The Executive Director for Social Awareness and Multipurpose Development Alliance Nepal (SAMDAN) Mr. Devendra Adhikari, used to work with a local project focused for garbage management named EDEN from 2005 November to 2009 August. EDEN project was running garbage management activities in local communities in Kathmandu and latter it phased out in 2011 from Kalthamandu. Due to the work & cast hierarchy together with other socio-cultural value and norms, still working with garbage assumed as low respected job and the garbage worker looks valued like garbage itself. Devenrda was doing just a job to fulfill his needs over his economic poverty even though he was not happy with the garbage related responsibilities that he needed to be accomplished.
His personal stories are so touchy. His schooling life was so struggling with economic poverty and many other obstacles. And the same thing happened until he was doing his bachelor degree, when he went to Norway as an exchanged student in Hald International Center, for ‘ Cross cultural Communication Study’ for one year period of time in 2009, than, he saw the clean & healthy environment in Norway. After experiencing such environmental realities he started to realize the important of the work that EDEN project was actually trying to do in Kathmandu, Nepal. Mr Devendra got very impressed by looking the Norwegian habit of waste separation and procession from their early childhood life. He also researched out some waste management activities as his paper work for Hald International School. He visited many waste recycling and processing center. Then he understood the meaning of clean environment for better life. He realized that health, sanitation and other hygiene issues were one of the main carouses for the difference in life expectancy between Nepal and Norway.
In 2010 after he accomplished his one year course in Hald, he came back to Kathmandu,Nepal and did his two years of commitment service to his sending organization to Norway i.e.NBCBS (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students -IFES moment of Nepal). During his free time from NBCBS he tried to establish an interest group together with local communities and the church he used to go. He made his traveling to some countries like Singapore and Japan and tried to learn the best Idea and strategy to work for long term impact for pollution reduction issues in Garbage context in Nepal. From his personal research and discussion with many other wise people , he finalized that “Building/creating the positive habit of waste management in young children via school education is more effective/important/sustainable than working with adults. Adults are already determined with all the socio-cultural phenomena and hard to change their mind set”. Then he organized a close group from his church, his friendship circle and local communities and cast his vision among them …after all this vision of working with poor and Needy children and working with environment sectors together with school children became the vision of the entire group. He became able to organize a strong and committed group.
After that he registered a non profitable human welfare umbrella organization called Social Awareness and Multipurpose Development Alliance Nepal (SAMDAN) officially registered under national guideline act 1977(2034 BS) in Nepal.Iit has started its activities with two main projects called Children Education Support Program (CESP) and Children Based Environment Education Program (Children-BEEP). The both of the programs/projects are based on Children Education. CESP is scholarship program for poor and needy children under where 53 Children are getting monthly scholarship for their educational need. Children-BEEP is focusing for creation of the new aware generation for clean and green environment for healthy life. It has been creating and developing the waste management habit among very young school children via conceptual and practical teaching about Recycling, Reusing and Reducing (3R) model in practice. Children-BEEP believes that ‘Waste is no more garbage, its Money’. It has the core action with the aim of building ‘Child police’ in each and every house for clean and green and healthy communities. Now Children-BEEP is working among with 18 different schools together with around 13000 students plus teachers in and around Balaju areas of Kathmandu Metropolitan City(KMC) of Nepal.
For the organizational economic sustainability, Executive Director has established some business like Noah Creative Arts and Crafts, Home stay, Travel & Tour Company etc. the difference people in team are responsible for handling these business. The certain percent of income from these business activities looks very helpful for SAMDAN activities.