Raising Awareness

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…………..BACK TO IDP HOMEPAGE……………………..HOW IDP SAVES OUR DAUGHTERS ……………………..THE FUTURE OF RESCUED KAMLARIS

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Much of the community in the districts that send their daughters as Kamlaris appears to accept the culture of enslavement as a sad, but unfortunate “fact of life.” In order to combat this false consciousness, IDP has long used a variety of techniques to increase public awareness of the illegality and evils of the Kamlari system and the need to end it. We declared two large Village Development Committees (VDCs) in the Dang district as “Kamlari Free Zones” in 2007 and we hope by the end of 2009 to be able to declare all of Dang a “Kamlari Free Zone.”

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Public awareness efforts include

•    the placing of hoarding boards and posters in prominent public places in Dang and Bardiya Districts
•    regular weekly FM radio broadcasts devoted to the Kamlari problem
•    press briefings, wall magazines, cultural programs and bus blockades during the Maghi season to prevent new Kamlaris from leaving with hiring agents
•    the production and performance of street dramas (known in Tharu as Kachahari), that dramatically show the anguish of indentured servitude and also provide an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of education.

KachahariKachahari


During the last year, FNC / IDP has staged 35 different Kachahari performances in various places in Dang and Bardiya Districts that have attracted audiences of at least 3,000 people. With funding from the Singapore-based NGO Art Venture, in 2007 and 2008 FNC put on a series of trainings for about 75 former Kamalaris and other members of the community on how to produce and perform Kachahari in 2007 and 2008.