Nepal

Landlocked in the heart of the Himalayas, Nepal was closed to the outside world up until the 1950s. Nepal holds a mystical and enchanting aura with three quarters of the country being covered by mountains and hosting the world’s densest concentration of World Heritage sites. Nepal is home to the tallest mountain on earth, Mount Everest, known to local Sherpas as “Chomolungma” meaning “Goddess Mother of the World.” Cows are the national animal of Nepal and the slaughtering of cows is prohibited. Nepal’s flag is the only national flag that isn’t a square or a rectangle. 

Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries of the world where about one fourth of the population live below the poverty line and only 44% of the population speak the official language, Nepali. Diseases are more prevalent in Nepal than in other surrounding Asian countries and malnutrition remains significantly high with about 47% of children under five being stunted, 15% wasted, and 36% underweight.

Recent projects in Nepal have included the following:

• Tutoring at a shelter for sexually assautled children 
• Earthquake diaster relief including home reconstruction, rubble clean up, and demolition 
• Teaching an adult literacy class
• Rooftop gardens
• Establishing a library and setting up a computer room at a shelter
• Teaching women's health classes to street sex workers in Kathmandu
• English teaching
• Teacher aids in classrooms 
• Dental hygiene classes in schools
• Teaching classes to young women about menstruation
• Working at a daycare for underprivileged and abandoned children 
• Painting and constructing desks for classrooms
• An after school reading program for children in a shelter 
• Art therapy classes for children rescued from trafficking