About us
If you ever get the chance to go to Nepal you should. It is one of the most spectacular, unspoilt countries in the world. It will be the experience of a lifetime and it will enrich you with its example of what our magnificent earth has to offer…. BUT behind all this wonder and beauty there is a population ravaged with ten years of Maoist insurgency which has decimated families and created 1,000,000 orphans who now have no one to care for them. No mother to snuggle up to and no father to protect them.
Sunrise Kids Nepal has been set up to change this. It provides funds and manpower to support the orphanages that, thanks to our help, are able to take care of these orphans and give them a life that previously had been taken away from them.
The charity consists of a close knit team, who have all experienced first hand the loss, the heartache and the despair of these children that, through no fault of their own, have been left to fend for themselves.
About the charity
Sunrise Kids Nepal was founded in 2009 to provide financial support and aid with the development of children’s orphanages in Nepal.
Vision: Children in Nepal currently have extremely limited access to essential, basic human rights. Our vision is to dramatically change/improve this situation.
Mission statement: Sunrise Kids Nepal supports orphanages in Nepal. We aim to help this organisation with direct support, resources, tools, encouragement and ideas. Our goal is to make a lasting difference. One that positively impacts the lives and prospects of orphaned Nepalese children.
Children’s Issues in Nepal
With an estimated 1 million orphans in Nepal, that amounts to just over 3% of the total population of the country. (3% of the USA would be around 9 million, and about 1.8m in the UK).
Many orphanages are located in rural villages where children have little access to good facilities and education, and this is likely to affect their job opportunities.
Children can be susceptible to the influence of drugs, crime, severe poverty, hardship and even prostitution. There is still no recognised government support for orphanages in Nepal Issues facing children in Nepal (Facts and figures from UNICEF 2010).
- More than 50,000 children die in Nepal each year, with malnutrition as the underlying cause for more than 60 per cent of these deaths.
- Half of the children in Nepal are underweight and 75% of the pregnant women are anaemic.
- The detection of a few cases of wild polio virus in 2005, following five years without any case, indicates the challenge for cross-border transmission along the border with India.
- Fifteen per cent of Nepal’s wells are contaminated by arsenic. Despite Nepal's high overall coverage of accessibility to drinking water, access to improved water for deprived, disadvantaged communities and conflict-affected rural and fringe urban areas remains low.
- Two-thirds of Nepalis are still without access to toilets.
- Maternal mortality rates are high due to weak health systems with limited access to emergency obstetric care, skilled attendance and the overall poor status of women. Neonatal mortality rates are also unacceptably high due in part to lack of community awareness on appropriate care of the newborn.
- The conflict has had a significant impact on education. Forced closures of schools due to strikes have cut the school year in half in some areas. Teachers have been threatened, assaulted and even killed. Thousands of students have been taken from school for political indoctrination, and some have been recruited into the Maoist forces or militia.
Our Focus
Sunrise Kids Nepal currently supports 7 children’s orphanages.
- Phutung, Kathmandu ( 20 km far from Kathmandu)
- Chitwan, ( 160 km far from Kathmandu city)
- Bhakatpur, ( 35 km far from Kathmandu City)
- Pokhara, ( 230 km far from Kathmandu city)
- Itahari, ( 380 km far from Kathmandu city)
- Melamchi, ( 145 km far from Kathmandu city)
- Nepalgunj, (300km from Kathmandu)
Each orphanage currently accommodates and cares for between 15-25 children, on a long term basis. Children will often remain with their “family” at the orphanage until they are 18, having finished school, achieved an education and are ready to enter the working world.
Core Development AreasWe have six core development areas that form the basis of our main projects and fundraising efforts.
- Education
- Play and Home Environment
- Community
- Health and Hygiene
- Farming and Agriculture
- Sustainability (Long term)
We aim to achieve these goals based around what we believe are children’s basic rights and needs:
- Access to a reasonable supply of clean and healthy food and water
- A safe environment to live, play and sleep in
- A clean environment that promotes excellent long term personal hygiene and care
- Security for themselves, their family / community, property
- An environment that promotes friendship and family
- Self esteem, confidence, achievement, respect for others and the environment, and respect by others
- Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and an acceptance of facts
Please have a look at the Projects section to discover how we are planning to invest in these orphanages in 2010 and beyond.
About Nepal
The Republic of Nepal is a landlocked, mountainous country in South Asia. It shares borders with India and China/Tibet. Nepal gained full independence in 1947 and became a republic in 2008 following the abolishment of the monarchy.
The country has six regions: the Terai, the Chure hills, the Mahabharat range, the Pahar zone, the Himalaya and the Trans-Himalaya. Nepal is home to Mount Everest and the breathtaking Himalayas, the world’s highest mountain range and a major tourist attraction. Nepal offers great diversity in terms of its history, buildings and wildlife.
The last ten years has been a challenge for Nepal, the decade-long Maoist insurgency has taken a toll of about 13,000 lives. This has severely hampered Nepal and its people in terms of the development of infrastructure, basic services, amenities and tourism. It has also restricted development assistance and caused a breakdown of family and community networks. Its heaviest impacts fall on women and children.
UNICEF 2010
Nepal is still considered as the 4th poorest country in the world
Time Zone: GMT + 5.45
Area: 147,181 sq km (USA 9.6m sq km, UK 242,000 sq km, Ireland 70,000 sq km)
Population: 29.5 million (UN estimate 2007).
Capital: Kathmandu. Population: 1.2m (estimate 2009)
Literacy rate: 48.6% (USA 99.9%: Nepal ranks 160th in the world compared to the USA at 5th)
Currency: Nepali Rupee (£1 = 120 Nepali Rupees: Jan 2010)
National animal: Cow
Life expectancy: 66 years (men), 67 years (women) (UN)
Religion: Mainly Hindu (85%) and Buddhist (8%), with a small Muslim minority (4%).
Language: The official language is Nepali (spoken by 49%). There are many other languages, including Maithili and Bhojpuri. English is widely spoken in business circles and by people involved in the travel and tourism industry.
Main exports: Carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain
GNI per capita: US $400 (World Bank, 2008)