A heart for the Lirahaus Nepal

Lila-Radhika Humanitarian Intercultural Senior Citizen Service Center Kathmandu, Nepal

The mission of LIRAHAUS is to help elderly people live peaceful, fulfilling and happy lives. LIRAHAUS offers residential care to about 120 elders and day care facilities to about 100 elders per day. Its aim to offer support and services to all elderly persons, irrespective of status, wealth, caste, religion, relationship, gender or ethnicity.

Lila-Radhika Humanitarian Intercultural Senior Citizen Service Center Kathmandu, Nepal (LIRAHAUS)

As we know, in Nepal the elderly are cared by their siblings, and it has been so as a part of Nepali traditional value. Many cultures have embedded within their norms about respect for senior citizens and the responsibility of the young to care for the old when the need arises. However, in many cases even though the children may want to take care of the senior citizens, but it might not be always possible. We might all be aware of such issues in our own and other families.

We wanted to change the whole concept of old age homes in Nepal. It should be taken as senior citizens homes in US as heaven for many seeking freedom from family pressure and enjoy good social environment and proper immunities to spend time and relaxed life with satisfaction and happiness as true happy times of the later part of their lives. In Nepal, we see it as a shelter for neglected old people without any income or property and often products of bad sons or daughters

Most of the senior citizens homes are looked into with different perspective in Nepal. Old people who are there at senior citizens homes are seen as those who are neglected by their children. Because of this concept those senior citizens homes are not running properly. And another biggest factor is lack of fund.

On the one side, as the economy grew and literacy levels rose in Nepal in the past few decades, women bear fewer children, and families have become smaller. And also presents a problem as the younger generation is staying abroad for study and work, and aging parents are left behind with no one to take care of them.

Other side, the lack of a good insurance policy, lack of their own property and generations (children), some elderly peoples is compelled to come to the street. They have no possibility to get properly medicine and accommodation. So they need such help. LIRAHAUS is a helping hand for those people who need such types of help.

Old age also brings frailty and special needs in doing activities of daily living. That’s why a senior citizens home with accessible living arrangements with care and support is required.

We planned to design a senior citizens home in Kathmandu with full of facility like medicine and others for the elderly people from all types of family in a multicultural atmosphere.