SPONSORSHIPS

Sponsorships for abandoned and orphaned children are a major priority for VCN and a partnership we actively seek. The rescue and placement of one child placed in primary, high school or college will average about $750 per year for all living and school expenses - an incredible bargain for providing a path to a secure, progressive future for a child without hope.

Sponsors are welcome to become involved in the life of the child they sponsor  if they wish, but this is an optional choice. From experience, we know that sponsored children treasure the opportunity to make new friends, express their appreciation and share their personal news with sponsors, should the desire be mutual. All sponsors are provided yearly reports and photos of the child in their financial care.

The children in our care and those we seek to assist with support and education are:

GIRL’S ORPHANAGE

The extreme lack of care facilities for children in Nepal is a major factor in the distressing living conditions for so many displaced children. The establishment of an orphanage for girls has been a VCN project that was finally realized with celebration in Kathmandu on October 7, 2009. With the cooperation of Paropakar Orphanage, the first and most honored social program and NGO established in Nepal (1953), VCN constructed and supports this new home,  providing secure living space for twenty-six orphaned girls. A much brighter life of hope and opportunity is coming for these formerly homeless girls…and all the girls who will be rescued and join this home for the years to come.

EMERGENCY AID

Our time spent in Nepal, especially in the world of street children and physically impaired children, continually demands our attention and resources to manage and provide emergency care and support for the wounded and ill. Most often our help is for medicines and medical attention, which frequently includes financial coverage for hospital care and medical equipment for the disabled. We also purchase clothes, foods and simple supplies for the unfortunates we find living in dire, often life-threatening conditions. Even temporary assistance can save a life and change circumstances for the better.

LEPROSY ASHRAM

leper groupA most rewarding cause is our continued help to a suffering, but noble group of elderly victims of leprosy confined to an impoverished colony outside the village of Pokhara. Abandoned out of fear by their families and ostracized by society, this remarkable community of infirmed, disfigured lepers carry on their lives with a force of resolve and faith. We have been truly fortunate to enjoy their friendship and appreciate the strength and good spirit they generously provide us, fully expressed by their smiles and joy in welcoming us as their friends. Our contributions are modest, but we improve their lives with gifts of sweaters, shawls, sewing machines, bolts of cloth, bedding, cooking stoves and improvements to their simple housing conditions. Especially significant are the rows of new cooking units and a  new toilet facility. Both of these gifts were contributions were paid possible by VCN donors and have considerably eased and simplified the daily lives of all colony residents. Smaller donations of kilos of tea, sugar, powdered milk, fruit and biscuits are a cause of celebration for all of the residents and we provide these foods and items at every opportunity. Our greatest gift, though, seems to be the time we share together. Their friends are few and greatly cherished.