Please Educate Us

Mentally challenged children take their talents to the stage with a plea to support for their education

By THAKUR AMGAI 

A huge mass of audience at the city hall was visibly moved when an eight-year-old child with intellectual disability sang “mero gaun jyamire.”  The audience could not resist the urge to sing and clap in unison, when Deena Gauchan, who could not even stand on her own sang like a gifted child singer.

Along with renowned celebrities, students from Shringeri Primary School and Sisneri High School, both in Lamatar, Shuvatara School and Jeevan Kalyan Kendra (JKK) participated at the show. The show was jointly organized by JKK and Shuvatara School, to raise funds to help the JKK, which provides informal education to special children. It was amazing to see mentally challenged children, surviving amid social stigma, perform at various dance and song sequences just like normal children.

Popular celebrity singers including Yogeshwore Amatya, Nalina Chitrakar, Bimala Rai, Samday Sherpa, Nima Rumba and Nirnaya Shrestha also performed at the show. The hall cheered with liveliness when Yogeshwore Amatya, known for his different style of rock music, sang his popular song “kya bore bhayo.’ Likewise, Samday Sherpa, a comedian, showed his caricatures and incisive sarcasms on Nepali politics.

All the artistes, including the Master of Ceremonies Rita Limbu and Chirag Bangdel performed free of cost at the show.  “We have performed at this show for free, because we love children,” they said.

JKK is a special school for the mentally challenged children. The school was established in 1997. The school has 50 students. The school is running in a grave financial situation. It is supported by only the nominal fees paid by a limited number of parents. Most of the children come from poor financial background and cannot pay their fees. Shuvatara School, which has adopted JKK as its sister school, has been supporting JKK in various ways including financial, technical, moral, by providing teachers and others. The charity show is expected give the school a sigh of relief albeit for a short term.