To provide food and training opportunity

The Women’s Foundation Nepal has run an organic farm in Bhaktapur since 2004. The farm is designed to teach the benefits of organic farming to Nepali women and provide skills training to women to allow them to become farmers. The farm provides food for the residents at the Shelter Home and in addition, serves as an extra source of income to support other WFN projects.

The farm grows mushrooms, vegetables, wheat and millet and raises chickens. The women who train at the farm learn to harvest seeds and apply natural fertilizer. The aim is to show the women how not using chemical fertilizers will make the food taste better and make the animals healthier.

Make a donation to run and expand the organic farm or volunteer with us to teach us more about organic farming practices.

See more pictures of our organic farm.

Empower women as business-makers

The Women’s Foundation Nepal’s micro credit project gives women the opportunity to achieve financial independence by  offering them small loans which allow them to start their own businesses. These businesses include vegetable and animal farming, tailoring and grocery shops. The women form a cooperative with 300 other women in their districts and each contribute a small amount to the micro-credit fund.

At the initiation of the micro-credit projects we receive funding form donors to start the fund. In order to be a member of the group, each woman must contribute a specific amount of money to the group savings account every month from their business earnings. These contributions are then passed on to more women to allow them to start their businesses. In this way, after an initial injection of funding, the micro-credit program becomes self sustaining and can expand to help more women in the district.

All the women receive training in literacy, business management and book-keeping before they join the group to give them the skills they need to run their businesses efficiently.

The group meets twice a month to discuss their financial situation and decide who among them gets priority for loans. The money is paid back in installments which are agreed upon by the group. 98% of those loans are repaid on time by the women.

In addition to the financial benefits of the micro-credit program, these women form deep bonds of trust and support with the other members of the group. This creates a thriving female business community which is very rare in Nepal.

To create a better life

The Women’s Foundation Nepal runs sponsorship and scholarship programs to allow you to help the women and children of Nepal to create better lives for themselves.

Sponsorship

A sponsorship covers the living and education costs for the children and women from the Shelter Home. The sponsorship includes shelter, food, healthcare, clothes, education and all other needs. The children are sponsored until 10^th grade and if their final exams shows good marks, WFN will also fund their further studies in college / university.

A sponsorship helps WFN to run the Shelter Home, provide an excellent education for the children and skills training to the women.

Scholarship

The Women’s Foundation Nepal provides scholarships for more than 1,000 children who belong to poor families all over Nepal. Scholarships involve financial support to cover tuition fees, uniforms and school supplies. By providing children with an education, they are able to enjoy their childhood, reach their educational goals and ultimately get a good job and support their families. This in turn will allow them to pay for their children’s school fees and change the cycle of poverty.

Become a sponsor of one of the women or children or provide a scholarship for someone in need.

Our violence-free school

A lot of schools in Nepal use violent methods to punish students but we believe that children deserve the right to be able to learn and develop in a safe and happy environment. Many of the children in our care come from violent backgrounds and we did not feel happy sending them to schools where violence was used. We also believe that if children are taught to be violent at an early age they will be violent later in their lives.

As a result, WFN runs a violence free school in Kathmandu where children receive an excellent education in a peaceful environment and do not have to fear violent punishment. In April 2013, the school started with 150 children and currently, 575 children and teenagers study up to 10^th grade at the Bipul School. The school was established in April 2013 with funds from The Women’s Foundation Nepal and with the help of people in the community  who share the same values of non-violence.

The pupils are from the shelter home and the local neighborhood. The teachers give each student the chance to fulfill their potential and reach their educational goals.

Become a sponsor of one of the children from the Shelter Home or obtain a scholarship for a poor child and invest in the future of the children of Nepal.

See more pictures of the Bipul School.

A home for women and children

The Women’s Foundation Nepal runs three shelter homes housing caring for more than 120 children and more than 30 women. The women and children who live at the shelter home are victims of violence, abuse or extreme poverty (see Women’s and children’s issues). WFN removes the women and children from life-threatening situations and gives them a safe home.

We provide all the children with the best opportunities for their future. They receive an excellent education at the local violence-free school and we support them financially if they want to go to university.

The women in the shelter are given the opportunity to attend the training courses run by the WFN so they can return to work and they often work at the Maheela Cooperative. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the women at the shelter home become independent and empowered.

Everything that the women and children need is provided: a safe home, a healthy balanced diet, medical treatment, psychological counselling, education and training and a caring environment, that feels like a family.

Since 1995, WFN has been running a home in Kathmandu for women and children. The family moved in to a new shelter home outside Kathmandu in 2008, which was built with the generous support of Treuhand, Germany. The area offers more green space, which is especially appreciated by the children.

Make a donation to run the shelter home or become a sponsor of one of the women or children.

See more pictures of our shelter home.