Sapana Village Development Center
Location: North East India
Mission Statement
We aim to support the local Tharu minority people community, to be involved with them and help them develop and preserve their culture and traditions by means of different community based projects such as eco-tourism, health programs and educational projects.
Background Information
Sapana Village is a small development project supported by the Dutch development organizations NCDO and FEMI (www.femi.org). The aim of the Sapana Village Development Centre is to support the local Tharu community and preserve their unique culture and heritage. Education and Culture awareness are the main issues. This target is reached trough local programs. The lodge is aimed to support the financial cost and manage the organization here for.
Activities of Organisation
Reflecting the Himalayan Consensus Lodge-model, the Sapana Lodge works with positive intent and community participation. In order to achieve ethnic preservation, a culturally sustainable program based on economic foundations (The Lodge and our donors) has been set up to serve the local community.
Situated uniquely on a savanna with the extremely imposing garden view over the Himalayan Annapurna Mountain range and neighboring the Royal Chitwan National Park, a popular safari (elephant, tiger) destination we have everything an eco-tourist might wish for. The accommodations offer all comfort and are decorated with the local Tharu decoration. A design hotel built on local handicraft, western standards, hammocks, lazy chairs, a roundhouse restaurant and jungle sounds at night.
Recently, the project conducted health camps in different communities helped by the MCC (Medical Checks for Children) Doctors from the Netherlands. Checking up on over 1200 marginalized, poor and/or sick children was one of our most memorable projects. We distributed medication, oral- and physical healthcare products (tooth-paste, soap etc) to kids brought from extremely poor families who have never been able to afford hospital treatment.
Water: Another of Sapana Villages mottos is to provide clean water. We have provided water tanks and two water filters to Shree Chitrasen Lower Secondary School. We have also distributed water taps and hand-pumps in different communities to improve clear water access in those regions.
Womans Empowerment: Tharu Dau, which means mother in the Tharu language, is our woman’s skills development project. There are 38 women engaged in the production of Tharu artwork and carfts which are then sold at local and international markets.
The school: There are no acceptable facilities available to children of the poor, the unemployed and the disabled and Sapana Village is now seeking to open a school near the village of “Sapana Gaun”. Sapana Village has already bought a piece of land on which to build Sapana school. The School is primarily going to benefit the needy children scattered in over 37 different villages of Bachhauli Village Development Committee Region as-well as Ratnanagar Municipality as a secondary Target. We aim to start the school with 140 numbers of students studying in 5 different grades starting from Nursery (4 years’ kids) and Kindergarten, One, Two and Three.The NGO has a target to start the school from the academic year of May 2010 and hopes it will be continuously growing until it reaches to its goal of establishing the school up to higher secondary (+2) Level in a next decade. Sapana Village Developoment Centre Nepal has a dream of eventually giving Bachelors and Masters Programs in the relevant areas of social development and business studies.
Consensus Community Perspective
The Himalayan Consensus comes to life with Consensus Communities, which are built around a sustainable business (most often, a heritage or eco-tourism lodge built as part of architectural restoration in a given region) that thereby becomes the money engine for outer components including: cultural heritage projects that revive local traditions and customs; educational programs for both youth and disenfranchised members of the community; and health care initiatives that address the medical needs of the underprivileged. Consensus Communities do not necessarily develop in a straight line, starting with a lodge and ending with a micro-equity program. They can be adapted to culturally sustainable programs that are already in place. In a truly bottom-up approach, the Himalayan Consensus Community essentially builds itself. This point is proven by the Sapana Village Development Project as well as many the other communities that work for sustainable development.
Contact Information
Address:
Sapana Village Development Center
Zone: Narayani District: Chitwan,
Ratnanagar-5, Baghmara
+977-56-580308
+977-56-580356
email: sapanavillage@hotmail.com
info@sapanavillage.org
Website: Visit this community's website