Wartburg College
Khusboo Rana and Maneesha Gammana Liyanage
Maya Project
Nepal
Nepal has a Hindu social structure of caste systems existing since ancient times. Chisa Pani
Village, due to its rural location, is very much affected by this structure in the present day.
Discriminations based on caste are apparent in both social and individual norms. Maya Project
helps in uniting people from various caste groups in two ways: first, by increasing the attendance of
students in Maya Universe Academy, an existing first free school of Nepal existing in Chisa Pani
from UWC graduates; and secondly, by uniting the parents of these students by forming an active
farmers committee and giving opportunities for them to work together and help each other.
Maya Project aims at increasing student attendance by investing on the root cause, child labor.
The students are required to work in farming for the family to be able to put food on the table. By
mechanizing the farming, the hands of the children become free and can be used in education.
Objectives:
1.
Form Village Agriculture Committee (VAC) in order to create cooperation and
interactions between farmers of different caste group to solve common local problems of
discrimination, poverty and education.
2.
Supply 3 tractors to the VAC to substitute the students’ agricultural labor with the
tractor so that they can go to the school.
3.
Bring the cattle food to the house instead of the children taking the cattle to graze,
allowing the children to go to school.
Plant seeds of Purple Guinea grass which is edible by the cattle and propagate it by
planting its parts.
Teach storage techniques of hay to the farmers so it can be saved as cattle feed.
Collect free cattle feed from far away sources with the help of tractors.
4.
Transport the rice of the farmers to Pokhora and help them communicate with the
buyers (selling shops) there so that they can sell it in better prices.
What is being done?
Students Khusboo and Maneesha will work with Manjil Rana, founding principal of MUA,
to form and organize VACs consisting of parents of the students in Maya Universe Academy of
Chisa Pani Village. They will purchase three Youvraj 2151 tractors that will be rotated among VAC
members with a fixed schedule. They will also purchase sacks of Purple Guinea grass from the
National Agricultural Research Committee which will be planted to supply cattle feed. Experts will
teach the farmers about storing hay, cattle feed management, using the tractors, and more.
Who is doing it?
Those completing the project will be Khusboo Rana of Nepal and Gammana Liyanage
Maneesha Mandakini Premathialke from Sri Lanka, both UWC students now attending Wartburg
College. They will work with Manjil Rana, founding principal of Maya Universe Academy, a
partner organization. Helping with the project will be experts Sushila K.C, an Aquaculturist/
Former NARC worker; Srinanda Premtilake, farmer, hay storage and tractor usage demonstrator;
Karuna Sharma, veterinarian; and Goverdhan Rana, Politician, ecologist.
All the involved parties are south Asian and are a part of the common caste system. They
have been directly affected by discriminations due to caste system. Maneesha for example was not
Mahindra Rolls out nation’s smallest and cheapest tractor, The Economic Times,
http://goaonwheels.com/2010/07/28/mahindra-tractors-launches-yuvraj-215/, July 28,
2010.
1
allowed to have friends from lower caste when she was small. Khusboo was socially pressured to
become a soldier until he went out of the country. Manjil Rana is the founding principal of Maya
Universe Academy, which was opened with the aim at uniting the students irrespective of their
caste group at the small isolated village, Chisa Pani. Maya Project allows the involved parties to
make a silent yet concrete effort to contribute towards peace in the world by uniting people from
various caste groups by incorporating, aiding and motivating them to unite and work together.
Maya Universe Academy (www.mayauniverseacademy.org) has been very much welcomed
by the Chisa Pani villagers, which will support the communal interaction and acceptance of the
project. The villagers donate vegetables, fruits, chickens and goats on a weekly basis for the
teacher volunteers to help them complete their daily meals. The villagers also provide a sleeping
space for some of the teachers. This has attracted many more volunteers from countries like USA,
Norway, Italy, Switzerland, India, and so on who are currently volunteering. The villagers have
been providing two days of labor each month in order to renovate the bamboo-constructed
classrooms that require monthly checkups. 200 students applied for the MUA first year which is a
large number given the fact that Chisa Pani is a small village. For 2012, 500 students applied. The
increased number of applicant shows the acceptance of the school by the villagers.
Sustainability:
Maya Project is entrepreneurial since it invests in capital which aims at not only replacing
manual labor but also increasing production and reaching better markets. Since machines are faster
and more efficient, their addition to the existing manpower will increase the production of
agricultural goods. The goods from the village will be taken to the nearby downtown by using the
tractor in order to reach a better market and sell it for higher price. Farmers in the project will pay
$100 at the end of the year per written agreement. This money will be used to sustain the existing
tractors and buy more machines in the future. Efforts are being made by all involved to get more
investments for the future.
Measures and Assessment
Mechanizing the agriculture will increase attendance of students at MUA. The increase
in agricultural production along with better markets for the goods will also increase the
farmers’ profits and alleviate them from poverty. It will create a sense of brotherhood in the
community due to the experience of team work and corporation irrespective of case system. It
will increase the acceptance of the people belonging to lower caste groups and encourage
them to engage in innovative ideas.
To measure these outcomes, MUA has agreed to share attendance information from
2011 and on. This information can be used to see if student attendance increased because of
this project by comparing before and after. Additionally, information about if the farmers are
able to pay back the loan to gather funds to buy more machines and adding more members
can be used to check if this project has increased the farmers’ economy. The detailed schedule
and plan proposed by each group can help assess equality, teamwork and innovativeness of
the farmers. Comments box will be kept on MUA for the villagers to share their views about
V.A.C. to assess the reaction of the farmers. Reflection days will also be conducted to allow
them to talk to the organizing committee of V.A.C. Finally the profit made by the farmers will
be calculated by making a survey about their incomes in the past and the present.
Over the long term, the quantity and quality of the machines VAC has in the future can
be used to assess its sustainability. The number of VAC members in the future can be used to
assess the acceptability of the project by the local community. If more funds are collected to
be invested in the future, it can be used to assess its entrepreneur qualities.
The real success of the project however is a non-tangible content. It will be considered
successful when the children and villagers of Chisa Pani realize the beauty of existing together and
break the boundaries of Caste.