Born, brought up and educated in the same village, Khusnandan Thakur of Bhramarpura VDC in Mahottari has an interesting experience to share how he and his friends established a local youth club. It was peak summar and hearing the news that the government was distributing anti-mosquito Supa net from the district helath office, Thakur and three others came to the district health office in Jaleswor to inquire about the freely distributed Supa net. However, their request to get the anti-mosquito net was turned down on the ground that such nets were not for individuals but for some trusted local organizations to make a free distribution to the poor people. Realizing the importance of having an organization, the young and the old joined the meeting at Bhramarpura VDC and named the youth club, "Janahit Yuva Samaj. It was the month of June in 1963.
“Youth are visible in most of the activities that take place in the village. We are sought after to make linkages with various organizations to bring development fund into the village,” says Khusnandan Thakur, a colleger.
After reaching a contractual agreement with UNDP/LRP Project in 2010, the youth club has been proactive in organising peace related activities. “LRP has taught us the importance of being inclusive and accordingly we have restructured our executive body. Altogether 40% of membership is of women and 25 percent is of Muslims in our oganisation. We also have two Dalits taking over key responsibilities,” said Thakur in sharing the changes within the organisation.
The youth club of mostly Hindu youth organized peace dialogue on a local theme but more importantly supported celebration of Muslim festival like Tajiya. “We formed mixed teams of both Hindu and Muslim youths and organized a cricket match to promote social cohesion and peace in the village. We are excited over the new understanding it has brought within our mixed comunity,” said the youth. ##