US girl gives Nepali children a childhood

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 Source: http://myrepublica.com/portal/...   BIKASH SANGRAULA KATHMANDU, Dec 8: When Maggie Doyne, 23, boarded a plane at Newark Airport, New Jersey, and set off to see the world in 2005, she had no inkling that her trips through Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and India would eventually take her to a country she had never heard of. The gap year, that she took after high school hoping to become fully committed to college, built a different kind of commitment in her to a different purpose: giving a childhood to the neediest children of Nepal. Today, Maggie runs the Kopila Valley Children´s Home in Surkhet that she built on a piece of land bought with $5,000 that she saved babysitting during high school. The home today shelters 28 children and supports education of 60 additional children, apart from assisting in the placement of over 700 orphans in different households and shelters. The Blinknow Foundation that Maggie established also facilitates life-changing surgeries for children and improves schools in remote areas of Nepal. Maggie spends eight to ten months a year taking care of the children in Surkhet. She is aided by seven staff she has chosen with utmost care to make sure that the staff are loving people. A chance visit Born in Moorestown, NJ, as the second among three daughters of her parents, Maggie was a typical New Jersey high school girl. She says she had never planned to end up doing what she is doing today. "I never wanted to do anything like this," Maggie told Republica. "I had always planned to further my studies." But a chance meeting with a 16-year-old Nepali girl in Rishikesh, India, and a visit to Nepal with her, made Maggie radically alter her plans. The 16-year-old had fled Nepal to escape the ravages of armed conflict and was returning home after eight years. During the Nepal visit that included a two-day trek to the girl´s village, Maggie saw with horrified eyes how the war had taken away everything, including hope, from the neediest members of the society: children. "Meeting the children and people of Nepal led me on a detour," Maggie said. "I was astounded by the poverty, and by the number of children who had lost parents. I got this idea that I could build a home for them and put in school the children who didn´t have a chance to study." During her next trip to New Jersey, Maggie went around showing people pictures of needy Nepali children. She told people about the conditions in which those children were living in Nepal and that for very little money people could bring about huge changes in the children´s living conditions. "My community back in NJ really supported the idea and everyone pitched in to help, especially schools and community groups," she said. Though her parents supported her, she was aware that they weren´t totally comfortable with her idea. "I don´t think they liked the thought of me being so far away and I think they were worried about my safety. But now they realize that I´m fine and are proud of the work I do," she added. $ 100,000 award On June 4, 2009, Maggie won $100,000 at the DoSomething.org awards for being an outstanding world-changer under the age of 25. With the fund, Maggie has expanded Kopila to a three-storied home. The home does not take children who have parents or loving caretakers. "There are too many other children who don´t have anyone to look after them," said Maggie who only takes children from very poor and desperate background with no relatives to care for them. Kopila gets about five to 10 requests every day from parents wishing to enroll their children. "It´s sad to have to say ´no´ all the time. I try to help families who are poor by putting their children in good schools and helping them with their school fees, supplies and uniforms," she added. Easier said than done Maggie isn´t the typical young dreamer who has mystified people with her compassionate venture. She is too engaged in the day-to-day task of personally taking care of children. The caretaking can sometimes be ugly. Last week, Maggie received a call from a security guard in Surkhet Hospital. She was informed that an epileptic boy, Buday Kumar Giri, had been admitted to the hospital once again. Recently orphaned, Giri was living on the streets in Surkhet, suffering from seizures and harming himself physically during his fits. This was the third time police had brought him to the hospital after finding him living like a mangy street dog on the streets, with no food, no clothes, and no sense of his surroundings. The visits to the hospital hadn´t done him good either, and the hospital was in no mood to keep him for long. For six months now, Maggie has been looking for the boy by providing him food, clothes, blankets and arranging a woman to give him medicine. But Giri doesn´t stay in one place and keeps on running away from the woman. Maggie has tried her best to make sure that Giri gets better. Once, while taking him to a doctor on her motorbike, she ended up having his nasal discharge and urine all over her. At other times, she has helplessly watched him suffer a seizure. "There is nothing you can do during a seizure so you just sit there and watch, feeling helpless and waiting for it to pass," said Maggie who has personally cleaned feces and urine off Giri´s body. Maggie has tried reaching out to every organization in Nepal, only to find that Giri is too old for orphanages and too young for Mother Teresa´s Home for the dying and destitute. "There are some days when I would rather not be here. There are some days when I would rather be cramming for an exam in the library or with my friends from home or working in a grocery store or doing something else. The world can be a very, very sad place with lots of suffering and there are days when I would rather just look the other way," she said. Fortunately, last Thursday Maggie found Mangali, a woman who has agreed to take care of Giri during her trip to the United States that she is planning to start this week. But she is yet to find a permanent caretaker for the boy. Rewards and responsibilities "Hearing the children sing and watch them dance, the smiles on their faces, the bonds they have with each other! It´s really special," said Maggie, when asked about what keeps her going. "We created our own family and we are all really happy to be here. I really stress that this is a children´s HOME!!! Not an orphanage, not a facility, not a hostel!" Despite suffering through days when she would rather just look away, Maggie plans to remain in Surkhet and continue to enroll children into schools. Maggie believes that her generation has a reputation of "ignorance and selfishness" to fight against. She thinks that if everyone in her generation knew what the problems are, what the issues are, all of them would choose to live a little differently.   Published on 2009-12-08 06:00:20 Last edited: 09-Dec-09 11:36 AM

