Today’s Good People, Good Works will be presented in Nepali and English , with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, (Nepali,) Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Spanish.

Mother Teresa, I always used to meet her and she said, “Continue all your work, don’t stop your work.”

Hallo, enlightened viewers, and welcome to today’s Good People, Good Works. Our program features Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of women’s rights in Nepal. Maiti Nepal was established by a group of caring teachers, journalists and social workers in November 1993.

It provides a warm shelter for women and girls who have been victims of human trafficking, abuse and neglect by their families, and exploitation. Besides pursuing the legal rights of those it helps, Maiti Nepal also provides loving encouragement and support such as teaching basic reading and writing and vocational skills to enable clients to start a bright new life.

Due to the tireless efforts of Maiti Nepal, the issue of human trafficking has received much attention and concern from the public and the Nepali government. In recognition of its outstanding contributions to the protection of girls, the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child was awarded to the group in 2002.

Ms. Anuradha Koirala is the founder and chairperson of the organization. She now discusses the evolution of Maiti Nepal and its efforts to protect women’s rights over the years.

I used to go to Pashupatinath, that is a temple, and I used to see women begging; very healthy women begging with lots of children. And I asked them, “Why are you on the street? Why are you begging? You are so healthy. And the begging time is only three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. What happened to you? Why do you beg?”

They always told me that my husband married another woman or my husband died and then my in-laws kicked me out of the house or my husband ran away with another woman and that is why I’m on the street today.

Learning of the desperate circumstances of these women, Ms. Koirala began to think how she could help them become independent and lead dignified lives.

They were very healthy and I didn’t want them to beg. Everybody has to work and learn to work. So I told them, “If I give you a job, will you work?” And they said, “Of course we will work, but who will give us a job?” Because everywhere in the world when you seek a job, they look for security. “I will support you and you can start small shops on the street that will be independent. You don’t have to work in someone’s house, it will be independent, and I will start small shops.”

It is called “nanglo pasal.” Nanglo pasal means small shops on the street, which during those times cost about 1,000 (rupees). And I was a teacher, I earned only 7,000 rupees, but even then I said I must do something for these women. So I talked to these women for one and a half months and they realized that they wanted to do it and they said “Okay, we want to do it.”

Soon afterwards, Ms. Koirala began her loving and compassionate work and her level of involvement and responsibility grew as time passed.

So eight women came. I said, “You give me one rupee every day so that with that one rupee I can help another sister.” So these women used to pay me one rupee per day. After one month they said, “Oh our children are running from here to there, the cars may run over them, they’re not going to school, they’re not under our control. Please take our daughters.” I said, “Okay.” And I said, “I’m sure I can do it; I think I will do it.” So I started a small NGO (non-governmental organization).

And then in one house I gave training to women for sewing and cutting and in one house I said, “I will keep your children.” So, then with eight shops on the road, it was so expensive: house rent, food, medical care, and education. It was very difficult. Whatever I had, I sold everything.

The exceptionally challenging conditions lasted for a period of time until a miracle happened one day.

One Japanese person who was working in UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) heard about me and came and he said, “You are doing fantastic work. I will write a proposal for you and then maybe UNICEF will support you.” So he wrote a proposal for us and then UNICEF supported us.

If your husband batters you, if you are sold, or if you are trafficked, or abused, the ultimate place for girls to come back is the mother’s home. Right? So Maiti means “mother’s home.” And slowly I got some helpers and then there were four or five, and now 299 people are working with us.

I’m the chairperson and founder, there is a director, there is a senior finance officer, three finance account officers, and then we have shelter in- charge We have five lawyers. Then we have nurses; we have doctors. It’s not only here, it’s all over Nepal.

When we return, Ms. Koirala will continue to talk about Maiti Nepal’s noble work of protecting women’s rights. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

In 1998, Prince Charles visited us. Prince Charles did a lot for us because we were also known around the world, that was one part. The other part was he sold his personal paintings and he supported our girls, and with that money we bought this piece of land.

Welcome back to Good People, Good Works here on Supreme Master Television. As part of its mission, Maiti Nepal operates three Rehabilitation Homes, three Prevention Homes, and eight Transit Homes. The Rehabilitation Homes provide temporary shelter to lost or abandoned children and survivors of trafficking and domestic violence. Residents are provided with help to reintegrate into society.

