When all ways seem to be closed, the new way starts from there: Bishnu Gautam

Kathmandu: It is rightly said that where there is a will there is a way. When people lose their loved ones they spend the life in their memory lamenting on their loss, but for Bishnu Gautam the tragedy provided the window for engaging in social work. Although he lost his sons, he decided to work for hundreds of sons and give them a better life. Laxmi Pratisthan (foundation) formed by Mr. Gautam has been doing very exemplary work targeting the most neediest and vulnerable people of remote area of Nepal belonging to the poorest of the poor communities. The foundation has been working in the field of Health, Education, Skill Transformation, Women Empowerment, Community Development and awareness about road Traffic. Although the foundation does not have very big funding from donors and INGOs, they have been delivering the best outputs from the limited resources they have and giving hope to hundreds of children and youths. Mr. Gautam has shown a good example of how a person’s dedication brings positive change in the society a
nd contributes for social change. He shared some of his good work and memories with Nepalekhabar. Here are the excerpts:

There is a tragic story behind your venture, what motivated you to start this work?

Losing my two beloved grownup sons in two different road accidents in the span of nine months, my pain and agony was unbearable and unimaginable. I was thinking about the best plan, which was to commit a group (family) suicide. I even decided to run into the Bhotekoshi River with my remaining family inside a car. But then, suddenly, one evening my attention was drawn towards the philanthropic and welfare deeds carried out by a gentleman from Gorkha (watched on Television), which diverted my mind towards positivity. Consequently, that didn’t only prevent us from the death but also motivated us to do something for the needy people as a tribute to our deceased sons, which led the establishment of Laxmi Pratisthan.

Afterwards, I committed myself to work in favour of the needy and deprived people and communities. That, I thought, would be the greatest tribute to my departed sons. Physically they died once but I wished them to keep immortal. Now Kumar and Balram are taking thousands of reincarnation through the foundation we established and our sons are shining in the world in the form of Laxmi Pratisthan.

Can you shed light on the activities that your organization has and is carrying out?

Laxmi Pratisthan has been working on six thematic pillars i.e., Health, Education, Skill enhancement, Women Empowerment, Community Development and awareness on road Traffic.

Since the past 3 years, the foundation has been concentrating its activities in Kanda, a village under Lothar VDC in Chitwan inhabited by the marginalized and underprivileged Chepang communities who were forced to live rigorous deprived of the basic and fundamental rights of the citizen. Therefore, in an effort to empower them and to improve their lives, the foundation has been working for the upliftment of the community through the introduction of socio-economic and educational projects. Projects include activities such as reconstruction of homes, agricultural reforms, establishment of well-facilitated hostels, health and sanitation related awareness programs and facilitation of clean drinking water.

Laxmi Pratisthan has also been supporting the victims of April 2015 earthquake. The foundation provided basic and instant relief supports including foods, basic medical supplies, temporary tents etc. to the victims and now has been concentrating its activities towards their rehabilitation with the construction of permanent and feasible houses for victims. Laxmi Pratisthan has already started the rebuilding project aimed at supporting the earthquake victims of Siwalaya V.D.C of Kavre district. With support and cooperation from different organizations and institutions we have already started the first phase of the reconstruction project in which 25 houses are currently under construction out of which 18 houses have already been handed over to the beneficiaries.

What would you want to do in the future?

Children staying at the hostel run by Laxmi Pratisthan.

I would like to continue my social journey and devote myself to bring smiles in the faces of many needy, vulnerable and poor people of Nepal. My focus will be on my ambitious project “Kanda Transformation Campaign”. This campaign is aimed towards bringing holistic change in the Chepang community living in Kanda village. Few years back when we reached the village, we found the people were almost starving and suffering from extreme poverty; their voices were unheard by the state/non-state mechanism as they were forced to live rigorous lives deprived of their basic and fundamental rights. Students used to go school not to read but to have tiffin provided by the school.

The suffering of the Chepangs was heart rendering and we thought the situation could be changed. We believe that transformation is possible together. Therefore, in an effort to empower them and to improve their lives, the foundation has been working for the upliftment of the community through the introduction of socio-economic and educational projects.

My aim is to work for the overall development of Kanda village through education, skill development, health facilities, modern agriculture and tourism development and my vision is to create a model community village which can set an example for the development of villages elsewhere in the country.

What are the challenges you are facing and how you plan to overcome it?

Our main challenge is our financial resources. In the beginning, I sold my own property, a beautiful piece of land where my sons and I together were planning to start a resort. As the programs and projects of the foundation have expanded, the need for money to run the operations is becoming more critical. But till date, we are relying only on individual donors’ especially Nepalese expatriates living abroad. We are trying our best to get connected with the institutional donors as well as expanding our individual donors further.

