The Kamzang Fund | The Kamzang Fund Projects
The Kamzang Fund has been sponsoring children (as well as a few adults) in the Himalaya for education and medical issues for 20 years. The Kamzang Fund presently has 4 college graduate, sponsors 10 children for higher education, 20+ children for lower or middle school education and is looking for sponsorship for many more children. The Kamzang Fund has also supported locals from the remote regions through which we trek and cycle for various medical issues over the past two decades, and continues to help villagers who have fallen through the cracks …
Browse through the Kamzang Fund Kids, Kamzang Fund Medical Cases & Kamzang Fund Projects – of which we have many, including extensive Nepal 2015 earthquake aid and the Adopt a Goat campaign. Please get in touch if you’d like to help to change a life in the Himalaya!
The Kamzang Fund | 100%
100% of your donations go to the Kamzang Fund, the Kamzang Kids, and our Kamzang Fund Projects. If you would like to donate to the Kamzang Fund in general, we put our general pool of funds towards children who have extra needs during their education (including medical assistance, clothes or housing), villagers that we meet during our travels that require medical assistance, Himalayan nomads or other of our Kamzang Fund projects.
The Kamzang Fund | Recent Projects
The Kamzang Fund projects support villagers and Himalayan nomads who have ‘fallen through the cracks’ in the remote regions of the Nepal and Indian Himalaya. 100% of all donations go directly to our funds, medical cases, nomadic communities and education. We donate our time, logistics and effort, and you donate the funding; a team effort from the heart 
…
The Kamzang Fund brought Susma Gurung (age 7, Dolpo, Nepal) to Kathmandu for cleft lip surgery, Tsering Kondo (age 7, Upper Mustang, Nepal) to Kathmandu for an undiagnosed hearing issue and Chhunku Ukyab to Kathmandu to study after losing much of her hearing in the Kanchenjunga. Many villagers in these remote regions desperately need attention, and we do what we can to help, with an individual and personal approach to aid. We have consistently aided Himalayan nomads who have lost over 50% of their livestock during harsh Himalayan winters.
The Kamzang Fund has initiated sanitation and solar projects that will hopefully improve the lives of remote villagers. We’ve sent bedding up to nuns in one of the Himalayan regions most remote Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Tsum Valley, Nepal, and aided in many medical cased, from goiters to cataracts. Kamzang Earthquake Aid raised over $40,000 after the tragic 2015 Nepal earthquakes, 100% of which went towards the rebuilding of Nepal.
The Kamzang Fund | 100%
100% of your donations go to the Kamzang Fund, the Kamzang Kids, and our Kamzang Fund Projects. A donation to the Kamzang Fund goes directly to children who have extra needs during their education (including medical assistance, clothes or housing), villagers that we meet during our travels that require medical assistance, Himalayan nomads or other of our many Kamzang Fund social projects. You can sponsor a child yearly, or make a donation to a child’s education, or donate to the Kamzang Fund – all of your donations go 100% to our causes!
Make a difference, improve the life of a child by offering education, or the life of a Himalayan villager!
Ready to Help?
Inquire about which children need sponsorship and the costs involved. There are many forms of sponsorship, and the costs vary from region to region. Help can take many forms, from full school sponsorship to helping with books and school uniforms, a one-time payment, or help with medical issues. You can sponsor a Tibetan Buddhist monk or their monastery, and we help find funding for Himalayan schools and act as an intermediary for you to find ways to help. 
Find children who are ‘Looking for Sponsors’ below. And scroll down this page for the list of children that we sponsor, with photos and stories. And our GRADUATES are at the bottom of this page! 
Donate to The Kamzang Fund
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Mail To: Kim Bannister, PO Box 1178, Rockport, ME 04856
(We are not registered as a 4013C non-profit to keep our fees at 0%, so don’t have a separate bank account. 100% of your donation goes to The Kamzang Fund.)
Transfer or Wire | Inquire for Bank Details
Email | kim@kamzang.com
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The Kamzang Fund | Projects
Kamzang Earthquake Aid | Nepal 2015 Earthquake
Kamzang Earthquake Aid
After Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquakes, the Kamzang Fund is raising money to aid Tamang villages in Rasuwa (and possibly elsewhere), remote villages in Solu and a few select villages in Khumbu which have been badly affected by the quakes.
We can achieve so much with your contributions.
