Although it is difficult to gather reliable data, current UNICEF statistics estimate that as many as 34 per cent of Nepalese children are abandoned by their natural parents each year, and currently around 5,000 children are living / working in the streets of Nepal. For these children their future is bleak, and UNICEF has categorised( based on recorded data) these children into three types:
Street Living: Children who sleep in public spaces without their family. They work, live and sleep in the streets, often lacking any contact with their families. These children are at the highest risk of murder, constant abuse, human trafficking and inhumane treatment.
Street Working: Children who spend most of their time working in the streets and markets of cities, but may or may not return home on a regular basis.
Street Family: Children who live on the streets with their families. Some street children spend so many years on the street that they start families and bring up the next generation on the street as well.
Charu feels that education is the key, during her professional tenure she constantly strived to give each child in her school the gift of hope through education. A recent UNESCO report states that only 7 out of 10 children in Nepal enrolled in grade
Charu Chand Thakur
At Eco Home, the focus is not on fostering or securing an adoption for the children, but more to provide family values, a sense of support, a bright future and pride in being Nepalese.
24 Society