Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art - Term Paper Example

Author’s name Instructors’ name Course Date Project Proposal ‘Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ Project Description The proposed project ‘Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ is an initiative expected to uplift the lives of Kathmandu youths through art. The project will first cover Kathmandu district before it is enrolled in other parts of the country. The project is being initiative by the Melbourne Music Band in conjunction with ministries dealing with culture and tourism in Nepal and Australia. It will involve training young people between the ages of 14 to 30 years based on their artistic talents. However, much emphasis will be put on performing art. The objective is to create employment and reduce poverty levels in Kathmandu and Nepal as well as reducing cases of death among young people, which have become so rampant. Project Abstract The following project proposal ‘Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ is an initiative expected to uplift the lives of Kathmandu youths through art. In recent years, there have been increased cases of deaths among youths in the coutry8. Kathmandu has been mostly affected. Authorities report an average of 11 deaths of young people every day because of poverty related causes. This project proposal first describes the problem and the need for action. It also entails the objectives of the project and method of implementation. The timeline, output and the target audience have also been outlined. Further, the proposal has included the way information will be disseminated to the target audience as well as the challenges expected. Finally, a project budget has been outlined before the list literature sources at the end. Problem Statement Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world (Burbank, 54). The country has experienced many political battles, which are mostly bloody. This has consequently affected its economic performance in many decades thus making it one of the poorest nations in the world (Sattaur, 23). On the other hand, poor economic performance has led to increased unemployment especially among the youths. Many youths have thus decided to engage in criminal activities such as extremism and drug abuse (Einsiedel, 22). It is clear that Nepal is still facing high unemployment rates among the youths (Heckler, 121). At the same time, the underemployment in the country is also high. These two realities are the basis through which young people in Nepal find themselves in drug abuse and criminal activities (Wise, 68). Further, there have been alarming concerns of the deaths among youths, which study indicates that it is because of life’s frustrations and drugs (World Travel and Tourism Council, 24). Many youths in places such as Kathmandu have committed suicide after facing life difficulties due to unemployment (Banskota, 243). It is for this reason that it is worthwhile to empower them through art by integrating tourism, culture and art so that they can individually benefit as they improve the entire Nepal community (Crothers, 321). In addition, Australia and Nepal have had cooperation in various sectors such as tourism (Elkind, 32). The presence of Australians investment in Nepal is felt by the government of Nepal. Therefore, any development initiative that benefits the two nations will be welcomed from both sides. The project proposal will go a long way in touching a good percentage of the Nepalese youths in Kathmandu. According to the statistics, it is indicated that from 2010, there has been an increase of more than 31% of young people committing suicide in Kathmandu. This translates to an average of around four thousand suicides in every year (Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation 234). This also includes cases of homicides, which are associated with levels of poverty and unemployment. However, the main cause of this scenario is the political instability in Nepal. The unemployment rate had hit over 50% though there are some steps being taken by the government to ensure the situation is averted. The World Bank statistics show that the unemployment rate is currently at 55% of the population where this percentage of people lives below the international poverty line of less than a dollar per day (Larry & Spurr, 21). Corruption cases in the country have also been associated to the issues of unemployment and economic instability (Cavanagh, 111). The youth in various parts of the country has been the most hit especially in the capital city of Kathmandu. The result of the above scenario has been looking for ways of surviving where many Nepalese have gone abroad to look for opportunities. Among these countries is Australia. The number of Nepalese in this country has increased in recent decades. They form part of the Nepalese population who remit back their earnings to their country (UN ESCAP, 21). Therefore, if Nepalese youths are empowered, then they can get the opportunity to work by offering their art talents in the tourism industry. Statistics indicates that the total remittances from the year 2014 have already hit $5 billion. Thus, empowering young people through staring projects in their locality is not a choice. This will help them develop their community as they improve their living standards. It is unfortunate that for those who cannot find work either abroad or at home is deciding to commit suicide, where authorities have been reporting at least eleven deaths per day. It must be agreed that art, composing of customs, as well as traditions, , is different from one part of Nepal to another. However, the city of Kathmandu forms the point where various cultures are blending to bring a national identity (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 231). It is a place where various artists perform and establish themselves. The valley of Kathmandu acts