As always, 100% of your donations go where we feel they are most needed …
The Kamzang Fund | Earthquake Series Photo Galleries
Nepal 2015 EQ Galleries
The Samdo Fund
(Nubri, Manaslu, Nepal)
Our Samdo fund is a cause that is close to our hearts, an attempt to help a family in Samdo, in the Tibetan region of Nupri in the Manaslu region. Nyima Diki lost her husband after finally recovering from four years of postpartum depression and was now trying to support her four children by herself. She has set up the most basic of ‘momo-tea-chang’ shops in her small, wooden hut in the village but is barely scraping by.
We were introduced to Nyima Diki, her husband Tswang Gyurme and their four kids by our friend Clint Rogers, who stayed with the family for a year while writing his great book on Samdo, ‘Where Rivers Meet: A Tibetan Refugee Community’s Struggle to Survive in the High Mountains of Nepal ‘. (Mandala Press) and the relationship with the family has continued from there. Our goal was to find sponsors for her children and to raise money to help Nyima Diki build a real teahouse so that she can support herself! Currently she is making a little bit of money from her tea-house, collecting yersa gumba in the summertime and portering loads to nearby peaks for foreign trekking companies to make ends meet.
The Tibetan inhabitants of Samdo fled to Nepal from Tibet after 1959, and are struggling to make a living in a very remote part of the Himalayan border regions of Nepal. Nyima Dikki struggled with 4-years of debilitating postpartum depression, lost her husband Tsewang Gyurme soon afterward fighting a forest fire, and supports her 4 children without an income. Her sister-in-law Rita Lhamo was born deaf, and is struggling to support herself while living alone in Samdo. Tashi Dikki is attempting to raise her 4 children while her husband Babu, a truly lovely person, is in jail for an accidental incident. Her 15-year-old son Lobsang Chhering is studying in Pokhara, and we are looking for a sponsor for him. Her monk son Urgen Thinley Dorji is living at Seto Gonpa in Kathmandu, and Nyima Dikki also has a son who is a monk in Kathmandu. All of these women rely on subsistence farming in a harsh environment, search for yertsagunbu (caterpillar fungus) during June and raise an animal or two for milk.
Nyima Dikki was diagnosed with postpartum depression by a psychiatrist on our trek after FOUR years of sitting in a dark Himalayan house (this one). We tried her out on anti-depressants sent from South Africa a few months later. These changed her life, and she’s now doing well, is out in the fields, running an at-home teahouse, and has raised her four children, despite the tragic loss of her husband just a couple of years later (fighting a forest fire).
We also met Nyima Dikki this winter in Kathmandu, and were able to help with medical check-ups and expenses for some depression and pain issues via donations to The Kamzang Fund, and we help with her living expenses every year. We have just sent a year’s worth of her medications up to Samdo (Manaslu region) now as well.
UPDATE 2022 | The Kamzang Fund has been helping Tibetan Nyima Dikki for about 15 years, since we first met her through friend (and author of ‘Where Three Rivers Meet’) Cint Rogers. Clint stayed with Nyima Dikki and her late husband Tsewang when doing his book research years ago, and asked us to check in on Nyima after having had her fourth child four years previously …
RITA
We’ve also help support Rita, Tsewang Gyurme’s deaf sister who lives by herself and helps take care of her father in Samdo. Rita is a good weaver, but doesn’t have any way to purchase the raw products or market her creations to make a living besides selling locally – which is an almost non-existent market. We’re working with Rita to sell her textiles and rugs elsewhere, and help her out financially …
BABU & TASHI DIKKI’S FAMILY
Our good friend Nyima Dorji (Babu) is in jail in Kathmandu for an accidental incident involving a monastery project entrusted to him by Samdo village, leaving his wife Tashi Dikki to look after her three children along. One son Lama Urgen Thinley Dorji is 12 years old, and a thawa (young monk) at Seto Gonpa in Kathmandu where he is known as Gunden Tharkey. Their other son Lobsang Chhering is now 15 or 16 years old and attending the Pokhara Tibetan School. We are trying to raise funds to help Babu and Tashi Dikki raise money for Lobsang Chhering’s education, and perhaps move him to a better school.
We are also hoping to engage a lawyer to look into Babu’s case …
The Dolpo Fund | Nepal Himalaya
Tsewang Gyinzom
(Goiter, Karang, Upper Dolpo)
There are so many villagers in remote regions of Nepal who still suffer from goiters. We met this lovely woman, Tsewang Gyinzom, in Karang village, a 2 hour walk from Saldang (home of the late Caravan Thinle). She developed this severe goiter when she was around 50, and is now in her mid-50s. We would like to bring her to Kathmandu to investigate.
