06/30/2025
From Engage Nepal Executive Director, Ambassador (ret) Scott DeLisi
I don’t know how the weather is where you are but it’s a steamy summer day here in Virginia. So hot, I’ve turned the sprinkler on to give the garden some relief while I’ve come inside to the AC and decided to sit down to write to you today about an article, shared in the comments below, that has been troubling me since my wife shared it with me a few days ago.
It’s a sad tale, and a troubling one, but it is also a vivid testament as to why the work of small non-profits, like Engage Nepal, is all the more important in the current environment. I don’t offer this as political commentary — we get plenty of that every time we look at the news or turn on a TV. But, as someone who served the US government for over four decades, I know that the choices we make regarding how we will engage the world always have consequences. The choice to shut down USAID is no exception.
Policymakers, in making such choices, will often tell you that they are looking at a “big picture” not specific programs or the individuals whose lives are touched. They aren’t concerned with individuals. But, at Engage Nepal, we are. We care about the mother and father who watched their daughter die because the desperately needed nutritional support that could have saved her life was abruptly canceled when USAID programs were shut down.
I know the value of that nutritional support support. A few years ago we worked with the Nepal Youth Foundation to help save the lives of such children through their excellent program to save severely malnourished kids. I saw it at work as an Ambassador, and wanted to support it when I came to Engage Nepal. For $400 we could save the life of a child.
What is a child’s life worth to you? Would you have spent that sum to save the life of your own child or grandchild? Of course you would. We all would. Yet we struggled for months to raise $5000 — just enough to save the life of one child a month. So, when the US government steps away from its role in international development, whatever the reasons, the need for others to help save the lives of children like this only grows. And it’s not just about childhood nutrition. It is about education and livelihoods and climate change and health — all the areas in which Engage Nepal works. All the areas where your donation makes a difference.
This is why I am asking for your help. This is why I reach out.
With your help Engage Nepal can continue to fill the void, continue to meet the need, continue to touch — and to save — lives.
So please, donate if you can. Help us make a difference. But, just as importantly, if you’re willing to play a role, we need your help. If you are willing to help us tell the Engage Nepal story and build something that will endure, please, message me. Now, more than ever, we need to expand our reach. Now, more than ever, we need you.
With thanks.
Hard-won progress in improving child and maternal nutrition hangs in the balance