as the nation’s cultural metropolis since the 18th century when Nepal was unified (Heneric, 55). The country is endowed with diverse and exotic culture. The art industry is also picking up where many artists such as performing and other players have found their platform in the country especially in the capital city Kathmandu (Olson, 39). However, it must be known that the hospitality and cultural industry has not been tapped immensely in the country (Rebery, 39). There have not been deliberate efforts by stakeholders concerned on the empowerment and development of the art in Nepal. This has resulted into loss of many jobs in the country especially for the young people. It is for this reason that there is the need for efforts to be put in place to ensure that such talents are harnessed and thus creation of employment. This sector, just like others in the country has been affected by the political instability as well as poor infrastructure (Nepal Tourism Board, 62). This means that established and upcoming artists lack enough facilities to help them build their career. In addition, the education system has not been inclusive. Art has not been fully integrated in the education system (Ijioui, 181). However, even those who are educated enough to enhance their talents in art lack conducive environment to exercise their abilities (Jerry, 129). For this reason, many of the young people in the country found themselves lost after-school not knowing the direction to take. The society has not been supportive supportive for → supportive of this particular group in the community. Time has thus caught up with them (Alexander, 21). These realities have made it wise for both established Australian and the Nepalese performing artists to come together in order to bring youth in one forum and empower them. The objective is to give them an opportunity to perform both in Australia and more so in Nepal for the tourists. Goals/Objectives The objective of the project ‘Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ is to ensure that young people between the ages of 14 to 30 are uplifted by offering them opportunity to show case their talents through music or any other art work. The main aim is to provide employment for this particular group of people and engage the public for their support. The project is intended to touch the entire community of Kathmandu and later be enrolled in the other parts of Nepal. The youth who will be empowered through this project will be expected to do the same to other youths and friends by training them. This is in an effort to ensure that the project is self-sustaining going forward. The main objectives are as follows: • Empowering the youth of between 14 to 30 years of age in Kathmandu with their artistic talents such as perfuming music. • Creation of employment and reducing underemployment in this region. • Ensure that the young people who are completing their schooling are not lost in the society through drug abuse and other crimes • Minimization of poverty levels within Kathmandu region and other parts of Nepal. • Reducing the number of young people who have been committing suicide due to frustrations in life. Methodology The project Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ will involve several stages of implementation. It will involve the recruitment process, which will be intended to identify various agents that the youth are having. The Kathmandu District Committees and other youth groups will highly be of help in this process. The second phase will include the preliminary training process and the introduction of the project to the recruits. Various artists from Australia and Nepal will be involved. In the process of training, students will be grouped in various categories of 10-15. These groups will be introduced to certain events where they will be expected to perform within Kathmandu. However, much emphasis will be put on the tourism sector where the ministry of culture and tourism in Nepal will be approached to involve them in various events. Further, after these groups’ abilities have been marked they will undergo intense training that will be intended to select the best performers in each group. This final group will be privileged to be invited to be preforming in Australia through the ministry of tourism here. However, the members of this group will be interchanged with time so that all students will be afforded opportunity to perform internationally. The final stage will be to enroll the program, to other parts of the country. The best students will be involved to train other potential youth in these regions. In order for the project to sustain itself, these groups will participate in as many events as possible, where 50% of earnings will be ploughed back in the project while 30% will be used to compensate the participants and 20% for the recurrent expenditure. Timeline Activity Time Submission of the grant proposal May 2015 Expected Grant Notification June 2015 Notifying all stakeholders July 2015 Securing facilities August 2015 Conducting interviews September 2015 Training the youth October and November 2015 Booking events for the trainees December 2015 The above timeframe has been considered based on the year calendar of Nepal. It is expected that the project will start bringing back income after bookings have been made for the trainees. Therefore, the whole of 2015 will be for training and other arrangements so that the students can start earning as early as January 2016. At the same time during the end year, it is possible to get many youths who have just completed their school. Therefore, it will an opportune time to invite them for the interviews. Projected Output The project’s output is based on several phases. The first phase will be conducted this year while the second recruitment will be done mid next year, which will include other parts of the country. Therefore, the first phase is expected to recruit 