Kanda is a remote village under Rapti-13, Chitwan inhabited by around 1150 marginalized and underprivileged “Chepang” communities. The Chepangs are one of Nepal’s most disadvantaged indigenous groups classified under the ‘highly marginalized’ category. The Chepangs of Kanda had very little know-how of any sort being deprived of basic rights. They were in a condition of extreme misery, deprivation, and hunger.

These subaltern people "Chepangs" with semi-nomadic lifestyles were striving for hunger and suffering from extreme poverty whose voice is unheard by the planning commission and state/non-state mechanism. The Chepangs of Kanda don't dream of good food but worry more about filling their belly or feeding their hungry children. They used to rely on forest food for more than 6 months of the year. They heavily depend on wild foods for their subsistence living. It was usual to spend the night with an empty stomach. During March/ April, they even used to satisfy their hunger by eating Rhododendron petals.

 The child mortality rate is high and those who survive, suffer from malnutrition. Students used to come to school not to study but to eat tiffin (Lito made of flour and water semi-solid food, distributed freely by the government), provided by the school.

Basic needs, basic rights, and human rights declaration are a far cry to these people. The suffering of Chepang is heart-rendering but we think that the situation could be changed. We believe that transformation is possible together.

Our Effort:

Considering the issues there, in the first phase, we supported the community with necessities of life including food, clothes, utensils, etc. In the second phase, we started building new houses for each household having perceived that they were in urgent need of proper shelter being forced to live in the house in the wreckage. In their active participation and by using locally available materials, 72 new houses have been built so far. With the introduction of solar lights, now Kanda village is luminous in the dark, which they had been hardly accustomed to before.

Our focus now is to enable the Chepang through training in agriculture, animal husbandry, and other vocational activities so that it would boost their economic condition simultaneously solving the problem of malnutrition and famine and the scarcity of food will be solved sustainably. In the major ambitious project at Kanda, the foundation has built and has been running a well-facilitated free hostel with the provision of proper food, clothes, books, and other stationeries where 125 Chepang children are residing in a friendly atmosphere where they can continue their learning and education without any hindrance.

Laxmi Pratisthan's activities in Kanda are as follows:

1.   Constructed a well-facilitated hostel in Kanda and Kavre and operated the hostel where 125 Chepang Children are residing.

2.    Established and operated a free health clinic.

3.   Distributed seeds of beans and potato tubers and introduced organic farming methods in the village.

4.     Delivered skill development training in the field of masonry and carpentry.

5.     Distributed solar panel sets to all 115 households.

6.     Distributed fruit plants according to topography conditions for self-reliance.

7.     Finished construction of 76 houses for Chepang Families.