UPDATE | Tsewang Gyinzom is in Kathmandu (Dec 2016) and with the help of Michelle Bostick + Pemma Wangchen we are waiting for a date for goiter surgery! Later … she never had the surgery (her choice), but the Kamzang Fund has continued to support her medicines and medical needs, and to see her yearly during our Sacred Upper Dolpo to Mustang treks!
Thinley Gyalgen
(Yak Herd Assistance, Saldang, Upper Dolpo)
Thinley has been our horseman for nearly 20 years, faithfully leading us through the far reaches of Upper Dolpo accompanied by one of his white horses. In the winter of 2019, Thinley lost half of his yaks due to a harsh Himalayan winter, and with the help of the generous Susan L, we were able to provide him with some assistance to replenish his herd …
Kunsang Dechen
(TB, Karang, Upper Dolpo)
Dolma Choekyi, a big-hearted nurse from Karang Health Post (at the school), introduced us to Kunsang, who was working as the hostel cook in the Karang Secondary School and was ill. The Kamzang Fund paid for a flight to Kathmandu as well as all of her medical and daily expenses. After an investigation at a Kathmandu hospital, Kusang was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to stay for 6 months in Kathmandu, taking her TB medicine daily. Eventually she returned to her job in Karang, completely recovered, and we see her yearly!
Tsewang Dolma Gurung
(Epilepsy, Karang, Upper Dolpo)
Dolma Choekyi introduced us to Tsewang Dolma Gurung from remote Luri village in Upper Dolpo. Tsewang Dolma, now 30, has been living with undiagnosed epilepsy since she was 18. She recently had a fall in Dolpo and tragically lost her baby (and front tooth). Dolma Choekyi, a big-hearted nurse from Karang Health Post (at the school), brought her to Kathmandu to receive medical help. The Kamzang Fund paid for all of her medical expenses and medicine in Kathmandu, and met her at Cafe Caravan with Dolma Choekyi …
Pasang Lhamo
(MRI, Karang, Upper Dolpo)
Dolma Choekyi introduced us to Pasang Lhamo, a young women (age 23) from Dolpo who comes from a poor family and was brought to Kathmandu by an uncle to study until Class 10. Her uncle couldn’t further help her, so she found a way to continue her education and study humanities at Arunima Collage, supported by Dolpo Tulku. She was in Class 12 when we met her in Kathmandu. Pasang Lhamo was already having financial problem when she got sick with an undiagnosed illness. After medical check-ups in Kathmandu, she was requested to have an MRI by several doctors, but couldn’t afford it. The Kamzang Fund paid for the MRI to diagnose her illness …
The Upper Mustang Fund
(Tsum, Manaslu, Nepal)
We have been helping this grandmother from Tangge for many years, providing a helicopter to Kathmandu for medical assistence when she had potential breast cancer (a huge, infected and open wound in her breast), and now are trying to find sponsors for her grand-daughters, abandoned by their mother several years ago (see Looking for Sponsors). We assist her financially to help make ends meet …
The Tsum Valley Gompa Lungdang Nuns Project
(Tsum, Manaslu, Nepal)
The Nuns of Gompa Lungdang are as welcoming as they come, amazingly so as their monastery is located in one of the most remote parts of the Tsum Valley, bordering on the Ganesh Himal region. We have provided them with blankets & sheets, and our aim is to raise funds to help them build a dining room. They eat outside or in the entrance of the monastery at the moment.
We would also like to provide these amazing nuns with solar power, and at one point to help them rebuild their dining space!
The Susma Gurung Cleft Lip Fund
(Upper Dolpo, Nepal)
Susma Gurung lives in the small village of Rechi in Dolpo and goes to the Tapriza Cultural school at Amchi Gompa, an hour north of her home. At 9 years old, she is the youngest of a family of seven and has a severely deformed cleft lip. Our Upper Dolpo to Mustang trek in 2011 ran into Susma while trekking towards Phoksumdo Lake and I offered to pay for her to get to Kathmandu and have an operation. We never heard from her parents, but fortunately ran into Susma at school this year after inquiring about her at her village below. We sent her beautiful older sister down an hour’s hike to bring her father back up to our camp at Amchi Gompa. Her father arrived at camp just before dark and promised to bring Susma to Kathmandu this year. We gave him money to get to Kathmandu and hoped that they would come. Several of our 2012 Dolpo trek wanted to help with Susma’s operation and expenssed, so I’ve created this page to follow the progress of Susma’s operation …
Susma and her father flew from Juphal to Nepalgunj and then took the local bus to Kathmandu the third week of November, while Lhakpa & I were still on the Everest trek. Today Lhakpa & I took Susma to an internationally funded hospital called Kathmandu Model Hospital (although I’m not sure what it’s a model for), affiliated with SmileTrain, which specializes in cleft palates and plastic surgery around the world.
