Patrons: Dr. Manik and Ritu Bajracharya (see also below)
The ECDC, founded in 2005 by Pushpa Basnet (named CNN Hero 2012), is a residential home/kindergarten for the children of different ages who are forced to grow up behind the prison walls because they are born to the parents who have been jailed. Children over 5 live year-round at the residential home in Kathmandu. ECDC helps enrolling them in schools and provide routine medical check-ups. For the children under the age of 5, ECDC runs a kindergarten/daycare center. These children are deemed too young to sleep apart from their mothers, but they are permitted to leave the jail each day for daycare, including educational programs, games, and nutritious meals.
ECDC is has been undertaking the Butterfly Home Project which has been building a permanent residential home in Kathmandu which, too, has been damaged extensively during the earthquake. Pushpa and her children had been using a rented house before the earthquake. They survived the devastating earthquake, but their home has been damaged and they can not return to it. The earthquake has forced them to live under the plastic sheets on a near-by field. They are in need of supplies including food, water, medical supplies and shelter.
We have personally known Pushpa for several years. Her dedication, love towards the troubled children and her tireless works to strengthen the rights of children living behind bars has made her a successful social worker. But then, at this moment of difficulty, Pushpa and her children need your help.
Please follow the link below to read a CNN report on ECDC after the earthquake: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/29/world/cnnheroes-nepal-update/
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 Pushpa Bansnet and the children under the temporary shelter after the their home was damaged in the earthquake (Photos by: ECDC). |
Children of the ECDC (photo by: ECDC).
About the Patrons: Manik and Ritu Bajracharya, both Nepali citizens, are currently based in Heidelberg, Germany. Manik Bajracharya works in a research project on the pre-modern documents of Nepal at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Ritu Bajracharya works at the Kindertagesstätte Studierendenwerk Heidelberg. She was a classmate of Pushpa Basnet while they were students at the Early Childhood Education Centre. They have been good friends ever since.