Himalayan Children’s Charities (HCC) was founded in 2000 by Susan and Bruce Keenan, after Bruce returned from a trekking expedition in Nepal where he witnessed the dire circumstances faced by the country’s orphaned and abandoned children. Since then, HCC has been providing nurturing care, quality education, and cutting-edge mentorship to over 50 children in the Kathmandu-based program. In 2016, we celebrate our first group of 10 students graduating, 8 with university educations! All HCC youth receive communication and leadership training, as well as one-on-one counseling services. In response to the earthquakes in 2015, HCC established a collaborative, local educational scholarship and relief program, the Dhading Children’s Initiative (DCI). DCI supports 97 children earthquake survivors orphaned in the quakes. HCC’s signature program in Kathmandu has been operating for over 15 years. There are currently 51 students in the program, all of whom are orphaned or abandoned, and have no family support. Most of these children were rescued from the overcrowded and underfunded state run orphanage system, and several more children were taken in during the 1996-2006 Civil War. Since 2000, HCC has been providing these children with day-to-day care and support, education through the technical degree or university level, and ongoing life skill training, career counseling, and individualized exit planning so that they possess the necessary tools and confidence for achieving their life goals. The infrastructure of HCC’s signature program includes the Khushi Ghar (Happy Home) group home for students in grades 11 and 12; two annex apartments for university students; house parents, and provisions of all necessities including education, food, clothes and medicine. Transportation, Internet, and all school-related costs are covered. The children also have access to psychological counseling, communication training, self-esteem coaching and private tutoring. HCC’s Dhading Children’s Initiative (DCI) is a collaborative earthquake relief program that addresses the increased vulnerabilities of the over 100 children orphaned by the earthquake throughout the Dhading district, as well as of several children from neighboring districts. DCI’s vision is to invest in the education and well-being of children earthquake survivors as a pathway for sustainable rebuilding in their communities. The mission of DCI is to enable child earthquake survivors, who lost at least one parent in the disaster, to continue their studies and remain with surviving family in their home or neighboring communities. The scholarship covers school-related fees including books, stationary, uniforms, tuition, and exam fees, as well as stipends for basic needs such as medicine and warm clothes. A higher education scholarship fund provides assistance to DCI students who graduate from the 10th grade and wish to pursue a technical degree. The work of HCC is made possible by the support of a caring community of individuals like you, committed to the empowerment of underprivileged children and youth in Nepal. Join us in creating possibilities for self-reliance and realization for some of the most vunerable, yet deserving, children in the world.
