Effects of the Kamalari practice
My interest in Nepal started through my work with Nepal Orphans Home in 2011. I learned so much about how it works and the children there. What caught my interest the most was the prevailing Kamalari practice. It's now been illegal for I think three years after organisations such as PLAN and SWAN (social welfare action Nepal) created a strong moment to put pressure on the government. Not only has this made the use of Kamalari illegal, but it also give economical support for hostel hosting former Kamalaris and their education. All Kamlaris now have the right to bee freed from their landlord/master and given education. It's a great step in the right direction.
Having learned about this, and seeing that despite huge efforts, the is still a large number of Kamlaris, I wanted to learn more. And I certainly have. Through coming to Nepal I have meet so many ex Kamalaris who are just wonderful and amazing. First I lived with the wonderful girls at Sanctuary House in Kathmandu. They are incredible and will forever live in my heart. Now I'm staying at Narti Girls Hostel, where 128 ex Kamalaris live. Some have been here for years, one of the younger ones arrived just a week before me.
It is some times hard to imagine that these playful and smiling girls have been Kamalaris. That they used to be slaves and work day and night to please their landlord, and still not be sufficient. I am really glad that they are here and safe.
That said, they are so many girls who are not as safe, and still serve under their landlords. It is illegal and awful, but still its existing. And this is were the really sad part from this week comes into the picture. This Thursday, a girl died. She was a Kamalari, and she was shot by her landlord. This really hurts. I feel for this girl, she was in class eight, meaning about fourteen years old, and now she is no more. Her chance to be free never came, because a man decided she no longer deserved to live. It is sad and unfair.
I know so many wonderful girls here who have been in her exact position. Working around the clock, but still not enough to please their landlord. Being punished, hit and hurt when they should be just kids going to school. Just today, Yemkummari told me that her landlord used to hit her with a cane when she's was not fast or efficient enough. And I can help thinking, what if he too would have taken it a step further? What is she was the girl who died?
Or Anita. Or Basanti. Or Hira. Or Samjana. Sima. Kirti. Kalpana. Manita. Binita. Tara. Batani. Shova. Rekha.
Or Sita. Or Sabina. Or Kushboo. Kushila. Sumi. Anita. Gayatri. Bipana. Kabita. Binita. Yeshodha. Ranjita. Eliza. Anu. Ramita. Mary. Rupa. Muskan. Alina. Santoshi. Kailashi. Apsara. Asha. Rupa. Samira. Juno. Kalpana.
What if it was one of them? It would break my heart. There are so many wonderful girls here, and its awful that this young girl never got the chance to be one of them. That she was never freed, and never given sanctuary.
But maybe her death have now brought new life to other Kamlaris, maybe this will be a restart for bringing safety to all those young girls who are still Kamlaris like she was. Maybe it will bring people to see the injustice that still exists here, and empower them to do something about it so that her death is also the death of the cruelty of the landlords. Maybe this was needed to bring freedom to the Kamalaris. I hope that it will mean something, that she did not die for nothing.
I know that I will think of her. And the right to live.
It is some times hard to imagine that these playful and smiling girls have been Kamalaris. That they used to be slaves and work day and night to please their landlord, and still not be sufficient. I am really glad that they are here and safe.
That said, they are so many girls who are not as safe, and still serve under their landlords. It is illegal and awful, but still its existing. And this is were the really sad part from this week comes into the picture. This Thursday, a girl died. She was a Kamalari, and she was shot by her landlord. This really hurts. I feel for this girl, she was in class eight, meaning about fourteen years old, and now she is no more. Her chance to be free never came, because a man decided she no longer deserved to live. It is sad and unfair.
I know so many wonderful girls here who have been in her exact position. Working around the clock, but still not enough to please their landlord. Being punished, hit and hurt when they should be just kids going to school. Just today, Yemkummari told me that her landlord used to hit her with a cane when she's was not fast or efficient enough. And I can help thinking, what if he too would have taken it a step further? What is she was the girl who died?
Or Anita. Or Basanti. Or Hira. Or Samjana. Sima. Kirti. Kalpana. Manita. Binita. Tara. Batani. Shova. Rekha.
Or Sita. Or Sabina. Or Kushboo. Kushila. Sumi. Anita. Gayatri. Bipana. Kabita. Binita. Yeshodha. Ranjita. Eliza. Anu. Ramita. Mary. Rupa. Muskan. Alina. Santoshi. Kailashi. Apsara. Asha. Rupa. Samira. Juno. Kalpana.
What if it was one of them? It would break my heart. There are so many wonderful girls here, and its awful that this young girl never got the chance to be one of them. That she was never freed, and never given sanctuary.
But maybe her death have now brought new life to other Kamlaris, maybe this will be a restart for bringing safety to all those young girls who are still Kamlaris like she was. Maybe it will bring people to see the injustice that still exists here, and empower them to do something about it so that her death is also the death of the cruelty of the landlords. Maybe this was needed to bring freedom to the Kamalaris. I hope that it will mean something, that she did not die for nothing.
I know that I will think of her. And the right to live.
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