Another challenge we are facing is the geographical location of our project site. As mentioned above, since last few years, we are running our various projects in a remote village called Kanda of Lother V.D.C. Chitwan. To reach Kanda, it takes 2 hours by vehicle from Bhandara to Hattidhap and 6 hours of an uphill climb from Hattidhap to Kanda. We are running a residential hostel where 123 marginalized and underprivileged children have been residing with amicable facilities and running various other activities for the overall development of the village. Our main challenge is to take all the required materials from the nearest bus station to the project site.

We are working in collaboration with District Development Committee, Chitwan and advocating with National Planning Commission for the construction of gravel track to Kanda. This year the government has enlisted the road construction project in the red book of National Planning Commission in its three-year plan. We are looking forward to the implementation of the project soon.

You don’t have any institutional funding and the work is dependent on contribution by individual donors; don’t you think this is not sustainable and what is your plan for sustainability?

Yes, it is true that till today we are relying on individual donors and it’s very difficult to collect millions through personal donations. We are grateful to all our personal donors who are helping us to collect millions every year through their support and dedication. We feel really great working with personal donors and well-wishers as we don’t have to compromise in our modality of implementation. We are also trying our best to get connected with the external development partners and corporate sectors for the funding without compromising in the modality of the projects/programs.

We have envisioned and have already started working towards income generating projects of our own for sustainability. To address the regular need of funding we have started fruits and vegetable farming, animal husbandry and beekeeping projects. We believe that in few years, these economic activities will help us to generate a good amount that will support our projects. Our long-term approach in ‘Kanda Transformation Campaign’ is to start homestay tourism in the village so that every villager can be the owner of their own business.

This organization is related with your emotions and you are devoted to it, what are your plans for handing-over the leadership to the new generation and what is your plan for sustainability of your initiatives?

Yes, my foundation is driven by emotion and we have been devoting ourselves for helping needy and vulnerable people. There is, of course, a big challenge in handing over the leadership. But, for the future leadership, I have been preparing different persons who are dedicating themselves to the foundation. Among them, one is my youngest son who is a Social Science graduate. Having emotional relation with the foundation, he has actively dedicated himself in the foundation in various projects and most notably he is also working as an International Relation Coordinator of the foundation. We also have very dedicated and hardworking young leaders in our board who have the potential to lead all the projects, initiatives and the foundation for the future.

As you have been working in different sectors like health, education, road safety and Chepang’s issues, how supportive is the government?

Houses constructed by Laxmi Pratisthan to earthquake victims.

Initially, we struggled a lot to receive support from the government but currently the government is supporting us and providing permission for running various projects. Moreover, we have been working in close coordination and cooperation with the government in the projects like renewable energy and gravel road construction to Kanda. Although we are getting some cooperation, we are yet to get proper recognition and support from the government.

Many NGOs in Nepal have been bringing huge resources in the name of Nepali people and doing very little work but you have been doing a lot with little resources. How did this happen and what is your message to the government and to these big NGOs?

The difference between the NGOs which have been bringing huge resources in name of needy and vulnerable people and doing little and us is that they are report oriented and we are purely result oriented. Our main aim is to help the needy and vulnerable communities rather than focusing on self-help. If the proper utilization of finances is done, big differences can be made through small funds but there has to be a dedication, passion and determination. Please, let us work together for the transformation of the society. We can only remain happy if the whole society is transformed otherwise it will not be sustainable as we all interrelated with each other.

Our request to the government is that the responsible body of government should actively monitor all NGOs and INGOs and evaluate the ones who are really working for the change.

Our message to big NGOs is to self-evaluate themselves. So, be a catalyst for change rather than taking it as a trade. If we take it as a trade, corruption will be inevitable and transformation will not be possible.

Do you have any message to the readers?

Firstly, I would like to thank our well-wishers and donors who have helped us to propel forward to this stage enabling us in every step.

I would also like to tell all the readers that every one of us should know ourselves first. All of us are unique and has the unique power to be a medium of change. We should be confident and optimistic. Normally, we get disappointed with small problems but I think when all ways seem to be closed, new way starts from there. So never get frustrated and lose your hope rather keep moving forward. Let’s try to be self-dependent, which will help us to come out of dependency. Let’s know our soil and try to capitalize its resources. Our society will only be transformed by ourselves and we are capable of doing it.

I would like to take this opportunity to urge all the readers to join hands and to be a part of our campaign of social transformation. Let’s walk together for the noble cause.

(Editor’s Note: How do you find the interview, please send your comment to editor@nepalekhabar.com or editor.nepalekhabar@gmail.com. If you want to learn more about Laxmi Pratisthan please visit to http://www.laxmipratisthan.org)