By Sanju Poudel | Project Leader
While we’re proud of the high quality of the living environment at Olgapuri (NYF’s permanent children’s home which opened in 2016), we strive to keep children with their own families whenever possible. This is especially important in Nepal, where family is one of the highest values. As such, NYF’s Kinship Care model focuses on providing financial support to extended family members who otherwise would not be able to keep an orphaned or abandoned child. With your support, a relatively small stipend can prevent the trafficking, exploitation, or institutionalization of at-risk children.
Before the devastating 2015 earthquakes, our Kinship Care program supported 40-50 children annually. As noted in the previous report, we accepted 743 children into Earthquake Kinship Care as part of our disaster relief efforts. While NYF’s Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction program ended in 2017, 591 families remain in our Kinship Care program.
As earthquake-stricken communities in Gorkha, Dhading and Kavre stabilize, we continue to assess the need in other disadvantaged communities, evaluate strategies, and raise funds to maintain our increased capacity for Kinship Care. The experience NYF gained from administering Earthquake Kinship Care has allowed us to nearly double the number of children in our core Kinship Care.
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Sita’s mother committed suicide when her daughter was just two years old. Her father then remarried, leaving Sita to be raised by her elderly grandparents.
Already struggling to support Sita and themselves with their meager old-age benefits, they lost everything, including their home and the garden they counted on for sustenance, during the earthquakes. The family is still living in a temporary shelter while Sabita, now 12, attends her village school through NYF’s Kinship Care scholarship.
While we anticipate another 100 families to stabilize in 2018 with your support, those on the margins – like Sita’s - will likely need Kinship Care until the child graduates and becomes self-sufficient.
Thank you for allowing children to reach their full potential -- with their family!
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