Goal: To provide school scholarships/sponsorships to disadvantaged children, both girls and boys, from villages in the Solukhumbu region of Nepal to attend school in the wake of the economic hardships facing families due to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Help us today.
Photos by Mason Reed
Nepal, like the rest of the world, has been negatively impacted by the pandemic which continues to challenge communities. Early in 2020 Nepal was relatively untouched by the virus itself, but with national lockdowns implemented in the spring, the country was immediately hard hit by a loss of tourism. Without domestic or international travel allowed, businesses and families in rural Nepal that depend on tourism for their income and livelihoods lost all means of earning a living. This included lodge owners, trekking guides and porters. In normal times these people earn only a few dollars a day. Without any tourism, they sank into complete poverty, and this trend is ongoing even now in 2022.
One of the most notable impacts of this economic hit, is that families on the edge of survival no longer have any income with which to pay basic fees to send their children to school. Across the Solukhumbu region over the past 2 years, children have been pulled out of school, and many will not be able to return when normal education resumes. The Small World USA recognizes that this, without mitigation, will cause a generational gap where a range of children will miss school for at least a year, and after being outside of school for this amount of time the likelihood that they will ever re-enter the education system is greatly reduced. We need to work to support these families in crisis and do what we can to help them keep their kids in school during this challenging time. We need your support to help keep these children in school.
Donations help to cover the tuition fees, school uniforms, books, school supplies, etc. that a child needs to successfully attend school and continue their journey down the path of education. You can keep a child in school and help them continue to learn, grow and have a brighter future.
View the film The Porter about the hardships of porters in Nepal (pre-COVID) here.
The Small World USA 