Project3
Narrative Report on PROJECT
1. Basic data
1.1. Name of the organization
(Name)
(Address)
(Town)
(Country) Prisoners’ Assistance Mission (PAM)
572/45 Ram Mandir Marga, Battis Putali, ,
Kathmandu
Nepal
1.2. Representative/contact person
(Name)
(Email)
(Telephone) Narayan Kaji Shrestha
prisonchildren90@gmail.com
977 9851086616
2. Brief information
2.1. Reporting period (from dd/mm/yyyy todd/mm/yyyy)
From 01/01/2022 to 30/04/2022
2.2. Funding amount received 2.3. Funding amount spent
Rs. 1,477,172.20
Rs.1,594,548.55
2.4. Brief description/explanatory notes
Changes since the last report, in project staff or the institution in general. Assessment of the general progress of the project
1.PAM children went through the final exam and all of them passed remaining within the 10th position . All the children passed and promoted . and they have started started schooling .
2. Lockdown to protect people from Corona Pandemic remained until the Last week of February . Before that PAM was prepared by buying necessary foods for three months and providing each child with mask and sanitizer. They were also made aware of Corona pandemic and how to protect one. Now almost all the children and staff have two dozes of vaccines.
3. PAM’s long and pending problem is water supply. It is beyond PAM’s control. However, infrastructure for supply is ready. Water is bought so expense in this head is quite high.
4. One Lions club and two families and individuals celebrated their birthdays with PAM children. Foreign visitors also visited PAM and provided judo training this trimester.
3. Narrativereport
3.1. Short description of the situation at the outset of project
What was the initial situation at which the project had started. What challenges should be addressed? What problem solved? Which target groups should be addressed?
PAM started by the Late Ms. Bishnu Kumari Waiba “Parijat” in 1991 to safeguard human rights of prisoners and their children went through quite an upheaval and almost got closed in 2004. 2001 -2004 was bad years for PAM having no leaders or managers and almost no funding. So Women Acting Together for Change (WATCH) was asked to support or help it. WATCH took over the management and gradually started to improve it. WATCH had to rescue 14 children by paying various unpaid loans of Rs. One million or so. The Nestling Home was not finished. The contractor’s payment was not made. Children were out of control and had no discipline. They had also learnt bad habits. WATCH had to get initial support from friends and families. Then GLS Foundation came to rescue and started supporting the PAM which is still continuing. The Nestling Home owned 3 and one half of ropani of land which was barren. There was one well for water which dried up very soon. Good students had been taken by other homes which were started by PAM’s previous staff. They started similar named organization like PA Nepal, Parijat Home, etc. to take the donors also with them. WATCH is slowly empowering and training PAM Board to take over the PAM. It has plan to handover by next five years to PAM’s own Board. It has some achievements like disciplined children, preparation of Judo Champions of Nepal. Prison children are being recruited by the police and armed police and there is demand also from the army. There are fruit trees and vegetable growing, good relationships with school and communities. Some others need to be improved water supply, landscaping, good, responsible and functioning Board, trained staff, etc. Judo training, gym exercise, physical exercise, small public library are operational, however, during the lockdown children from outside were not allowed in.
27 prisoners’ children, three staff’s children and three staffs are staying at the Nestling Home. PAM staffs are stable now. One full time agriculture staff and part time staff for website and social media operation, library and judo are hired. Executive Director is taking more responsibilities and counselor is providing counseling virtually and keeping financial record. Two training were provided to the new Board Members. They have started showing interests. They have been asked to review, revise or rewrite the vision. Mission and strategic plan.
3.2. Objectives, activities
Please describe all activities that were executed, including the content, the number of people that have been reached and the location of the activity. Were you able to implement all project activities as planned? What were the main objectives in the reporting period? What activities have been scheduled? What activities have been executed? With which impact? Please report using clear figures.
A. Goal and Objectives
The goal of this phase of program is to consolidate achievements, minimize or mitigate visible weaknesses and let PAM function smoothly, transparently, with good governance and in participatory and accountable way.
The above goal will be achieved with the following objectives fulfilled:
A. Continue supporting 30-35 prisoners’ children for quality education, healthy living, and with holistic development.
B. Develop independent system of management by having qualified and trained staff, and selecting/electing committed Board with responsibilities and accountability.
C. Develop PAM as a community hub or as a service centre for the communities and make income by supplying agriculture related services..
