Our Goals
SPONSORSHIPS
Sponsorships for children are always a priority for us. One child placed in government primary, high school or college will average about $700 per year for all living and school expenses. Some scholarships for blind children and others are even less. Sponsors are welcome to become involved in the life of the child they sponsor, if they wish, but it is not necessary. All sponsors are provided yearly reports and photos of the boy or girl in their financial care.
GIRL’S ORPHANAGE
The extreme lack of care facilities is a major factor in the distressing living conditions of so many displaced Nepali children. The establishment of an orphanage for girls is a VC-N project that is being fulfilled with the cooperation of Paropakar Orphanage in Kathmandu, the first and most honored social program and NGO established in Nepal (1953). With the orphanage office providing the land and basic housing structure, we will be able to economically renovate and furnish comfortable, secure living space for twenty-four orphaned girls, a dream long held by Paropakar and VC-N. All financial aspects of the construction of the orphanage building are to be supervised by VC-N, as well as the purchase of the furnishings and supplies, and one year’s living and school costs for the girls. With architectural plans drawn and a generous start-up donation in hand, we enthusiastically share our determination to realize this orphanage with friends and contributors who appreciate the urgency of sanctuary for homeless girls. We won’t know who the girls are, or their individual stories, until this home is completed and ready to welcome the waiting children, but we know that the children are out there and their needs are desperate.
EMERGENCY AID
Our time spent in Nepal, especially in the realms of street children and the physically impaired, continually demands our time and resources to the emergency care and support for the suffering. Most often our help is for medicines and medical attention, which frequently includes hospital coverage and orthotic equipment for the disabled. We also purchase clothes, and simple supplies for the unfortunate who we find living in dire, often life-threatening conditions.
LEPROSY ASHRAM
A most rewarding cause has been our yearly help to a noble group of elderly victims of leprosy living in Pokhara, Nepal. Abandoned out of fear by their families and ostracized by society, this remarkable community of infirmed, disfigured lepers carry on with their lives as a force of self-acceptance and purpose. We have been truly fortunate to enjoy their friendship and appreciate the strength and good spirit they
demonstrate with their smiles and joy in welcoming visitors. Our contributions are modest, but we have improved their lives with gifts of sweaters, shawls, sewing machines, sewing cloth, bedding and cooking stoves. Small donations, like generous kilos of tea, sugar, powdered milk, fruit and biscuits are like a festival celebration to them, and we manage this at every opportunity. Our greatest gift seems to be our presence, though. Their friends are few and highly cherished.
A good day at the Leprosy Ashram
It's all smiles for the elderly patients of the leprosy colony in Pokhara when visitors come. VC-N visits these exceptional people twice a year, and always with the spirit of friendship and donations to improve their lives and provide reason for a day of joy and celebration.
