Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Shanti Sewa Griha



A few days ago, I had the opportunity to visit Shanti Sewa Griha with one of my deaf students. There are two students in the picture, both in Class 5. The student on the right lives at Shanti Sewa Griha. SSG is a residential and rehabilitation center for Nepalis with disabilities. Most of the patients are lepers or have spinal problems. This student is the only deaf person at SSG.

When I first came to Nepal, I met an older German man who had been in the first class of Fulbrighters to the U.S. in the 1960's. He has been working with this student and SSG (a Nepali-German joint venture) for quite some time, though he lives in Germany now. He warned me a number of times that I should be mentally and emotionally prepared before visiting SSG.

And yet I was not disheartened by what I saw. The author Paul Theroux once described a leper colony in Africa as being one of the most cheerful places he'd ever visited. While I wouldn't call SSG cheerful, it's absolutely amazing what's being done there. Their mission is to become entirely self-sufficient. They have several organic gardens which supply the majority of their food. They have crafts shops, a silversmithing shop, and a furniture shop, all with the mission of leading to sustainability. They also pick up paper waste around Kathmandu and convert it into fuel, which is particularly significant considering the amount of litter, the lack of recycling, and the rate of deforestation for firewood throughout Nepal.

1 comment:

Molly said...

i just saw this! thanks for posting, franz!