Please take a minute to see the joy and power of children and women in rural Nepal learning how to take charge of their safety.
I was deeply moved and inspired when our Nepal Center Director, Shusma Pokhrel, told me, “Irene, we have the chance to teach Kidpower to hundreds of school children who are at very high risk of abuse and who face extreme poverty in rural municipalities. The problem is that the monsoon is coming soon, and the rains will wash out the dirt roads. If we don’t go right away, we won’t be able to reach them.”
“Are you sure this is safe for YOU?” I asked, excited at the potential but worried about her wellbeing.
With wholehearted determination and courage, Shusma announced, “We will MAKE it safe! And these children are in great need. Learning Kidpower will protect them from so much harm.”
In the few short weeks before the monsoon season started, Shusma and her husband, Krishna, traveled countless hours over bumpy dirt roads to teach safety and self-defense skills to over 1,000 students and their teachers in 8 remote parts of her country. Shusma also taught 80 single women who are isolated and face exploitation and abuse.
In one area, they left early, drove four hours, taught for several hours, and then drove home late. When the roads got too difficult, they arranged for a driver. On one steep, muddy hill, their car started to slide backwards. Thankfully, the driver was able to rebalance the car and get them up the hill.
Because a picture is worth 1000 words, I hope you will take one minute to watch this short video showing the confidence and joy of these very vulnerable people as they practice how to take charge of their safety.
According to Krishna Gosai, In-charge, Secondary Level, Jorpati Secondary School, “I have been a teacher for 37 years, and today’s training made me realize for the first time the importance of Safety and Self Defense Skills. Many students are unsafe on their way to and from school. I believe that this training will definitely decrease these incidents. All students need to have access to Kidpower training in an ongoing way.”
Mr. Krishna Gosai
In-charge, Secondary Level
Jorpati Secondary School
Shortly before the monsoon rains started pouring down, Shushma and Krisha traveled 13 hours by road each way to the Kailash Rural Municipality where they taught over 200 adolescent girls in three days.
The Kailash Chairperson was so impressed that he is now seeking public-private partnership funding so, when the monsoon season is over, Shusma and Krishna can train 238 educators from 48 schools in the Kidpower Training of Practitioners program, adapted for their culture. Our goal will be to prepare school staff to use child protection, student management, child safety, and self-defense skills to teach children and youth how to take charge of their safety. These educators will then bring Kidpower training to over 13,000 students in all the government schools in Kailash.
Shusma’s and Krishna’s courage, expertise, and deep commitment are surely furthering Kidpower International’s mission of working together to provide effective and empowering emotional and personal safety education to everyone, everywhere.
Published: July 16, 2024 | Last Updated: July 16, 2024
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.