Nepal House Society

We at Nepal House believe that sharing information can lead to big changes in the community. So with that in mind we followed our belief yesterday and ran a one day workshop on "Healthy Mind, Healthy Community'. The workshop covered covered such topics as; Anxiety, Depression, Suicide, Emotional coaching, Creating Safety Plans, and self-care. We invited many individuals who work in the field with children and families. We had twelve participants in the workshop. The information was heavy but the participants were very curious and patient to learn about mental health.

I was invited to attend a group meeting at the Child Welfare Association on 17th of January 2013. The audience consisted of children ranging from five years of age to Nineteen years of age. I was asked to explain the role of a counsellor to these young people. I shared the fact that meeting with a counsellor has nothing to do with misbehavior. It is more a resolution of difficulties small or big which may happen in anybody’s life. I touched on anger, anxiety, parents, violence, bullying and name calling.

Juna (not her real name) lived in one of the children’s homes that support children with HIV and AIDS after her parents died of AIDS. Nepal House Kaski has a mobile counseling centre here. Juna was in counseling with me for over two years. Juna was HIV positive and had pneumonia when she was a small child. Both her lungs were not functioning well since that time. The children’s home caregivers referred her to us reporting that Juna was often angry, cried easily and did not believe staff when they said she would get better.

A friend of mine who works for another program called Shakti talked about a particular family that lives in Malepatan, Pokhara. After hearing the story of this family I was curious to visit them. Shakti group found a 11 years old girl who had been the victim of trafficking and rescued her from the border of Nepal and India. Shakti Group staff visited her family in Malepaten. While visiting, they found a one year girl inside a dark room which was locked. They could not do anything at that time and in the next days they tried to meet the parents.

The NHK team recently set up the new counselling center in one of the Children’s Home’s called the Children’s Welfare Association. This is our third out-clinic from the main counselling center. This new clinic is going to start from coming Saturday (Aug 18/12). Children’s Welfare Association is Swiss-Nepal joint venture. There are 35 young children living, who have experienced different kinds of traumatic events in their young lives.