Covid-19 Update
As the pandemic continues to develop, Nepal Youth Foundation UK is committed to keeping the vulnerable communities in our care safe and healthy.
The situation in Nepal is quickly evolving as positive cases, though still relatively low, are increasing — and the strict, country-wide lockdown that has been in effect for seven weeks, may ease soon.
The lockdown will have a devastating impact on Nepal’s already struggling economy – it is already having huge effects on tourism, manufacturing, construction, remittance and trade. Being amongst one of the poorest countries in the world, with very little government support in the way of social welfare, disadvantaged and impoverished groups, like the children we help will sink even lower without our support. Many of the families of our programmes will lose their jobs during the lockdown and their already meagre income will reduce substantially. They need our help now more than ever so that they can provide for their families.
Olgapuri Children’s Village is closed to outsiders to ensure that all 77 of the children who live there are safe. As schools are closed, the children are finding creative ways to learn and stay active with help from their live-in house parents. They attend regular classes so as to not fall behind academically, and play basketball, soccer, and table tennis on the grounds. They have art and craft activities, and are learning skills in the kitchen as well as in the gardens.
On April 21, we safely brought 11 more college students receiving Nepal Youth Foundation scholarships to stay at our Nutritional Rehabilitation Home. These students had been staying in different hostels, dormitories, and small apartments since the beginning of the lockdown — but had started to get nervous about their unsafe living conditions. Hearing these concerns, our staff coordinated with local police and the chief administrator of local authority for vehicle movement permission, and collected them from different locations in the valley. This means we now have a total of 21 students staying in our facilities in Kathmandu — 16 college students at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Home, and five children at our New Life Center.
Although our Counseling Center can no longer provide in-person sessions, our four trained counsellors are working tirelessly to continue providing essential services over the internet and the telephone. Their workloads have increased during the lockdown, as they try to reach families suffering from increased domestic violence. Our team are also working with the government for longer-term solutions for these families.
If you have any questions about any of our programmes then please do drop the team an email gerry@nepalyouthfoundation.org.uk
We thank you for your continued support.