Education+care+mentorship for 100 Nepali children

Thanks to our generous donors, dedicated staff, and incredible students, we are currently supporting 89 children and youth enrolled in our Rural Education Scholarship Program. We are as motivated as ever to provide pathways out of poverty and into leadership for the deserving students in Nepal who have lost parents and houses, but not hope for the future. 

As of the end of August 2019, HCC’s Rural Education Scholarship Program supports:

• 5 preschool students
• 53 Elementary students
• 25 High school students
• 6 University students

This summer, the national exam results were published for grade 10 and 12. The seven students who took exams this year all did well, scoring above the national average. One student who recently started grade 11, Bikash, even scored in the top 5% for the entire country! We had one student, a 12th grade female students from a remote and mountainous area, marry and drop out of school just before her grade 12 exams. While this is not uncommon, it is a great tragedy, and it shows the clear need for sustained efforts to help students to overcome their difficult circumstances.

Maya*, for example, is from a very impoverished, remote area of Nepal and a marginalized, indigenous community. She was in a desperate situation when we met her in 2015, after the deadly earthquake took the lives of her mother and baby brother. Things went from terrible to even worse for Maya when her father died the following year. During that critical time, we arranged for her to move into a boarding school in the headquarters of her district, nearby to her surviving relatives, where she has access to a high-quality education as well as proper shelter, nutritious food, access to medical care, adult supervision, and a peer support system. 

Maya is now 9 years old and studies in grade three. She has adjusted well to life at the school and is happy at her school hostel. “I like living at the school hostel and I like my teachers and my school environment. I like my Nepali class the most because I love to read. And I enjoy playing with my friends here.” At the same time, she is really looking forward to visiting her grandparents and other family during her upcoming two week school break. “My aunt is coming to take me soon and I will go and visit my relatives and enjoy with them,” she told us. Maya dreams of becoming a teacher when she grows up. “My plan is to be a teacher and teach in my village. I want to give other kids an education like I’m getting.” She is growing up so fast, and we are glad to be able to be a part of her life. 

 Thank you for making this all possible for Maya and for many more children in Nepal. 

*name has been changed