Help Orphanage retain their home

Our sanctuary for sixteen children has lost funding. Help us save our loving home, which is the foundation of these children's future.

RUWON Star Children's Home provides a home for sixteen children from the rural regions of Nepal. The children have been living in this home even before the devastating earthquake of 2015 hit Nepal and made our situation worse: the earthquake claimed thousands of lives, including some of these children's parents and guardians.

In our five years of existence, we have found generous funders to help us manage the cost of running the home, and providing education to the children. Suddenly however we are facing the threat of being shut down.

Our funds will run out next month.

With a heavy heart, we have to admit that the children might lose their home and shelter. Many of them will have nowhere to go.

Our Story:

We created the Rural Women's Network Nepal (RUWON Nepal) in 2007. RUWON’s goal is to bring equality and fairness into Nepalese society, providing opportunities and education for women and children particularly in the poor, marginalized rural areas and poorer areas of Kathmandu city. We work in the poorly funded government schools in Kathmandu, with domestic workers, children with single mothers, or single fathers to support them in their own development and in providing an education for their children.
Working with around 6300 children, we found many who were orphaned, or were working to provide for their younger siblings. These vulnerable children were often far from safe in these remote areas. Too many had become a resource for others to exploit. Domestic labour was common, while others had been forced into child prostitution. So alongside out work with RUWON we decided to establish a small home in Kathmandu where a small number of these children could find a home, grow up safely, with access to education and a better future.

The Home

Our home opened its doors in January 2013 with the name RUWON Star Children’s Home. Our first four children arrived a month later.

Our goal was simple. These children needed a safe home and a loving parent or guardian. In five years, we have succeeded in creating a happy family unit where the children have become brothers and sisters and have assimilated into the local community.

Goma (President of RUWON Nepal), Uma (Manager of the home) and the staff provide for all the needs of the children, from the time the children wake up until the time they go to bed. Aside from providing a space to live, each child receives a healthy, balanced diet, her own clothes, and is enrolled into the local school. Additional lessons are provided at home for those who need them. We have created a small computer training room and introduced a number of extra-curricular lessons. We provide skills training to all the girls to improve their chances of finding employment, and we provide leadership training to give them the skills and confidence to meet the challenges that lie ahead. We encourage their involvement in planning daily routine and the running of the home to give them a sense of belonging and self-worth.

Today, we care for sixteen girls from eleven different districts and communities. The eldest is eighteen-years-old, and the youngest is just four-years-old.

It has taken us a lot of fight, time and energy to build this little community. The background of the children has made education and even living together a challenge. Patience, dedication and hard work though, have given security, love and hope to this small group of orphans.

It all now stands in jeopardy.

Why do we need your help?

The situation of acquisition of funds in Nepal is never an easy task and this is well-known to the most. The governments rely on private funding for orphanages in Nepal; there are no state-run facilities.

We are approaching donors and seeking help to continue our home from individuals or organizations who can support part or all of the upkeep of the home or sponsor one or more of the children residing in the home. But we need certainty for the coming months, or in the best case scenario, the coming year.

If not, then only some of them, the lucky ones, will be reallocated to other orphanages. Others will be given to families who have requested for children to care of. Too often, what that means in Nepal is that they will be subjected to a life that some would describe as domestic labour, others might see it as a form of slavery.

We can debate the best way for our politicians and community leaders to resolve this stain on our society in the long term but, right now, these children are in immediate danger of losing a home and being subjected to a very different, desperate way of life.

Budget to run RUWON Star Children's Home:

The total running cost of the orphanage is $2502.00 (US Dollars) per month. The breakdown of the four major elements, house rent, food items, school education and office/staff salaries is detailed below.

Rent, Food, Utilities, School Fees, School Supplies: Rs. 207310

Staff Management: Rs. 60500

Total for a month: Rs. 267810 / USD 2502

Total for a year: Rs. 3213720 / USD 30034

* The exchange rate we have calculated is USD 1 @ Rs. 107
** You can request a more detailed breakdown of the budget by e-mailing us

Our Plea

We need funds. Our immediate task is to attract a number of donors prepared to contribute sufficient funds not only to keep this special home open for our 16 children but also to expand our capacity and secure our own property and, with it, the future of this orphanage and the hope that it represents for these children.

USD 2500 will buy one month for sixteen children.

USD 30,000 will buy one more year for these children.

USD 110,000 will enable us to purchase our own land and building to secure the future of these and other orphans into the future.

If you think you can help us, please call us on +977 9851066543 or +977 4810098 + or write to us at [email protected] There is no greater gift that you could give us.