Education is the only way to break the bonds of poverty for destitute, disabled, or orphaned children in Nepal. This is especially true for girls, who are often illiterate, married off before they are teenagers, and spend the rest of their lives bearing children and working endless hours. Most Nepali women are illiterate.

College Scholarships for Impoverished Youth

In Nepalese society, family connections are the way to get a job. So what do you do when you're a poor orphan? Or a bright kid from an impoverished, remote village? Or an ambitious youngster from a destitute urban family? You knock on NYF's door and apply for a college scholarship. A college degree is usually the only way a poor youngster can begin to build a decent career. There is far more knocking – far more qualified students – than we can support with current funds. In this work, we are limited only by the amount of donations we receive.

The Nepal Youth Foundation supports more than one hundred college students. They study in universities in Kathmandu and colleges in rural Nepal, and their fields of study range from forestry to humanities to computers. Several are medical students, and a number of them are blind.

Our children's counselor carefully checks the stories of the young adults who apply for college scholarships. We give some priority to women, the disabled, and applicants of low-caste, since these groups are severely disadvantaged in Nepali society.

Many of our college scholarship students have entered social service professions. For instance, one of the first boys to receive a scholarship from NYF in 1985, Krishna Gurung, who himself suffers from a disability, is now a teacher for the disabled. He brings needy disabled students to the Nepal Youth Foundation's attention, and helps them in various ways during their schooling.
 

Scholarships to Boarding School for Needy Kids

Some children have literally nowhere to live – no family or no roof over their head. We put these children in good boarding schools, with a few exceptions, in Kathmandu. NYF currently supports around 72 boarding school students. We pay all their living and school costs, as well as medical expenses; and they often participate in holiday celebrations at J and K House. These children are available to be sponsored. Sponsors receive letters from their child twice a year, as well as photographs and information on the child's academic progress. There are many more potential boarding school students than we can currently serve. Sponsors are greatly needed.
Our Kathmandu staff and field workers thoroughly check on each child's progress before giving the next year's scholarship. Several of the youngsters we have educated are now supporting younger siblings in school, and many have begun working in social service. See NYF Kids Giving Back for their stories.