So no we are in Nepal land of the Himalayas, Land of mystery. When we
first arrived I was in awe of Kathmandu, the beauty of the landscape
rich history and culture. Yet like every other nation Nepal has a
darkside. Within a few short hours of exploring the city Justin and I
were solicited for drugs. When we met our contact he described many of
the social, political, and spiritual issues many Nepali face. He told of
of the strong political and economic oppression being a land locked
country. Their primary trading partner is India. Sadly he says that the
Nepali government can’t do much without the approval of the Indian
government. In addition he described many human rights violations
occurring along the border such as killing of Nepalis for land and human
trafficking. We are working with an organization Called Asha Nepal
http://ashanepal.org/
“Asha Nepal (Hope Nepal) exists to help sexually abused and exploited
and their children to get the self worth and to restore in society. It
leads them to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally and deepen their
relationship with Him by rescuing, counseling, training them. We do
rehabilitation them back in the society as well as we keep supervising
them after rehabilitation.
Asha Nepal has shelter for their children and helps them for their
education. We do have other practical help to women and children to
develop their life and character”- From Asha Nepal website.
This excerpt from my teammate Elaina’s blog provide some more fact on human trafficking in Nepal:
Each year nearly 30,000 Nepali girls are sold by their families
intentionally or unwittingly into a life of sexual slavery in the
brothels of India. Worldwide, the U.S. State Dept. estimates that nearly
half a million children are trafficked into the sex trade annually.
Ninety Percent of the girls forced into prostitution in Kathmandu, Nepal
are between the ages of 12 and 17. Sometimes young girls from the
mountain villages will be enticed into leaving their homes by imagining a
better life for themselves or their families. Women with nice clothes
and gold jewelry will come and promise them a job, working as a maid for
a rich family. Once they are far away in cities such as Mumbai or
Kolkata, they are then forced into prostitution or will die of
starvation. Other times girls are sold by father or uncle to pay off a
family debt. If a family member tries to come and rescue their daughter,
they are often killed by the. The situation may seem hopeless but I
believe God is using people every day to rise up and take a stand. Many
women who have been rescued out of this lifestyle will volunteer their
time working the borders of Nepal to watch for girls who are being
transported across the border
Our contact has told us that the government it talking about
establishing a red-light district in the area of Kathmandu in order
capitalize on those seeking sex tourism, and steal business away from
India where many Nepali girls are trafficked to. Please pray for this
issue because if they go through with this plan it could only make
things worse for the status of women in Nepal.
