wfn.org | LWI 2009-049 FEATURE: Free from Bonded Labor

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

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>FEATURE: Free from Bonded Labor
>LWF Nepal Program Marks 25 Years of Service 

KATHMANDU, Nepal/GENEVA, 26 August 2009 (LWI) – Raghu Ram
Mahar was born into slavery. 

The eldest son of 75 year-old Hajari Ram Mahar, of Nagarjun in
Baitadi district, far-west Nepal, Raghu inherited his father's
status, but not his submissive nature. 

Today he is a free man, thanks to his own determination and the
work of a community-based organization (CBO) supported by the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Nepal.

The elder Mahar was a Haliya or bonded farm laborer, tied to the
land of his master. He borrowed 7,000 Nepali rupees many years
ago. This debt was sold to others, and he borrowed more, such
that when his working days ended, he still owed money to his
master.

Raghu automatically became a Haliya because his father was one,
and consequently, a slave to Hajari's owner. Quarrels between
owners caused more problems for father and son. They were treated
very badly.

However, Raghu decided to fight against this slavery through
membership in the Haliya Mukti Samaj group, which advocates for
Haliyas' rights. Discovering that it was not just his own freedom
that was at stake, he joined others in local and national
campaigns to change things. 

Eventually, Raghu saw the government free his community in
2008.

>Right to Freedom

With his father's support and hopes of a better future for his
own son, Raghu still fights for his community. No longer willing
to remain poor, oppressed and marginalized, he joined a legal
education course sponsored by the LWF Department for World
Service (DWS) program in Nepal. Today, he teaches others about
their right to freedom.

As DWS Nepal marks 25 years of service in the South Asian
country on 26 August (today), the LWF representative there Mr
Marceline P. Rozario says CBOs such as Haliya Mukti Samaj are
celebrating alongside because of the many positive changes
supported by the organization. He pays tribute to members of such
groups and various donors "for their meaningful and spontaneous
participation" in the program's work. 

"At this juncture, when we look back, we clearly see some of the
remarkable achievements that our organization has made over the
years which include abolition of the bonded labor system, women
emancipation, reduced caste-based discrimination, and emergence
of self-governed institutions of the poor and oppressed," notes
Rozario.

One of DWS Nepal's notable achievements is the close involvement
in resettling more than 100,000 refugees from Bhutan since 1991,
and caring for thousands of new arrivals from Tibet since 2005. 

The LWF program currently works closely with 25 CBOs and nine
federations comprising the poor, marginalized and vulnerable
groups in the remote areas of Nepal. It has played a major role
in many critical development and justice efforts in the country,
guided by a rights-based approach that emphasizes empowerment of
individuals and communities so that they can gain a sense of
ownership of their grassroots organizations and work toward
sustaining them. 

As part of the silver jubilee celebration, volunteers from DWS
Nepal’s various networks had planted more than 20,000 tree
saplings by mid-2009. 

>Strengthening Civil Society

LWF/DWS director Rev. Eberhard Hitzler underscores the
organization's solidarity with the Nepali people "through some
very turbulent, and at times revolutionary periods," and its
vital contribution to building democratic institutions of
governance. "We are convinced that a vigorous civil society has a
vital continuing role to play to consolidate this democratic
progress, by empowering Nepali communities to realize their
rights and achieve a higher quality of life," he writes in a
congratulatory letter to the program's staff on the jubilee
anniversary.

Hitzler praises DWS Nepal for being "on the cutting edge of
development thinking and practice over the years," including best
practice examples in the region and globally. He however
encourages the staff to see the silver jubilee as an opportunity
to take the next steps of building the local capacity with the
goal to localize the LWF program, which is part of the DWS global
strategy. 

"We encourage you to find ways to further develop your Nepali
identity and a local governance structure, as a means to make LWF
Nepal even more relevant and effective in its work," adds the DWS
director. 

Rozario points out that despite the significant efforts over the
last 25 years, the campaign for rehabilitation and land rights
for Haliyas and other initiatives continue. Nepal, he adds,
remains one of the world’s poorest countries, where hunger,
malnutrition, discrimination, human rights violations, culture of
impunity, and widening gap between the rich and poor continue
unabated. 

DWS Nepal is one of the field programs carrying out LWF's
humanitarian work in 36 countries throughout the world. It
cooperates closely with Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International, the Geneva-based churches’ emergency network, of
which the LWF is a founding member. (797 words)

(Beena Kharel, DWS Nepal communication and documentation
manager, contributed to this article.)

Read more about DWS work at:

http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DWS/DWS-Welcome.html

>*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of 68.5 million. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information
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