350 students to be trained and be able to earn from early next year. It should also be noted that around 100 employees will be recruited to offer several services both directly and indirectly. These include cooks, drivers, and trainees among others. The second phase will be expected to include one other district, which will be determined later. The number of recruits will be doubled to over 700. Evaluation of the impact the project will be having on both individual and community levels will be conducted at an interval of two months, starting from next year. The Target Audience and the Venues The venues of this project will be as follows: Recruitment and interviews will be held in schools as well as religious places. However, makeshift tents will be constructed to attract those young people who do not go to schools or in these religious places such as temples. The training sessions will frits be conducted at the social hall situated in the Kathmandu Valley? This will be under hire, before constructing our training hall from next year. As noted above, the target audience for the project will be the youth between the ages of 14-30. The main consideration is those youths who are completing their lower schooling levels as well as those who are out in the public without employment. The main objective is to offer them employment and uplift their lives together with the entire community. It is expected that through the project, youths will find themselves busy and thus minimize incidences of drug abuse and criminal activities that have caused many of them death. Dissemination of information about the project Few weeks before the recruitment process begins, several initiatives will be put in place to ensure that youths in Kathmandu are aware of the proposed project. Some of the ways that we intend to apply will be the use of posters in strategic parts of the Kathmandu district including in schools, social places, and religious venues. In addition, we are going to advertise the project through social media, as well as other platforms such as radio, televisions and newspapers. These initiatives are expected to ensure that youths have a clue of the project. Venues of recruitment and interviews, as well as trainings, will be given out in these ads. In addition, we expect to contact several artists who will give youths this information in their respective platforms. Project’s impact on the art communities/the cultures The first impact of the ‘Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ project will be at an individual level. One way is that youths will find a way of earning their living through displaying their talents in art. By booking them events through music associations of both Nepal and Australia, they will be able to earn and use the same to enhance their life. In addition, they will not stay in the project form ever since after an individual or a group has established itself, the project will fund the same so that they can stand on their own and allow other groups or individuals to join in. Further, the community will also benefit in many ways. The creation of jobs to the youths means that they will be able to support their families and the community. It will thus translate into the reduction of drug abuse cases, deaths and other criminal activities. Consequently, the Kathmandu authorities will be relieved since the rate of crime will have reduced tremendously starting form next year. The poverty levels will as well reduce as these groups start their projects in the near future. The country will also benefit as we enroll the project in other districts. Art will highly be taken to the next levels by ensuring that those artists who have talents are empowered a given platform to establish themselves. Project Challenges There are several; challenges that the project will be expected to face. The first is the political instability. Despite that fact, that Nepal has been making positive strides in its governance, there are still some minute uncertainties especially when it comes to election periods. However, the last elections were peaceful, and this is expected to continue going forward. Many international players and bodies have intervened to ensure Nepal remains peaceful. The language could also be a problem. The official language is Nepali thus making it challenging to teach the recruits in English. However, we are going to have trainers who understand both English and the local language. Other trainees who do not understand the language will be there as instructors. Funding Sources and Project Partners The main funding sources are the world vision. World Vision is an international organization that supports various projects especially in developing countries like Nepal. ‘Empowering Kathmandu Youth through Art’ project is a project that is expected to directly influence the lives of youths in the Kathmandu district and the entire community. However, other partners in the project include; • Kathmandu District Development Committee • Music Corporations of Australia and Nepal • Ministry of Culture and Tourism-Australia • Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal • Kathmandu youth groups • Melbourne Music Band The above partners will be highly involved in logistical matters especially Kathmandu District Development Committee and Kathmandu youth groups. Music corporations in both Nepal and Australia will help in provided trainers and advice. They will also be involved in booking events for students. This will also be the case for the ministries concerned in both countries. Project Budget Expenses Amount(in $) Advertisements 22,000 Recruitments/interviews 14,300 Purchasing music facilities 51,200 Hiring venues 25,500 Hiring(staffing) employees e.g. trainers 17,130 Payment of salaries 40,300 Others e.g. transport, food, security, costumes 83,420 Total 253,850 Bibliography Alexander, J. (2010). 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