Arjun Poudel

When her mother came to see Lakpa Doma Sherpa, a seven-year-old girl of Makalu VDC Sankhuwasabha, the orphanage that sheltered the girl did not allow them to meet. The girl, who obviously was not an orphan, was transferred to another home just to bar her mother from meeting her.

Her elder sister Failamhu, 14, and brother Pema, 10, who were living in the same orphanage since the past three years, were also dispatched to the same house to hide them.

After all her attempts to contact her children failed, their mother Bhujung, sought help of the administration. The police rescued all the three siblings and took the orphanage operator into custody two weeks ago from Thankot.

Bhujung said that she had come to the capital last year as well but even then the orphanage operator had refused to let her meet her children. "I was compelled to return without meeting my children. This year, I came to meet my children before Ghyalpo Lhosar, but they again denied me the permission to see my children as they want to prove that they are real orphans," she complained. Ghyalpo Lhosar is the biggest festival celebrated by Sherpa community.

She said that she had requested the orphanage operator to let her take her children to her sister´s house in the capital so that the family could celebrate the festival together. That request, too, was turned down.

She was even more worried about the health of Failamhu, who was brought to the capital by the orphanage operator with the assurance that she would be treated for her ailments. Failamhu has been suffering from spinal tumor. But instead of providing treatment to her, the orphanage has been using her to get donations. The orphanage has even tried to prove Bhujung a liar to prove their claim that the children are real orphans.

The orphanage operator and a middleman, who visited her village four years ago, told her that her children would get better education in the capital free of cost and that she would be provided financial support. They have even made fake documents to prove that the children have no parents.

The Sherpa siblings represent growing number of children who have parents but are presented as orphans by children homes. In some cases, the operators of the orphanages do so with the consent of the parents. A study conducted by the Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) in the past showed that over 70 percent of the children residing in the orphanages are not really orphans. Some have both father and mother and others have at least on parent alive. As per the law, children having either mother or father are not orphans and such children cannot be kept at orphanages.

"Most of the children living in orphanages are not really orphans," said Tarak Dhital, director of CCWB, adding, "There is a trend of showing children having parents as orphans." He said that child traffickers are involved in bringing children to the capital from remote villages.

"The poor parents get convinced when somebody tells them their children would get better education in the capital free of cost," he said. There are even cases in which the traffickers have been found to take money from the parents in the name of sending their children to a good school in the capital. They take money both from parents and the orphanage operators. Naive parents of remote districts think that their children have been getting better education residing in hostels of the capital. Such traffickers also use fake stamp and letter heads of government to prove that the children real orphans.

Orphanages bring donations from abroad showing the plight of the children. Some orphanages also traffic the children claiming them to be orphans.

Director Dhital said that there is a need to regulate orphanages. "Orphanages should be regulated and well managed," he added. He said that the CCWB has been planning to step up the monitoring of orphanages and rehabilitate children from those that are poorly managed.

Due to loopholes and flaws in the law, orphanages have been flourishing unchecked in recent years. Out of 722 orphanages operating across the country, over 400 are in the capital. Dhital said the CCWB is committed to end the ill practice happening in the orphanages. He concedes that whole families are in the management board of orphanages and members of the same family have been operating separate orphanages.

"Children should not be deprived of their parental rights. They deserve love and care of their relatives. They should be supported at homes if their parents are poor," said Pradeep Dongol, child rights officer at Children Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH), said.

Orphanages compel children to toil at homes

Prasamsa Prajapati, 15, who was recently rescued from Nabakiran Bal Ashram, complained that the orphanage operator compelled her to toil at his and his relatives´ homes. She said that she and her friends had to work as domestic slave at the operators and their relatives´ home. "I had to work at their homes as domestic helps after school. We even had to skip school when the operator and their relatives had function at their homes," she said.

Prajapati companied that she had to do all household chores at the operator´s home. "We could not refuse when the operator ordered us to go to their relatives´ home to work," she added. She said that they also had to look after the small children of the operator and their relatives.

"I had to wash dishes, cook, wash clothes and look after their children. I was made to sleep on the cold floor," she complained.

Prajapati was abandoned by her family some 10 years ago. She said that her elder sister dropped her at the orphanage and then never returned to meet her. "I heard that she married a man of Bhaktapur, but she has not come to meet me since," she said.

Published on: 3 March 2014 | Republica