We had several appointments with the cleft palatte/lip/plastic surgery department and spent all day getting blood tests, seeing a pediatric doctor and an anesthastist. Between appointments we took Susma shopping and she’s now decked out in a cute pair of jeans, a pink turtleneck sweater and hoodie, cute as! I gave them money for meals and transport and Lhakpa & I will meet them again the day after tomorrow for her morning operation. We’re so excited to see the outcome!
Their expenses at the hospital will be minimal but Susma will most probably need extensive dental reconstruction afterwards. Our aim is to raise enough money to pay for their flights and transport to and from Kathmandu, any medical expenses incurred and their expenses while in Kathmandu. Susma might well need speech therapy afterwards as well. And we’d like to send her back home with some money for school and new clothes.
UPDATES 2013 – 19 | We met Susma at her school in lower Dolpo this May and took a few photos of her with her schoolmates. She seems so much happier, and considerably more sure of herself. And best of all, she looks BEAUTIFUL! Below are a few of the photos from May 2013, Amchi Gompa, Dolpo. (And below the before and after photos of her operation in Kathmandu). Susma has been studying at Tabriza School since we first met her, excelling in her studies, and looking beautiful!
The Tshering Kondo Hearing & Speech Therapy Fund
(Upper Mustang, Nepal)
Tsering Kondo comes from Yara, on the eastern ‘winter’ route of Mustang, near the fabled Luri Gompa. We met this lively girl of 7 two years ago at our campsite. Amongst all the kids that came for pencils and presents, she was the most animated. We soon learned that she didn’t speak correctly. She did make all sorts of communicative sounds and made herself easily understood. We all fell in love with her bubbly personality her and wanted to do something to help her.
Shiven Malhotra, on the ‘Last Nomads of Mustang’ 2011 trek donated 20,000 NRP on the spot for Tsering and one of her parents to travel to Kathmandu and visit a speech therapist. Tsering didn’t show up in Kathmandu last winter, so when Lhakpa & I ran into her on this past year’s Mustang trek we talked further with her mother. Her mother said that Tsering didn’t have a serious problem anymore so coming to Kathmandu wasn’t necessary. For sure Tsering seemed to be speaking a few words. We weren’t sure what the problem was so left it at that …
Lhakpa got a call a month ago from Tsering’s mother saying that she wanted to bring Tsering to Kathmandu after all. So two weeks ago, Tsering and her father arrived and are now staying near Boudha with a friend from Mustang.
Doma & I took Tsering to an internationally funded plastic surgery/cleft lip & palatte clinic at Kathmandu Model Hospital which is affiliated with SmileTrain. We’ve taken a few other kids there so know that they also provide speech therapy sessions. We met with a wonderful speech therapist named Ruchi who had suspicions that Tsering might have a hearing problem.
SMILE TRAIN | The next steps were to send her for tests at various hospitals around Kathmandu. Doma has been fielding the hospitals further away and we’ve both been to the Model Hopsital with Tsering and her father. Tsering next needed relatively expensive medical tests to check her hearing and a hearing aid, and was refered to a new speach therapist as Ruchi was off at a medical clinic in Pokhara. Her therapy isn’t supported by Smile Train as she’s not a cleft lip/palatte case so we are paying her therapy expenses and transportation to/from the clinic on New Road.
Update Jan 2013:Tsering has now been in Kathmandu for almost a month, and her therapist says her speach therapy is making a big difference. At the moment she’s only got a $100 wire hearing aid, very basic. We’d like to provide her with a better aid soon, which could cost anywhere from $1000 on.
Our goal is to raise enough money to pay for their transport from Mustang to and from Kathmandu, medical expenses incurred, her present hearing aid, transport and their expenses while in Kathmandu. We’d like to send her back home with some money for school and new clothes. Our future goal is to to raise money for continued therapy, a new hearing aid ($1000+) and to find her a sponsor so we can send her to school in Kathmandu where she can continue with her speech therapy. 100% goes to Tsering Kondo.