So we ask them, “What training do you want to take?” We are giving them optional training like gardening, baking, housekeeping, and other work in the hotel. So Annapurna Hotel is helping us; they’re giving our girls lots of training and they’re giving them jobs also. There are beauty parlors where girls are doing very well. The girls are doing very well in carpentry and welding.

At the Prevention Homes girls who are at risk of being trafficked are housed for four to six months and taught income generating and community mobilization skills as well as given leadership training. The Transit Homes are located in India-Nepal border towns and shelter those who were rescued from being trafficked, with nearly 9,000 women and children having been saved by Maiti Nepal between 1993 and 2006.

There is a force which is pushing me to work; I have to work, I have to do; it is keeping me going on. So I started with two rooms with no money. If there was no God, I don’t think my dream would have been fulfilled to help so many children.

The pain, the sorrow I see in the girls, the suffering which I see in the children keeps me going on. The primary work of ours is awareness, prevention, then we are doing rescue, then we are doing legal work, then we are doing repatriation, then we are doing reintegration, then we are doing different job trainings, and we are doing job placements.

Maiti Nepal’s tremendous accomplishments have earned the Nepali government’s recognition and strong support.

We have been able to change a lot. For example, people never spoke in the Parliament about this issue. Now since 1990 they have been speaking about this issue in the Parliament. Every party has at least four lines in their mandate about this issue. Political officers, ministers, they listen to us.

This year they said “Okay.” Nobody has done this in the world (before), the government of Nepal has announced that the 5th of September is Anti-trafficking Day. So that is also an achievement to us.

Today, Maiti Nepal is working hard to inform the public concerning trafficking and has set up anti-trafficking surveillance networks in four Nepali districts bordering India.

We have 26 official borders between India and Nepal, and Indians and Nepalis needs no passport to come and go. But at these borders, these are official borders, there is police, immigration, everything is there. But there were no girls to check who goes and who comes. In the whole world, we are the only one who put girls at the border.

Four girls at the border, together with the police to check every girl whom they doubt because these girls have more experience than you and me, because they went through the same border. So they stop the suspected ones and they ask questions. So after thinking that this girl is going to be trafficked, we hand the girl over to the police and the police make an inquiry.

Ms. Koirala has put together innovative public awareness campaigns regarding trafficking.

In the evening we gather in a place, we have a musical band and sing famous Nepali songs and we call people and they come to listen to the music. Then we give the message of what is trafficking, why people are trafficked, who traffics them, and what are the consequences of trafficking. So we tell them that, so that is why now people are accepting.

You have to change your attitude towards this issue. First, you have to love this issue, you have to be passionate about this issue, then you will know what happens, you know? You have to take each girl as your own daughter, as your own child. So that is why we have to give lots of training to police to be sensitive about this issue.

Ms. Koirala and Maiti Nepal also encourage shelter residents to adopt a plant-based diet and follow a healthy and natural lifestyle.

I think to be vegetarian is to be very healthy. Meat is harmful for your health, everybody knows that. Maiti Nepal has lots of farms where we are trying to grow now all organic vegetables, especially for those HIV positive, because we have a hospice.

So I am trying to make them also avoid meat. And now it is a very good reason; there is bird flu in this country. I have got here in this place 575 children and girls and in the hospice I have 40, so they all have been vegetarians for one and half months together with me.

We would like to convey our sincere appreciation to Ms. Anuradha Koirala and Maiti Nepal for helping so many vulnerable women and girls lead dignified and independent lives. May your benevolent work always have the abundant blessings of Heaven.

For more details on Maiti Nepal please visit www.MaitiNepal.org

Thank you for joining us for today’s Good People, Good Works. Next is The World Around Us, after Noteworthy News. May all we always seek to help others in need.

Residents of the town of Richelieu in Quebec, Canada have experienced first-hand the environmental devastation caused by the operation of a nearby pig farm.

So the river, every time it rains the river changes its color completely. At the bottom of the river, there is this slime, slimy stuff at the bottom of river that makes it absolutely disgusting.

On Wednesday, April 7, hear more about “The Devastating Effects of a Pig Factory Farm” on Planet Earth: Our Loving Home.