Himalayan Children's Charities

Himalayan Children's Charities was established with the mission of creating a promising future for orphaned, vulnerable and marginalized children and youth in Nepal. HCC aims to break the cycle of poverty faced by at-risk children by providing quality education, nurturing care and innovative mentorship. HCC aims to empower each child we serve to become community leaders and live lives of achievement with self-esteem and resilience. HCC aims to create a sustainable change in cultural attitudes toward orphaned and marginalized children, and create equal possibilities for all children regardless of the circumstances they were born into. HCC's Signature Program, established in 2000, ser... read more Himalayan Children's Charities was established with the mission of creating a promising future for orphaned, vulnerable and marginalized children and youth in Nepal. HCC aims to break the cycle of poverty faced by at-risk children by providing quality education, nurturing care and innovative mentorship. HCC aims to empower each child we serve to become community leaders and live lives of achievement with self-esteem and resilience. HCC aims to create a sustainable change in cultural attitudes toward orphaned and marginalized children, and create equal possibilities for all children regardless of the circumstances they were born into. HCC's Signature Program, established in 2000, serves orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children from kindergarten through to career in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. Students attend high-quality, English-medium boarding schools through grade 10 and spend holidays at our group home, Khushi Ghar, where students in grades 11 and 12 live full-time. Unlike many charities, HCC continues to provide support for students through university or technical college, and students reside semi-independently in annex apartments until the completion of their undergraduate studies. HCC's unique surrogate family model creates a nurturing environment that supports and encourages each child. Children are taught valuable life skills and receive mentorship to foster self-awareness and discover inner talents, strengths, and interests. They are provided scholastic tutoring and career counseling, and have access to emotional therapy to ensure that the trauma of their early childhoods does not undermine their progress. Community service and leadership training are important cornerstones of this program, and students are encouraged to give back to their local communities. In April 2015, a devastating series of earthquakes hit Nepal, severely affecting rural communities already struggling with extreme poverty, inequality, and lack of infrastructure. The earthquake exacerbated Nepal's significant orphan crisis, creating hundreds more vulnerable orphans. In response, HCC expanded its mission to offer our unique services and support to earthquake-orphaned children, who lost one or both parents, in the worst affected districts. The Earthquake Orphan Scholarship Program (EOSP) provides educational support for these at-risk children within the context of their families and communities. Without access to an education, and a caring network of support, these vulnerable children face exponentially increased risks of being trafficked or forced into labor or early marriage, and almost ensures a future mired in poverty and hardship. This program aims to keep children with their parents or surviving family members, aiming to rebuild and strengthen rural communities by providing a way out of poverty for the next generation. The EOSP also provides scholarships for eligible, capable and motivated youth to attend college and technical schools. In addition to the EOSP, HCC has established a number of projects helping to rebuild infrastructure and communities in earthquake-affected, rural Nepal. The WiFi Program has installed fast and reliable Internet in six rural schools in the Dhading and Makwanpur districts, and provides enhanced curricula, including teacher training and digital educational content. The Library Project, an HCC student-led initiative, has collected funds and over 2,000 books for two new school libraries in two rural districts. HCC has also worked with the anti-trafficking organizations Cause Vision and SASANE to produce an anti-trafficking comic book that is now available free-of-cost for distribution to school children around the country. HCC has distributed 5,000 of these comic books and plans to distribute 5,000 more in 2018. With the support of medical professionals, youth-led health and hygiene workshops and health camps are also regularly run for children at HCC project sites throughout the year. To date, HCC's innovative programs have directly served over 200 orphaned and abandoned children in Kathmandu and the surrounding rural districts. Through the various outreach projects, HCC has impacted a further 7,500 children and youth.