Search results for: nepal

Foundation members help save Nepali children’s home on the brink

Twenty-two children from the poorest areas of Nepal are housed at the Orphan Welfare Center in Kathmandu. When the owners ran out of funds, the home was threatened with eviction and the children were withdrawn from school for want of nominal tuition fees. Soon money ran out as well for clothing and food.

“The 22 children are currently crammed into a crummy three bedroom flat,” said Scott MacLennan, executive director of third quarter beneficiary The Mountain Fund. “We found a donor to move them into a beautiful five-bedroom home, but we still didn’t have funds to cover the daily needs of the kids. Then Foundation Beyond Belief came along, and we can pay for food and new clothing for the kids and re-enroll them in school.”

Most of the children in the home are “economic orphans” whose parents are still living but are unable to care for them. They are from the three most impoverished districts in Nepal, the poorest country in South Asia, with a median per capita income of less than $400 per year.

“These are the poorest of the poor,” said Scott. “Your support will help us to feed, clothe, and educate these kids. I wasn’t sure where I would get funds for this until your organization came into the picture. Thank you so much for this!”

Mountain Fund will keep us informed on the progress of the home, including additional pictures and updates. 

Learn more from UNICEF about the conditions and status of children in Nepal

Visit Mountain Fund website

The Mountain Fund, our Poverty beneficiary for the current quarter, supports projects in mountain regions around the world. Our August 14 email poll of members asked which of the following Mountain Fund projects should receive our support:  

1. Ward 9 Pokhara, Nepal (improving a daycare center for homeless children); 
2. Aynikuy Microfinance, Peru (providing small loans to businesses run by Peruvian families in need); 
3. Benefit El Salvador (providing equipment and supplies for rural health care clinics serving 40,000 Salvadorans); 
4. Mount Everest Foundation (funding vocational training, school supplies, and health clinic supplies in the Okhaldhunga District of Nepal). 

After one week of voting, the results are in: 35 percent of the 146 poll respondents chose the Mount Everest Foundation project, with each of the other worthy projects netting 20-23 percent of the vote.

Our estimated contribution will provide a year of school supplies for 20 children, vocational training for 10 adults, and medical supplies for the local health clinic for five full years.

A few members emailed in response to the poll, including one who was incredulous at the distance our donation (currently projected at $2200-2500) will go in the Nepalese economy.

“Even if it funded the clinic for a year or so I would have been astonished,” she said. “But five years?? I hope we’ll continue to fund these projects where a little goes a long way. Better than pouring our money into one of the big buckets.”

Watch for more member polls in the coming weeks.

Learn more about the Mount Everest Foundation