A benefit concert is being held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ghar Sita Mutu - “House with a Heart” – a charity that offers a children’s home, a children’s learning center, a women’s training center, and a family outreach program to those living in extreme poverty in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Ghar Sita Mutu Benefit Concert
The Ghar Sita Mutu Benefit Concert is on Monday, November 14 at the Theatre for the New City. 155 First Ave, NYC. 8 pm – 11:30 pm. Suggested donation at the door is $15. There will be performances by musicians, actors, and comedians, including Anacoustic Mind, Khaled Dajani, Michael Birch, John Grimaldi, Mike Milazzo, Mark Normand, Sharon Jane Smith, Lord Lorax, Cathryn Lynne, and Sagar Bhatt.
Ghar Sita Mutu
While on a trip in Nepal, NYC resident Beverly Bronson found two children, Krishna and Babu, aged five and two, huddled in front of a tin hut after being abandoned by their mother. Beverly tried to help the children find a home, and in doing so, was faced with an opportunity to help others in a very direct, immediate, and positive way.
Beverly Bronson
Nepal is a country struggling with poverty and political instability. The per capita income is just $322, and there is no government safety net for citizens. Few charitable groups operate where so many people are in need. Ghar Sita Mutu was founded as a non-profit, NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) by Beverly Bronson in 2001 to help the women and children of Nepal.
The status of women is low in the society, contributing to frequent abuse and abandonment of wives and children. Few employment opportunity exist for women and childcare is not available; sometimes babies are shut up in a room, left alone for long hours. It is not unusual to see children too young to even care for themselves left in charge of their younger siblings. Children as young as five are indentured.
Countless children live on the streets of the capital Kathmandu, having run away from indentured servitude or been abandoned by parents. Education is not compulsory and only families who can afford to do so send their children to school.
Programs at Ghar Sita Mutu
Children’s Home. Ghar Sita Mutu provides a safe, loving and enriching home for up to 20 children. The children attend a local school with the tuition paid for by sponsors. The home also provides employment for several local people, including a house manager, part-time gardener and watchman.
Children at Ghar Sita Mutu
The Children’s Learning Centre provides daily classes for children whose parents can’t afford to send them to school. Forty children are currently served in the program.
Women’s Training. Free sewing, knitting, felt making, and candle making classes are taught to local women, who in turn are making items that are marketed mainly in the U.S. Many women don’t have time to take the classes because they must earn a living, so a program has been started, where some women are paid to take classes five days per week with a goal of making the women self-sufficient.
Family Outreach Program. Ghar Sita Mutu provides emergency help to families in need, as well as more formal charity programs such as our Goat Project, which provides a goat to a family to raise and breed, helping them to raise their standard of living.
The Story of Baby Abhaya
by Beverly Bronson on Saturday, September 17, 2011
Today Dev Kala, one of our staff members, came rushing into the house saying ‘Mummy Mummy, come quickly. You must help!’ She took me to a small room where there was a two day old baby girl and mother with two older children sleeping on the floor in a tiny room. The mother gave birth in the room and has not seen a doctor. She planned to throw the baby away today and go back to her village.
Baby Abhaya
I have promised help but all she wants to do is throw/give away her baby. I am checking with my lawyer whether or not we can take her into our home. The state orphanage has stopped taking in new children. The baby needs to be seen by a doctor, but the mother refuses to take her to the hospital. Baby was naked, wrapped in a shawl. She has an eye infection and is not eating. Mother is trying to feed the baby cold milk with a spoon out of a cup. I insisted the mother put baby to breast for the colostrum telling her I would not take her if she didn’t. I bought some meat and milk for the mother, and eye medicine and bottle for the baby and promised to return tomorrow.
How can I take more kids when I am struggling to support the ones I have? How can I leave her there to be thrown on the rubbish pile on the mother’s way out of town …
Read Beverly’s account of the days and weeks following the dramatic rescue of Baby Abhaya here.
How you can help
If you would like to help Ghar Sita Mutu in their efforts to enrich the lives of the children and women in Kathmandu, Nepal, please visit the Ghar Sita Mutu website, where you can donate and purchase handmade gifts online.
Also, you are invited to attend Ghar Sita Mutu‘s upcoming events:
Ghar Sita Mutu Benefit Concert on MONDAY, NOV 14 at the Theatre for the New City. 155 First Ave, NYC. 8 pm – 11:30 pm. Suggested donation at the door is $15
Ghar Sita Mutu 10th Anniversary Party. SUNDAY, DEC 18 at Dixon Place. 161A Chrystie St (Between Rivington & Delancy), NYC. 5 pm – 10 pm
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