Activities:
To achieve the objective “a” the following activities are done:
A1. A new toilet has been constructed on the roof where the kitchen is built. Nutritious food including super flourin the mornings with tea, regular meat and eggs, green vegetables, legumes, etc. are regularly served. Children have snacks and tea in the aternoon. Fifteen children from communities have started joining judo training at PAM. They are also provided with tea snacks and super flour for nutrition. Five families from outside and lions club came to celebrate birthdays and spend time with children. They usually come with some food. Satya Bhama feeds the children in the month of Baishakh every year which she did. AnG Kaji Sherpa provided lunch and dinner to the children of PAM one day. Every Saturday children get to have their choice of snacks. A visitor came from Japan and he gave copy and pencils to PAM’s children. All children under 15 are vaccinated against typhoid. And all children were Vaccinated with a second dose of PFIZER corona vaccine. All children under 15 years of age are fed calcium for one month. A nursery is built in which different varieties of vegetables seedlings are grown for vegetable . At this time different gourds, Pumpkin, Cucumber, Letils have been planted in the fields. But not much has changed because of the water problem. A plastic tunnel has been set up to cultivate vegetables. The kitchen, dining and small store are moved to the roof-top after some construction. It was hoped that the rooms thus evacuated will be used for other purposes. Right now in one room gym is set up and another is used for the library. The previous library is used for chicken raising. Because neighbours were not happy with our chickens in the roof-top.
In january and February PAM children joined in person classes with safety measures. But when corona pandemic started increasing school started virtual classes. PAM has laptops, smart mobiles (personal), internet facilities to facilitate virtual classes.
One child who completed 12th grade has moved with her siblings and started schooling and PAM is supporting her. Two new children have joined PAM. There is also a plan to recruit some more children.
A2. Arrange Physical, Social and Mental Development Activities for holistic development of the children
Regular use of gym, morning exercises; evening judo training, etc. are done for physical well-being. The children of the community regularly come to for judo, gym, and to use Library.
Five children went for three day training for sports teacher. Subin and Prabin went to Bardibas for a 15 day training of the National Cadet Corps Service. Three players from The Everest Judo Club Solu came to PAM for Judo training for 45 days and has taken Judo training. All of them have Black Belts. Two Judo teachers (Pauline Astruc and Sylvain Roque) from France came and taught Judo for a week in PAM.
Inviting community children for judo, gym, and using library were not allowed because of corona. But now 15 children are taking training regularly. Regular publication of wall magazines (one in January and one in Nepali New Year), regular library use, computer and internet use are available for mental development. The Counselor and House Mother are providing timely counseling to the children. Every Friday children and the staff have joint meetings run by the children where they make decisions about needs, plan activities for the week, etc.
B1. It was planned to initiate process of changes in the charter to suite the present situation and organize General Assembly with new membership to bring in committed and responsible Board Members with specific responsibilities assigned to each one of them. There was also plan to provide the Board training on the board responsibilities and management. There was also plan to provide cascade training to the staff on children’s rights, home management, cooking, cleanliness and hygiene, and agricultural skills. All these have not taken place because of Corona.
AS Per the plan to convene a general assembly with new members,the general assembly has been concluded on March-3-2022. A new board has been formed.The new board has two meetings and two Trainings completed. The Board will have regular meeting on the first Saturday of the month. The Traeasurer has started taking interest in the account, Soon the members will be assigned some tasks and responsibilities.
C1. The area was originally an agricultural area. The original people (Tamangs) do some agricultural activities but in a very small scale because they do not have that much land left with them. After town planning there are houses all over with a little land available for agriculture. So there is need for developing organic agricultural activities which are possible in the roof top, flower pots or small patches of land. PAM plans to demonstrate some of these in its premises and provide training to those interested and supply seeds, seedlings, mushrooms, one-month old chickens and quail, etc. Bee keeping is also a possibility. PAM will also demonstrate and train in some agr, technologies like plastic mulching, green liquid manure, soil preparation, fruits planting and care, chicken and quai raising, mushroom raising, etc. There is also a plan to visit households to do need assessment.
List of planned and executed activities
Please list all planned activities for the reporting period
PAM has mostly regular activities. Every day the staff meets and decides on who does what. Every week on Friday, the staff and children have the meetings and they review the previous week’s activities and make decisions about the coming week. As needed the management meets and reviews the progress and decides what to do in the coming months but they are mostly regular activities. Please list all activities that have been executed in the reporting period.
The activities are discussed above.
3.3. Target Group
Which target groups were reached in what number / to what extent with the project activities? How did people come to the project and / or how were they selected and involved?
Target groups for the project is prisoners’ children either languishing at the prison cell with their parents or becoming street children because of lack of support from the family members or neighbors. No child is added or has left PAM this trimester. Usually PAM gets request from prisons or the District Child Welfare Centers for supporting the prisoners’ children. There is very tough competition to have children in the orphanages. They just want the children but there is no vision on what kind of children they want to produce. At least, PAM has that vision. So it is keeping its limit. Right now there are 26 prisoners’ children, and one staff’s child. One of the staff’s husbands is in prison in India and one of the staff’s husband is prison in Nepal. So their two children each also qualify as the prisoners’ children.
