Protect & Inspire Street Connected Children, Nepal

Our work at Kidasha is all about transforming the lives of the children we work with.  I would like to share with you an update about one of our beneficiaries.

Amir was 12 years old when he first came to Pokhara from a remote and deprived rural district in the west of Nepal. His father had died leaving Amir as the eldest son with the responsibility to support his family – his mother and a younger brother and sister. As a result his Uncle brought him to the city in search of work.

Amir was identified six months ago by a Kidasha outreach worker during workplace assessments conducted in partnership with the city authorities. He is now 14 years old and is a welder in a garage. Although, he doesn’t like his job, he has little option as he has to support his family and sends the £50 he earns each month home.

Our outreach work persuaded Amir to join one of functional learning classes near the garage where he was working. Amir had never been to school and it took a lot of persuasion to get him to join the class each morning.   When he started he lacked confidence and showed little interest in actively participating. However, over time as he has gradually started to learn, achieve more and he is beginning to enjoy the classes. Amir’s confidence and well being have increased significantly.  Amir wants to take every opportunity to learn and he has set himself a goal to open his own repair workshop within the next 10 years.

Without your wonderful generous support, we could never have achieved what we have in Nepal but sadly there are many more children, like Amir who we need to reach.  So, it would be fantastic if you would consider donating again to Kidasha this Christmas.

Many thanks

The Kidasha Team

Dear Supporter

I would like to share with you a success story of one of our beneficiaries who I was fortunate enough to meet on a recent trip to Nepal.

Sanjay (not his real name) is now 24 years old and is a shining example of how our work can transform the lives of the some of the poorest children living in Pokhara.  Sanjay dropped out of school aged 10 years old and began working in the sand mines with his parents.  This type of work is back breaking and extremely tough seasonal work for very little money. Although Sanjay was under the legal age for work, his parents were unable to survive without his additional meager wages.

However he was one of the lucky and was picked up aged 14 by one of our social workers and with a little bit of persuasion started coming to one of our drop in centres.  Here, he attended one of our non formal education courses, where children come together and learn without the pressures of being in full time education. Sanjay regularly attended these classes and did well.  He then went on and with the support of Kidasha did a vocational course in hotel housekeeping.  After graduating from this course, he managed to get a job in Dubai working in a hotel.  Whilst he was abroad, he met a colleague and they decided that they would open a restaurant together back in Nepal, which is now a reality.

Amazingly, Sanjay has a third share in this restaurant and his dream of becoming a chef has been fulfilled.  He is now earning enough and is able to help support his parents. He is also paying for his sister to stay in school, as he now realizes the importance of a good education.

Sanjay is extremely grateful for the support that Kidasha has given him and how it has transformed his life.  In the next few months he is hoping to be able to take on a trainee from one of our projects in his kitchen, as he is keen to give something back.

On behalf of Sanjay and many other Nepali children, we would like to thank you for your invaluable support. None of this would have been possible without your generosity.

The Kidasha Team