….. leaving your home in the village and coming to the big city
….. the dreams you come to the city with
….. after much difficulty, finding a temporary job that pays Rs 100 a day, and
….. having to support a family of 4, 5, 6, or 7 on that Rs 100 day !

For the dozens of families whose children are at the Contact Centre in Kathmandu, it is not difficult to imagine …. because it is their reality. 

Many families leave their homes in the villages of Nepal's mid-hills – in search of better opportunities and livelihoods, to escape the conflict that has beset our country for the past 10 years, or as a result of natural calamities that leave them homeless and hopeless. 

Many of these families find their way to the metropolitan city of Kathmandu.  However, the high cost of living in Kathmandu, dearth of jobs, and particularly scarcity of unskilled jobs, drives these families deeper into penury.

So for these families, educating their children becomes an unnecessary burden – much easier forsaken than pursued. 

"These children then spend their formative childhood years playing in the streets or locked in a room, instead of attending school," says Mrs Bhubaneswori Satyal.  Recognizing the urgent need for these children to attend school, Mrs Satyal initiated the Contact Centre in Kathmandu where such children can receive non-formal education, and thereby prepare themselves for enrollment in a school providing formal education in the valley.

The Contact Centre is a platform that provides non-formal education to disadvantaged children so that they can then enroll in schools that provide "formal" education. The Centre was established in 2001 as one of the programs of Centre for Child Studies and Development (CCSD), a local NGO established in 1986.  CCSD was initiated by Mrs Satyal - a Nepali social worker who has dedicated her life to children's development.

Because of financial and physical constraints, the Contact Centre has a limit of 32 children.  It is not difficult to fill up this number, thus a special procedure is enforced to accept students: parents are interviewed and only children of extremely poor families are accepted into the Centre.  A registration fee of Rs 100 is requested at the start of the school year, but many families are unable to pay even this amount.  For this amount, children receive education, one meal a day (i.e. lunch), books and stationary, and a set of school uniform.  Two classes are provided at the Centre: Class A which is equivalent to Grade 1, and Class B which is similar to a nursery section. 

The Contact Centre has already rehabilitated 28 students since it started its program.  Most recently, in April 2006, 9 students (six girls and three boys) 'graduated' from the Contact Centre and enrolled in the 2nd Grade at Naya Indradhanush High School. Because these children are extremely poor, and their education is not their family's priority, CCSD must continue supporting them through their years of formal education. 

The Contact Centre's current priorities are to continue supporting the non-formal education of the children presently enrolled at the Centre.  The annual budget for the Centre is approximately USD 8,500 per year.

In the future, an endowment fund will be conceived to continue supporting students graduating from the Contact Centre and enrolling in the Naya Indradhanush School.  This is necessary because otherwise the children will not be able to continue their education with their parent's support alone.