'Lost boys of Nepal' have been Jesuit's mission for 23 years
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
For the past 23 years, Jesuit Father G. William Robins, a Canadian, has been “on mission” in Nepal, an ancient land of awe-inspiring mountains and overwhelming poverty.
The world’s only Hindu kingdom, Nepal’s Constitution prohibits proselytizing. However, in 1951 King Tribhuvan invited the Society of Jesus to establish the nation’s first educational system. Half a century later, the Jesuits continue to foster a Christian presence by teaching and witnessing to the Gospel in a country where cows, not people, are considered sacred.
Since January of 1999, Father Robins has ministered to the most troubled and vulnerable boys in Nepal, orphans and drug addicts, as director of St. Xavier’s Social Service Residence in the capital city of Kathmandu.
Founded 30 years ago by the late Jesuit Father Thomas E. Gafney, St. Xavier’s multi-colored brick structure has been described as a “beacon of hope.” It is home to 60 boys who have been given a second life, one beyond the slums and hard drugs that mar the idyllic image of this medieval, landlocked country wedged between China and India.
Drug culture target
In the 1960s, Kathmandu was a prime destination for the drug culture. Infamous for its cheap and legal hashish and opium, Kathmandu became a magnet for street boys, runaways from rural mountain villages who, according to Father Robins, were seeking a better and more exciting life in the big city.
They never found Shangri-La.
Concerned about the increasing problem of drug abuse in Nepal, Father Gafney, a native of Ohio, opened the doors of St. Xavier in 1970.
With further permission from the Society of Jesus, Father Gafney soon bought land and buildings in Nakhipot and Tulopani where he opened two other social service centers: Nepal’s first treatment center for drug addiction and its first free medical clinic. Here the lost boys of Nepali society could receive hospitality while undergoing detoxification, prepare to enter school, work through their problems or live out their lives with physical disabilities.
Murder
Over the next 27 years, Father Gafney served tirelessly as a social worker and a social activist, always looking for new and better ways to help the helpless. Then, in the early hours of Dec. 14, 1997, Father Gafney was brutally murdered in his home.
To date, the mysterious case of Father Gafney’s homicide remains unsolved. According to Father Robins, theories on the killer’s motivation range from simple robbery to conspiracy. The Society of Jesus asked Father Robins to assume the directorship of St. Xavier’s three social service centers to continue the work begun by Father Gafney. He had previously worked with young people as a science teacher and rector at the Jesuit elementary school in Kathmandu’s Jawalakhel District.
Father Robins accepted the challenge, albeit with some trepidation.
“Tom Gafney is a very tough act to follow,” said Father Robins. “It’s scary, considering what happened to him, but the Jesuits have given their total support.”
Many donors from around the world, including Misereor Germany, the Netherlands Development Assistance Program and the Holy Childhood Association, have also provided financial assistance to St. Xavier.
Staff of 12
Father Robins has a staff of 12, most of whom are non-Christian, to help the boys become self-sufficient. It is not uncommon to find “Father Bill,” as he is affectionately known, arranging surgeries for everything from bone marrow transplants to appendicitis.
St. Xavier promotes the idea of “family” among the boys and they are expected to perform all their domestic chores, the disabled assisted by the able.
The boys attend local public schools. Father Robins is reluctant to enroll them in Jesuit or private schools, since they are considered “elitist” in Nepal.
St. Xavier does not impose a time limit on the length of a boy’s stay. Father Robins subscribes to the tenet of Father Gafney, who believed that, “a boy will leave when he is able to stand on his own feet.”
What is most important, according to Father Robins, is that Father Gafney’s vision and mission are perpetuated. “Tom Gafney stood up for justice and the rights of the poor,” said Father Robins. “St. Xavier continues his work in that spirit.”
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For the past 23 years, Jesuit Father G. William Robins, a Canadian, has been “on mission” in Nepal, an ancient land of awe-inspiring mountains and overwhelming poverty.
The world’s only Hindu kingdom, Nepal’s Constitution prohibits proselytizing. However, in 1951 King Tribhuvan invited the Society of Jesus to establish the nation’s first educational system. Half a century later, the Jesuits continue to foster a Christian presence by teaching and witnessing to the Gospel in a country where cows, not people, are considered sacred.
Since January of 1999, Father Robins has ministered to the most troubled and vulnerable boys in Nepal, orphans and drug addicts, as director of St. Xavier’s Social Service Residence in the capital city of Kathmandu.
Founded 30 years ago by the late Jesuit Father Thomas E. Gafney, St. Xavier’s multi-colored brick structure has been described as a “beacon of hope.” It is home to 60 boys who have been given a second life, one beyond the slums and hard drugs that mar the idyllic image of this medieval, landlocked country wedged between China and India.
Drug culture target
In the 1960s, Kathmandu was a prime destination for the drug culture. Infamous for its cheap and legal hashish and opium, Kathmandu became a magnet for street boys, runaways from rural mountain villages who, according to Father Robins, were seeking a better and more exciting life in the big city.
They never found Shangri-La.
Concerned about the increasing problem of drug abuse in Nepal, Father Gafney, a native of Ohio, opened the doors of St. Xavier in 1970.
With further permission from the Society of Jesus, Father Gafney soon bought land and buildings in Nakhipot and Tulopani where he opened two other social service centers: Nepal’s first treatment center for drug addiction and its first free medical clinic. Here the lost boys of Nepali society could receive hospitality while undergoing detoxification, prepare to enter school, work through their problems or live out their lives with physical disabilities.
Murder
Over the next 27 years, Father Gafney served tirelessly as a social worker and a social activist, always looking for new and better ways to help the helpless. Then, in the early hours of Dec. 14, 1997, Father Gafney was brutally murdered in his home.
To date, the mysterious case of Father Gafney’s homicide remains unsolved. According to Father Robins, theories on the killer’s motivation range from simple robbery to conspiracy. The Society of Jesus asked Father Robins to assume the directorship of St. Xavier’s three social service centers to continue the work begun by Father Gafney. He had previously worked with young people as a science teacher and rector at the Jesuit elementary school in Kathmandu’s Jawalakhel District.
Father Robins accepted the challenge, albeit with some trepidation.
“Tom Gafney is a very tough act to follow,” said Father Robins. “It’s scary, considering what happened to him, but the Jesuits have given their total support.”
Many donors from around the world, including Misereor Germany, the Netherlands Development Assistance Program and the Holy Childhood Association, have also provided financial assistance to St. Xavier.
Staff of 12
Father Robins has a staff of 12, most of whom are non-Christian, to help the boys become self-sufficient. It is not uncommon to find “Father Bill,” as he is affectionately known, arranging surgeries for everything from bone marrow transplants to appendicitis.
St. Xavier promotes the idea of “family” among the boys and they are expected to perform all their domestic chores, the disabled assisted by the able.
The boys attend local public schools. Father Robins is reluctant to enroll them in Jesuit or private schools, since they are considered “elitist” in Nepal.
St. Xavier does not impose a time limit on the length of a boy’s stay. Father Robins subscribes to the tenet of Father Gafney, who believed that, “a boy will leave when he is able to stand on his own feet.”
What is most important, according to Father Robins, is that Father Gafney’s vision and mission are perpetuated. “Tom Gafney stood up for justice and the rights of the poor,” said Father Robins. “St. Xavier continues his work in that spirit.”
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