3.4. Results
What has changed / improved for the target group? What new possibilities/capacities have been created?
1. All three children who passed Secondary Education Exam have joined 11th grade. And three children who were in the 11th grade also passed their exams and joined the 12th grade.
2. The agricultural activities are done a little more systematically with participation of the children. There are more vegetables in the field. Fruit trees like Avocado, grapes, pomegranate have started giving fruits. Dragon fruit is growing well and may start fruiting this year.
3. Library is run regularly and children have started using it. Thus, reading habit is formed
4. Children are practicing judo, gym, exercises, etc. They are continuing their education and supporting agricultural activities.
5. Three of PAM children who have joined Nepal Police as Judo players and one of them Manita may be selected as a wild card to be selected by the Olympic to participate. Two children have joined the Nepal Armed Police to be the judo player there. One of them is from the community. One child has been admitted to the graduate course. He will start working part time with PAM.
3.5. Problems encountered and Solutions
List and explain briefly problems faced during the project implementation in that period and how they affected the project in terms of results or period of implementation. Have external circumstances changed?
In case the problem was solved during the same period, please indicate the solution as well – if not indicate problem-solving strategies. Add changes you would like make in the implementation process of the project regarding long-term sustainability.
1. Being in the Municipality, PAM has to face various problems on the land use. PAM is considering building a judo hall and some structures so that it can rent them and get some income. While building the Judo hall it has to leave 10 ft or three meters all around. With newly acquired land it is possible to build the Judo Hall but there are problems for building structures to rent. In the design of Judo Hall there is possibility to use the second floor as offices or accommodations.
2. Water supply is a perennial problem at PAM. One supply source provides two hours a week, which is being used for drinking water. Water from well is not suitable for cooking or drinking so being used mostly for irrigation and washing clothes. 20000 liter underground water tank is ready but no water supply. This trimester water is bought from the tanker and used for washing and toilets. Because of water problem, agriculture work could not be done properly. Some alternative has to be made for the water supply because it is the problem faced in Kathmandu valley all over.
3. PAM has to allow the children to get the jobs outside because of which PAM is losing best players so it will have detrimental effect on Judo games and PAM’s achievements in Judo.
4. Story from the target group
Is there something special, that you could tell us from the project? Please add a little story, a quote or an interview from a beneficiary that we can share with the donors. Please add the full name, age and occupation of the person, as well as a picture.
Disciplined and Responsible PAM Children
The camaraderie developed during the earthquake is still working. They take care of each other. They also do a lot of activities at the Nestling Home as well as in the field. Some of the PAM activities are attached herewith in the photos;
4.1. Project documentation (pictures)
Please add pictures of the activities that we can use for our public relations. We need the following information with each picture:
What does it show?
Who are the people (full names, ages, occupation)
Do we have their agreement to publish the picture?
Where and when was the picture taken?
Who took the picture?
This picture was taken during Children enjoying food supplied in the birthday celebration.
PAM players playing judo for black belt exam.
PAM children are preparing the food for farewell to the Everest Club Judokas.
PAM’s board vice president discussing with PAM’s children.
AGM program on 3rd- March -2022
PAM children showing placards and playing judo for peace.
Annex: Financial Report for the same reporting period.
For the year 2022, the approved budget is Rs. 4,475,355.65. During this trimester PAM received Rs. 1,477,172.20 as the first installment. There was also a deficit of Rs. -60,318.12 from the last year. Deducting the deficit there is Rs. 1,416,854.08 available. Until now in this trimester Rs. 1,594,548.53 is spent in various heads. This is 33.39% of the allocated budget for the year. This is a little more than 33.33% to be spent. This is the first time such deficit is seen in the first Trimester. That means there will be budget deficit this year and PAM has to adjust it. Because many expenses like school fees, dresses, study tour, etc. are not done. There is a little bit higher expense in the food items: Rs. 571,149.03 which is 42.93% of the allocated budget because food items are bought for one more month. Expense on the income generation is high because expenses for chicken raising is high because of higher prices of chicks as well as feed. Expenses of seed, seedlings, and materials are almost finished because of expenses on plastic tunnel, plastics for mulching, drip irrigation equipments etc. Salary/benefits and office expenses are also within the budget. Expenses for Non-Professional expenses is high with 38.16%. It is mainly high expenses in water, electricity and transportation. Transportation is high because of high fuel process and use of official vehicle rather than public vehicle for transport the children. Over all the budget is balanced or a little bit higher than expected. But this is always the case in budgeting.