Meet Nijita, Hostel Resident
Nijita, is one of five siblings who live at the hostel in Batase, having been effectively abandoned by their parents.
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Friends of Himalayan Children (FHC) is a humanitarian organisation, working in remote rural communities in the Sindhupalchok region of Nepal and in Kathmandu. Its aim is to improve the lives of vulnerable women and children in Nepal, through better access to quality education and training and through community development projects. We strive to provide empowerment through education.
Roz Pulley is organising another fundraising dinner at her house in Edge Hill, Cairns. The food is wonderfully Nepalese, cooked by Som himself. Great food, great company, great prize raffles. All of the profits go towards the charity.
$50 a head. Bring your own drink. 29 AUGUST.
Register directly via our FaceBook page.
Rohit Chandel is running 10km per day for the whole month of August for charity. He’s marathon effort is supporting two charities. Half of money raised goes to FHC. He has set up a ‘Go-fund-me’ page to accept donations.
Donate now
Within the last financial year, over $6000 was raised for FHC through recycling. Some of our members worked hard to collect recyclables and cash them in (10c each) through Queensland’s ‘Containers for Change‘ scheme. You can too. Our code at the deposit depots is C10010512.
OR you could encourage your neighbours to contribute by promoting the cause through a letter drop. We can design a flyer customised for you. Contact us for further information.
Did you know there is a shop in Cairns dedicated to selling fair-trade Nepalese products…made in Nepal? Som and his wife Susan run Himalayan Dreams located in The Pier on the esplanade. Products are uniquely Nepalese including clothing, Buddhist icons and flags, singing bowls, leather bags, cary bags, children’s things, incense and much more.
Som and Susan also run a trekking company, Take on Nepal, providing employment opportunities for young men and women in Batase Village.
Nijita, is one of five siblings who live at the hostel in Batase, having been effectively abandoned by their parents.
Kirsty first met Som in her capacity as a journalist for the ABC. Now she sponsors and volunteers with the FHC. Read more of her journey.
A report by volunteer teacher Angus McColl, giving a unique insight into what you can experience.
Batase School used to only offer classes to Grade 3. To study further, children would need to make a 6 hour round trip, on foot, down to Talamarang. One of the earliest priorities of the FHC was to expand the capabilities of the local school in Batase, so children could live with their families while getting an education. Land was purchased, classrooms built, teachers employed and soon Batase school was offering classes to Grade 8. A local hostel was another priority, so that children from other remote villages could also go to school, without the long walk at each end of their day. More on Batase Hostel below. FHC scholarships are offered to children whose families can not pay school fees and hostel costs.
When Som (the founder of FHC) had demonstrated to the government that the school was indeed viable, FHC was able to pull back from the level of support it provided. Now funds were directed to further expanding the school to offer classes to Grade 10. The school had just welcomed its first Grade 10 students when the earthquake of April 2015 demolished the school and the hostel. The Nepalese government and Caratas are jointly funding the re-construction of the school on the same site.
Meanwhile temporary classrooms were erected for the school children. Two long, low buildings made of corrugated iron, with dirt floors, divided into learning spaces. Volunteers are encouraged and welcome to spend time at the school, interacting with the children and taking classes where appropriate, to provide valuable native-speaker English language practice and a link with the world beyond Nepal.
The FHC’s capacity to offer educational scholarships and provide for the needs of hostel children relies on the generous support of donors and sponsors, as well as the positive involvement of families and community. 100% of donations received by the charity are spent directly on these core priorities. Thank you for helping us create a better future for our children.
Batase Hostel provides a safe and caring environment for 46 disadvantaged children (March, 2020). Its mission is to ensure the children are educated and given choices about what direction their future will take. In many cases, the children come from remote villages and being able to stay at the hostel makes going to school possible. Others lost one or both parents in the 2015 earthquake and home circumstances are so difficult, that education is not a priority. In some cases, FHC has been alerted to the discovery of siblings effectively abandoned and fending for themselves in the family home. Some children have been rescued from dysfunctional families, when their safety was in question. Where possible, children maintain strong connections with their families. For the children from remote villages there is always the opportunity for home visits, especially during school holidays. Some others have their siblings with them.
Visitors to the hostel are always impressed by its happy, family-style environment. The children are accustomed to hostel visitors and, in turn, welcome them, include them in activities and enjoy attention from them. Interaction with native speakers of English – through help with their homework or participation in activities – is of great value to the children; and interaction with the children enhances the cultural awareness of the visitors. A hostel manager oversees the running of the hostel and a carer stays overnight with the children and supervises their schedule. A team of local women cook for the children.
When the original hostel was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake, the children were housed in crisis accommodation in Batase; a tin shed offering minimal protection from the elements. The current hostel was built, as a priority, thanks to the generous response of donors. It opened its doors in July 2017. The children and the villagers of Batase, gratefully acknowledge the reliable support of FHC in helping them move forward.
A recent coup for the villages of the region was the construction of a 21st century library in Batase, which opened on 25 December 2018. This was the culmination of a major fundraising project, which was initiated in early 2018 by Christina Lee, who trained with Libraries Without Borders, in Paris. Christina had previously visited Batase Village and volunteered. After her training in Paris, she was inspired to introduce their Koombook digital library system to Batase.
The Koombook tool allows access to information and learning, in even the most remote locations without Internet. Compact and portable, it can be solar powered and provides a WIFI hotspot. Around 500 donors from 14 countries raised over $20,000 for the completion of a library facility, to house the Koombook and provide a learning and training space for Batase and surrounding villages.
When it opened, Batase Library had over 1,000 physical books and provided access to 45,000 Ebooks. Its furniture was made in Melamchi and Kathmandu. The library has comfortable sofas, study tables, reading cushions, bookcases plus secure cabinets that store the KoomBook and tablets. While the challenge was huge, Christina Lee would do it again. “When this project became too difficult for me, I always would imagine the day I walk in to the library and see the children reading books. When I finally saw their eyes twinkling with books in their arms, I knew every challenging day was worth it, and I’d do it all over again,” she said. The FHC is keen to sponsor a librarian, to ensure the library operates optimally moving forward.
© Friends of Himalayan Children 2020