Update Jan 2014 | We caught up with Tsering Kondo, her little sister, mother & father in their village of Yara during our Nar Phu to Upper Mustang trek in October, and she’s doing much better. She still isn’t using her hearing aid very much, but she is ‘learning’ and speaking better than she was, is happy and more confident.
We are trying to get her to Pokhara this winter to meet with NAHOH, a local hearing project helped by Whitsunday Hearing out of Australia. Thanks to them for their support so far. More updates coming!
The Kamzang Fund | Ramji’s Everest Base Camp Dream
Read About Ramji’s Dream
Ramji comes from a family of 13 children, raised in Lumbini, Nepal, just near the birthplace of Buddha. Ramji has been blind from birth, and 3 of his other siblings are also blind. Ramji was trained in massage by Seeing Hands in Kathmandu, and has been working as a masseur for the past 10 or so years. (He’s an incredible masseur, the best I’ve ever been to in Nepal, highly recommended if you’re in Kathmandu!
Ramji’s dream is to trek to Everest Base Camp from Lukla. Kamzang Journeys offered to pay for a guide for his trip while trying to raise money for his airfare to and from Lukla, a porter, some trekking gear (he’s going in January, a cold time in the Himalaya, and only has Kathmandu clothes) as well as his meals and lodging while on the EBC trek. Although he has never seen the Himalaya, he has big dreams that are pretty incredible!
Dawa Tashi Gurung’s Tablet
(Chhoser, Mustang)
Tablet Zoye gifted a tablet to the inspired Dawa Tashi! Dawa Tashi Gurung from Chhoser, Upper Mustang, Nepal was our exceptional guide to the Jhong Caves above Lo Manthang this past April. Dawa Tashi (about 12 years old) had been saving his guiding tips to buy a tablet so that he could better study online. Most families only have basic mobile phones, and usually one to a family … Zoye promised to buy him a tablet, which was purchased from Samsung in Kathmandu just after our Mustang trek. We dropped it off to Dawa Tashi’s parents, and discovered that Dawa Tashi is now a monk, studying and living in Kathmandu!
Thanks so much to Zoye, this is the type of project that we love at The Kamzang Fund!
The Mustang Lo Manthang Solar Project
(Lo Manthang, Upper Mustang, Nepal)
The Kamzang Fund, supported by Rita Evans, donated an entire solar set-up to the Lo Monthang Community Center so that this remote village could use its donated computers. The installed internet several years ago, connecting the village to the rest of the world. The solar was brought up to Lo Manthang via the Kali Gandaki River by truck, a feat in itself! The work to transport and set up the solar system was all donated by local inhabitants of Upper Mustang.
The Tsum Valley Sanitation Project
(Tsum Valley, Manaslu, Nepal)
One of our many-time trekkers, Kati, helped Sonam of Tsum Valley Homestays to implement this very important sanitation project at the request of a local inhabitant of the remote Tsum Valley. Now almost all of the houses have their own outdoor toilets, all of the work done locally.
Photo from Mu Gonpa, in the far north of Tsum Valley (2014)
The Dil Maya Gurung Cataract Fund
(Manaslu, Nepal)
Dil Maya lives in one of the Lower Manaslu region’s most remote village, and at age 50, found that she couldn’t see well enough to tend to the crops and livestock. The Kamzang Fund brought her to Kathmandu for an eye operation at Tilganga Hospital.
Local Medical Assistance
(Himalayan Regions)
So many of our trekkers and cyclists are qualified to offer medical help or advice during our journeys, and provide invaluable assistance to remote villagers with medical issues. Kamzang Journeys has medically assisted villagers for the past 20+ years, and these are just a few of the cases below …
We provided financial assistance for a young girl from a lower caste family on the outskirts of Dolpo who had been bitten by a dog. We paid for her to go to the nearest health post and get her series of rabies shots when her family said they couldn’t afford the trip to the town …
This photo from Phillim, in the Manaslu region of Nepal. Lhakpa and a medical doctor treating a woman with an infected wound in the far upper reaches of the extremely poor Hindu village of Phillim, along the Manaslu trekking route. Treating a local woman in Phillim after she’d had an infected wound, about 2010.