ne0 · Dec 9, 2009 11:33 AM · 25,519 views

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All people around the world are getting oppertunity to do something on our Land but why not we? Are we not capable of it? Last edited: 09-Dec-09 11:52 AM

Ganjadi · Dec 9, 2009 11:52 AM

Beacause we all  afraid to do struggle in our own land... we dont have such strength to so small thing we always look for Big thing .... We just think ..dont do anything.. knws everything except the thing which We need to  do.. Always wait for other to start.. Never start ourself... THink much about other rather than belive ourself....    

chiya_tea · Dec 9, 2009 11:56 AM

Really nice. Money is not an option, we can go an volunteer for different NGOs and provide our expertise we learned here. If we don't do it now, we shall regret it forever. Deep down inside, a voice of dissapointment will always hunt. If others can do it to help our country, why can't we; right?? We definately can make a difference. Thanks a lot ne0 for sharing.

Poon-Hill · Dec 9, 2009 1:17 PM

Lincoln ministry helps girls from Nepal sex trade Story Discussion By COLLEEN KENNEY / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, October 31, 2009 3:10 pm | 1 Comment Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Paul Yates of Lincoln, who along with his wife Kasey came up with the One Girl prayer initiative to fight sex trafficking in Nepal and India, poses with some of the girls living at Princess Home in Kathmandu, Nepal. Some of the young women and girls in the photo have been rescued from the sex trade. (Courtesy photo) Related Stories Related: More on the One Girl initiative Related Links Related: Video: Ministry helps sex slaves one girl at a time --> One girl from Nepal was sold for sex. She was 14 the morning she awoke in a brothel. She wore short dresses. She slept with dozens of men a day. If she said no to sex, this one girl would be shocked with an electric current. Or locked in a container all night. This one girl lived in India for nine years in a brothel. Her name is Asha. Her husband took her to India on their honeymoon, then to a movie, then to a brothel. He sold Asha for 90,000 rupees. That's about $1,500. She heard about the Lord. She prayed. She shouted from the rooftop. But who would hear the prayer of just one girl? The brothel rose high above Mumbai. She and other girls used to stand on the roof sometimes, searching for a policeman to walk by. One day, they saw him. They threw water from a bucket onto him. Lucky for them, he was not one of the policemen who took bribes from the brothel owner. At first he was angry. But then Asha told him her story. He took pity because she was from Nepal and he was, too. He rescued Asha and 25 other girls. She lives in Nepal again, in a place called Princess Home. It's supported by money and prayers from Tiny Hands International, a Christian nonprofit group based in Lincoln. Tiny Hands helps the throwaway people, the orphans and street children, the girls like this one. It can get overwhelming. The sex trade is so large a problem. So Tiny Hands workers remind themselves to remember that it's one girl at a time. Before going to Princess Home, Asha tried to go home. Her dad tried to rape her. She has HIV. Most girls in the brothels do. Many get back-alley abortions, too. When they look too sick, they are thrown to the streets. There's a myth that some men believe over there: If you have sex with a virgin, you will be cured of any sickness. So the younger the girl, the better. Asha works at Princess Home now. She makes money making jewelry. She gets to keep some of it. She and the others who live there make special bracelets with gold stones, to symbolize God's love. The stones are tied down by black cords, to symbolize the dark sex trade. They make one bracelet at a time. One man from Lincoln came up with the concept and told the story of Asha after a visit to Nepal. His name is Paul Yates. He and his wife, Kasey, decided last year he should leave his job as president of a company in Lincoln, cut his salary in half, to work for Tiny Hands. Am I crazy, he asked his wife after feeling called by God. Kasey Yates grew up with a single mom. One Sunday, her family knew they had nothing at home to eat, but while they were at church someone left them bags of groceries. No, she told Paul. You're not crazy. (He'd hoped she'd say yes.) He works for Tiny Hands now as a fundraiser. He visited Princess Home during a trip to Nepal and India last fall. He came up with the idea for the bracelets, which sell for 10 bucks -- about what it costs the Tiny Hands staff in Nepal to intercept one girl at the border. But more than that, the bracelets are supposed to remind the people who buy them to pray for one girl who's either in the brothels or about to cross the border. Paul Yates looks at his bracelet and thinks of Gina, a girl sold at age 7. He decided to name the gold stone for Asha. It's the Asha stone, he says. He named this effort for her, too. One Girl.

