Our Children’s Home in Sindhupalchowk District is transitioning to a Girls’ Hostel as Director Neel Shahi prepares to step down as President of TEAM Nepal and become a board member. Plans have been in the works this year to hand off leadership to a long-time associate and friend of Neel’s. Although there have been some delays, everything is moving forward again, and the hostel is scheduled to open this winter.
TEAM Nepal’s intention, as they transition to new leadership, is for the hostel to become more self-sustaining. This will enable girls from rural villages to continue their education past middle school by creating a safe space with reasonable fees where families can send their girls to high school in a larger town in the same district. Most small villages do not have a high school, and families often don’t want to send their daughters to Kathmandu for reasons of both cost and safety. Our Girls’ Hostel in Sindhupalchowk District will keep girls closer to their families and home villages and also make it possible for them to finish their high school education locally instead of dropping out, which is still too common in Nepal.
In order to make the transition to the Girls’ Hostel possible, this year CLN painted and cleaned up the children’s home inside and out, built two new study rooms and a new bathroom block, set up an art room and a small library, updated the kitchen and dining areas, and purchased new bedding and mattresses. CLN is also supporting the education of a few remaining students from the Children’s Home who have not yet graduated high school. Most of our children have gone to live with relatives in their extended families–uncles/aunts or grandparents who could not afford to support and care for them as small children but who have welcomed them now that they are old enough to help in the household.
We are proud of our children who have left the Children’s Home after having graduated high school, and have now gone on to work and study in Kathmandu. One of our first children at the Children’s Home–and one of the top students in high school–Krishna is now studying in Japan, an amazing opportunity for him!
