Enabling the differently-abled

Pratik Rimal/ TNP
Kathmandu, April 26: Ram Chandra Karki, 35 is just like any other individual. Karki holds a job, lives with his family—a wife and their two children who go to Chelsea International at Mid Baneshwor to pursue their education. However, Karki distinguishes himself from the language he speaks—sign language.

For the past 10 years, Karki has been working as a waiter in The Bakery Café at New Baneshwor. While many differently-able people across the country are dependent to other people for their living, Karki earns a handsome salary, has his provident fund, medical insurance, food and education allowances, overtime money and so forth to make a living.

A sign language teacher who taught his fellows for eight years before joining the Café, Karki is glad to have an opportunity to eke out a living. “Initially it was difficult, probably because of my fears, but slowly and steadily, I learnt the knacks. I’ve grown with experience, and am very much content with my job,” Karki shares adding, “With age, I will surely be bidden a farewell, and then, I plan to open my own restaurant with other friends. For that, I’ve saved my earnings,” Karki shares. With such earning, Karki feels independent, and hopes that other institutions, too, come up with such initiations.

At a time when many ‘able’ people looked down upon differently able people, and when the term was ‘disabled people’ rather than the present one, the Bakery Café employed differently able people since 2052 BS. At present, the Café employs around 60 differently able people in its seven major outlets at New Baneshwor, Pulchowk, Jawlakhel, Boudha, Gwarko and Maharajgunj’s Bhatbhateni.

Nirmal Shah has been with the Bakery Café for the past 12 years. As a manager, Shah shares that there has been a lot of change regarding how able people look at those that are differently-able people. “Initially, many customers disliked when they were approached and served by differently able people. Now, that is no longer the case,” Shah shares, adding, “When we began the project, it was difficult because they were unaware of how they had to act."

“Only seldom can these people understand when a customer beats around the bush. Most don’t and they prefer direct communication because that is what they most easily understand,” Shah said.

Asmita Oli, 28 is another differently able waiter the Café at New Baneshwor employs to cater its services to customers. Oli has been working in the Café for the past nine years. Married around two years ago, Oli has a year old son. Like Karki, Oli is happy with what she is doing. Like Karki, Oli too, opines that she’d not be a part of the institution forever. When she leaves, she intends to work as a tailor. “I have experience with tailoring. I used to work as a tailor before too.” Oli shares.
While those employed are jubilant of the opportunity they have, many fall behind the race, and as a result, they still are dependent on others for their living. “Many come looking for a job, and it’s not always feasible,” Shah shares, adding qualifications too does matter.

“We choose people who have some degree of qualifications and prefer those who’ve completed their School Leaving Certificate or have studied up to grade 10,” Shah said, adding that the Café focused more with people who live beyond the valley. “Many differently able people from the valley have little problem for food and shelter. To it, there are a lot of unions that work for them. For this reason, we prefer people that are differently able in village areas,” Shah shares.

Shah explained that selected candidates were trained until they learnt the job’s skills, and would then be employed. Seeing that differently able people too can work, many cafes

and restaurants within the capital are employing them. “We’ve shown that disabled people too can work, and I do hope that other institutions, too, introduce differently able people in the job markets and help them be independent.”

“I’m little aware about sign language but I can communicate by pointing at what I want. I really appreciate what the Café is doing, and am happy with the service,” Sharawin Paudel, a customer at the Café said.

Caution: educated women easy to traffic

Pratik Rimal/TNP
Kathmandu, April 10

(Image courtesy: Getty Images)

While women residing in rural areas are more prone to trafficking and continue to be at a high risk because of low literacy and awareness, it is not just them. Any person is vulnerable to trafficking, and those most at risk are girls below 24 years. Moreover, media has also reported cases where educated urban women including college girls are also trafficked, and the trend seems to climb steadily, Achyut Kumar Nepal, Information Officer at Maiti Nepal said.

Citing his research with 128 traffickers imprisoned in Kathmandu, Shyam Kumar Pokhrel, Managing Director at Samrakshak Samuha Nepal (SASANE), an NGO supporting trafficked victims cites said, "Traffickers have often shared with me that it was easier for them to sell educated girls because they would seldom slip and the chances of being cordoned at checkpoints were slim. However, with rural girls, things were worse because despite repeated guidance, they'd slip somewhere, and there was high probability of being caught."

"As parents continually try to fulfill their child's wish, increased love to technological and other modern products in city areas too work to result in urban human trafficking," Achyut said, adding, since the definition of human trafficking has broadened, the gaps too have grown bigger. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines: "Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them."

Although Nepal is one of the leading countries from where many people are trafficked every year, no data regarding the country's rising or falling trafficking trend is recorded after 2001 AD. The 2001 AD's research showed that every year, around 12,000 women and girls were trafficked from the country to India as sex workers alone while around 8000 girls worked in various cabin restaurants, bars and massage parlors within the valley.

As the number of people opting foreign employment continually increases, (last year, around 250,000 had gone legally, and around the same number illegally), Pokhrel said trafficking was at rise in the form of 'foreign employment'. "Last year's foreign employment record showed that around 250,000 people legally went abroad for foreign employment and around the same numbers left the country illegally. 90 per cent of those who had gone illegally are vulnerable to trafficking," Pokhrel said adding that newer destinations for the human trade were South Africa, Cyprus, European countries and Gulf countries. For this reason, the country has no concrete data regarding trafficking at present.

As a result, things look grey and opinions sway regarding the country's trafficking rate. With so many non-governmental and international non-governmental organizations working in human trafficking, some argue of reduced trafficking rate.
However, others, on the other hand, argue that the numbers have climbed. Citing increasing access to the West and foreign employment, Pokhrel said that trafficking was undoubtedly on rise. "Trafficking is on rise. We cannot furnish complete data, but I firmly believe that the trade is increasing." However, Achyut said, "At the moment, we can only assume and even if research were to be done, it was difficult because trafficking is illegal."