Treating a nomad in Upper Mustang after he’d been bitten by a local dog. (about 2013)
Our South African medical phychiatrist assessing Nyima Dikki in Samdo, Nepal (about 2010)
Kamzang Campsite Cleanup Efforts
An ongoing concern for the past 25 years, in all of the Himalayan regions! Kamzang Journeys is truly an eco-conscious company, and we often encourage our staff and trekkers to participate in a campsite clean-up. Very satisfying, and the team learns something about keeping their environment as clean as possible in the process.
Spending a Ladakh & Zanskar rest day sludging the springs at our Zangla River Camp, in Zangla, Zanskar, the Indian Himalaya. A great effort!!
The Kamzang Kids Gallery
Lockdown Selfies 2020
Tibet Eco Travel Collective
Kim Bannister | The Kamzang Fund
The Kamzang Fund Supports
A list of some of our favorite local and international funds (NGOs + INGOs) that we either support directly or recommend to others. Some provide volunteer opportunities, inquire if you’re looking to support one of these causes as well …
DROKPA
DROKPA is a non-profit organization that partners with pastoral communities in the Himalaya and Central Asia to implement grassroots development and catalyze social entrepreneurship using appropriate tools and replicable strategies. (read Ken Bauer’s ‘High Frontiers’ …)
MAITI NEPAL
Aim: ‘A society free From trafficking of children & women’ founded by Anuradha Koirala, voted CNN Hero of the Year in 2010.
EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER NEPAL (ECDC)
Freedom for every inmate’s child. Founded by Pushpa Basnet, CNN’s 2012 ‘Hero of the Year’ award winner.
‘ The Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) in Kathmandu, Nepal was founded in 2005 by Pushpa Basnet, a young Nepali woman who studied at Kathmandu University. ECDC coordinates with jail administrators to rescue children from jail cells throughout urban and rural areas of Nepal. The children receive regular medical check-ups, vaccinations, and are enrolled in a local private school. Children have regular visitation with their mothers including during the holidays.’
ASHA NEPAL
‘Asha Nepal is a human rights organisation working towards the social and economic empowerment of women and children affected by sex trafficking. Asha is the Nepali word for hope. Hundreds of thousands of women and children in Nepal suffer daily from extreme human rights abuses – sex trafficking, sexual and physical abuse, child labour, and discrimination due to gender, caste and HIV/Aids. We are fighting for women’s social status to be raised, to help victims break free from this vicious, violent circle.’
MERO GAON PROJECT
Mero Gaon – My Village, is a project of Ripa Sidhi Sangathan in partnership with Ripaladrang Foundation, founded by Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche.
Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche was present in Kathmandu when the massive earthquake hit Nepal On April 25th 2015, when a earthquake of magnitude 7.8 followed by 7.4 Richter scale devastated the lives and physical infrastructure of Nepal. He and his family along with the monks of Ripa organization rushed to help in anyway they could in reaching out to the people with basic supplies as well and prayers. He toured the destruction and talked to many people offering not only material help like tarpoline and rice bags, but offered his prayers for the families who lost loved ones. This inspired him to help further by adopting a village and rebuilding it fully by providing basic shelter. Mero Gaon thus was started and its first adopted village is ‘Kulay’.
just-one
‘just-one strives to actively promote and facilitate educational opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized children in Nepal by working at a grass-roots level with the children, their families and their communities to implement a range of carefully developed, culturally sensitive, sustainable initiatives.’
dZi FOUNDATION
‘The dZi Foundation partners with underserved communities in remote regions of the Himalaya to build sustainable locally-driven programs that improve quality of life through advancing education and health while reducing poverty. Welcome to the dZi Foundation.’
BODHI TREE FOUNDATION
Delivering health in the Himalaya. ‘Our mission is to support and promote community-based activities that focus on maternal and child health in the remote Himalayas of Humla, Nepal.’
NEPAL TEACH
The mission of Teach for Nepal is to extend access to quality education to all children in Nepal by training outstanding university graduates and young professionals to become effective teachers and life-long leaders. As a part of TFN Fellowship, these young leaders live and work in rural communities for two years.
KINA
An education empowers girls to become future leaders in their communities, serving as role models and mentors to others girls – this is one of the most powerful catalysts for positive social change we have. A girls voice tells the real story – with the impact on their families and communities being a personal journey of discovery as varied as the girls we support.
Currently, our work focuses in Nepal – a country with tremendous cultural wealth and natural beauty but insufficient resources to provide basic education and primary health care to its citizens, particularly girls and women in rural communities.
