the family.
Unfortunately we are not able to carry parcels for sponsored children.
TIBET/CINA
Volunteers of the Association travel to Tibet once a year (period
July/August) to distribute directly the aid collected, village by
village, under the direct supervision of local Government officials. The
gifts – clothes, shoes, sweaters, jackets, school materials, sacks of
rice, flour and seeds – are all bought in the city and transported by
truck to the villages where there are no shops. The money, gifts and
food are distributed equally among all the children of the village,
adopted or not, and their families.
In Tibet there is no postal system that reaches the villages. Letters
can only be delivered, by hand, during the summer visit along with any
photographs of the family adopting the child. These are particularly
welcome because the families like to know the benefactors, at least
through a photograph, who from far away have changed their life. These
photos are highly prized and almost always end up on the altar in the
home along with the families other most precious possessions.
Those who are able reply to their sponsors, in Tibetan, and these
letters are translated by the Association in Italian or English. After
the summer trip news of the child or person adopted is sent together
with, if possible, a new photograph and letter.
Unfortunately we are not able to carry parcels for sponsored children.
If possible, donations for children living in Tibet should reach the
Association before the end of June.
^
|