Jumla Special Children Project (JSCP) is a partnership project of Karnali Secondary School and Shangrila Development Association (SDA). Overseen by the Shangrila Association under the support of the Govinda Association, SDA officially took over JSCP from 2016.
Hari Bahadur BudhThapa from Chandanath ward no 3, Jumla has been working as the coordinator for Jumla Special Child Project since 2016. And according to him, Shangrila Orphanage Home (SOH) had initiated JSCP in 2006.
There was an outreach program in Agriculture, Education, Health in four different villages. During that time, the office for the outreach program was nearby a poorly run hostel for hard of hearing students. The condition of those students in the hostel was fragile. A Chairperson who used to work in the hostel would go to the SOH office and make multiple requests to help the hostel. Then Govinda Association felt the need to support the hostel.
Before SDA, Shangrila Association was there with the support of Govinda from 2006 to 2015. Later, Govinda withdrew its hand in running JSCP, and, since then, the project has been running through SDA.
SDA work in Jumla entails supporting hard of hearing students. While the government of Nepal has been providing support for the lodging and food of students, SDA takes care of the rest. SDA supports the students under JSCP in seven areas: mid-day meals, stationery items, uniforms, excursions, sports, sanitation and health.
When the coordinator first started working for the JSCP, he had to distribute the supplies of 14 students among 25 students, which was an arduous task. Then he took the issue to the SDA, which was solved, and all 25 students started receiving support materials and supplies.
Students with disabilities had to share classes with the able-bodied students, which felt punishing to communicate and learn. Then the students with disabilities requested a different classroom. JSCP coordinator subsequently took it to SDA, who understood the situation of the students and arranged separate classes for them.
Starting from 25 students in 2016, JSCP currently has 40 hard of hearing students. And among them, four students are appearing for the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) this year.
Out of the four, one student is from the Humla district, and the three are from the Jumla district who have been studying in Karnali school since Nursery.
According to the project coordinator, the entirety of the Jumla district is familiar with the work of SDA and praises the organization for everything it has been doing. The community around JSCP fears that the project might collapse if SDA stops its support.
On the other hand, the government has failed to send a ‘rahat‘ teacher for an unoccupied position for three years now. Even when the JSCP coordinator goes to the District Administration Office for commendation, they do not coordinate and pivot the concern with irrelevant requisitions. But the JSCP Coordinator is adamant about facing those challenges and ensuring the accomplishment of project objectives.
“The government does not send the budget on time, which makes it difficult for the JSCP to run”, the coordinator expresses his displeasure and adds, “Local authorities do not put effort to help the project. All credits for the successful running of JSCP goes to SDA.”
The four teachers of Science, Mathematics, Social Studies and English are competent in sign language, and it has eased the learning process for hard of hearing students.
For hiring teachers for students with hard of hearing specifically, SDA publishes advertisements. Whoever gets selected from the list of applicants receives sign language training of two to three months before teaching.
Sign language holds great importance, and everyone should try learning it like any other language. “Hari Bahadur BudhThapa further adds, “But there should be a genuine interest to learn sign language or else the attempt would falter.”
The students are happy with the work that SDA has been doing under JSCP and are also grateful to the donors and everyone who comes to visit us. School students under JSCP are content with the place they are staying. They also shared that Maths, Nepali, Computer are their favourite subjects.
The lack of a teacher for translation has been challenging for them. It has been three years since the school has not been able to employ a teacher for translation, for which the political climate could be one of the reasons.
The students wish for a different school for hard of hearing students with skilled and experienced teachers competent in sign language for a better learning experience.
The students under JSCP do not let their disabilities underestimate them. While the students are confident in their abilities, it is unfortunate that they have experienced bullying because of their disabilities.
“There should not be discrimination on any grounds for we all were created equal”, JSCP students further add, “we try and not let the harassment affect us.”
In terms of accessibility, the JSCP students want everyone to have access to sign language. Their desire for normalizing sign language is inspiring to say the least.
Even the interviewer for this blog felt the need to have had learned sign language. There would have been a direct flow of conversation, and the interview would have been much more convenient. It goes on to tell how much we have failed to make our world a disabled-friendly one.
JSCP students wish for the longevity of SDA and hope that it keeps helping many other people with disabilities for years and years to come.