BISHNU |
Name |
BISHNU
PRASAD PAUDEL |
| Gender |
Male |
| Country |
Nepal |
| Age |
15
years |
| Countries
Marched In |
Philippines,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh,
Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Germany,
Switzerland |
| Start
& End Dates |
Jan
17 to June 2 |
| Time
On March |
19
weeks |
| Languages |
English,
Nepali, Hindi |
| Brief
Description |
Former
street child |
| Biography |
| N/A |
| Bishnu
Poudel, 15, hails from a villAge in Sindhuplachowk
district, about 150 kms west of the Nepalese
capital, Kathmandu. His father died when he
was only a year old and he was taken to his
maternal uncle's home where his mother left
him after eloping with another man. Bishnu
is the son of his father's second wife; he
also has two elder step-brothers from his
step-mother, both of whom stay in Kathmandu.
When Bishnu was ten years old, he was taken
to work as a domestic servant by a villAger
in the Terai plains near the Indo-Nepal border.
However, after a time lapse of three years,
his step-brothers came to know of his whereabouts
and he was brought to Kathmandu and admitted
in school. Bishnu says that his step-brothers
would ask him to both study and work at the
same time and he thus ran away and took to
the streets. It was during his sojourn in
the streets that he came to hear about CWIN
(Child Workers of Nepal - an NGO who works
amongst children) and visited them. He was
admitted in the CWIN transit home for street
and migrant working children and began to
undergo literacy classes. He proved to be
a smart boy and began to be actively involved
in the child rights forum and also took a
leading role in the education programs and
discussions on child rights. Though he was
very distraught when he initially came to
CWIN, he is now a healthy young boy who is
fully aware of his rights and is currently
wholeheartedly taking part in the Global March
Against Child Labour. |
|
