Nepal: Nava Kiran Orphanage

Where?

Patan, Kathmandu Valley; Nepal

Project Objective

It was founded by Savitri Pokrel who, with the help of her son and the local community, looks after between 40-50 orphaned children between the ages of 3 months and 16 years. The old orphanage was run entirely on donations and struggled to look after, clothe, feed and educate all the children. The house was delapidated with the children living in two bedrooms and one common room.

Since 2002 Exodus has supported the orphanage in various ways, with our staff helping with renovations and taking the kids out for picnics in our own expedition vehicles. Unfortunately in the later part of 2004 it became clear that the orphans were in danger of losing their home and so we embarked on a much bigger project to help provide a new and long term roof over their heads. A Nepali well wisher got us started by donating a plot of land and we set about fund raising and applying our project management skills to the build.

Who is Involved?

Valerie Parkinson (Exodus Local Leaders Manager) and Keshar Khadka (Local Leader) are monitoring the children’s educational needs. We would not have been able to help these children as much as we have without the input from many of our clients, staff and friends who kindly donated both time and money. We would therefore like to thank all who have donated including Richard and Karen Wolferstan-Bannister, Andrew Hooker, Sue Skinner, Chris Norman, Sarah Grantham, Simon and Angela Ramsay, Don Vass, Lynne Dabrowska, Duncan Roberts, Mike Rendall, Phil Ryder, Richard Thompson, Mr & Mrs I Dodd, Tony Newjam, Graham Herrick, Andy Bishop, Ffyonna Scott, Colin Young, Rita Berry and the pupils of Barnes Junior School, Sunderland, Melissa Loosemore and the pupils of Roegreen Junior School, the staff and pupils of the Roche School, Wandsworth, June Allan of Travelwise, Devizes and all those that sponsored specific beds and desks.

Explanation of Project and Targets

• Continued to improve the water supply and sewage system
• Set up an educational fund to help the children’s education. The education costs around £120 per child per year. This includes: school fees, uniforms, books, exam fees and transport to and from school if necessary. Unfortunately we don’t have individual sponsorship, but there is a central education fund within our Nepal Project, which will cover the schooling for all the children.
• Produce an annual newsletter covering all the children and their progress

August 2008 - A golfing day with a difference!

Exodus client Ffyonna Scott organised a fundraising day on behalf of our Responsible Tourism project out in Kathmandu.

Nava Kiran Golf Outing was held on Thursday 21 August at Swanston Golf Club, Edinburgh with attendees from Royal Bank of Scotland, Supplier Management Team and their suppliers:

• TSys
• Experian
• FST Technologies
• MailSource

Other donations were made by Exodus, Visa and MasterCard. And Chris Bonnington donated a signed Everest book, which was very well received from a keen climber.

Eighteen people attended the outing, with 5 people competing in the 9 hole competition and 13 players in the 18 hole competition. The course had been closed the day before due to the torrential rain Edinburgh had experienced for a number of days, however, the night before, it didn't rain at all, which meant the greenkeepers could get out and tend the course to ensure it was playable. And just as our first team were teeing off, the clouds parted and the sun came out. I'm quite convinced that the children of Nava Kiran must have been spinning their prayer wheels and praying for sunshine!

The total amount raised was £1,320. This will put 11 children through school for a year!

On behalf of the Exodus team, and our operators based in Nepal, we would like to say a big thank you to Ffyonna and the group for their generosity nd dedication to this project.

January 2006

By January 2006 we had raised enough money to finish the main building and to build a kitchen cum dining room. On 26 March 2006 the new home was officially opened and in April the children moved in.

As with any large construction project there have been some teething problems. The water supply and sewage systems are an on-going problem, as is the case in the rest of the Kathmandu Valley.

In January 2007 Keshar Khadka and some of the other Nepali leaders organised a New Year picnic for all the children. The children loved the games, prizes, food and general party atmosphere.

In the summer of 2007 a small bio-gas unit was installed on the site to provide some of the fuel required for cooking. In autumn 2007 a parabolic solar cooker was purchased to help keep the cooking costs and, as important, the carbon footprint down.

The local community has always supported the home but as the new home is more expensive to run than the old building we have decided to help out with the children’s education costs, which may have suffered as a consequence. A good education is very important in order to provide a foundation for their future.