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Translated as House of Faith and Hope, Aastha House is loving home for children who have been orphaned throughout Nepal. A country of 25 million wedged between India and Tibet, Nepal is often seen as a Himalayan Shangri-La. It is a beautiful country of age old traditions, a mixture of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths and mountainous snow-capped peaks towering over terraced hills of green rice paddies. Every year Nepal welcomes thousands of tourists to walk among its hills, gaze upon the glory of the Himalayas, and experience a vibrant and exotic culture. But this Shangri-La image masks a darker side, one of grinding poverty and economic devastation. And its the children who are most affected.
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Often making their home in squatter settlements, tents made of scraps of plastic or cloth, set among rivers of raw sewage and filth, many children in Nepal are in the direst of conditions. Suffering from severe protein malnutrition, lice and other skin conditions, no access to clean water, regular meals or medical treatment and no hope of ever attaining an education, they wallow at the lowest rungs of society. Once at Aastha House, the children are given medical and nutritional care, enrolled in school and can finally look ahead to a brighter future. Children with Maggie, Alan and other Aastha House friends Aastha House was founded in 1997 by Maggie Namjou who first came to Nepal in 1984, and having lived and worked there for almost 20 years as a writer, teacher, trek leader and volunteer decided to give something back. Aastha House is a place where these destitute children can get off the streets, be guaranteed a clean and safe home in which to live, fed healthy and nutritious meals, get an education and showered with love and affection. Located in lovely Buddhanilkantha, directly north of central Kathmandu on the edge of the valley rim, Aastha House is currently home to fifteen children as well as Gupta and Anita, their devoted house parents. |
Currently home to fifteen children, many of them are sisters and brothers, the youngest being three and the oldest thirteen. Prior to arriving at Aastha House, many of the children were psychologically traumatized by their experiences. Some were laborers in private homes which included abuse, some street-hardened and angry, an others watched their family disintegrate and struggled to take care of their younger brothers and sisters as their worlds fell apart. But once at Aastha House, a steady dose of love and nurturing have melted away much of their hardened shells and allowed them to smile and laugh again. Meet Sudip, Durga, Apsara, Usha, Raj Kumar, Bikram, Ejaj, Anju, Sulav, Surendra, and Suraj. |
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There are volunteer opportunities available at Aastha House for highly motivated individuals. Its a demanding gig for lots of reason, but that makes it all the more rewarding. The house parents speak only Nepali and although the children are learning English in school, it can be difficult at times to communicate clearly. As a volunteer at Aastha House, you become a part of the family, waking with children in the morning and sharing a cup of tea. Your day might progress by helping the children with their homework and getting them ready for school. Hustling them through their morning meal and off to school dressed in their sharp uniforms. Then your day is free to do as you please. Once the children return in the evenings, you can choose to assist and tutor them with their homework, practice their English, lead them in art projects, listen to music, sing and dance or just play around, giving them love and attention. On Friday afternoons and all day Saturday, you can plan activities like walking up to the edge of valley rim, visiting the local monasteries or cultural sites or anything else you can come up. We expect volunteers to live at Aastha House because its at those special times which you and the children can truly bond. |
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In 2000, The Rising Child Nepal Foundation was created with the goal of continuing to lift thse children out of despair, to allow them to rise up, to be included in the opportunity of a better future, to give them a chance to soar! It is not a large, multinational non-profit like Save the Children, but a small organization run by Maggie and her husband Prem Pulami. They fund Aastha House out of their own pockets and have devoted their lives to these children and this work. But if they are to continue to extend this opportunity to other destitute children, they need your help. It's become imperative to begin to seek outside funding. As the process to gain tax-deductible status is long and costly, we are left with asking you to contribute what you can, tax write-off or not. You get a lot of bang for your buck in Nepal and with little to no overhead, your money goes straight towards the cost of providing these children with a loving home and education. For the price of a good meal in large American city, you can send a child to school for an entire year, or provide them with food, clothing, roof over their head and medical attention for that same time period. |
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But there are also other ways you can help.
There is a great need for books, art supplies, children's vitamins,
music tapes, clothing and toys. Everytime Maggie or Prem return to
Nepal, they bring duffle bags full of such supplies as well as enlisting
the help of anyone traveling to the area to utilize their luggage
allotment.
Also, as an informal organization, we can arrange individual sponsorship of a child rescued from streetlife. They would write to you on an occasional basis, can receive email correspondence from you and generally have a much more intimate relationship than possible through the various sponsorship programs of much larger organizations. We encourage and welcome you to plan a trip to Nepal, to stop by Aastha House, meet the children and spend time together. |
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Maggie Namjou & Prem Pulami are the co-founders of Aastha House. Prem is a native Nepali born and raised in eastern Nepal is a remote village and together with Maggie they started Aastha House to help some of the poorest orphans from his village. Today, Prem is in America studying towards a career in Medicine while Maggie continues her important work traveling back and forth to Nepal from her home base in America. Aastha House continues today with the important contributions of so many individuals throughout the years including Allen Aistrope for his friendship, hard work and support, Karen Pike for her photography and many others. Our many thanks! Email: astha97@aol.com or MaggieNamjou@aol.com All photos except otherwise noted are courtesy of Karen Pike. For more documentary photography on Nepal and her people, please check out her website at www.kpikephoto.com Feel free to contact us for any additional information about volunteer opportunities, donations or contributions. We look forward to hearing from you! |