Poon-Hill · Dec 9, 2009 1:19 PM

Cheers NeO! Love these kind of topics! Indeed my next trip to Nepal, i am determined to plan a voluntary post for a month, very determined and have already emailed various organisations requesting info and stuff. But i think i'm not as strong as Maggie to set up foundations yet, possibly a little more down the line i sincerely hope. I am truly inspired by her and so much in awe... literally my mouth is hanging off my jaw reading her story! If we all had a bit of Maggie in us all and did our little bit for underpriviledged of our country, then we can start making big differences...it would be wonderful if everyone started planning and following through with voluntarily work when we get back to Nepal, wouldn't it.  

Femme Fatale · Dec 9, 2009 3:43 PM

1. Maggie is NOT very highly educated. Why can't a well educated Nepali do something similar. Have you seen any Nepali do that? 2. Maggie is NOT the richest person. There are lots of rich Nepali in Nepal and elsewhere. Why can't they do it, many can afford it easily? Have you seen any rich Nepali step up? There are many WHYs but not straight forward answers to these complex puzzles. To me personally, I've come to realize that it has nothing to do with how educated they are or how rich the are. It all comes from the culture, religion, value and their nature. Are they better than us? Not exactly. But far more practical and realistic, absolutely.... It's a humble experience when I see Nepali orphans who are adopted by  Americans, living in comfort in the US, I've seen a lot of them. Mind you, these are not rich people, just middle class Americans.Countless people from the West have done something to our country, just like Maggie.Why do these whites (it is always whites though) are willing to help us when we do nothing even when we are rich and very educated? Thank you Maggie. Last edited: 09-Dec-09 06:59 PM

Bob Marley · Dec 9, 2009 4:15 PM

Good points there Bob Marley. I've been inspired by my parents ( who donate money to the church they belong to ) to do some voluntary act. Although I don't have any voluntary activity as a part of my short-term plans, I definitely plan on giving and sharing something in future. Kudos to Maggie for her noble act.

Quagmire · Dec 9, 2009 6:01 PM

Hats off for that Girl.

losforword · Dec 10, 2009 12:50 PM

Agreed Bob Marley! We do not do any such things. Forget about doing anything, we do not even care when our food is cooked by a 10 year old from some village living in a dark corner of our home with no education and working for no money either, we just shout at them and abuse them and think that we are high and mighty....so obviously then how can we see the need in other kids...

Sheetalb · Dec 10, 2009 4:08 PM

Honestly, Nepalese don't have big hearts.They only know how to take but not to give.There are many organizations in Nepal which are opened in the name of helping  the poor and the ones who need the most but  the mony and help never go to the ones who needed the most rather they go into their pockets. About 1-2 months ago I watched  in youtube how Nepalese women are sold in brothels.It made me sick how low  we (Nepalese) can go and sell own's wife, children and relatives.After they rescued from the brothel too, how people treat them back home.Nepal is where today not only because we are not educated but because of our attitude. As long as we don't change our attitude and figure out what is wrong with ourselves we will never solve the problems. I really think Nepalese are less ethical and less moral  than the people from other parts of the world.Learn from these people how to help and be humble.

mta177 · Dec 10, 2009 4:34 PM

truly inspiring..keep it up Maggie, and all the best!!! Here is more about her - http://maggiedoyne.squarespace...

rofl · Dec 10, 2009 8:32 PM

Kudos to you Maggie! Have a great Kissmiss.

Elixir · Dec 11, 2009 11:17 AM

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