SHESHI KHAM is an independent indigenous community having its own existence in society. They are very hardworking and have a unique way of culture and living.
Population in the Project Area :
90000
The People
Rolpa
The Kham Sheshi people are an ethnic group residing in the Rolpa district of Nepal. They are also called Sheshi Kham, Khamkura, Maghar Kham, etc. Sheshi Kham people are simple and very hardworking. The majority population of Sheshi Kham resides in rural villages and difficult topographical areas. Kham Magar practices ethnic religions. There follow Buddhism and Hinduism.
Traditionally, Sheshi kham are pastoral people migrating with their large groups of sheep and goats, recently they have begun planting potatoes, millet, maize, etc. There are limited employment opportunities in the Mid-Western Region. Agriculture is the main source of household income. The main employment sources are wage labor, agricultural labor, and self-employment. Magar people are craftsmen, while some who own their own land have become farmers. Others work as miners, blacksmiths, or basket weavers. They tend to be simple-minded, hard-working, honest, self-reliant, and self-sufficient. Lack of work in the mountains and hills or in agriculture during the winter, the lack of income outside the agriculture sector, and the lack of basic services induce a large number of Nepalese workers to move to the Tarai and India annually in search of work. Yearly, the largest numbers of Magar workers go to India and Arabian Countries in search of jobs.
They have unique way of dressing. Also have special socio cultural features. their literacy rate is comparatively low.
The Project
Mother-Tongue literacy.
SHESHI-Kham is one of the languages of KHAM MAGAR a Sub-Himalaish group of the Tibetic family under the Tibeto-Burman languages. Kham, in all its varieties, is spoken primarily in the upper valleys of the Rukum and Rolpa districts of the Rapti Zone in Mid-Western Nepal. Kham Sheshi is the southernmost dialect of Kham varieties in the Rolpa district. Sheshi Kham people use their language in almost every aspect of their village community life. They love to speak in their mother tongue. In order to communicate with outsiders, they use Nepali.
Most of the languages spoken in the Himalayan region, as are named by outsiders, the name ‘Magar-Kham’ is found to have its own name given by the Magar-Kham people themselves. Sheshi Kham has a rich tradition, but whatever is known is known verbally. This is a positive result we got from our Sociolinguistic survey. Schooling is done mostly in other languages and Nepali. Nepali is considered more prestigious. Some of the younger generation is able to communicate in English too.
The language community is taking part in literacy activities and preparing materials for workshops. Mother tongue speakers, with the help of linguistic experts, are planning to create study materials such as spelling guides and written literature. People are being urged to join the program to improve their life skills. Once the materials are ready, literacy classes will be held.
Progress
As of March 2023
The Kham Sheshi team, along with the help of native speakers, have made great progress in their literacy campaign. They conducted a survey to learn more about the language and culture of their community, including dialects and the challenges they face. Orthography development has achieved significant progress. Now, they’re introducing new materials like alphabet charts and spelling guides to help people learn their language in a new way. The literacy teams have been trained and started to teach workshops. The literacy materials are tested in the training workshop and updates are noted. Community members will even be creating their own literacy materials! Through this program, people will learn how reading, writing, thinking, and understanding are all connected. This will be an easy process since it’s all happening in the language they know best.