HOUSE WITH A HEART
‘Ghar Sita Mutu, or House with a Heart, is a charity that provides a home for abandoned children, a training center for destitute women, and an outreach program for needy families in Kathmandu, Nepal.’
DISABLED SERVICE ASSOCIATION NEPAL
‘Our mission is to support and take care of children with disabilities, generate public awareness about their needs and rights, and work to remove existing social barriers that are discriminatory and prejudicial to their living a productive and dignified life. We hope to inculcate in them self-belief and ‘We Can’ attitude.’
KIDS OF KATHMANDU
‘Give a gift to last a lifetime. Donate’. This INGO does all sorts of amazing things for the kids of Kathmandu, from education to health. Do take a browse through their beautifully crafted website.
NEPAL YOUTH FOUNDATION
The innovative Indentured Daughters Program rescues girls who were sold into virtual slavery.
THE UMBRELLA FOUNDATION
‘Working to alleviate the impact of trafficking, poverty and war on children and their families in Nepal. Established in 2005 in response to the growing number of illegal ‘orphanages’ neglecting children’s most basic rights – food, education, safe shelter, healthcare and love – we are a family-first, children’s charity which rescues vulnerable children and reintegrates them with their families and rural communities. When this is not possible, we support them in our homes until such a time as they can stand on their own two feet. As a responsible and ethical organisation, we work alongside the Child Welfare Board to prevent further trafficking and corrupt children’s homes from operating.’
MAITRI GRIHA
‘House of Friendship’. A home for mentally handicapped children of Nepal, run under the management of Buddha Jyoti Himalayan Youth Club Nepal.
HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROGRAM
Curing blindness in the Himalaya and around the world. ‘
The Himalayan Cataract Project’s top priority is to reach the greatest number of unserved blind people, with the highest quality care, at the lowest possible cost. It thrives on the enduring passion of its founding directors, Dr. Sanduk Ruit and Dr. Geoffrey Tabin, ophthalmologists who dedicate their lives to eradicating unnecessary blindness.’
BUILDERS WITHOUT BORDERS
‘Builders Without Borders
is an international network of ecological builders who advocate the use of straw, earth and other local, affordable materials in construction. We believe that the solution to homelessness is not merely housing, but individuals and communities trained to house themselves.’
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
‘Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is a private, international association. The association is made up mainly of doctors and health sector workers and is also open to all other professions which might help in achieving its aims. All of its members agree to honor the following principles:
MSF provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters, and to victims of armed conflict. They do so irrespective of race, religion, creed, or political convictions.
MSF observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and claims full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.
Members undertake to respect their professional code of ethics and maintain complete independence from all political, economic, or religious powers.
As volunteers, members understand the risks and dangers of the missions they carry out and make no claim for themselves or their assigns for any form of compensation other than that which the association might be able to afford them.’
ROOM TO READ
‘We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world. To achieve this goal, we focus on two areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact: literacy and gender equality in education. We work in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the life skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond.’
THE SIDDHARTHA SCHOOL PROJECT
‘The Siddhartha School gives the children of Ladakh access to the highest-quality, thoroughly modern education in the region, while also honoring their life-ways and traditions in the curriculum and school activities. Children at the Siddhartha School learn four languages (English, Hindi, Tibetan and Ladakhi), computer skills, sciences, math, creative arts and social studies.
Unique in Ladakh, no child is denied admission to Siddhartha School on the basis of need.’
HEARING PROJECT NEPAL
The Nepal Hearing Project’s primary focus is to provide a community health service whose purpose is to improve or restore hearing to the hearing impaired in Pokhara and its surroundings. The project is committed to providing free or low cost assistance to the children and adults with low or no income.
HEARING NEPAL PROGRAM
With the goal of developing a sustainable hearing program for the people in Nepal, they work in Kathmandu and in remote camps throughout Nepal …
NEPAL SEEDS
‘Promoting change one village at a time’. Projects in Education, health & environment.
HIMALAYAN TRUST
‘Sir Edmund Hillary founded and led the Himalayan Trust from 1960 until his death in 2008. We follow in his footsteps. He received his first request for a school in Khumjung in 1960 and six months later he had built it and placed a Sherpa headmaster in charge. This set the pattern. Ed listened to requests from local people, consulted with them, then in partnership with them implemented the project. Every year Ed trekked for weeks or months in the areas of his aid work, evaluating what had been done and working for the future. This is the pattern we strive for alongside our Nepali friends and partner organisations.’
