Manav Sewa Ashram: A beacon of hope for the helpless

Meera Parajuli, 63, was found abandoned in the premises of the Harahar Mahadev temple in Manohara municipality one day recently. The Manav Sewa Ashram, a shelter for the helpless citizens, rescued the frail and feeble homeless woman and sheltered her at its shelter home at Samakhusi. She was living a life of a vagrant without anyone to look after her. Similarly, the Ashram rescued 78-year-old Kanchhi Maharjan and 80-year-old Saila Maharjan who were living in a wretched condition at Basantapur Dhokatol and brought them under its care to the shelter. This old couple also did not have anyone to look after them. The Ashram, in one of its latest rescue missions, salvaged Bishnu Karki, a mentally disturbed woman of around 60 years, from Koteshwar. She also has no family member to take care and had been living as a vagabond. She is now sheltered at the Ashram’s shelter home. Not only these people, the Ashram has been looking after around 550 destitute, mentally disturbed and helpless persons like them. The Manav Sewa Ashram (humanitarian service shelter home) was founded in 2069 BS. Of the 550 people sheltered at the Ashram’s shelter home, nearly 50 are underprivileged children and the remaining are helpless adults and elderly people, the Ashram’s chairman Ramji Adhikari said. The Ashram has rescued and rehabilitated 1,500 helpless people in the short period since its establishment. It has reunited more than 300 people in vulnerable circumstances with their families. Set up with the pious goal of rescuing and rehabilitating the needy persons in the country, the Ashram has expanded to many districts in the country. Branch offices of the Ashram have been set up in Chiwan, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Gorkha, Lamjung, Parsa, Baglung, Kaski, Rupandehi and Dhangadhi. Ashram has its central office in Makawanpur. Chairperson Adhikari said, "The Ashram has further plan to train at least 1,000 creative and humanitarian full timer humanitarian campaigners as well as 100,000 volunteers by 2082 BS to turn a dream of building Nepal as the nation of humanity into reality. Similarly, the Ashram also set a plan to initiate a task to produce students with high moral values by running a school within 2082 BS. According to the Ashram, more than 300 helpless people have now been living painful life in Kathmandu. The Ashram has been carrying out monitoring under all bridges of Kathmandu, Swoyambhu, Kalanki and Bauddha as well as shrines on Tuesday and Saturday to rescue helpless people. A trend has developed to abandon people with disabilities, helpless and mentally ill people on street by their families in recent period. It is necessary that the government and bodies concerned should take concrete step for the construction of helpless-free city at a time when political parties have been talking about prosperous Nepal along with implementation of new constitution.