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No longer barred
NOV 20 - For those living in mainstream society, a prison is only a place for the criminally-inclined. Pushpa Basnet, instead, saw the children of the inmates, for whom the prison she had visited as part of her college fieldwork, was a playground. “I saw so many kids there, and I felt so sorry that I decided to help them,” this demure young woman says.
What ensued was a day-care centre for the children of the inmates—Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC), which, for the last six years, has been providing a home for 37 children at the centre in Budhanilkantha.
Basnet is trying to make her NGO self-sustainable: the centre has been selling goods that the children’s parents have made. “We are also selling postcards made by the children themselves,” she adds.
For Basnet, life is all about determination, and being a social entrepreneur is no different. “We had a really tough time when we had started out,” says Basnet. “In fact, my parents had to cover most of the costs.”
Four of the 37 children have seen their parents released from prison recently. Despite this, the NGO still provides for them, and Basnet welcomes them with open arms. “Even after being released, we understand that parents may have difficulties in rehabilitating to mainstream society,” she says.
One question the NGO raises is that of the children’s future. For this, Basnet says, the NGO plans to teach the children life skills. “After their SLC, we hope to select a few who can run the NGO themselves,” she says.
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