KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 13

Freedom Social Foundation has said that it was planning to expand its outdoor education programme to support the overall growth of children with disabilities.

According to FSF's founding member JaganTimilsina, the foundation is planning to organise at least five basic outdoor leadership courses for differently-abled children, with around 15 children in one program.

'The foundation had conducted a leadership course in September for 12 students of the Spinal Cord Injury Network Nepal,' Timilsina, who is also the senior field instructor of National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) of USA, recounted. The course helped the children experience campsite living, outdoor cooking, hiking through trails, ziplining, and abseiling (rappelling down a nearly vertical surface) and basic first aid, he added.

'This program has a huge impact on their daily life and has also empowered the youth who desperately need motivation and courage for living in wheelchairs,' Timlisina, chief instructor of the program, said, 'The smiles and joy the children expressed as they were ziplining and rappelled for the first time filled us with a great sense of satisfaction and moved our hearts.'

After the course, FSF team sat down with the school officials to understand the impact of the course and they explained to FSF that most of the students have to be in wheelchairs for life due to spinal injuries caused by accidents. 'No one is prepared for such experiences in their life. Even normal daily activities were suddenly painful and difficult. This left them feeling sad, depressed, and unmotivated. Outdoor life and activities are more difficult because of their condition. The students showed greater motivation and felt empowered, boosted their confidence and looked forward to life with a renewed sense of optimism,' Timilsina quoted the school administration as saying.

Since its inception in 2016, FSF aims to educate youth about outdoors and adventure tourism. 'The outdoor education project is an initiative to open up opportunities for local youth who are unaware of the opportunities available to them in adventure tourism, to work as outdoor professionals,' he said.

FSF aims to make a difference through education, training and awareness. 'We strongly believe that outdoor education instils students with the skills to work together as a team, think independently, develop survival skills, and appreciate nature through hands-on training.'

Nepal is severely lagging in building a system that cares for children with disabilities. FSF believes that this initial spark will be able to awaken young people's awareness and desire for the outdoors so that they can make an informed decision to work in adventure tourism if they so desire. 'So, we want to expand this program.'

According to Timilsina, after the series of programs, the foundation will select 20 children, who are interested in outdoor and seeking a future as outdoor leaders. 'After providing further training and development, the foundation plans to finalize ten children who are capable and passionate about outdoor leadership courses and FSF will also help further develop them as outdoor instructors and help them with the development of the course curriculum, necessary gears, logistics, fundraising and national/international exposure to conduct the program. The plan is to provide the children with everything they require to be able to run the course themselves,' he said.