Lotus Flower
Nepalhelp.ch provides immediate aid, a financial bridge and activities to help the people impacted by the earthquake to regain financial independence. We network various children's homes that can then mutually help each other. Moreover, we are evaluating, together with impacted parties and architects on site, the feasibility of moving or rebuilding the home, or renovating properties including financial models for a self-sustaining future.
Project Lotus Flower: Coordinated by Laxman Shrestha. Lotus Flower includes the following programs:
Lotus Children‘s Home, Kathmandu
Moving the orphanage with 11 children to a safe house with an environment appropriate for children. Support for schooling and education. A long-term project to 2017.
This project is especially important for us. The orphanage managed to move into a beautiful house some years back and to feel like a family. Gardens, a room, safety, and schooling guaranteed, even if at tremendous effort and only with the help of donations. In the meantime, the building owners turned the yard into a garage for business reasons. The environment has hazardous materials, the yard is gone, and the earthquake damaged the building. The protective walls were destroyed. The location features unfavorable soil conditions, strongly at risk in the event of additional quakes.
Moving the orphanage is the best option to take on the resolvable issues. More orphans could be taken in. We are investigating feasibility, financial needs as well as possible financing to purchase property, build a home, supply it with water, and provide access to schooling outside of Kathmandu. This includes considering renting of parts of a new property to provide financial independence. The orphanage is currently 100% dependent on donation
Helpless and Disabled Children Promotion Centre
This center completely lost its home during the two earthquakes. The financial situation, already critical, became an emergency due to the additional costs of renting an apartment. As a result, children had to leave the group and "move". Nepalhilfe.ch made a financial contribution for the center to survive and to cover the ongoing costs for living, food, and schooling, through the end of 2015.
We are looking into a possible merger of the two orphanages sponsored by Nepalhilfe.ch. It is a highly sensitive topic which we need to approach carefully. It needs to be acceptable to all parties.
Financial need is quite pressing for programs. We can foresee having a sole sponsor for this project and are searching from the appropriate benefactor/institutions.
For additional information on the orphanages:
Rebuilding the elementary school, roofing elements.
The school was also completely destroyed. The villages is at the epicenter of the May 2015 earthquake.
The school board was already able to raise funds for roofing. There is still a lack of teachers and school supplies. Here helpnepal.ch foresees a need to purchase of teaching materials such as English education devices (projector, e-learing CD’s).
The recently completed elementary school in the village of Leti – massively hit by the earthquake – literally slid down the valley with land and infrastructure. For the children, this meant once again setting off on a march of several kilometers to the next village for school, twice a day under all conditions, including Monsoons and even in darkness during the winter.
Active committee of local residents, the village council, and school board as well as representatives from Swiss benefactors has now launched a project to rebuild the school. The purchase of property on flat ground and the rebuilding of infrastructure costs around CHF 10,000. The well-established team as well as the project setup really convinced us. Nepalhilfe.ch is supporting this project by making a financial contribution that touches families with some 30 children in the first through third grades.
