03 Nov Bhibin Shakya & Family – Nepal
Name : Bhibin Shakya
Sending Organizations : National Churches Fellowship of Nepal / Church Mission Society
Family: Romi ( wife) , Simran ( daughter ) and Sandesh ( son)
Location : Kathmandu (Nepal)
CoMP Since: February 2009
Bhibin Shakya serves as the Director of Grace Community Service ( GCS ) which is a social service ministry of the National Churches Fellowship of Nepal .
GCS seeks to reach out to people who are most marginalized and impoverished in the society . One important aspect of their work is to raise awareness in the church and Christian community and encourage the them to reach out to those in need in their local contexts . For the past two years , with CMS support GCS has been reaching out to churches in various parts of Nepal , making them aware on HIV/AIDS and removing stereotypes and changing perceptions associated with the infection .
The organization has a special burden for people affected by HIV/AIDS and has been involved in raising awareness works to transform lives of people living with it .
A large number of people from Nepal travel abroad as migrant workers. The majority go to work in India, the remainder to other countries in Asia and the Middle East . They play a significant role in the transition of HIV/AIDS. Injecting Drug users are another major category at risk . Due to it being a sexually transmitted disease, there is discrimination and marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, both in the society in general and even within the Church . People affected often have to suffer discrimination and ostracization because of lack of awareness and misinformation about the disease .
Bhibin sees a growing need to reach out to them . The need is great but the laborers are few . GCS has plans to extend their service geographically and also seeks to build on their awareness , income generation , counseling and vocational initiatives . A major challenge in this is lack of adequate funds
Bhibin and his family live in Kathmandu which is the Capital of Nepal .
Personal Story from Grace Community Services :
Chinimaya Gayek, 24 years old lives at Ganga Basti village in Bardiya district. She has 8
years old son and a small hut. She had an arranged marriage with Yam Bahadur Gayek
when she was 16 years. Her husband had no proper job in the village. He got a small
piece of land from his parent where he made small hut
made by them.
Chinimaya says “He went India to earn money after a
month of our marriage. We were in communication for
8 months since then it’s already been 8 years he is out
of communication.” Many times she knew that he often
visited brothel and did not send money at home. She
also heard that he became ill in India and it must be he
infected by HIV that’s why he disappeared. Nobody
knows about him.
She was alone and helpless. If she managed morning meal then she should worry about
evening meal most of the day. She was helpless and hopeless. When she got involved in
the capacity building programme in the church, she knew about Jesus Christ first time in
her life. She got many friends in the church and got new life in Christ. Currently, she has
opened a small cosmetic shop in the village with the help of Grace Community Services.
She is no more alone and helpless an important thing is that she received Jesus Christ as
personal savoir.