Hopeful Home

I have an interest in the health of "looked after children" in the UK, and have worked in various settings including residential care, secure accommodation for young offenders and children in foster care. I was therefore keen to see how Nepal's welfare system provided for homeless and/or parentless children.

breakfast timeTowards the end of my time at Kanti, I visited Hopeful Home - a home for orphans and helpless children. That day I met up with Dinesh, one of the staff, who had to come to Kanti Hospital with one of the children. He showed me round their new building and told me a bit about how the home operates. However, it was very quiet during this visit as all 37 children were away at school at the time.

Hopeful is run by a number of Nepali volunteers, and funded through donations from visitors and by several large benefactors from the UK and USA. This ensures that the children have enough education, food and clothing, as well as for the upkeep of the building. Dinesh explained that Hopeful gets a lot of volunteer help from overseas visitors, and this is the main source of additional help such as with homework and providing fun activities for the children.

stethoscope discoveryHowever, in the following week the current volunteers were away travelling, and I realised that my time at Kanti was winding down and that I often had afternoons free as this was the quietest time in the hospital. So I offered help with homework, play and anything else required, every day for the following week to help cover for the volunteers who were away.

And I wasn't to be disappointed. I arrived on the Monday shortly after the children had returned from school, and was given the biggest, warmest, friendliest welcome I could have imagined from all the children and staff. You can read my journal entry about the experience here.

Anyway, to cut to the chase, Hopeful Home is a fantastic organisation which offers many children the security, education and love that they have persevered without before they arrived at Hopeful Home. It's a truly remarkable place that strongly believes in education to give the children opportunities that they would never otherwise have. It's clear that the kids at Hopeful have new-found ambitions, and judging from their enthusiasm to learn (even including doing homework!) they have huge potential to be successful in their lives.

group photoThe children made me promise to return as soon as I could, with some of them even telling me to come back at Christmas with my family! This is a bit too ambitious, but their hospitality and enthusiasm was a big factor in my decision to return on Nepal en route to Vietnam/Cambodia in 2005.

Consequently, I hope to raise some money before going back. More details will appear on this site once some ideas are ready.

If you wish to visit Hopeful Home, you can contact them via their website at www.hopefulhome.org. Donations of money or food (especially fruit and veg) are put to very good use.