AMERICAN HIMALAYAN FOUNDATION
‘The American Himalayan Foundation supports vital education, health care and cultural and environmental preservation throughout the Himalayan region.’
AUSTRALIAN HIMALAYAN FOUNDATION
‘The Australian Himalayan Foundation is working to help the people of the Himalaya through improvements in education, health and conservation.’
SHANGRI LA HOME
Homeless children of Kathmandu … one of many projects Lies Vink founded.
SHRINKING HORIZONS: THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
‘Helping people help themselves.’ Lots of great projects, based in Kathmandu, Nepal
WOMEN’S ALLIANCE OF LADAKH
‘The Women’s Alliance of Ladakh was set up in 1991 with the twin goals of raising the status of rural women and to strengthen local culture and agriculture. Since its inception the WAL membership was swelled to over 5000 women belonging to over 100 villages from all areas of Ladakh.’
GADEN RELIEF PROJECTS
Volunteer to help with nuns and chomo gompas (nunnerys) in Ladakh & Zanskar, Indian Himalaya
JAMYANG FOUNDATION
Zanskar, India
‘Changing Perceptions of Women’s Potentials. An education project for Himalayan women.’
SNOW LEOPARD TRUST
The Snow Leopard Trust builds community partnerships by using sound science to determine priorities for protecting the endangered snow leopard:
• Understanding snow leopard behavior and habitat
• Listening to the community to identify needs
• Seeking resources for sustaining long-term programs
SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVANCY
‘Dr. Rodney Jackson, Director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy, is widely considered the leading world expert on the snow leopard, having devoted over 30 years to researching and conserving this elusive cat in South and Central Asia. His 1980’s pioneering radio-tracking study of snow leopards in the Nepalese Himalaya led to a cover story in National Geographic. He has trained biologists across many of the snow leopard’s 12 range countries, although his real passion rests with helping local people co-exist with this elusive predator … and the development of grass-roots interventions, including predator-proofed corrals, Himalayan Homestays and a suite of other economic incentives for transforming the snow leopard from a pest to a valuable asset in the eyes of local people.’
TAPRIZA CULTURAL SCHOOL
‘The Tapriza NGO Switzerland supports the establishment and maintenance of a locally run school in the remote district Dolpo in northwestern Nepal. The school gives a Tibetan speaking minority of Nepal access to education and offers the possibility to learn their own language, history and culture side by side the national curriculum.’
TIBETAN CHILDREN’S VILLAGES
‘The goal of TCV is to ensure that all Tibetan children under its care receive a sound education, a firm cultural identity and become self-reliant and contributing members of the Tibetan community and the world at large.’
FORGET ME NOT ORPHANAGE
‘Forget Me Not works with partner organisations in Nepal, Uganda and India, on the ground with local knowledge and expertise to:
Protect & provide for children
Keep families together
Bring children home’
NEPALESE YOUTH OPPORTUNITY FOUNDATION
“We bring hope to impoverished Nepali children by providing what should be every child’s birthright:
Freedom Health Shelter & Education”
SECMOL
Students Educational & Cultural Movement of Ladakh
NOMADS CLINIC
‘A team of committed volunteers who make an annual month-long journey into the most remote regions of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau to provide medical and humanitarian aid. They train local healthcare providers and meet the healthcare needs of those who live in these isolated mountain communities.’
BENI
Handcrafted products from Nepal. Beni enploys single mothers, abused women, men in jail & women from remote villages to hand-craft her amazing and colorful products. She also sends 20 women to school in Kathmandu and plans to open a school in her village. She also employs/helps 2o College girls with part-time work at her shops. Visit her shop at The Kathmandu Guest House, Northfield Mall & at HEED’s Handicrafts (small road just before Hotel Marshyangdi on same side).
HIMALAYAN BUDDHIST SCHOOL MANALI
Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Center
Manali, Himachel Pradesh, India
LO MONTHANG COMMUNITY CENTER
Kamzang-sponsored Solar Project in Lo Monthang
(the Community Center sponsored by Room to Read & the American Himamlayan Foundation)
SIDDHARTHA KULU MOUNTAIN SCHOOL
Dolpo, Nepal
PHUKTAL GOMPA SCHOOL
Zanskar, Indian Himalaya
Namaste – Tashi Delek – Jullay!
