The Kailash Home - Background and Information

We are spending weekends out at the Kailash Home, about 20 minutes from Boudha on the road to Sundarijal. This fantastic facility is sponsored and run by HCF, the Nepali Himalayan Children’s Foundation, with major funding by US-based Himalayan Youth Foundation. They have created a happy & healthy home for 100 children, with the primary focus on providing them a high-quality education through grade 12.

Young kids come from remote villages of Nepal, primarily in the high mountain areas of Solu, Mugu, Dolpa, Langtang, Rasuwa, etc. These villages have no access to a quality education. Students may walk several hours a day, on difficult trails, to attend sub-standard schools. Often the schools are closed for a majority of the year due to winter snows, seasonal harvesting work in summer, or lack of teachers. These remote villages, with under-educated families, are frequently targeted by child traffickers. Families sometimes “sell” their own children to middlemen who promise good jobs and a better life. In reality these kids end up in the sex industry in India, or in virtual slavery as child laborers.

HCF identifies promising students, and offers them a new life… Through word of mouth in these villages, and home visits with former students, they have become a trusted organization. There is a waiting list of families hoping to get their child into the program. If selected, the students move to the Kailash Home, where room & board is provided, and their school fees are paid by Nepali and International sponsors. Students attend various schools in the Boudha & Jorpati area, and have daily study hall time back at the Home. Due to the expense and time required, students only return to their home villages to visit once every 3-4 years. They do have parent-selected guardians identified in the Kathmandu area so that they can spend holidays with relatives.

These students work hard, study hard, and know that there is a lot of pressure and expectation riding on their shoulders. To provide a well-rounded life, the staff at Kailash also provide many opportunities for recreation and extra educational activities. They play sports, organize game nights, go on hikes and excursions, and grow vegetables and rice in their own gardens. Their “baker training program” has a dedicated group of students who bake 30 or 40 loaves of bread each week for use in their kitchen.

This program really functions like a huge family. Everyone pitches in and helps each other, the older students mentoring and assisting the younger ones. It is an honor and a pleasure to work with these wonderful students, who are being well-educated and launched into a brighter future.