Nepalese children suffer 'invisible' exploitation
A CAUTIOUS OBSERVER: Nicky Deasy from The Nepalese Children's Foundation
Sunday March 09 2008
The head of an Irish charity in Nepal has spoken about the vulnerable nature of children there, which she says is frequently being exploited by opportunistic westerners.
Her comments come after a controversial documentary made there about the Irish language poet Cathal O Searcaigh and his sexual relationships with teenage males caused widespread controversy on its release.
Nicky Deasy, from Clonskeagh in Dublin, set up The Nepalese Children's Foundation to alleviate poverty in Humla, one of the most remote districts in Nepal.
Since then, she says her eyes have been opened to the innocent "touchy touchy" approach of the Nepalese children and the "unusual" relationships between men.
Speaking on her return to Ireland, she explained how sexual exploitation is hard to detect. "It's a little bit invisible in Nepal. If somebody wanted to exploit somebody it would be hard to pick it up because the people who do this kind of stuff are generally quite clever."
The 33-year-old charity worker went on to say how the traditional culture in Nepal means that many Nepalese men will openly touch members of the same sex without intending their actions to be interpreted as a sexual advance.
"There's absolutely no concept of homosexuality. They're just all used to being piled up on top of each other. There's no personal space ... everyone sleeps together from an early age in a big giant bed with limbs all entangled and they're all used to being physically on top of each other.
"So if you were a guy, again, I don't know anything about individual cases, but in general, as a western man, if you were homosexual and you went out, if you put your arm around a western guy and you were all handsy and touchy and rubbing his thighs and cuddling up beside him in the bed, a western person would [usually] go 'wow! Back off', a Napoli person wouldn't. They would not interpret that behaviour as being sexual. It's just normal male behaviour."
Ms Deasy also described how children there are particularly vulnerable. "Children in Nepal, because they get so much family love, they're really vivacious and they're always jumping on top of you and kissing you, very huggy, touchy, feely [and] squeezy."
And she warned that Irish people need to be cautious about which charities they donate to if they want to help Nepalese children.
"People need to be careful about who they give money to. There are some orphanages that don't have any children residing in them."
Ms Deasy, who graduated with first class honours from Trinity, describes how she decided to leave Ireland when Dublin lost it's 'sense of community'. "I thought Dublin had gone a bit too manic. It lost its community spirit and it got very materialistic. So I decided it was time to move somewhere that was a bit quieter."
Meanwhile, the registered charity is currently looking for a professional fundraiser, an administrator and a chairperson. Upcoming fundraiser events include a sponsored golf outing on June 6 and a two-week trek in Humla next autumn. Interested parties are asked to contact Nicky on 087-6864936 or log on to www.thenepalesechildrensfoundation.com.
- NIAMH HORAN
