
Let's imagine a Nepal where all the youths are employed ,educated and self prosperous. We are also youths and one way or other we are related with youth. So in the process it is we all being prosperous and educated…
If you want to join this campaign then let us know what you’re doing in your community? For more information Please contact us at info@alternativesnepal.org.np

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"He really wanted to learn, he had that energy," recalls founder of Alternatives, Jiban Baral. Jiban established Alternatives three years ago, as a youth enterprise that would help other young people utilise their own creativity and be able to start small businesses. Jiban and his friends started off from the school level, going around schools in Pokhara, where they are based, and teaching group entrepreneurship skills. A group of kids thought up the idea to publish wall magazines at a small school in Pokhara to help save paper, after Alternatives worked with the kids there.
But Jiban is more focused on helping villages like Taprang, where Alternatives has been working ever since Jiban was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship. He started encouraging small enterprise in the village, so young people wouldn't be compelled to leave for the cities. From repairing old unused computers from offices in the cities to use in Taprang, to helping locals start catering services so the villagers wouldn't have to spend to bring caterers from the cities, Alternatives has helped foster lots of ideas that were already there. 'The first time we came,' says Jiban, 'they couldn't conceptualise what we wanted to do.' But they got locals to be involved and even 75-year-old women are now learning how to use computers for the first time.
But things are hardly smooth at Alternatives. They hardly have aid, because people are not willing to trust them, as all the members are young. There have been hardly any donors who've funded their programs, and they have to raise funds from commitment fees most of the time. Moreover, the centre is still not fully running, as all of the members are part-time or volunteers. Jiban himself also works as a network manager at the western union money transfer. Yet, their scope and objectives remain large.
"Young people are hardly reminded of their value," says Jiban, who was the first Nepali to be invited for the Clinton Global Initiative program in the US to present a paper about youth entrepreneurship this year. Jiban believes that youth are a great resource in Nepal, where 28 per cent of our population falls under that category. "However, our education system hardly gives us practical skills, and people who're educated have to seek for jobs, rather than having the power to create them,' says Jiban.
But the number of innovations that the team has been able to bring out is inspiring. A boy they trained added value to milk by selling milk in mineral water bottles, with proper training to youth who'd been guiding at caves, their work was turned into a profession, and a young woman noticed that there weren't any cosmetic shops in her street and started one. Most of their ideas are small, but ingenuous. "You don't have to do different things to succeed," says a smiling Jiban, "you have to do things differently."
* Roma Aryal in Pokhara
Find this article at:
http://www.wavemag.com.np/issue/article3101.html
| Someyears back, Jiban Baral used to dedicate himself to the
activities of Nepal Student Union (NSU). More often, he would be
holding NSU flag and lead groups of student activists in several
activities. If one still does recognize Baral as an NSU student cadre, then the person is mistaken. He has created his new identity as a youth activist. It is not only in Pokhara, but he is also popular as a youth leader in far-flung villages. A local from Bajhpatan of Pokhara-13, Baral, 26, had an instinct for social activities from his childhood. He chose to shift to social sectors from political activities as he felt that political groups wanted to exploit the initiatives independently taken by him. “Had I continued with the political organization, I would be in a higher political position at present,” he said, adding, “But I chose to quit politics, discouraged by the behavior of our political leaders.” After some years of involvement in the youth sector, he established Youth Forum (YF) in 2003 with an objective to promote entrepreneurship and awareness in youths. Its objective was to mainstreaming youths in the development activities in the country. He worked with the forum for three years. ![]() He joined Ashoka Forum for Young Social Entrepreneurs (AFYSE) in 2006. While working with AFYSE, he bagged an award carrying a purse of Rs. 10,000. It was in 2005 when the Maoist insurgency was in its peak. He was with YF. He happened to meet a 14-year-old Maoist combatant in a village while he was on his way to Kalika village to attend a program on youth entrepreneurship. The Maoist combatant and Baral held a long conversation. Baral was touched by the arguments given by the eighth-grade Maoist fighter. The teenager argued that he dropped his school and joined the Maoist insurgency as he found the education given in the school as hollow lessons without uses in practical life. “After a long conversation with the boy, I realized that a large number of such teenagers have joined armed insurgency as the society has failed to guide them to constructive works,” Baral said, adding, “The Maoist combatant is the one who first triggered my mind to the concerns of youths.” Baral remained busy in working out a plan on youth entrepreneurship while he was working with the Ashoka Foundation. It took about six months to finalize the name of the new organization- Alternative – which he established in 2006. Currently, this organization is working on four sectors – youth entrepreneurship, rural development, environment, and education. He thinks that the existing education policy of the country needs to be more oriented to entrepreneurship. “About 400,000 youths are added to Nepal’s labor market each year. But they don’t find employment in the country and are compelled to choose foreign employment. The government should ensure employment for the youths,” he said. He said that Alternative has started “After College” programs to stop students from leaving the country for employment. The Alternative also established the Center for Entrepreneurship Development for Rural Youths at the Maharudra Secondary School at Sildjure in the district. The organization aims at establishing similar centers in all 43 VDCs of Kaski district. This is a part of “Entrepreneurship in Every Village Campaign” initiated by the organization. The organization distributes communication devices, books, furniture and other useful goods in villages through the centers. Besides that, the Alternative is also supporting villagers in introducing modern concepts in agricultural activities. Alternative gives priority to those who are jobless after dropping from their schools, or to those having returned home after working in foreign countries, and other youths active in social works under its programs. The US-based Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) awarded Baral for his contributions to the sector of poverty eradication. Former US President Bil Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world. Baral is the first Nepali to bag the award, which comes with US$2,000. He was selected from about 800 youths in 60 countries. The foundation awards youths from across the world working in the sectors of poverty eradication, education, health, human rights, peace, and climate change. He is one of the 13 youths to bag the award on poverty eradication. He will leave for the US to receive the award in 2010. A bachelor-level student, Jiban Baral is pursuing his study at Prithivi Narayan Campus of Pokhara in his district, Kaski. |
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Published on
2009-08-14 12:46:46 on Republica Natioanl Daily |