Wellness, Environment, and SDGs: Reflections on Slum Realities
From urgent health needs to sustainable futures, prevention must lead the way.
When Console Mission hears about a problem, we first seek to understand it clearly and then share outcomes with the team. Members provide suggestions based on facts, often emphasizing the need for funding. Yet when issues are urgent, we act even without funds.
For example, people facing health concerns—especially stigmatized diseases like HIV/AIDS or skin conditions linked to NTDs/Leprosy—often hesitate to seek care. They may know where to get tested but remain uncertain about costs, and high expenses can deter them. Console Mission guides them to appropriate services, ensuring preventive care is not ignored.
In 2018, residents in slum areas suffered from diseases caused by contaminated, stagnant river water. Console Mission learned of this through a faith‑based contact and mobilized three volunteers—two college girls and one boy on a gap year—to reach nearly 400 families from across Nepal. While we did not engage directly with the slum committee, we supported women and girls eager to join our Skill and Business Development Training, providing references to strengthen their opportunities.
“Addressing pollution, ensuring clean water, and safeguarding families are not just local needs—they are global commitments under SDG 3, SDG 6, and SDG 11.”
As relationships grew, our founders, board members, and advisers visited regularly. Visible improvements followed: better road management, paved walkways, and government housing for families without land or property. Initially, we did not understand why the faith‑based leader brought us there, but later realized that the demolition of slum houses under the Prime Minister’s leadership was part of a legal process. Not all residents were homeless—only those without land or housing were relocated, and financially constrained families received support.
Over time, this became a business for two groups: genuine citizens who received government‑provided assets, and those who later purchased those assets, consuming public property. Yet the deeper concern extends beyond demolishing houses. It is about community wellness, environmental health, and the urgent need for river water to flow smoothly. Addressing pollution, ensuring clean water, and safeguarding vulnerable families directly align with the Sustainable Development Goals—particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well‑Being), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
Jagaran Basti, situated between Sanepa in Lalitpur Metropolitan City and Balkhu in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, remains a reminder that wellness and sustainability must guide development.
