The youth group of the ashram is supporting the orphans who have been picking garbage from the streets for years

Published Date: January 6, 2022

Kavya Pokharel of Arghakhanchi was fixing the beard/hair of Mohammad Razak Mia from India at Mawanseva Ashram in Birgunj. Getting her family touch made Thursdays special for Mia, who always picks up garbage on the streets.

He remembers how many times he was trampled by people while walking on the street and insulted and rejected when he tried to beg for food. Again, some people of the same society are taking care of the people who are forced to spend the night under the open sky. A vivid example of this is the ashram's youth group.

Mia, who was very happy with Pokharel's family affection, said with a faint smile, 'Great'. When he was a child, after the flood washed away his entire family, he came to the street alone. It is said that he entered Nepal through the border due to the open border.

Some time before Birgunj Metropolitan Municipality declared Beshara Road unmanned zone, Pokharel and 40 youths were together on Thursday to provide family love to the homeless people. The achievement of three years of efforts of a group of 30 youths like Devesh Gupta, Sanu Gurung, Muna Lama, Suraj Kushwaha, Niraj Patel, Om Jha was being made public.

They gathered every Saturday and mobilized for the whole week with the resolution of human service. As a result of this, the metropolitan road was being declared unmanned.

For Pokharel, reaching here is a special event. Pokharel, who has dedicated herself to service for three years and arrived in Birgunj during the National Rescue Mission, did not even know that 'careless people are on the road' before 2074.

One day, a friend told me to go to distribute water/biscuits on the street. She went to find out what the second week was. At that time, in the beginning, she saw that road services (necessary support for the street orphans) were being provided. He was touched by the words of prayer recited by the young participants devoting themselves to humanitarian service. After the prayer, she, along with others, devoted herself to serving the homeless on the streets.

"I used to think that people would be like me, but the blind sister Parvati, who I met that day, used to urinate in the same place", said Pokharel, narrating her experience. On the first day, after hearing that a new person had to serve, she accepted it and started cleaning Parvati Disha Pishav.

Some of the 35-member youth team that came with Pokharel with the National Rescue Mission cut the hair of the person brought from the road box in Birgunj, while others bathed them. Someone cut the nails and fixed them. Someone put oil on it. On Thursday, eight people were found when the youth jamaat gathered from different districts searched the streets of Birgunj. They were disabled, mentally ill and people who came to the streets due to family pain. They have been given protection in the ashram. Now along with Ashram campaigner Homanath Timalsina, Suma Rawal, Adarsh Dhakal, Srijan Oli, Sumira Lama, Manoj Ghimire, Jamir Shrestha are also engaged in the campaign. Other new volunteers are also there. They have been serving women as mothers and sisters and men as fathers or brothers.

In this way, most of the young people who serve on the street are around 15 to 30 years old. They are orphans, disabled, help-seeking and mentally ill and work round the clock in the service of the dependent people on the streets.

When the Ashram was established in the year 2069, under the leadership of Ramji Adhikari, young people including Shusila KC, Suman Wataula started a new practice with the determination to make the country free of homeless people. At the initial stage, no one believed in the campaign. The officer recalls that he still remembers pouring water from house to house when he went to the village to ask for donations.

"Now the society has started to understand, the government is also starting to pay attention, the anti-social actions done by the society at that time cannot be described in words, we took it as a blessing and joined the service", said the officer.

After the rescue of 5000 people due to nearly 200 dedicated youths, the country is now moving towards the condition of unmanned roads. He has become an inspiration to the society in the nationwide road service campaign.

In the course of this campaign, Jhapa District, Biratnagar and Birgunj Metropolitan City have been declared disabled/helpless people-free zones on the roads in the last week/ten days. The announcement does not mean that people will never come to the streets, the ashram said that they will not allow them to come as much as possible and provide services by rescuing them immediately. Earlier, various districts have been declared unmanned roads.

Next year, the youth are in tune with the implementation of the government's plan to make the country free of homeless people.

The achievement of Birgunj in a short time

In a short period of three years, Birgunj Metropolitan Municipality has declared the road to be free of vehicles. This was announced by the Metropolitan Municipality on Thursday when the team of Manavseva Ashra, who went on a road trip to Mechi Mahakali as part of the National Rescue Mission, arrived in Birgunj.

In the announcement meeting, the head of the Metropolitan Municipality Vijayakumar Saravagi and deputy head Shanti Karki said that they were impressed by the dedication of the youth. Chief Sarawagi added, "The situation of no one being destitute and stranded on the streets has ended, no one should have to endure such hardships on the streets."

Ashram was established here in Birganj from May 2074. At present there are 55 destitute dependents here. Branch chief Devesh Gupta said that after rescuing some of them, they have been reunited with their families.

He said that it is possible to make roads unmanned with the help and coordination of local and government agencies