A Warm Welcome to Surya Shrestha!

Surya Shrestha is a native of Nepal, looking to start his own orphanage.

This is his story:
Surya was born to a poor family in the countryside of Nepal. Growing up for him, things we take for granted, like proper food, clothing, and health care were not readily available. His parents played a big role in his life, and in his education. His parents worked very hard to provide as best as they could for his. Still, Surya had to work in his rich neighbors’ homes and on their farms for very little pay to afford schooling.

After passing standardized tests, Surya traveled to Kathmandu to continue his studies. His brother was working for a trekking company as a guide. He began university, supported by his brother for a few months, until he too joined the company part-time to pay for school. He now has a bachelor’s degree in commerce and is studying for his MBA. Surya has his own travel and tourism company based in Kathmandu. He has also volunteered his time and ingenuity to several NGOs. His next project is to establish an orphanage for orphaned and impoverished children.

Through his work, he has visited much of rural Nepal and seen the poor and orphaned children first hand. Surya’s inspiration to help the children of Nepal is the memory of his own childhood hardships. His goal is to provide orphaned, abandoned, and impoverished children in the basic necessities: being food, shelter, health care and an education.

Surya needs help coordinating nationally and internationally, establishing himself and building a network with social workers and organizations to make his dream come true!
He has very generously shared his story, and his mission with us.
He has also given us the go-ahead to post his information on this site so that those who wish to aid in his vision can contact him:

Contact:

Surya Shrestha

G.P.O. Box: 15142 KPC 722, Nayabazaar, Kathmandu, Nepal

Telephone: +977-1-2093291

Mobile: +977-9851068259

Email:  nepaljourney@gmail.com

An Overview of Nepal

Basic Information on Nepal:

Information Sources:

· The WHO Website

· CIA World Factbook

· Reuters

· Orphanages:

Chetana Children’s Center

Hope and Home

Destitute and Orphan Children Safeguarding Foundation of Nepal

Namaste Children’s House

A list of Nepalese orphanages you can contact is available on Orphanage.org.

Geopolitical Overview and Statistics on Orphaned/Abandoned Children:

· Located between the huge countries of India and China, Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with 42% of its population living below the poverty line.

· One in three children drop out of school.

· One estimate states that 10,000 children have been orphaned, and more than a 100,000 forced to leave their villages.

· Unemployment rate: 42% (2004 est.).

· Population below poverty line: 30.9% (2004).

Child Mortality:

· 27,000 children die of dysentery every year.

· Every year sixty thousand children die before they their reach 5th birthday.

Child Labor:

· 2.6 million children are engaged in different sectors of child labor.

· At least 40,000 children are bonded laborers.

· Over 5,000 children are working and living on the streets.

· Half of street children earn a meager living, around NPRs (Nepalese Rupees) 25 per day (US$ 0.3 per day) by rag picking.

· UNICEF 1996: In Nepal there are estimated to be 26,000 children of the street, i.e. those who both work and live in the street. There are an additional 3,700 children on the street, i.e. those who live with their families but spend most of their time playing and working in the street.

· The 1981 census showed that 60% of children in the 10 to 14 age group were economically active, but an altered definition meant that the 1991 census estimated that it was 23% of all 10 to 14 year olds.

· These are the ones in some kind of regular employment (i.e. not lone street children) Children tend to work at least 8 or 10 hours per day, but mostly do not earn more than about NPRs 16 per day (US$ 0.2 per day). Of urban child workers, around one quarter have received work injuries.

Education:

· Less than half of orphaned children are literate; and of those who are, most are barely literate as a result of non-formal education programmes such as the Children’s Feeding Project (one organisation which is supported by the Trust).

· 73% of women 15 years or older are illiterate.

Childcare:

· Food Crisis

· Out of 2.5 million disabled people, among them 5 % are children.

Healthcare:

· There is only one Children’s Hospital.

· 450 pregnant mothers out of 100,000 die in childbirth every year.

· Only 4% of women are attended by trained health workers during childbirth.

· Nepal is one of more than 20 countries have serious problems of malnutrition and stunted growth as a result of the food crisis that has set back anti-poverty efforts by years- the World Health Organization.

· The first case of HIV in Nepal was reported in 1988. Since then the Nepali government statistics list under 60,000 cases, while The World Health Organization (WHO) actually reported over 200,000 cases of HIV, a much more realistic number. CIA World Factbook Reports 61,000.

Sexual Exploitation / Illegal Human Trafficking:

· Nepal has the number one child disappearance rate in the world.

· Annually 12,000 women and children are trafficked to India.

· 34 % of marriages are children under 15 years of age.

· According to the WHO, Kathmandu is a major center of prostitution.

· There is a far greater proportion of boys than girls among the street children. A major cause of this imbalance is that many girls are duped into sexual exploitation. It is difficult to know how many are involved in this. In 1996 UNICEF estimated that each year, 4,000 to 5,000 girls between 10 and 14 years old are trafficked to India.

Our Third Proposal Was Just Mailed Off!

Big news, folks! Today we were very excited to deliver our proposal to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations. We wish to establish a relationship with the government and orphanages of Iran. Our goal is to deliver medical supplies, and provide basic medical training to orphaned and abandoned children.