Friday, September 15, 2006
Interview with Volunteer Trainers in Kathmandu
partner to DOW’s projects in Nepal
Katmandu, Nepal- In response to the disturbingly high rates of childhood sexual and physical abuse, DOW and UNICEF have partnered to train health care providers and community leaders in diagnosing cases and preventing future abuse. This project aims to build the capacity of providers at all levels of the health care system to screen, detect, treat and refer cases of child abuse and child sexual abuse. Community leaders also participated in the training, and learned to work with health providers to combat future abuse. DOW interviewed participants in the training program for the Management of Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse, which was held in September 2006.
Samjhana Kachhyapati works as a coordinator for SAATHI, a DOW partner in Nepal that coordinates health care and support for survivors of trafficking and violence.
Sabina Rayamajhi Subedi has been working with ABC-Nepal since 2003. ABC-Nepal is a shelter for survivors of trafficking and other forms of violence and one of DOW’s in-country partners.
What do you know about the situation of child and sexual abuse in Nepal?
Samjhana Kachhyapathi: I thought that I understood a lot about abuse, but I learned in the training that there is a lot that I did not know about child abuse in Nepal. Though terms like child abuse and child sexual abuse were not completely new concepts for me, I was not previously aware that the situation is so serious. It requires urgent attention and intervention. Now, I have become more aware that anyone can be a victim and even my own brothers and sisters are not safe. I was to work to support people who face such situations.
Sabina Rayamajhi Subedi: Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse are huge problems in our society. I see cases that I suspect may be abuse all the time. Hospitals and clinics are the first point of contact for children who have been mistreated. I believe that health is a Human Right for all children, and that health is necessary for a child’s development. It has been a good experience to work with DOW because the organization works for Child Rights, and the training is focused on teaching us how to do our part.
How did the training fit with the work that you are doing with survivors of trafficking and violence?
Samjhana Kachhyapathi: Though the training focused on skills for health practitioners, it is very useful even to those people who are involved in community organization. The training taught a lot of skills for collaborative efforts between medical and non-medical service providers on the community level. I learned to look at my community resources in a new way, and to begin to make a network of people around me who can assist me in identifying and prosecuting abuse, as well as preventing it from happening to more children.
Sabina Rayamajhi Subedi: I am a nurse providing care and support to the survivors of many kinds of violence. Doctors of the World supports ABC-Nepal in this work, and together we run residential and community-based clinics. I participated in the training because I see patients who I suspect to be victims of abuse, but I do not know how to identify and document cases. This training was very useful for me. The presentation by Dr. Ramona Sunderwirth, who came from Doctors of the World in the USA, was very good, with concrete information and clear steps for us to take in examining and treating child abuse victims. This training taught us how to deal and manage cases in a clear and scientific way.
What will you do with the skills that you learned in this training?
Samjhana Kachhyapathi: The future programs should focus on raising awareness against child abuse. There was so much that I did not know before. We should strengthen the capacity of the people and mobilize them to combat such crime.
Sabina Rayamajhi Subedi: The next step will be to take this type of training to the health workers at the grassroots level. After this training, I will volunteer as an expert trainer in identifying and diagnosing child abuse. I will train other health workers and the impact of this training will spread through communities. In the week after the training, one doctor convinced a local hospital to allow her to open up a follow-up clinic for abuse survivors. Other trainees created teams to work together in their communities. With the proper support, the DOW trainees can have a huge impact on treating child abuse and preventing future cases.